Turisrent - Rent a Car

We booked one car and proceeded with payment. Everything went fine, the only issue was that apparently they have a policy that debits an amount of money from your card then they give you back. In that occasion it was 500 euros (we were renting for 24h and that most definitively wasn’t a luxury car, but it wasn’t the cheapest either). We talked to the clerk she was super nice and asked how much money we would like to spend we came up that not more than 300 euros for insurance. So, she went to talk with someone higher in hierarchy. Me and my partner discussed whether we should go forward with it otherwise we wouldn’t feel comfortable spending some money until the end of the trip so we decided we didn’t want to proceed with it and of course we understood their insurance policy in order to cover their vehicles. Then, the “superior” arrived, looked in our eyes, spoke in portuguese with the clerk and looked dismissively at us without even saying “good morning” then just said “cancel it” to the clerk and walked back out of the store. The clerk was super nice to us and wished us good luck, but the “superior” at no moment asked us if we wanted another cheaper vehicle or tried to be kind and explain the policy to us (even though we understood it clearly). If someone acts like this with customers I don’t even want to imagine how they treat their employees, we are glad we didn’t rent a car there. That business clearly respects money rather than good business practice.

These guys are dishonest. I rented a car from them for a day and they mentioned that I could return the car from them at any time the next day without making me aware that they would charge my card for an extra day. I don’t think this was a misunderstanding, but a deliberate attempt by them to charge me another day. They also quoted a €500 euro freeze as deposit but then asked €800 in person which we declined. There is a proper Avis and Eurocar place in the center of Porto - rent with them and not these amateurs.

Booked for a Fiat Tipo Stationwagon online in Porto (Dec 2019) and arrived at the S. Catarina outlet to arrange for collection but was redirected to their main office at #1008 a few blocks up the same street. Surprisingly the salesguy at the main sales office didn't speak any English to us (being tourists in a tourist area) but my little amount of Portuguese got the gist of what he meant and was informed the car we booked had a minor accident and we were offered a several other cars including a Peugeot 5008 (manual) and an Auto Mercedes A class instead at the main office (the lady spoke perfect English there). However, our requirement was for a car that could accommodate 4 passengers & 4 suitcases so we got an upgrade to an auto Mercedes Vito (gasoleo/diesel) at no extra charge. Pick up and drop off was smooth and we had no issues dealing with the sales staff or the rental car. We got to drive around as needed and drop off at the airport with prior arrangement was smooth.

Aggressive behaviour displayed when confronted with €350 charges which was slapped on me for a minor scratch. I am surprised I fell into their trap due to the hotel recommending these lot. Please use standard providers in Porto like Avis etc instead of these thugs. I was forced to pay the money due to my bad luck but lesson learnt not to use local providers who believe in fleecing customers like us.

The terms were acceptable, the service was flexible, the vehicle was new and there was no monkey business with the deposit, which was promptly paid back upon returning the car. It was a very positive experience, I would not hesitate to use the service again.