DH, DS (13 mo) and I recently went to Portugal for ten days or so.

A month before we went we booked a rental car for a week and ordered a baby car seat ds from a company we thought were reputable - Alamo.

Anyway, the day we went to pick up the car, the baby seat was

filthy

not fitted and without any instructions!!

clearly broken

DH went back to the shop and asked for the seat to be fitted. The assistant clearly did not have a clue, tried to fit the seat and told us it was absolutly fine. DH gave the seat a gentle tap and it fell right across the back seat!! It would have been funny if not so serious.
How dare they suggest I drive my precious ds around in such a death trap.

We told the assistant we weren't taking the car and he proceeded to throw the car seat on the floor in a rage. Car seats are only designed to absorb one impact.

We then spent the next four hours trapsing round Lisbon with a baby looking for a replacement.

We've written to the comapny and told them what we think of them but I'd be really interested to hear other peoples experiences. It might be worth finding out what safety checks various company's have. I've learnt my lesson anyway. Next time I'd take my own seat.