Helpful Holidays Reviews 26

Beware of booking with Helpful Holidays. Their terms and conditions are such that if you have to cancel, unless it’s for given reasons that they specify, you will have to pay the full balance unless they can re-sell the holiday. I booked a holiday with them in January 2018 for a week in Devon in December 2018. Sadly, my partner and I separated and I cancelled the holiday with 3 months’ notice. I still had to pay the full balance. I expected to forfeit the deposit but having given 3 months’ notice, I was bewildered to find out that I had to pay the full amount. On closer examination of the terms and conditions, it seems that unless you are cancelling because of their specified reasons, you are bound to pay the full amount of the holiday even if you cancel it five minutes after you have booked it. This seems grossly unfair. I appealed to their sense of fairness but to no avail. Despite their assurances that they would try to re-sell the holiday, I have my doubts. Firstly, what incentive do they have when the holiday is going to be paid for anyway and secondly, I would have no way of knowing that they had succeeded (they could have effectively sold the holiday twice). It’s a shame really, I’ve had many good holidays with this company but I won’t be booking with them again. I should have read the terms and conditions and I won’t make the same mistake again when booking future holidays. I just want to make other people aware of this before they book so that they don’t fall foul of the same problem.

We dealt with Helpful Hols. And they were great. Honest, kind and straightforward. Lovely people. The cottage Kammneves in Trelights, Cornwall was superb. Best we have ever stayed in. Great holiday. Hope Sykes can live up to their high standard. Beryl sharples 15th to 29th June 2018

As a customer of Helpful Holidays for several years, I am singularly unimpressed with the changes, since being 'dominated' by Sykes Holiday Cottages.
The apparent 'loss' of Moray Baxter is regrettable - it seems customer service went with him. Prompt and meaningful communications no longer exist!
The sudden, 'unannounced', introduction of a £39 service or booking fee.
Website references to Sykes Holiday Cottages, without any prior notification, giving the impression Helpful Holidays may have ceased trading.
The, 'improved', website provides significantly less local area information than before.
Eventually, very late in the day, I am 'advised' - "Joining Sykes Holiday Cottages is exciting news" - I don't think so ! ! !

Have previously been on a helpful holiday when our children were in their teens.Now grandparents we decided to book again with the company and visit Cornwall,and take our grandchildren and son in law and daughter.
We visited Morwenstow near Bude,and the cottage we stayed in was superb.All I can say is that now they have been amalgamated with Sykes cottages I hope they can keep the excellent standards,that Helpful Holidays have kept over the previous years.

Incredible experience, top notch accommodation. Cannot fault this company at all. Fantastic from beginning to end