Character Cottages Reviews 75

Useless and unreliable. Booked a cottage for a family reunion only to be told 3 weeks before the trip that the cottage had been double booked and asked if we wanted to change dates, book an alternative cottage or have a refund. No apology. Asked for alternative cottages for the same dates - no reply over email or messages. Called the next day and was told I would be sent options within an hour. Still nothing. Called the next day to ask for a refund. Still no apology and I was asked again if i could change dates. Terrible terrible customer service experience. Do not use them. They are unreliable and don't even apologise for their own booking errors!

Unfortunately our trip needs to be cancelled due to my husband testing positive for Covid. Character cottages will not refund or facilitate moving the booking. At no point had they suggested we take out travel insurance to cover our trip which they have now suggested to cover the cost. Customer service beyond useless.....

Booking and arrival information was first class but our cottage (Holly Cottage in Middle Tysoe) was not clean - the amount of dog hair on the lounge carpet was a disgrace and items such as a tootbrush was found under the bed. Gave them 2 opportunities to reply to my complaint but heard nothing so I’m sorry, it’s 1 star ! I hope the owner reads this and sorts out the housekeeping. It was such a shame as the cottage was in a nice village and well equipped for a family of up to 6. Poor customer service - won’t use you again. It’s not hard to say sorry !

I booked a cottage for June 2022, and paid the deposit on the day of booking.
Received two emails demanding payment of the deposit. When I rang Character Cottages to find out what was going on, nobody could give me an answer. Took me several phone calls to actually get someone to confirm that they had 'lost my payment'.
Several phone calls (all made by me) later, I was told by a manager that my deposit had got caught up in the end of year finances. I then stated that I wanted to cancel my booking and receive a full refund. The manager suddenly stopped being terribly apologetic and spoke to me as though I was dirt. That was on 30 September and I am still waiting for my refund - it is now 7 October.
Disgusting behaviour.

I totally agree with the previous reviewer. The customer service from this company is absolutely awful and I would advise staying well away. We booked for a family member's 60th birthday and over half of the party contracted covid so unable to travel. The owners of the cottage Fleur de Lys would not offer us any alternative, we even said we would be willing to take any unbooked slot at short notice. Character Cottages themselves basically told us it was our fault and that we should have booked travel insurance, even through insurance companies won't offer cover for covid. They also said that we needed to let them know 14 days in advance, which made me laugh. I read reviews before booking with this company and wish I had trusted my instincts, they certainly are an amateur company with no idea of what good customer service looks like.

What a shambles of a company!!!
My partner and myself booked 8 days to stay at Peach Cottage near Cirencecester from the 9th August 2021 for 8 days.
So sad to say we had to contact the company the week before we were due to arrive as a terminal illness had been diagnosed within the family.
We were told initially as a gesture of good will the owners of the property were prepared to offer a 50% refund!
I appreciate this is a business but come on, under the very delicate situation we would all expect a little more.
Character Cottages told us if the property was 're advertised and taken for the dates we had booked a full refund would be applied.
I spoke with Sophie 5 days before we were due to arrive and explained the distressing situation we were currently under and couldn't possibly make the trip.
On that note anyone would expect the company to 're advertise the property immediately but not Character Cottages,we apparently had to put it in writing,well you would think they would have a little understanding and honer the situation but No.
After noting once the property was finally 're advertised and snapped up they were still very hesitant to commit to a full refund.
Myself and my partner made numerous phone calls and emails to try and get the refund we were rightfully due and only today 3rd September are they just about agreeing to refund the remaining outstanding balance!!!
I would not recommend booking with this company whatsoever and even one of the employees admitted you needed to be thick skinned to work for this company.
One last word I would have to say their customer service is atrocious and the apparent manager Amelia really needs to stop hiding behind other members of staff and have the courage to deal with customers directly.

Absolutely horrendous service. We received a call 30 minutes prior to checking into our cottage to be told the property next door is “undergoing minor internal renovations” which actually means the property is a complete worksite, scaffolding, no windows and construction working ongoing. I did question why were we not made aware prior to check as we would have canceled. Apparently they were only informed a few days prior (still could have informed us prior to a 5 hour drive to check in) - we were the notified the work was only Monday- Friday 9-5, again, completely incorrect and the construction work was 7 days a week 8 am till 9 pm some days. We couldn’t open the windows due to the dust and noise ( perfect in summer…). A partial refund was agreed, a week later no sign of the refund or any acknowledgment to my formal complaint. I have chased several times. This companies customer service is beyond poor. Avoid at all cost

The single worst experience I have received from a company. Daylight robbery. We booked a trip 10 months in advance but unfortunately had to cancel 6 months before due to decrease in numbers. We asked to transfer the booking to a smaller property which was denied. We then asked for our payment to be reimbursed but however due to “policy” we were told they would keep 50% of our payment (around £800!!) due to the “financial loss of the owner”!! They even said they would have no problem rebooking that weekend but EVEN THEN we would not get our money back. So essentially they would get our £800 PLUS the cost of the weekend from a different family. Utterly RIDICULOUS! Luckily, we booked through Airbnb who fought to get our money back - cannot recommend them enough. Whatever you do, DO NOT book with character cottages. I would give 0 stars if I could.

Character Cottages staff were brilliant. Always answered the phone immediately and dealt with my queries efficiently. Many thanks.

We are staying at Bobby Jos Cottage in Blockley. Beautiful cottage..beautiful location and very clean but OH! The beds. You can feel every spring and hear them!! Our daughter and husband left for home yesterday because of the beds....Jeni's back is so sore now. There is no comfy sofa to stretch out on so after we have been to a booked outing tomorrow we will leave early too. It is a real shame....in this day and age a comfy bed should be easy to supply. So sad...everything else was great..apart from the wasps nest in the loft which they are coming to see to today.

I would like to thank everyone at Character Cottages for the excellent service we have been given.
Our trip in February 2021 was unable to take place due to Covid Lockdown restrictions. The communication from the company has been excellent, clearly giving us options to either rebook at another date or offering a full refund. At this point the best option for us was a refund. The refund has been received promptly, much earlier than expected and the company has kept us informed at all times during the process.
Thank you once again, and we look forward to using you again in the future.

I booked a Christmas break for my family in Bunt Barn. I live in Spain and my daughter lives is Australia and because of the restrictions we were not allowed to travel. I gave character cottages 3 months notice of this. I was told if they could rebook the week I had booked I would get a refund of the £500 deposit paid. I then called again in November and was told they had rebooked the week I’d booked so I patiently awaited my refund. None came.
I called the office and emailed several times only to be told that the owners were keeping my money after all. They offered 5% discount on a further booking! I asked if we could come to an agreement so I could receive at least SOME of my money back. No go.
Be very very careful using this company people. There are many more companies out there that behave in a more ethical manner.

We booked to stay at Carter’s cottage in December however we’re met with an oven which didn’t work and no logs for the fire as promised in the property listing. Upon calling the office to advise of both issues we were told someone would ring back in an hour, which they did not. We called again 24 hours later to say we didn’t want an engineer attending as we had one night left. Had to get take away and cook only using the hob- defeating the point of a self catering stay really. Disappointing and slow customer service

We are having to move house urgently inbetween selling our house and buying another. Tracey and her team at Character Cottages have been extremely helpful, prompt with responses and very efficient. Tracey liased with the owners to make sure everything went well - so that we could destress. Thank you so much for all your help - you have some really lovely properties and have been so impressed by your friendly efficiency! Wendy Sinclair

We booked a cottage for Christmas through Character Cottages some months ago, however 2 days before we were due to go, Boris thwarted our plans! Naturally, we were hugely disappointed but the staff at Character Cottages were great and helped to lessen this stressful situation, despite it adding hugely to their workload. We were given a full refund and would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Character Cottages and will definitely be booking again with them in the future.

Our stay at Whitsun Cottage was wonderful. While our plan for this holiday had to evolve several times, the cottage and its beautiful setting turned out to be the perfect place for a much needed escape.

Cassie, Emma And Rosemarie have been absolutely awesome in helping navigate the Covid uncertainty. Very impressed with the customer service and attentiveness and would most definitely recommend!

Cassie really helped us after a family medical emergency meant we could not attend our holiday 4 days before we were due to go. The company were really understanding and helpful. The transition to rebook was smooth which meant one less thing to worry about during a difficult time. Looking forward to our holiday and using Character cottages again in the future

We had booked a cottage in the cotswolds but unfortunately due to COVID-19 we could not go, I spoke to Cassie and she talked me through the procedure on get our money refunded, excellent service definitely will book with them again.

Character Cottages have been very proactive about this current lockdown and were more than helpful when we sadly phoned to cancel. We stayed with them in October and again, when we had a gas problem, they were very quick to respond. Would highly recommend them.