Beware TRAVELRENT! I booked via Email with TravelRent in Faro. I have just returned from Portugal after a 11 day stay. I booked the car with TravelRent in May asking them (and getting) their best price including full excess protection insurance. Unfortunately I scraped the drivers side rear wheel arch in an infernal underground car park. Just superficial paint removal really. but on returning the car I was charged 100 Euros for the damage. Apparently you only get full excess protection IF you are involved in a tiff with another car. Not if you are (like me) a bit clumsy in tight spaces. No mention of this on the Email that they sent to me accepting my booking. Of course I was much peeved by this and contacted them via Email on my return - They didn't even reply. BEWARE - I know i'm not the only Clumsy so and so on the planet. Always ask the right questions when you collect the car. Mine would have been "Does my Full excess protection cover me for self inflicted damage!

The car from Travel Rent through Argus was the worst hire car I've ever had. Scratches and scrapes on every panel, damaged wiper blade and stained seats. It was also filthy with a receipt for fuel from the previous hirer left on the dashboard - it couldn't have been more obvious - clearly the car hadn't been cleaned at all. It was the cheapest however so they get 2 stars for that alone.

I booked an estate from this company, plus a child seat knowing that i needed space for 3 suitcases, 3 catty on bags and the child's buggy. I arrived and after a short wait to be told I had a Renault Clio. Then there was the discussion about insurance even though on booking the car i had paid for the no excess route i still had to pay more for the peace of mind 'walk away' cover, then another €20 deposit for the transponder which i had stated i was not using and was advised that i may not get back on return to the airport if the agent was not there? We found the car which is a hatchback not estate with no child seat but looking reasonable. The man in the white van gave us a grubby child seat and walked off. Half an hour later we had the child seat in the luggage packed in and 3 adults squeezed in. All ok until due to illness with one of the party we had to return early to GB. on arrival we found man in van at car park 4 explained what had happened to be told that he did not have any money to give us as we had not let the office know of our early return. As all travellers know and obviously this rental firm you do not have a great deal of time to argue the point when you have a plane to catch so there goes another twenty euros. So small car not an estate ripped off with the insurance and twenty euros 'stolen' i feel let down and will not only never use this company again but avoid car park 4 at Faro altogether in future, well done NOT Argus.

We hired a Seat Ibiza through Economy Car hire for 7 days in Faro from 25th August. It had quite a few scratches and scrapes but we were told not to worry about them as they were only concerned with major bumps. Sadly, we didn't check the tyres. We drove to our hotel and then didn't use the car until the Tuesday. We had a burst tyre on the motorway in Spain, had to put on the spare wheel and drive slowly back into Portugal. On inspection, you could see mesh and wire on both the front tyres. We phoned Travel Rent who insisted we drive back to Faro from Monte Gordo for them to inspect the car. We refused to do so as we no longer had a spare tyre. We hadn't taken additional insurance and so technically the tyres weren't covered even though they were clearly damaged when we took the car. We were unable to use the car for the rest of the holiday as we had the puntured trye replaced at our cost but were advised by an independant garage NOT to drive the car as the other tyre was also unroadworthy and dangerous. We used the car once more to drive back to the airport; very slowly. I've emailed Economy Car Hire and they and Travel Rent refuse to compensate us in anyway. The Fair Fuel policy is good but my advice is beware and check the tyres before you leave the airport.....no matter how tired or stressed you are.

I went through an online broker which selected Travel Rent for me - the Ford Galaxy I booked was €300 cheaper over 2 weeks with Travel Rent when compared with similar vehicles from the mainstream firms such as Hertz. However, the vehicle was a 5 year-old Galaxy with 60,000 km on the clock, and reasonably significant damage and scratches on most body panels. The rear passenger door had a major dent which prevented the door from locking, which was worrying. I got the impression that this vehicle was at the end of its working life, but it got us around OK. The gear change wasn't great, and I guess the clutch needed replacing. Be careful if you are renting with Travel Rent - the sheet they gave me indicating pre-existing body damage didn't include two or three reasonably significant dents and one piece of missing bumper, so I had to get them to amend it, plus I also took copious photos of the vehicle before I left the carpark at Faro airport. However, when I left the car back, the Travel Rent guy only did a very cursory inspection (10 secs) and then whizzed off in the car - presumably to ready it for the next customer. I wouldn't use them again - although it was relatively cheap, it was rather poor value for money and in hindsight I'd rather have spent a bit more with a more established and reliable rental firm.

Being the cheapest is not a case of paying for what you get. Some dubious practices are being undertaken by their admin staff at the airport. 1. Arrived at desk in Faro airport car park which represents all the local car hire companies. The queue for Travel Rent was 20 people long (the others 1 or 2). Our wait was over 1hr. 2. The lady who dealt with us was friendly, but I am convinced she tried to rip us off. She charged separately for the car seats first and requested cash (which was odd). Then put in a total balance + car seats on a card. Rather than a genuine mistake she made pretended to be tired and made a point of copying the amount on the form, then added the car seats cost again to form a higher total than was due. It was not a mistake as she repeated her copying the right amount(and putting in another), as our first card was not accepted. BE WARNED, the amount on the card reader is not shown when you authorise it. It was only when I double checked the receipt that I confirmed she had double charged. She then reluctantly handed back the cash, which of course would have gone into her pocket had I not been checking. 3. Car seats are generally a lucky dip and are much less safe than UK in terms of quality and condition. 4. The minor scratches and dents are all over the car, but not on the sheet. On challenging them, they say they don't bother, but who knows what they say when you return it. So I took some photos to safeguard ourselves. I felt very nervous about the whole service as I was constantly wondering if I was going to be ripped off. This is the first time I used Travel Rent and it will be the last... I will return to go to using the next cheapest in future.

Had a problem with car, returned it to airport after 5 days of a 5 week agreement and I was accused of not having a problem but of trying to get an upgrade. Tried to call Mr Mario the manager (who has sent me a Christmas card and his business card) but after more than 6 attempts where I was told he would call me, nothing happened.
On their website they claim to be customer focused and not just interested in quick money.........well my experience is that this is not the case.......they are only interested in your money.
Never rent from this organisation if you want to enjoy your holiday in The Algarve