Payless Car Rental

Payless Car Rental Reviews

About Payless Car Rental

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Payless Car Rental Reviews

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    Page 3 Reviews 40 - 240
    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 22, 2023

    Never rent from Payless. I flew into PHL having made a reservation with Payless via Southwest Air well in advance. It clearly stated on the reservation that there is a shuttle bus to the car rental area. I was planning to pick up the car and then get my daughter from the train station in Philly. No shuttle. I finally called the local number for Payless and reached a recording. The recording gave instructions to go 2 miles from the airport to pick up a car. I was unable to convince a taxi driver to take me to the site mentioned in the voice message. He said, “This is wrong. No one does this.” I then sent an email to the gmail offered on the Payless website but did not hear back from anyone at Payless for two days. I finally had to Uber (for $40) to my Airbnb (as did my daughter). Was unable to reach Payless the next morning.

    Finally was able to get a car through Enterprise ($40 Uber back to the airport). Otherwise we would not have had a car to use on her Philly Marathon day. We got a good price and a clean car through Enterprise who saved the day, and I was able to transport her to the starting line and cheer her from various areas of the race. Generally it was an extremely inconvenient situation and the email I eventually received from Payless was non-apologetic and abrupt. They are familiar with this type of feedback. I’ll be letting Southwest know about how disappointed I am that they offer discount registrations to such a poor business.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 22, 2023

    Just like others have complained. I filled my car and returned it to them on time. A week later a charge of $33 showed up on my credit card., They are claiming that the tank was not full. I filled the tank from a gas station just down the road to avoid this. Avoid Payless. They do not answer the phone. This is theft. I will file a small claims against them. They are thugs.

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    Price

    Reviewed Nov. 20, 2023

    According to customer service he would upgrade the rental car & give a discount. Car was so small that 3 luggage bags did not fit in the trunk even though sales person saw that we had 3 people traveling. Car was dirty & cost was more than original quote.

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    Reviewed Nov. 15, 2023

    I wish I would have read the reviews beforehand! Just like everyone else, I felt like I was scammed… I walked in with what I thought was a prepaid reservation and got hit up with ‘mandatory’ insurance fees and Florida pass fees. I called ahead of time to see if I could pick up the car earlier and asked what the fee would be, if any. I was told there was no additional fee, sure enough I was charged for coming in two hours extra. I was told there was a $200 deposit on the credit card, fine… Why did I get back $199.90? Weird how they try to nickel and dime every way possible.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 15, 2023

    My phone fell out of my purse as I exited the car as I was returning it. Less than 2 minutes later when I was looking for the phone, it was gone, the shuttle driver immediately turned around and called them to let them know I was coming back for the phone. The person who took the car to clean it stole my phone. I was devastated, as my personal information and boarding pass was on the phone. I was able to get home and had to purchase a new phone. My stolen phone was tracked back to the location, then travelled to W. Philly. This experience cost me $800. The manager was nasty and did not do due diligence as he asked me to unpack my backpack, yet he barely asked the employee anything. I am still 2 months later waiting for a resolution. Never again.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Nov. 12, 2023

    I had a reservation to rent a car at the Phoenix airport on Nov 6. There were very few people in the Payless line when I got to the rental car terminal so I thought that this was a good sign. Boy was I wrong. An hour and a half later, four customers had been served (one found out that she was in the wrong line) and I finally get to the counter. It tool just a few minutes to enter/confirm my information, but we had gto stand there waiting until we get a confirmation that an actual car is available. It took me 33 minutes!!!!

    The actual car was ok, but the terrible service was repeated on the return. I returned the car around noon on Nov 9. There were a few Payless employees directing us to lanes to return our cars, but no one to tell us what to do. A few of us were standing around waiting for someone to come by, process our return and give us a receipt like I am used to. Finally, we find an employee and asked them what we needed to do. He said to just leave the key in the car and we would get the receipt emailed to us.

    11/10 still no receipt so I contact the company. Spend about half an hour going through the rental info. 11/11 still nothing. 11/12 I get a text stating that my rental is overdue and to please contact customer service. I call them and eventually they confirm that I had reached out to them on 11/10, but that it would take 2-3 days before the issue would be resolved. 2-3 days to get confirmation of a return and a receipt is absolutely ridiculous!!!!! All other car companies have automated systems where the cars have barcodes and just need to be scanned in, and end mileage recorded, which takes all of 30 seconds. Not sure why Payless who is part of the Avis group is so different and takes days to do what should be almost immediate. Whoever they have running the car processing for them at Phoenix should be fired. I have never experienced such a screwed up operation in years and years of traveling.

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    Punctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Nov. 9, 2023

    I flew into Phoenix on Nov 9th and made a reservation with PayLess, my first time renting with them. I had to wait in the line to get assigned a car over 2 hours. I then went downstairs to get the car and had to wait another hour. There was hardly anyone available to help. They obviously overbooked without any regard for how long people would need to wait. This is my first and last time I will ever rent from Payless.

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    Contract & TermsPrice

    Reviewed Nov. 1, 2023

    I rented a car via Expedia for the airport San Diego car rental location, the price with expedia was $495.00 per week, when I got the contract from the misleading employee the bill was 858.00 $. When I asked about the discrepancy in the price he told me it was due to a 250$ security fee and that the price would self correct when the car was returned, when I received my Bank card bill it was 858$, when I called the location and asked about the credit she said the price difference was due to a $39.00 a day upgrade, which I did not request, The car pictured in the ad was a Chrysler 300, the car I received a beat up Kia with 60k miles with peeling paint and a number of scratches and dents.... DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THESE CRIMINALS....

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 28, 2023

    Never again. I learned the meaning of the old adage "you get what you pay for" with this company. I was in a wreck in my rental (0% my fault. Traffic stopped on the highway. I stopped, but the guy behind hit the gas instead of the breaks and rear-ended me going 60 MPH) and I tried to call the customer service/roadside assistance to let them know and receive help. Their customer service and roadside assistance are two call centers who constantly redirect you to each other, until you are either redirected to the starting robot menu list that their phone number takes you to, or just plain hung up on.

    After spending countless hours (at least 12 HOURS) calling them, I finally reach a person who is willing/able to help. They say they filed a report and that I will have another rental car driven to me, and they'll call me when it's on its way. After a day and a half of waiting in a hotel, I call back to check on the status, and the next person I get a hold of says "There are no notes on your account". So I tell them what happened again, and they also said they just filed a report. When I get back into town (by renting another car through a separate company) I go into the airport to let them know what happened to their car, and ask what happened with the support. It turns out Avis owns Payless, and the only representative there can't help me (this was at like 4:00 PM).

    I call back customer service again a week later to make sure they at least know their car is in a wrecker lot. The person who I get a hold of (after hours of calling) says "There are no notes on your account", I let them know what happen again, and ask them to give me the report number that they're filling so I can use it for later reference if I need to.

    A month later, today, I get a call from the Payless Recovery Department saying they're going to report that I stole the car to the police because it wasn't returned to them. I gave them all the information AGAIN, and I'm hoping that someone will actually put that information in their system. I had travel insurance for the trip, nothing should be coming out of my pocket. Right? Wrong. 2 months later they charge my credit card $4600+ dollars (right at the end of the month when credit reports go out), and I have to go to the Better Business Bureau and file a complaint to get them to drop it.

    TLDR: This company has abysmal customer service. If you're in an accident in one of their vehicles, God have mercy on your soul. Dealing with them has been more traumatic for me than the accident itself. Shame on them for real.

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed Oct. 22, 2023

    San Diego Airport. Payless car rental. Scammers and rude. Tried to tell me I had to pay 34.00 per day insurance. It was required in California. Horrible customer service. I cancelled my reservation and went next door to Dollar Rental. I got a cheaper rate. Did not have any such thing as mandatory insurance and great customer service. Avoid Payless. Horrible company that will rip you off.

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    Customer ServicePrice

    Reviewed Oct. 19, 2023

    DO NOT RENT FROM HERE!! I rented my car through Priceline where I was quoted $350 for the rental. Upon arrival they had to charge an extra $300 holding on my card. The man at the front desk told me to be sure to refill the tank or they will charge me $75. Of course we filled up the tank before our return. However we were charged the $90 on top of the $350 we were quoted. When I contacted customer service they are not willing to provide information to prove I should have been charged this. They are not willing to work with me when we rented the car for 1 day! For $440…we will ABSOLUTELY NEVER be using this service ever again. Big jokers and crooks out for money. DO NOT RENT FROM HERE!

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    CoveragePrice

    Reviewed Oct. 19, 2023

    Payless at the San Diego Airport required that I pay approximately 89% more than I was quoted by Priceline. I presented documentation of the Priceline quote but this was not honored. The rationale was that I was to purchase rental car damage insurance despite repeatedly waiving this type of insurance on numerous occasions in the past because I had collision and comprehensive coverage with an insurance company. I will be certainly be more careful with car rentals in the future by reviewing the internet for fraudulent activities.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Oct. 9, 2023

    I made reservations for a rental car through my American Airlines Advantage app. Upon arrival to Wichita KS at 11:00 PM, I was told Payless needed to run a credit check. After that was done they claimed that my debit card was locked and I needed to contact my bank. I call and talked to a supervisor for Payless, Mr. **. HE claimed he couldn't do anything to help. I went to Budget Rent A Car desk, ten feet away and was able to get a vehicle with no issues. PAYLESS Rental is terrible, customer service is worthless.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Oct. 6, 2023

    I rented a car to be picked up at the San Diego airport at a very reasonable rate. Unfortunately, my flight got canceled and I couldn't get another flight out until the next day. I immediately called Payless to let them know that I wouldn't be able to pick up my car until the next morning. I should have been picking up around 7pm but, because of the flight cancellation, it would be the next morning at 10am. The agent told me not to cancel since Payless will hold my reservation for 24 hours.

    When I arrived the next morning, I was told that the Payless location at the San Diego airport was an independently owned location vs. a corporate location and their policy didn't hold reservations for 24 hours. They didn't have any cars left that fit my original booking, but for an extra $250 they could probably find something for me. Unfortunately, I simply didn't have time to argue with them and just paid the additional money. At the end of the day, they saw an opportunity to take advantage of me and did.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Sept. 26, 2023

    Never rent a car for this people. Expedia book me with them, and they told me they didn't have my reservation but offer me a car for $200 more. The car was a disaster full of scratches and dents, it took me 15 minutes to write all of them, it smelled like has been used and left dirty for a while. The next day I tried to use the lighter plug to charge my phone, but the connection was empty, nothing inside. After two weeks received an extra charge for $44, I tried to call, no answer, left several messages, they never called me back. Finally, I found a email address, you need to sign to use it and email them, they never answer. I will never use them again, and I will never use Expedia since they recommended them.

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    Reviewed Sept. 26, 2023

    I will never rent from Payless again. Horrible, old, dented car. When I returned it I was told I was the last renter and it was being sold. Wow. Hope they don’t have very high expectations. Absolutely horrible.

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    Contract & TermsCoverageSales & MarketingPriceStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 26, 2023

    Total scam. Doubled the price of my rental when I went to pick it up. Said it was california law that I had to have some very specific fringe insurance benefit. When I showed them a copy of my insurance, I was told that it did not qualify and there would be no choice but to pay for the extra insurance through them. Was also told that I would be put in a very fragile and small smartcar, not the car I rented, unless I paid for the upgrade. Started using manipulative tactics "Well obviously you care about your wife's safety and wouldn't want anything to happen to her, right? You'd better upgrade, it will just be $20 per day." After much back and forth, I got him to clarify that it was actually an additional $20 per day on top of my existing rental, not $20 per day as he originally explained. Also tried to get me to pay extra to fill up the car before renting it.

    Note: it's not at all mandated by law that I purchase additional fringe insurance benefits that they, as the rental company, should have for their own fleet. I repeated many times that I want the quote that I had paid for online, with nothing extra. They told me again there was absolutely no possible way for me to get a car in the entire state without having pre-purchased that insurance on my own plan (well in advance), or by purchasing it through them on the spot. Explained I would pay this at every company I went to (a complete fabrication). Of course, you can't cancel your reservation on the spot and get a refund according to their policies.

    Incredibly predatory -- website made absolutely no mention of this, and the online rental agreement made no mention either. We picked up the vehicle, which was not a smartcar at all. it was a roomy midsize vehicle in rough shape, absolutely reeking of fumes in the cabin to the point we felt sick within minutes and had to get a different car. After complaining to several people, the girl doing the inspection said "the front desk guys regularly lie about insurance to get higher commissions. Show XYZ your insurance and they'll remove it." Again, after much back and forth (everyone felt the need to explain to me what insurance is from a VERY elementary level) they were able to remove the charge and actually give me what I had paid for on their site. Whole thing took about 1hr15min to resolve. Never use this company.

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    Reviewed Sept. 23, 2023

    If I could give a zero star review, I would. No shuttle came to pick us up after landing at 11:30 pm. Called customer service- recorded message: closed at 9 pm. WHAT? So we tried parent company Avis. That nightmare is on another review. Never use Payless unless you want to be stranded at DIA at midnight.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed Sept. 4, 2023

    Payless at the San Diego Airport. I was held up at gunpoint by SDPD (had the police dog barking at me as I walked backwards towards the cops and then arrested due to Payless CALLING IN THE CAR STOLEN). I called and extended the rental and was paid up to date and they demanded the car back and called it in stolen. When I went to get my belongings from the car at the rental place the car was NOT how I left it. All my stuff was in a disarray. The Top Ramen soup I had in the car was opened and smashed and sprinkled all over the floor of the car. NOT AT ALL HOW I LEFT IT!!!

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    Price

    Reviewed Aug. 28, 2023

    Did a rental to drive across country to drop my kid off and realized I am getting too old for this lengthy drive. I now have to drive back alone, I do not feel safe about it and asked if I could drop off in a location close by so I can fly home and not do this alone and frightened of passing out. They would double - triple the cost of my rental if I was to do this.

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 17, 2023

    The customer service was excellent. He was nice happy spirit, professional. Cornell was helpful and he is a sweet person. Can't wait to rent a car again so I can see him and his handsome smile and beautiful, professional attitude.

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    Process

    Reviewed Aug. 17, 2023

    Rented a vehicle through Payless at San Antonio Airport. After waiting 2 hours they initially brought me a 4 passenger car when my prepaid reservation was for 7 passenger vehicle. They were out of these, however they did have one that was just returned Denali if I wanted. Seeing no choice I took this vehicle with 1/4 tank of gas. Specifically told just return with the same amount. I returned with 1/2 tank and they still charged me 147.00 extra. I have gone through the customer services back and forth for over a month and they refuse to give me my money because they are not satisfied with my receipts. Why do I have to provide receipts for the inadequate process.

    So basically this is what they do, a person returns a vehicle with 1/4 tank, they charge this person 10.00 a gallon to fill it up. But they don't fill it up, instead it is passed on to the next renter and process is the same. This is a SCAM and there should be laws against a company double charging for the same gas. The paper work I signed clearly said to return vehicle with the same amount of fuel as when I picked up. I'm so nice I went ahead and returned with a 1/2 tank gas. Lesson learned is Payless Rental Company are crooks and be nice gets you nowhere. Stay clear away from this company. They are CROOKS.

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    Punctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed July 30, 2023

    Do not use this specific Payless at Chicago/Ohare!!! They failed to provide the toll box that we requested and will not give me credit. Also, they billed us for gas when we filled the car up before drop off. I provided proof from our credit card statement that we gassed up and they said they will only accept the receipt from the pump. They probably do not care, because they work on volume and also know that people do not have time in their busy day to babysit these people. We are seniors and I guess they like taking advantage of older people!!!

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    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed July 27, 2023

    My son and girlfriend rented a car and customer service took payment over the phone. When they went to pick the car up they refused to give them the car due to her being 24 but the representative who rented her the car stated she was good on using a debit card and not a major credit card because she had a flight number and round trip. The representative a Denver International Airport refused service and stated she didn't meet requirements. Basically the representative from Payless car rental who set the rental up was not knowledgeable and put them in a bad situation. There were language barriers that didn't help. I suggest stay away and stick with common preferred car rental companies. This gets 0 stars. They need to train better with customer service.

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    Reviewed July 16, 2023

    I wish I could give zero stars! This place charged me for a car I never picked up and refused to reimburse me. I rented a car for my nephew online, and when we went to pick it up, I was told I had to pay again because nothing was in the system. My nephew had a meeting and I didn't have time to continue to argue with them. Was never reimbursed, and I would avoid them like the plague. I should have known with a name like Payless, lol.

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    PriceStaff

    Reviewed July 7, 2023

    Good: The person at the counter was nice and very chatty. When I complained about being overcharged, they took off the extra fees.

    Bad: The car was a piece of crap. An extremely basic Nissan Versa with body damage and 80K miles that had basically no amenities. I don't know how old it was, but when I plugged my iPhone into the USB port (no Bluetooth) it identified it as an "iPod." The thing also made kind of a screeching noise when I accelerated, as if the emergency brake was still on (it wasn't).

    The chatty clerk also charged me for insurance when I asked it to be waived. I had to sign/initial my name 9 times on a tiny hard to read screen, while the clerk chatted me up about where to go for the best happy hour deals. I got the impression that she was doing this deliberately to distract me. My initial bill was $170 more than what I was told it would be when I reserved the vehicle. When my flight was cancelled and I needed the car an extra day, they quoted me a price of $160. I made a special trip back to the rental center to return the car and get another one from a different rental agency (Alamo). That experience was 1000% better -- I got a brand new Nissan Camry with all the modern amenities for less than the initial price of the Versa. But that consumed an additional 90 minutes out of my day.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed June 30, 2023

    I was charged almost $500 On my credit card on a date I didn’t go anywhere to need a rental. I have been trying forever to have it taken off but their customer service is terrible, terrible and terrible, and are of NO help, it’s a waste of time. They won’t send me any proof that I rented a vehicle at that date. The reason they had my credit card number was I used them before and had no problem. I even certified a letter to the main address but it was not accepted and letter was returned to me. There is misuse of credit/debit cards once you use them and not much you can do. It has been frustrating but I’ve decided it’s not worth me getting so disgusted with the mess. I guess they need the money more than me.

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    Customer ServiceCoveragePriceStaff

    Reviewed June 28, 2023

    Worst experience ever renting a car. I also got baited and switched in Liberia, Costa Rica. I went with Payless because the quote I got before my trip was cheaper than their competitors. However, this rental cost me twice as much and ended up way more expensive than the airport rental companies. I read every word during the online reservation process and didn't see anything about additional mandatory insurance. Every time I've rented a car, any mandatory insurance is ALWAYS included in the reservation and OPTIONAL insurance is solicited at time of arrival. These jerks try to tell you they're doing you a favor.

    Once you get taken to their location off-airport in the middle of the night they tell you that not only was insurance not included but that the insurance costs more than the rental! They can tell you any number they want. There's obviously nothing you can do. And this guy was so rude. I was arguing with him and he told me to "walk back to the airport." I wasn't about to walk down a highway in the middle of the night with all my bags, and I'm pretty sure the airport was already closed, so I had no choice.

    I paid more for a two week rental than the actual car costs. What a robbery! These people know what they're doing. They know their insurance is stupid expensive. They know that it is not standard practice to not include mandatory insurance in the reservation. They know you don't have a choice, especially after you get on-site after hours.

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    Reviewed June 26, 2023

    My wife and I have been renting vehicles all around the world for over 30 years. In this time we have always tried to return the vehicles in an as clean state as possible. We are sure that many are returned in a shocking state, but this time, in Kona, in May we we were charged $125 cleaning fee for 'Excessive Sand' in the vehicle. We don't argue that there was some sand on the floor mats, but in NO way was this excessive in our opinion? Do we now have to clean our rental cars inside and out before we return them? Is that not their task? We rang the company and protested our case politely, but they did not relent. Needless to say we will not be renting from either Avis (the parent company) or Payless again. You decide.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed May 24, 2023

    I rented a car in Las Vegas on May 19, 2023. The wait at the car rental desk was an hour and a half. The car itself smelled of urine. When I returned the car the attendant there said to leave the keys in the car and I would get an email. I was skeptical about this but had a flight to catch. 3 days later I received a text saying my rental car wasn't returned. I am still waiting to hear back from Payless to get this resolved. I would go with any other car rental company.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed May 22, 2023

    My experience with Payless Rental Car was extremely poor. I understand that cars can break down and our rental did. We spent over two hours and several phone calls before anyone could even find our reservation. We had the confirmation number and already had a vehicle. Finally, after the reservation was found, neither Customer Service nor Roadside wanted to handle the situation. Each department kept transferring to the other.

    The first car we were given was in extremely poor condition with lots of dents and scratches. Not small ones, very noticeable and embarrassing. The car was filthy dirty. It was after 11PM so we accepted the car we were given. After car number one broke down and we were finally able to get a swap. The second vehicle was in worse physical condition than the first with more dents and scratches and things hanging down about to fall off. This vehicle was also filthy dirty. This one seemed to have a sticky spill by the gear shifter on top of not being vacuumed and windows cleaned. Extremely disappointed with Payless Car Rental and would definitely NOT RECOMMEND. I travel and rent cars from airport locations several times a year and this is not acceptable.

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    Staff

    Reviewed May 5, 2023

    Rented car from Payless in Orlando airport to return in Fort Lauderdale airport from 4/17 - 4/27/23. Left Orlando on 4/19 and drove 4 or 5 hours in some places in the rain to Boca Raton. In Boca after several days, to my horror, I happen to notice that I had been driving on a bald right front tire that had the threads showing! My life and others had been in danger. If that tire had had a blowout, I might not be alive or others could have been killed. As soon as I noticed it, I called Payless with the information. I was asked if I wanted the tire changed and then to drive to a gas station. There was very little concern or caring on his part. After some arguing back and forth, I told him I wasn’t driving that car. Eventually a tow truck showed up at 1:30 am. I still needed to catch my flight to NY so they provided an Uber. The lesson from this terrible experience is not to trust that your rental is safe. Payless has not offered any apology for endangering my life!!

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    PriceStaff

    Reviewed April 28, 2023

    I was offered a price that tripled once we got to the counter. I made a direct reservation with the agency online, and they gave me a very low estimate. When I arrived at the counter HIDDEN FEES TRIPLED CHARGES. So many charges that they don't let you know when you do the reservation. They charged me a day for the VEH TIRE/BATTERY FEE, VEH/EXCISE ENERGY FEE, and PRA FEE. I had never had a bad experience with other companies, it was the first time and it will be the last time. They should not deceive the customer in that way.

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    Customer ServicePriceStaff

    Reviewed April 10, 2023

    Rented a car from Payless Apr1-8, 2023 and noticed a $5.99 fuel charge added on to the bill. They showed on the bill that the car was filled to 13.7 gallons instead of 14.3 gallons. Since all they do is look at the fuel gauge this is total **. There is no way the person that spent 1 minute checking me in could see that difference or have any idea of a half a gallon difference. I called them on it and they took it off my bill, but I bet they charge everybody this charge. We had filled up at the Dallas Airport fuel station 1 mile from the return center.

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed April 7, 2023

    Despite leaving a detailed description of my car rental experience and providing pictures of the filth and the bald tires on the vehicle, Payless Customer Service responded with a generic half-apology. The likely auto-generated response was not sincere, nor did it address the serious issues that I mentioned. Below is my reply to the generic response that fell short of professional business standards. I rented the car on March 31, 2023 at DFW airport.

    I am appalled at your response. It was entirely insincere. Nothing you said was an attempt to address the substandard rental car experience truly. The pictures I submitted confirmed the incident, and yet you still failed to offer compensation or attempt to address my situation directly. I am surprised that even after seeing that your company placed customers' health and safety in danger, you only offered a generic response. It is as if you view the car's overall poor condition as a minor inconvenience and not a serious issue. If I were not in a bind and did not have to make an appointment for my parent's memorial service, I would have canceled the rental on the spot and gone with another company.

    Clearly you can see that it was more than just the interior of the vehicle. Yes, the interior was dirty; however, the exterior was filthy as well. Not to mention the dangerous tread level of the tires should be addressed. I did not receive the standard of service that I paid for. These issues were more than minor. Payless did not do what they were contracted to do and by all measures, it was unacceptable.

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    Customer ServiceCoveragePriceStaff

    Reviewed Feb. 18, 2023

    DO NOT RENT FROM THIS PLACE - COMPULSORY INSURANCE AND HIDDEN FEES TRIPLED CHARGES. Needless to say, I was overly excited when I initially found this place that rented cars for a lot less than the bigger car rentals. According to their website, I was renting a standard SUV (Hyundai Tucson) from January 25th - February 4, 2023 (10 days) for $260.32 (base price) plus an additional $104.47 for taxes and fees. The reservation clearly stated it was $364.79 at time of pick up.

    However, nothing could it be farther away from the truth. When I got there, Alberic, the sales rep behind the counter, told me that it was mandatory to get their compulsory insurance, which immediately raised the estimated charges from $364.79 to $930.18 ($565.39 more than what I was quoted. This amount also included other taxes). Needless to say, I wasn’t happy at all. I explained to the sales rep that I always use American Express, which covers as a car rental insurance, and that I also had GEICO as my driver’s insurance company, to which he only said, “if you don’t get our insurance, you don’t get to rent our cars”.

    I saw other very angry customers making the same point I was trying to make, but the sales rep seemed very unmoved by customers’ claims. Due to the circumstances, I had to rent the car for one day, which cost me $138.42, but luckily I was able to get a car from elsewhere, where they didn’t try to scam money from me.

    It’s extremely sad that Payless Car Rental tries so hard to take advantage of perfectly insured U.S. Citizens’ drivers. This type of practice leaves a very sour taste on tourists’ mouth. The sales rep was not disrespectful, but his nonchalant & unconcerned attitude, just added salt to the wound. Other than the young fellows handing and receiving cars, who were very humble and respectful, the customer service employees and its ownership should be ashamed of themselves.

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    Customer ServiceCoverage

    Reviewed Feb. 13, 2023

    I purchased my car rental through a third party called Priceline. I chose to pay for car rental insurance through priceline. I rented the car October for 3 days and everything was totally fine. I returned the car, no problem. 3.5 months later I receive a letter in the mail saying I'm being charged for a dent! They charged my credit card without showing me any proof of the dent or that I was the one that caused it! Anyway, I paid for insurance so I email customer service asking why I was charged if I have insurance. They told me that's not their problem, I need to speak to the third party payer, who was Priceline. I call Priceline, they tell me to call Allianz Insurance Company. After HOURS on the phone, Allianz refuses to pay for the dent because the claim was made outside the "45 day window" of my coverage. WORST EXPERIENCE EVER! PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM THIS FRAUDULENT COMPANY! I WILL NEVER USE THIS SERVICE AGAIN!!!

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    Price

    Reviewed Dec. 14, 2022

    I failed to remove the gas hose from a Payless Rental car and as I was backing away, the hose stretched and snapped off the plastic gas cap. The cost of a plastic gas cap is $45 and the plastic housing it attaches to is probably another $100 or so. Yet, 8 months after this happened a third-party insurance company made a claim of $3,200 and showed repairs to areas behind the gas cap and other areas that suffered no impact whatsoever. The only contact with the car was the outstretch gas hose and the only damage was the gas cap. This is such a shameless money grab that I would never rent from this company again.

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    Verified purchase
    Customer Service

    Reviewed Nov. 29, 2022

    For a company that calls themselves, Payless, it is absolutely NOT true! They have so many hidden fees that they do not even tell you about. My car rental was double the amount that I selected when reserving my rental in Chicago! The customer service was poor at the counter and no explanation of all these charges, let alone I signed for something that included more than what I was told I was signing for. Now, dealing with customer service, they have the opportunity to make this right but are only acknowledging 1/4 of my charges but telling me, "Thank you for the feedback" and sympathizing with me. **! I will NEVER use them again, and you should too!

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    Staff

    Reviewed Nov. 17, 2022

    George from the Kansas City airport Payless helped me out when Hertz failed to honor my reservation with them and I was stranded at the airport. He gave me a nice car at a good rate. It was just what I needed. Go George.

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    Sales & MarketingPrice

    Reviewed Nov. 4, 2022

    I was offered online a price that doubled one we got to the counter. I hate that they seem to bait and switch the product once you have shuttled to their location. I will never rent from this company again.

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    Customer ServicePricePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Nov. 1, 2022

    A zero rating would have been my choice. The Payless rental service in San Diego Airport is a franchise. A more appropriate name would be "PAYMORE" or "WORTHLESS". I have rented twice from this company at SAN and every time they have swindled me. The first time our flight was delayed and we arrived at the counter over an hour after the reservation time. They said they could not give the car for the reserved rate and nearly doubled the rate from 200 to over 400 dollars. Last weekend I reserved a so called "payless special." When doing the paperwork at the desk, the last thing you sign is the total price which was suddenly 30 dollars more than the rate I had reserved the vehicle for. I had a print out of the reservation with price and reservation number with me, but they would not budge. They wasted two hours of my time.

    The "special" was a rundown tiny vehicle with more scratches, dents you would think were possible and a damaged windscreen. I was hesitant to rent this car but when I went back they offered me 4 similar vehicles in similar terrible shape, so I decided to take the initial one assigned. The tiny damage slip was filled completely with all the damage notations. After bringing it back 2 days later, I asked the attendant for a receipt, but he said it would be emailed to me. Had to call them a few days later to get my drop off receipt. I first called the central payless office but they said they could not help me as it is a franchise and not in their system. All in all again a horrible experience. For me never again. This Payless franchise needs to be investigated for ripping off their customers.

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    Reviewed Oct. 27, 2022

    It took me 2 1/2 hours to get my car. Nathan said he would give me a discount for my inconvenience. I received a car that the GPS was not working, and the car had damage inside and out. He said he would charge me $28.00 per day instead of the $43.00 per day rate to make up for the 2 1/2 hour wait. I was charged the full $43.00. I was told by Payless this is a franchise, and they could not help me.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Oct. 6, 2022

    I would go out of my way to never rent from this car company again. A group of us had to wait almost 40 minutes for a shuttle from the airport to the car rental location. Watched multiple shuttles for all the other rental companies come and go. When I finally called them, I got a very rude woman who said the shuttle would be there "any minute." It finally arrived about 15 minutes later.

    The representative asked me if I was staying in the PA/NJ area, and I said yes, I was going to New Jersey. She never warned me that I would either need an EZ pass or cash for tolls. So when I was driving up to the first toll and had to make that choice, they basically left me no choice but to break the law and go through EZ pass because I didn't have cash (who has cash anymore?? lol). I was really uneasy about this and had to do it several times. It turns out they just bill my credit card, but this would have been lovely to know upfront. I doubt, had I been pulled over, that the state trooper would have been as understanding.

    The actual building is nowhere near the airport--it's not even near the other off-site car rental places. And bringing the car back was concerning because I had to stop and get gas by myself and this is NOT a safe neighborhood. When I brought the car back, we had to witness the customer service rep and the shuttle driver get into it over the walkie-talkies because he was telling her he needed gas, and she told him no, he needed to take us to the airport. Now, I wanted to get to the airport quickly just like anyone else, but I was not interested in running out of gas. Luckily we made it, but the whole thing was awkward and a bit unnerving not knowing if we would make it. All in all, the worst car-rental experience I have ever had.

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    Reviewed Sept. 3, 2022

    Purchased my car from this dealer. Had pads, calipers and rotors replaced. After 7 thousand miles they failed. Brought car back. They said same parts had to be replaced again. Charged me again and claimed they never fixed the before even though I had the receipt.

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    Verified purchase
    Customer ServicePricePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Sept. 3, 2022

    We rented a vehicle with Payless through our American Airlines reservation. After waiting for an extensive amount of time at their counter, the vehicle they provided had dents, scratches and other blemishes across the exterior. The interior was filthy and smelled. As a result of the first wait time we were running late for our meeting, we decided to just take the vehicle and have the lot attendant note all of the issues. We asked the attendant if he had noted all of the damage and his response was "I circled the entire car" referring to the vehicle likeness on their "pink slip". Having the issues noted by their representative, we continued on with our weekend.

    When we arrived at the airport car rental return the attendant's eyes widened and he looked dumbfounded, we immediately informed him we received the vehicle in this condition and showed him a copy of the pink slip reflecting the condition we had received the vehicle. He and another female attendant continued to process the vehicle, looking inside and asking us to verify we had all of our belongings and for the keys. Neither of the representatives mentioned any interior smell, we did tell them the interior was filthy when we picked it up, we were not warned or informed there could be a charge to "repair the damage" of the smelly/dirty interior. Last week we received a letter from Payless Car Rental "Customer Service" which stated they intended to charge us $450.00 for "damages".

    We immediately sent an email, with all of the pictures we took at the rental car lot when we first saw the vehicle along with a copy of their "pink slip" noting the vehicle was really unfit for rental. This morning we received an email response with spelling and grammatical errors basically telling us, sorry, the charges are valid but they would offer us 25% off. You cannot make this stuff up, will never ever ever use this or another "discount" rental car company again. They also pre-charged us to fill the tank, there was no option for us to waive this and return the car full, thankfully, we read reviews of prior customers who returned the car full and were still charged, we returned the vehicle without filling the tank. That cost us a $25.00 "customer service" fee and $82.58 or 16.2 gallons, the tank's capacity, at $5.10/gallon. Thank you for the platform and ability to share our story and prevent some one else being treated the same way.

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    Customer ServiceSales & MarketingPunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 27, 2022

    Bait & Switch organization. Rude and disrespectful. I arrived at the car rental desk at 9:50 am, 2.5 hours late, the person who greeted me told me my reservation was cancelled because I was late and my rate of $350 for a midsized SUV was no longer valid. They then tried to rent me the same class of car, exact same, for $600. When I said no and asked for the manager, the gentleman mocked me for threatening him and engaged the manager (sitting next to him). The agent and manager then said they could give me a Kia Soul for the $350 (even though I reserved a Midsize SUV, eg, Jeep Compass.) I asked if the Kia Soul was a midsize SUV and the manager said it was. Of course, it's not.

    The deception, mocking, ridiculing and overall horrible experience will certainly dissuade me from renting a car from Payless and using Hotwire in the future. I ended up leaving and renting a car from a different rental agency, one that was very respectful, laughed at the fact Payless called a Kia Soul a midsize SUV, and told me they hold reservations for 24 hours. I also found this to be a bait and switch tactic and really think the FTC and Justice Departments should be aware of. The whole experience was terrible.

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    Punctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Aug. 11, 2022

    Same experience as others here. Basically took a deposit, then altered bill to reflect that I owed them 3 weeks later. DO NOT use this company! We used the Denver location and the guy straight lied to my face guaranteeing that I would get deposit back. Don’t even bother asking for child car seat, totally rolled their eyes at me.

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    CoveragePricePunctuality & Speed

    Reviewed Aug. 7, 2022

    Reserved a rental car Through Orbitz but was to pay for the rental at pickup site. Little or no information was provided to me at pickup. Said I couldn’t use The insurance I had already paid for. Had to buy more insurance. Verbally I was quoted a price For the insurance. Had just gotten off a 12 hour flight and really just

    Wanted to be on my way. In hindsight I should have asked for a receipt. Upon return of my rental, a day early, the car was inspected. I left it with a full tank of gas, no damage. Woman said, "Ok you'r all set." Again I didn’t ask for any kind of receipt. Was in a hurry to get to my flight. When I checked my credit card I was charged $300 more Than I was verbally quoted. All I want is a receipt to see What I am paying For. As of today 3 weeks later no one seems to be able to provide me with anything telling me what I was charged for. Terrible service. Will never use them again nor will I recommend Them to anyone! Zero stars!!!

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    Verified purchase
    PriceStaff

    Reviewed Aug. 1, 2022

    This is an amazing place to rent cars!!! Teddy and Michael ** have made me a happy renter for many years. They have come thru in many a clutch and even when they were oversold on the vehicle I wanted they kept me abreast of my options. Great prices, great service and even better great people!!!! I have rented cars, vans and even cargo and 15 passenger vans when they had them. Airport location, Northeast location does not matter. This company and team should get 10 stars if I could give it to them. Give them a try and trust me you will not be disappointed!

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    Customer Service

    Reviewed July 26, 2022

    This place is awful. Terrible customer service. It is worth the extra $20 to use a different rental company. They will lie for more money then refuse to admit fault/fix their mistake. Will never use this company again.

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    Reviewed July 20, 2022

    Rented through Hopper for, at arrival was told of $250 deposit which I would get back, total on kiosk was $270 on top of the $546 I already paid, I assumed that $270 include the $250 deposit I was getting back, didn't want to hold the line up so I went forward with it. Turns out the $270 was separate from the $250, it was just additional crap like insurance which I already declined on Hopper. Completely bogus.

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    Customer ServicePunctuality & SpeedStaff

    Reviewed July 10, 2022

    I have rented many cars before in my life, but I have never or will never rent a car from Payless Car Rental again. I rented a car from Payless because my car was in the shop. I checked all prices and choose Payless. There was no one at the airport desk. The female that was sent over knew nothing about how to work the business. Someone else came over and helped her 3X. I waited for 30 minutes to have my car brought to me and no one showed. Then I found out the car I reserved was not available. I was reassigned a car. It also was not available.

    I could not get my money back to go to another car rental business! I was told there would be a $250 hold on my account because I was using a debit card plus the car charges. I was charged a fuel fee, but I would get that charge back if I returned the car with a full tank of gas. Well, after 3 hours, yes 3 hours, I finally got a car. The car they brought me had never been vacuumed from the previous customer and had remnants of someone who ate in the car. So much for coronavirus cleaning! It was returned 3 days later. I received an email bill and, I was charged for a car I never was given or drove!! The charge was for a week. I never got my fuel charge back and as of today after contacting customer service twice, I am still be being overcharged for a larger car that was never given to me or that I drove. This business should be closed for fraud is for no other reason. I don't know how they are allowed to get away with this kind of practice.

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    Verified purchase
    Staff

    Reviewed June 19, 2022

    Sorry I rented from these people. Trouble from the beginning. Was told of extra 250.00 charge because I was leaving San Diego county. Then the vehicle was well used. Dents all the way around. The carpet under the driver had a hole worn in it. Mileage was nearly 60 thousand, found empty alcohol container under driver's seat besides other trash found that after family trip to Yosemite. During initial drive north found nail in front tire and engine temp keep going above normal so overall giant piece of Crap. Their motto should be Payless expect Wayless.

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    Sales & Marketing

    Reviewed June 13, 2022

    Completely bogus, I booked with them through Hopper and just like several others have claimed I declined any additional insurance or damage waiver and that the fee charged at pickup was only a deposit. However, weeks later the charges have cleared and told that it is not a deposit yet additional charges for things I did not agree to. When I responded to their claim they even sent me another customer's bill as "proof" that wasn't even me. I'm not sure how this business is even allowed to still operate as it is 100% a scam.

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    Verified purchase
    Customer ServiceStaff

    Reviewed May 30, 2022

    I needed to rent a vehicle to attend my daughter’s graduation in San Francisco, online I chose the option to rent a vehicle with unlimited mileage, I picked up the vehicle on May 26, 2022 around 7pm from Payless car rental at the airport. The problem began on 5/28/2022, while on a trip from hotel room to a store, going up a hill, the vehicle’s transmission gave out. My reasoning for this is because in the am I saw transmission fluid leak where the car was parked at hotel the morning after. At 12:30am I rolled the car into a safe location to park the car. I dialed the office number and used #3 prompt service to get roadside assistance, I was not connected w/ anyone and was given a 1800 to dial if no one answered. I was connected to someone who asked me for an RA number. The number on paperwork was not on their system. Was advised to call company and get correct number in the am when the office open.

    We purchased an Uber, got back to hotel, & at 7am we called the company and were given an alternative ID number. We called roadside assistance, they set up a tow and Uber service to go pick up the car rental replacement. The Uber dropped us off at a random Avis office that was closed. We tried calling back and that is when the Run around began. An employee at this office that was closed was kind enough to give us a ride to the airport that was near by thinking maybe the car was there. And simply the drop off was a mistake. Well come to find out there is no Payless at the airport. I begin calling customer service back who tells me to call roadside assistance and getting transferred to supervisors, who told me to wait and transfer me back to the original customer service prompt. I also called the rental place and left voicemails or was hung up by the company, or was also transferred.

    I get in line at Avis, because no Payless, entire time still trying to get ahold of someone to help me on the phone. Avis employee sends us out of airport telling us there is Payless nearby. We get in Uber to this Payless rental car place nearby that ended up being permanently closed. I began calling again, finally get ahold of someone who begins new ticket (roadside assistance) for an Uber to pick us up and take us to the correct place for a replacement car rental. My phone was dying, so I give them a second phone # to contact me on send me notifications. I get notification that the new car rental replacement is in the Oakland intl airport for pick up. But no Uber notification. I begin calling back, and am transferred person to person. It’s afternoon now and we are hungry. We walk to a place to eat 20 mins away.

    Finally get ahold of someone, who tells me Uber is waiting for us at the SF into airport for pick up. I tell them why there? And why no notification to the correct phone when I told them my phone was dying. And sure enough when I charged my phone, the Uber notifications were being sent to the phone that had died. I finally call my daughter and ask her to pick my girlfriend and I up and take us to the Oakland intl airport. We arrive and the MVA# they provided us for replacement car did not exist. An Avis employee that was handling Payless rental place as well began calling the Payless at the SD intl airport and they were on the phone for about an hour getting the run around as well. Eventually they stopped picking up the phone or hanging up on the Avis employee.

    Avis employee took notes and documented everything and gave us a replacement car and wrote up new paperwork but that would match our paperwork. Told us to drop it off at Payless car rental and gave us her contact information to give to Payless. While returning car at SD intl airport on 05/29/2022 @ approx 10:55pm the Payless employee was rude and yelling at me to take vehicle to Avis drop off although I had paperwork and was given instructions to drop off Payless. I went to Avis drop off and was told they understood was I was telling them, but that I need to drop off at Payless. The employee Greg walked me over to Payless and tried explaining the situation to the woman employee who began yelling at us that she didn’t care, and would not take the vehicle back and she didn’t care about the car. While I tried to ask for the woman’s name, she would not give it to me.

    I also stated to her that I would never rent from them ever again and they also had the worst customer service. As I was talking. A gentlemen who did not look like an employee but was the woman’s fiancé began walking towards me and yelling at me. He told me he was the woman’s fiancé and that I was yelling at his woman and that he was going to kick my **. The Avis employee began ushering me away. All while this man began following us. The Avis employee could not close our account but that he would take the vehicle for my safety. I left the garage area and was picked up by girlfriend who was waiting outside. I contacted the Avis employee from Oakland intl airport, who told me to make formal complaint and then the contact customer service and try to get ahold of corporate. My account is still not closed even though I dropped off the vehicle. I have the call log available. Of me being on the phone all day Saturday.

    I have the text notifications available as well from roadside assistance. And i imagine there is cameras in the garage to see the interaction between myself and the Payless employee and her fiancé. The footage should also show me dropping off the vehicle. I shall try contacting Payless customer service next. Do Not Rent From Payless, I should have done research, except I just blindly trusted a rental agency at an airport thinking they would be more legitimate.