“Booked for 4 nights - stayed for 1 This is the review we left in the visitor book at the cottage: the dreadful smell of fumes in the kitchen and the rest of the property made us feel Ill.”
We tried to resolve this with the owners to no avail. At the time of writing, this the complaint is being handled by Sykes Cottages. At 6.15pm we are leaving to find somewhere else to stay, our health is more important. I have a dreadful headache and we can taste fumes in the back of our throats. The owners of this property should be ashamed of themselves -end- When we arrived at the property it smelt like an oil tank leak, the property was warm as the heating had been left on, the smell and taste of fumes evident. We turned off the heating, opened the windows and sat in the cold, the following morning we reported this with housekeeping (as advised in the book) and to Sykes cottages and left for the day to visit the area. We checked in with Sykes three to four times and were advised that a plumber had been and no issue found. When arriving back at the property we called the plumber (he had left his business card), he confirmed no leak, but hadn’t put the heating on. We said that the smell was overwhelming and requested that he returned, when we told him about the fumes he told us not to put the heating as it can be detrimental to our health. Sykes then confirmed that the owners would not permit the plumber to return as he found no leak earlier in the day. We had no option but to leave the property. Sykes out of hours service didn’t return our numerous calls and we were left in the lurch! I have been told that the owners of the property had a new boiler fitted 2 months ago. However upon reading reviews of the property others have also complained about the smell. We are not people to ruin others livelihoods or holidays, but when health could be at risk we want to warn others. Sykes - your customer service team are dreadful, if this was a fire or a flood, a visible issue you would have helped us. As it was fumes, with no evidence except for our word you chose to ignore us! I am writing this review 5 days after leaving the property and still awaiting your ‘investigation’ and response? This holiday cottage left us feeling unsafe, let it be a warning to others!
We are sorry that our beautiful cottage didn't meet your exacting standards but feel that your complaints are unsubstantiated. There are many previous guests who have thoroughly enjoyed our well-appointed and well-maintained cottage and have stated that they want to return.
We were in the cottage a few weeks prior to your visit conducting maintenance and no fumes were present, this was not reportrd by previous or recent guests.
Following your contact, we arranged for a heating engineer to attend the property who advised that there were no fumes or smoke. The Engineer reported back to us that everything was perfectly ok.
I can also assure you that a new boiler was installed a few months prior to your visit by a reputable and certified Gas & Oil safe Engineer / Company. I can assure you that all the pipework from the tank to boiler to the cottage was replaced and certified. Interestingly, other than the guest that you have quoted, no other complaints have been received. As we take all complaints seriously, we invested in a new economical sate of the art oil boiler which would have been installed much sooner however we had to wait to get a reputable company.
The Health & safety standards expected by Sykes are comprehensive, including the requirement for Carbon Monoxide sensors throughout the cottage, which are tested on every turnaround.
We respect that you had concerns which were addressed and that we made every endeavour to send a heating engineer at your request and at our cost and that your complaint was unsubstantiated by professionals in their field with respect to our cottage.
Property Owner
