Payless Car Rental Reviews

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!!!

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.

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....

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!!!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.