Payless Car Rental

The car broke twice during a four-day rental which was supposed to be a beach vacation. One morning I woke up to find the car wouldn't start. I waited half an hour for road service, and the mechanic who jumped the car to start it and examined the battery said he thought the battery probably had problems. Payless gave me a choice: I could wait three hours for them to send a new car or drive the old one back to the airport to swap it, which I did. Then, a day later, a light went on that showed a problem with a tire. Road service told me I should go to a gas station to inflate the tires to see if that would solve the problem. When I mentioned the absence of a tire gauge, the service personnel told me I would have to guess.

When I returned the car, Payless offered me one free day.

I will never use Payless again.

should be 0 or minus star .. very misleading compagny they should be out of business . the customer service is very bad and they advertise cars with 4 doors and you are lucky if you get 2 doors car . never ever rent fro tthem .. and no one should rent from them

Bumped By Payless Car Rental in Orando late January, 2010
I had a confirmed Payless web site reservation. I arrived with my printout and was given very high pressure about the optional insuranceS but politely refused them since I have the Premier Car Rental Protection Program from Amex. Fabio the very rude agent said I would have to pay considerably more than what was stated on my confirmation or he could not give me a car. For over 15 minutes he would not assign me a vehicle so finally I left and went over to one of the top five car rental companies and obtained a car.
In vain I tried to contact management at Payless Headquarters in St. Pete. but they would not call me back. I filled out the on line compaint form-- finally I got Blair a Orlando manager to call me back. Reluctantly he admitted they were oversold and that he would talk to Fabio about his high pressure tactics--he said the only thing he was willing to do for the significant time and effort and extra cost to get a vehicle elsewhere was to offer me an Apology and then he hung up. Payless is run like the rental car companies in the late 80's! Stay away from them!

What a bunch of sleezy, underhanded crooks that use the bait and switch tactic to lure consumers into renting from them by offering cheap internet rates then not providing you with what was quoted. I had a internet quote for $360 for a intermediate car for 10 days. They tried to give me a corolla with 75,000 KM and when I refused - they offered me an upgrade to a hyundai Sonata for $10 per day extra. The Hyundai came with 3/8 tank of fuel (just over a 1/4 tank) and they said just to bring it back with the same - or I would be charged extra! Tell me, how am I to know exactly how much fuel I will use to get back to the base? They do this on purpose, knowing that the renter will always bring back more fuel than they started with. They force you to take thier insurance at $8.95 per day even if you have insurance through your own car or credit card.
heed the warnings on this forum - stay away from Payless it will actually cost you much more!

i have rented 100's of cars over 40 years, worst experience of my life. 16 per day rental for car,
I told them just wanted to supplement insurance to cover my deductible, they told me to initial a few spots and sign, and they recommended special gas deal saying cheapest in town to fill, did not tell me I had to pay for full tank when I already had half full.
Total came to over 524 when the car itself was 80 total. I have never seen misc being 5.5 times
the car. I will let this go.
donkeas@aol.com

Denver no longer has toll booths and has gone totally electronic. This has been a challenge for car rental companies there, but some are taking the opportunity to steal from their customers. Payless Car Rental in one such company. They surcharged us $25 for 20 hours of toll road use Tues (1/19)-Weds(1/20). Other Car Rentals at Denver International charge $8.99 at the very most, or $2.50+ toll fees charged. Most Rental Companies there charge $10-32 for a whole week! We contacted the E-470 Public Highway Authority and they made it clear that they only charge rental companies the exact amount of the toll fees used per car license. What we were charged is unprecedented highway robbery. None of this is revealed on thier on-line website or at the time of confirmation. Only when you are signing thier papers on site do and have no where else to go, do you discover their deceptive practice. We do not wish ill on anyone and want to pay what is fair but as past Colorado residents and frequent travelers to Denver, we feel this extortion must be stopped.

I used to have the same problem with this PAYLESS Car Rental agency at SFO. One time I rented a car for a week to go LA and they threw a fit because I put so many miles on the car. They said the rentals are for local use only. Except that site I reserved it on said it was unlimited miles within the State of California. I had other instances where I had to wait 45 minutes for a car. I had problems with a tire once and had to replace two of them on the road - there was no compensation. So I finally decided never to use Payless which is near the SFO Airport. I suspect that other agencies might be different. I was the management even treating employees like dirt. NO MORE!!!!

Rented on Jan 7th 2010 RUN AWAY from SAN BRUNO Califorina Payless

2007 62,000 toyota corrolla 3 out of four tires are at minimum tread depth,
no windshield fluid and of coarse i found that out when i needed to use it.

Rented for 5 days had to keep for 10 days due to funneral issues on the morning of the 7th day got a call to return car the next day and they were very demanding about it, i explained the situation they could careless.

I called American express explained situation and we had a 3 way conversation, they said that they have alought of customers that LIE to them and that she thought i was doing the same.
I am from Michigan, a professional operater, I do not lie, cheat or steal,

WHY would i fly from Michigan to San Fransisco, use a major credit card, and keep there junk car ?

I will walk before i will ever rent a car from them again. PERIOD !!!!

I just returned from to Cancun Mexico. I stayed at a very nice hotel, but unfortunately used Payless for my car rental needs. When I was doing my research, this company was about half the price of everyone else in Cancun. I though this to be strange since usually all company's are about the same. They also advertised a jeep for the same price of a standard car. I though this to be weird, so I called ahead, and they confirmed this to be true, promissing a jeep once I arrived. I booked with them, and three days later I arrived in Cancun.
I took the shuttle from the airport to the car rental place (all normal) and once I arrived I was told that I had to leave an extra deposit of 2000.00 USDollars because my rate did not include insurance. I could also purchase insurance at an additional 30.00 a day. Since both my credit card and my personal car insurance cover these things, I declined, but still had to leave the 2000 deposit.
When it was time to get the car, my jeep was not available, instead they had me in a standard car, a Chrysler sedan. I pulled out the paperwork, advertisement, and the name of the gentlemen that I had talked to just 3 days earlier. Coincidentally, noone knew who he was.
There was a jeep right there, but they said that it was not driveable. They told me that a jeep would be returned just two days from now, and that I could get it in two days. I agreed. They even asked what hotel I was staying at, and they said that they had a rental counter at that hotel, so I would not have to return to the airport.
OK, I settled for the sedan an enjoyed my vacation. Two days later I went to the hotel lobby, there was nothing about a jeep in my profile. I pulled out all paper work, all names of staff that I had talked to, and still nothing. The young men there connected me to the central office and I esplained everything again. Coincidentally, the gentlemen that I had made my reservation with, and the other guy that had given me the sedan just 2 days earlier were no where to be found, and no one knew when they would return to work. I told them that I would come back in about 1 hour after breakfast.
After breakfast I returned, and guess what....I had to explain my story all over again to someone else, because the gentlemen that I had talked to just one hour ago, was no longer working. At this time I started to raise my voice and unfortunately use profanity. I guess that they found it best to send a manager from another location to deal with me. When he arrived, I calmed down and proceeded to tell him ll about my situation.
When I finished, he asked me to accompany him outside, because he would like to exchange my sedan for a jeep.

Wow! I guess they had a jeep after all, so why did it take so long to get the jeep that I paid for in the first place?????

WARNING - DO NOT USE THIS RENTAL CAR COMPANY!!!!

My experience using this rental car company has been the worst! Upon my arrival to pick up my rental car. I had to stand in line for 5-10 minutes while I waited for the representative behind the counter to finish with his personal cell phone call.

When I was finally acknowledge, he proceeded to have me sign and initial documents with out providing a single explaination as to what I was signing. He never walked out side with me, showed me the car, conducted an inspection....all he did was handed me the keys and said the car was parked in a parking space number. I was little thrown off as to why he never made any attempt to even accompany me to the vehicle. But I dismissed it and went on my way.

I was even more surprised that upon returning the car, I was greeting again with the same type of poor service. What is wrong with these people! Don't they realize the repeat business is driven by providing exceptional customer serice??!! Obviously they just don't get it and with that, they've lost my business. Please take my advice and do not rent from this company! Save yourself the trouble. You a better off choosing another rental car company

This company can make their car rates cheep because they make up the difference with predatory fee practices. My wife and I were renting from NYC and planing to go out of town for the Thanksgiving weekend. The listing in Orbitz said unlimited miles in all caps, but we found out that if you are not flying into the airport, i.e. coming from the city to get out for the weekend, then it said in small writing that you have a mileage limit of about 100-150 miles a day with very large fees when going over. Then we tried to cancel and found another large fee to cancel. You should not take Payless if you hate hidden fees and charges. Also you should not take Payless if you like any customer service, as they are totally void of the ideal that the customer is always right, and I wounder if a customer at Payless is ever right. This was the worst rental experience I have ever had, perhaps the worst travel experience overall, including renting in African countries.

Zero stars.

I rented from Payless in Las Vegas on 12/11/09. The sales lady told me I had a two door hatchback and that I should upgrade for my safety and comfort. Turns out my vehicle was a 4 door sedan, Toyota Yaris. She tried to upsell me the vehicle I had already rented.

She then tried to sell me the prepaid gas option by telling me gas was $2.89 in Las Vegas. I filled up in town for $2.59. She didn't mention that there is no refund for extra gas and never inquired about how much I was driving. She would have happily sold me a $35 tank of gas for the 110 miles I drove. I ended up putting in less than 4 gallons.

She also tried very hard to scare me into buying the grossly inflated auto insurance. She said there is no coverage on the vehicle so you are responsible for everything, loss of use, etc. Typical high pressure sales garbage.

Avoid payless if at all possible. Other rental car companies are a little more expensive but it's worth it to avoid the lies and deceipt.

THE WORST CAR RENTAL - TERRIBLE TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!

We rented from the Pheonix Airport location and they gave us a total lemon, the car was rattling and shaking and the windshield wipers weren't working and of course it rained. We were only there for 2 days and when I returned the car and told the Manager of the terrible condition, she was completely UNPROFESSIONAL and was yelling and saying that out of my 2 day vacation I was suppose to drive 45 minutes back to her and get a different car. Then she had the nerve to say "It must not have been that bad then" I mean seriously, that's her answer - WOW ever heard of you rent pieces of crap and then make the customer wrong for complaining.

This place is such a scam. After waiting half an hour for the shuttle, we arrive at the rental place and wait in an hour line (though there were only 7 people in front of us). We get to the front and encounter the following problems:

1) We were told that we would be getting a Yaris (the man said it like it was a bad car) and said for $30 we could upgrade to a camry. I said that wasn't necessary, we were quite excited to get a Yaris since that is what I normally drive. The man said - you like Yaris's? When we said oh yes, I have it, and its a great car, the guy started typing and said, "Oh, well, we don't have them a lot to offer. Oooh, it seems like we don't have it after all. We'll have to give you a Mitsubishi unless you upgrade." (we didn't upgrade, though I will say if you want to upgrade from a 2 door to 4 door, rave about the 2 door because in his desire to take the car that we wanted from us, he gave us a 4 door)

2) We explain that we don't want the insurance option as our insurance company covers rental cars. The man said that they don't accept outside insurance, and that unless we paid an additional $100 for insurance for the week, that he'd take out a $350 deposit against the credit card. He made it clear that if there was *anything* wrong with the car, including dents, that our credit card would be charged for damage plus money lost as the car is in the shop and that they would have the authority to charge up to $2000 if $350 doesn't cover it. Considering how shabby they were, it was obvious they were going to charge extra if we didn't get the insurance, so we agreed to pay (well 2 out of 3 of us said lets go, but the 3rd just wanted to get this over with)

3) Upon walking out the door, what was there but the exact Yaris the man had just described. I was so mad. I marched back in, ignored the line, and confronted the teller asking why we didn't get that Yaris. He said, "Oooh, we have DEMONSTRATION cars." Right. They bought cars purely to sit on the lot for demonstration purposes only. He actively took the car he was giving us away because it would make us satisified customers and he wanted us to upgrade.

4) I have a feeling that most positive reviews on here are from the company posing as customers, as the company has shown to be deceitful

LIARS AND SCAMMERS! AVOID THIS COMPANY!

(as to the 75 cent toll the woman was complaining about in an earlier review, her daughter probably did run it by mistake. Its really easy to miss. You have to turn off the road, pay the toll, then get back on. We weren't sure if we had to pay since we had just paid a $1 toll a mile earlier, but ends up there are 2 tolls within a mile on that road)

I rented a car in Las Vegas for 4 days. When I returned it they claimed the spoiler was damaged. It was obviously below eye level when I inspected it, yet they claimed it happened on my watch. When I denied being responsible they turned it over to collections and pursued it through a third party (Global Collections Inc.) out of Texas. They threatened my credit and claimed $750 for the spoiler and $145 for administrative fees which they couldn't itemize. Both of these Companies have terrible customer service and don't want to hear your side of the story. I rent cars for business 6-8 times a year and will NEVER go back to Payless under any circumstances. They are by far the WORST experience in the car rental industry. Good luck in Backruptcy Payless. I'll be celebrating the day you file and the morons that work there are on the street.

Without question the worst rental car company I have ever used in the past 30 years!! I rented it at the San Francisco airport. Not only was the car filthy, they tried to charge me for a chipped windshield which was chipped when I rented the car. The people running this operation were sleazy at best. They were also trying to rip off some other customers who spoke very little English. When I tried to contact the parent company all I got was a recording. My advice: NEVER use this company. Even the van driver talked about all the complaints he heard. I am astonished that they are still in business.

Where do I start? Well, if I had wanted to get ripped off, then this company would have been an excellent choice! I reserved online through Expedia for a very reasonable price and once I got to Las Vegas, I soon saw my smile turn upside down!

Not only did they try to overcharge me by--um--$600, they pretended like I was an idiot when I questioned the charge before signing the paperwork. The car rental was for 10 days and in a Hyundai Accent--the cheapest car on the totem pole, and they charged my credit card $1,300.

Uh, I NEVER signed anything because I quickly got Expedia on the phone and explained that I was being ripped off. When the Expedia rep talked to the Payless rep, she ended up siding with the snakes of Payless!! I was doubly pissed that Expedia didn't stand by me for getting swindled THROUGH them and that the Payless rep had the audacity to pretend I was an idiot that couldn't add up numbers that didn't ADD up in the first place!

I stormed straight over to Hertz--who was right across from them--and they gave me an excellent on the spot deal!! I got a 2008 Prius Hybrid for less than half the cost of Payless.

And by the way, I ended up having to dispute the charges from Payless with my credit card company.

Moral of the story: NEVER RENT FROM PAYLESS CAR RENTAL!!! I'm pretty sure they have more than a few dishonest people working their counters who can't add. Go with Hertz!

Wow, where do I start? Well first, we obviously didn't read these reviews before reserving with Payless - BIG mistake. The first little hint of things to come came while waiting for the Payless shuttle at LAX. A Payless bus did eventually materialize, but only after about 20 minutes of waiting, during which time there were literally DOZENS of shuttles from Avis, Hertz, Dollar, Enterprise, et al, that passed us by. When we arrived at the rental place, we noted that there was no one manning the counter. Finally, someone appeared, but we still spent about 30 minutes in line (with only one customer ahead of us). It's a very... slow... operation - if you're in a hurry, you're in trouble. We were glad when all was squared away and we were able to head to the lot for our car, a minivan. Okay, how to describe this van. Hmmm. For starters, it had been keyed around the entire perimeter of the car. Upon closer inspection, we discovered a HUGE wad of gum stuck to one of the windows. There also appeared to be remnants of paint on the windows and body of the car. But the best was yet to come... the interior of this thing was beyond belief. My teenagers joked that it looked as though someone had been abducted and murdered in it. There were bizarre splatters on the ceiling and walls, dark, greasy fingerprints all over the visors (and, ominously, on the interior of the back gate, suggestive of someone trying to claw their way out of the car), there was... something (easily removed with a baby wipe) covering the steering wheel, and assorted stains over EVERY seat and upholstered surface. "Guess that stain" became a little pastime: Was it vomit? Blood? Something worse? A combo-platter of bodily exuviates? After checking out the only other minivans on the lot, we realized that all were equally disgusting and decided to take the car. My kids refused to sit on the seats, so we bought a roll of duct tape and taped over every stain. Once on the road, we discovered that the cup holders were filled with cigarette ashes and that there was garbage stuffed under the seats. Clearly, this thing had passed from one sucker to the next (us!) without ANY - and I mean ANY - maintenance or cleaning at all. Later discoveries: the front and back tires were mismatched, causing the van to "shudder" at high speeds, the center console was loose, the carpet in the front was coming up, the key sometimes stuck in the ignition, and the brakes gave off a strong burning odor. Oh, and it only had half a tank of gas. To it's credit, it didn't strand us anywhere, but that's about all I can say for it. When we returned the car (also at LAX), my husband commented to the employee giving it the once over, that it was the filthiest car he'd ever rented. "You got a complaint, take it to the manager," was the oh-so-helpful reply. After reading the other comments here, we will be scrutinizing our bill and, of course, NEVER renting from Payless again. Consider yourself warned!

Actually zero stars.

The people in their toronto airport outlet are obviously trained thieves. They got me for over $600 on damage that was pre-existing. The car basically had damage everywhere and I missed a spot on the 15 minute inspection.

Here is my suggestion: take a digital camera with you and photograph the car from every angle.

An FBI sting is needed here. They steal or try to steal from each and every customer.

Better yet: dont even go to that company. They are terrible people - the scum of the earth and they know it and dont care. They and all their ancestors and descendants should be ashamed of themselves. They will be reborn as cockroaches that ultimately perish when a dog vomits on them.

Payless Toronto. Stinks!

I made my reservation for a late arrival and they stayed open past 11pm for me. Picked us up at the airport and rushed to the office. Hurried through the paperwork and we wee on our way.

Had the car for a week. Dropped it off at the hotel next door because the office wasn't open yet and this is their procedure for early drop off.

Got home saw the cahrge on my AMEX and paid it. Their charge was only a few dollars more than the estimate on their web site.

Now I see that they charged my AMEX twice for the same amount.

I'm sure they will say it was a computer problem and that they had nothing to do with it. Ha!

First and last time to rent from this company.

Zero Stars. I dealt with the Montreal/Dorval location. The Montreal Dorval location treated me badly.

Dishonest. Deceitful. Rude.

I have a longer story, but the basic facts are they claimed old damage as my responsibility and billed my credit card without my signature, authorization, or even knowledge. It is my belief that they are scamming people though their customers' insurers.

I will never deal with them again.

Most interesting exchange:

Me: "Your agent did not mention any of this damage to me, and in fact told me that the car had no damage when asking me to sign the form"

Payless: "Well, let that be a lesson to you."

Me: "Is the lesson that your employees are not to be trusted?"

Payless: "You are responsible for inspecting the car, and you signed it, so you are responsible for all the damage."

I agree with the last 70 people. This is a badly run company which doesn't appear to care about customer service. I had the misfortune to rent from them twice before and was unhappy both times. This time, my secretary booked it without asking me. I reserved a midsize car from SFO airport for $138 a day! and was presented with a dirty, scratched and dented car. I complained that this Toyota Yaris was not a midsize car but the mgr insisted that this is what they consider to be "midsize". As I had to leave to get to a business appt I had no choice. I got home and noticed that on the payless website, they advertise the Yaris as their cheapest economy option!!
I called, email and left messages and have yet to get a response. NO SUPRISE. If I could give them 1/4 of a star I would have. 1 is too much.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. This is the worst experience I have ever had with any company. They are liars, and crooks. Rented a car from them online. Was upsold and told the car was "too small." Make a long story short they put a hold on my credit card. I never gave them permission to do this. They lie at every turn about what they do. They want your card number. Charges kept appearing days after I returned the car. I had brought it back 40 minutes after I had it. Decided never to business with them again. The other reviews of one star are dead on. Any 5's are their people. DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER! Even after I had them out of my life. They kept charging my card for 3 days after. Made dozens of calls. Hung up on multiple times. Stay away. You have been warned.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY! They are scam artists to the extreme. I can't begin to tell you how bad it was. Reserved a car online before arrival. Get there, they tell me the car is too small for my group. Typical bait and switch. They upgrade me, of course at their charge, try to sell me on this gas/refill garbage. Go down to get the car. Have to inspect it in the dark. We did, mark the areas and returned to their outside booth. Drove away. Looked at bill. They put a hold on my credit card. Didn't say a word!. I could go on, and on. They are liars, cheats, and criminals! Go somewhere else. Pay the five bucks more and read reviews before renting.
DO NOT GIVE THEM CREDIT CARD NUMBER! They will charge you multiple tiimes, day after day. Tried to rent for 100 for 4 days. They charged my card over 500 dollars. Spent days trying to get them out of my life. They are rude, will hang up, and this is standard practice. They are trained to do this.
GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!

I wish I'd read all these opinions before booking our Payless reservation. After waiting in a line that didn't move for 45 minutes, we finally abaondoned Payless and called Enterprise to pick us up at the Payless counter.
TOTAL frustration!!!! These folks should be banned by the airports!

I rented this car at Orlando airport. My experience with payless has been terrible at the least. Long waiting lines, unfriendly staff trying to trap customers into cheap business tactics by pursuading them to upgrade the car with higher charges. They made me upgrade the car I had booked by telling me they only had a 2 door car in the category I had booked and when I upgraded at a much higher cost they said they were giving a standard car but instead gave a me gas guzzler jeep without even telling me. When I went back to complain about that they made me stay in line for 15 more mins. when i told me I didn't want to upgrade anymore, they said the car I had booked wasn't available anymore and the other car wa sbeing washed and would take abut half an hour so I settled at getting the standard car. The real trouble started almost one month after I returned the car. They first charged my credit card for $15 without any notice and when I called them they said it was the fees for the toll road tax that I might have missed paying. Then again after a week they again charged my card for $26 without any notice or information and when I called they said they had no information why it was charged and told me to fax them a copy of my Bank statement detailing these charges. I have faxed them my bank statement and waiting for their response......will update after I hear from them. but how can they charge my credit card or amnyone's credit card without having prior consent or permission to do so.
Overall a terrible and painful experience.

The Payless Rental experience of the other travellers was worse than mine. Anyhow, in my case I had a similar experience as many of the other travellers mentioned. I got into Orlando late at 10:15pm. It took forever for the bus to pick us up and take us to the rental place. Finally, at 11:15 pm, I was at the counter. The Customer service Rep was courteous though I was not aware of what would happen next.

I had reserved the car through Travelocity and the car was already paid for. However, when I got to
the counter, they first said that there will be a $350 charge on the card as a reserve. Though I was leary about this, I let that slide. Then they mentioned that the Compact was a 2 door and not a 4 door when the advertizing did not specify that anywhere. With kids and car seats with a family, I was not going to take a 2 door. Then they were encourageing me to upgrade the car to a 4 door for another $100 I had already paid. I was not going to do that and I stuck to my guns letting them know that I want a 4 door. I mentioned to them that I am willing to cancel the reservations and take the Disney buses for transportation since I was going to the Parks and was staying in the Disney area with access to the buses. The car was an option and not a necessity for me. At that time, the manager magically found a CAR that was a 4 door and that had space to handle the luggage for a family. The return process was smooth , however. After almost one hour of back and forth with the Customer Rep and the manager, I was able to get out of the rental company's parking lot and 12 am with my kids falling asleep.

Based on my experience and other Customers who were at the location, I got lucky due to threatening them that I will walk if I am not provided the right car. Buyer beware when dealing with this company. This seems like a bait and switch company.

THE WORST EXPERIENCE EVER!!!! DON"T DO IT!

I looked online for the best deals on renting a car and this company had the best rates! So I thought.....
When I got down to Orlando Florida location by the airport, I waited in line for 2hours!!!!!!! I had a 9month old with me and didn't think I would be waiting in line at all!!!
When I got to the counter the agent didn't even say thanks for waiting? I gave him my reservation and he came back with all these additional charges and then told me they would have to put a $350 hold on my credit card for a dedectable when I gave him my car insurance information. I told the agent not to put the hold on because thats why I brought my insurance information!!! He said we don't know for sure if you have insurance thats why we have to do it! WOW!!!! I asked him why ask for my insurance card at all then? The agent said well, we don't even really need that.
I went to that place thinking I was paying $132 and when I walked out, I paid $289!!!!!!!!
I called the general manager and he said we do 500 rentals a day and its ok if we now only do 499! This place is a scam!! All they care about was making money and not about customer service! I did ask to speak to the manager at the Orlando location and she said "I'm to busy"!!!!!
Horrible service and horrible business! Never ever again, and I will tell everyone I know not to rent from PAYMORE CAR RENTAL!!!!!
DO NOT RENT FROM PAYLESS CAR RENTALS they will get you for every penny!!!

Toronto, Ontario Canada.

Rented reasonably nice Ford Flex for one week. ALmost new, full leather, all upgrades. Manager and agents were pleasant.

Returned the car a week later, same condition. They charged me what they quoted me (which was, with all of the fees, insurance and taxes, over TWICE the quote).

Two weeks later, notice a charge on my crdit card for nearly $600 US. Called Payless, no one will return my call. Two days after the charge, I get a letter that says the car was returned damaged, they charged $600 for two scratches they claim were incurred while we had the car. No pictures, no other evidence except their word.

This company is a scam, and they willl take advantage of you if you let them. I could not give them less than one star, or I would.

This was my first and last experience with Payless. I arrived at the pickup location, Orlando, FL to pick up my van rental and had to wait 90+ minutes to check in and receive the rental van. There were 6 people working at the desk, so it is not an issue of short staffing. The staff did not appear to recognize or care that the line was out the door and barely moving. Also, the checkin process seems very inefficient as staff had to leave the building in some cases to go outisde to get keys to cars to give to the customers checking in! When we finally got to the front of the line, we espressed our dissatisfaction to the staff member and were told "it's always like this." First of all, I find it very hard to believe that it could always be like that or customers would never rent from Payless again. I personally, definitely will not.

As a business customer, we did not have the luxury of having hours to kill waiting to receive a rental car, as we were in town for a specific event with a timeline at the convention center. In addition, when checking in we were told that the type of mini van that we needed with stow-and-go seats was an additional $69. Their website is misleading in not showing the different charges for different types of mini-vans. 2 other customers checking in at the same time as us experienced the same issue and were also upset to find the additional costs. This is a bait and switch tactic. We chose Payless based on the cost savings from other rental companies, however in the end, that savings was much less than expected AND we waited 90+ minutes in line. All in all, it was a terrible experience.

PLEASE READ THIS

I needed a car in Las Vegas Las Vegas for a few hours June 8,2009 to make a short business trip.
Long Wait--High price $41.99 total fee, requested economy car--not available-- must take compact.,with no extra insurance. At car pick-up point the lady was not polite. Told me to inspect the car for damage. I walked into the dark garage--tried to walk around the car. There was a dim light on one side. --I saw a few dings on the passenger door. Walked back to desk. I TOLD THE GIRL IT IS TOO DARK TO INSPECT THE CAR!

I drove to my business meeting. parked in a large lot with few other cars, then returned the car 5 hours later. I put 27 miles on the car. There is no chance that a scratch occurred when I had the car.

When I returned after five hours the attendant said there was a scratch on the rear quarter panel.
I found a small scratch, no dent. This was something that a bit of rubbing compound would remove in ten minutes. But I didn't put in on the car.

Today I received the following bill from PAYLESS

Physical Damage $681.25
Loss of Use 53.98
Administrative Fee 100.00
Total $835.23

I will keep you informed as I plan to fight this to the end

I made a reservation a month before my visit to SF and received 2 e mail confirmations that I would have a full size rental available. When I arrived at their offsite location, (which involves walking to the edge of SFO and waiting at a street corner for their mini van) I, and other families waiting, were told that they were out of cars. They had no solutions. DO NOT be lured by the low price. It means nothing when you can't actually get a car and the other rental agencies are tapped out.

DO NOT USE PAYLESS CAR RENTAL!!
I had rented a car in Tampa Bay FL. This place was the WORST!! First I had to wait for about an hour and a half to even talk to someone in this little tiny whole in the wall they call a rental place. Secondly they asked if I wanted to upgrade I said NO but come to find out they had to upgrade us.. Thirdly, I took out insurance and they still charged me for a whole new windshield. Then when I wanted to talk to a manager every time I called (about 10) there was always a new manager.
THIS PLACE SUCKS NEVER USE IT!!!!

I had the misfortune of renting a car from Payless Car Rental in San Juan , Puerto Rico . Everything was going smooth until I saw the bill charged way more than what was quoted online and they refused to take my insurance. Instead I had to pay extra for their insurance and the week rental came out to more than $700. To top it all off a chubby employee stole my cellular phone while inspecting the car which cost $650 and I had to replace it with a new one. This individual did not even wait for me to leave the lot I went inside to sign some papers and then go to the car to get my things, just to find out he stole my phone. Since I had to get on a flight in an hour I couldn't stay to call the police or dispute anything. BEWARE !!! Dont rent from dishonest theives. Go with major rental companies.

Payless Car Rental Company - Worse Rental Company

Santo Domingo Office in Dominican Republic has unsafe cars. Please do not rent from this location if you value your life. One of my tires blew on my second day of driving and we have driven less than 30 miles in two days. Went back to the office and was provided a new car, but all the tires were worn out. Requested the SUV with the only good tires on the lot, but was denied. We had to select three tires from two cars and even help changed the tires to the car we end up with. We had to select the best three tires from the worse and ended up not even taking short trips besides going to and from the hotel.

This location even used the old manual credit card machine and printed two carbon copies. They even photo copied my drivers license and card information. A week later I had an additional charge to my credit card for a plane ticket from Malaysia to Vietnam. This location is very shady and may have sold my information. Luckily my credit card company voided the charge and issued me a new card.

I made a formal complaint with the corporate office (as per the website) and it has taken two weeks before my first reply. It was due to several voice messages, two on-line complaint and three e-mails with pictures before their first response to forward my complaint to the Santo Domingo office where my initial complaint was. This company does not care about customer service and only offered $50 discount on my next rental.

Please do not rent from this company, especially from the Santo Domingo Office, especially that they do not care about customer service.

I guess the name says it all “Payless” you get what you pay for and you get less.

Pros: None

Cons: Cars within many miles and maintenance does not exist. Cars are not safe.

Bottom Line: Do not rent from this company, lousy company and their cars are not safe.

Tampa, FL Location. Rude staff! I received an "excellent" rate online and when I went to go pick it up I noticed that they had almost no cars on the lot. I gave the man at the counter my confirmation page I printed from the internet and just then a bunch of people got off the shuttle and came to pick up cars. Realizing he can make more $$ of another rental he began to ask me if I would take the car outside of FL and I told him I was not planning on it. He said that the car must stay in FL and that if the car leaves the state he will make the car inoperable with the lojack system and make me tow it back! Again, I told him I was not going to take the car outside of Florida and he asked me if I was sure! I told him that I would rather him be honest with me and tell me to my face that he would rather rent my car to some poor schmuck who just got off the shuttle who will pay a premium price than rent to car to me who reserved it for next to nothing on the internet seeing as their car inventory is very low!! I walked out and went to a competing car rental place who were more professional and not very much more expensive than Payless.

Payless Car Rental Montreal – hidden geographic restrictions on ‘unlimited miles’

A few months ago I booked a car on Travelocity to go from Montreal to a location 600 km away and back again. Naturally like a fool I gravitated to the cheapest option – Payless car rental based in the Montreal airport hotel, an independent franchise. What a delight when on the screen I saw unlimited miles; however little did I realize there was a hidden clause on the next tab of the page under geographical restrictions saying unlimited miles is only for the province of Quebec.

Anyway I went ahead and booked the car and also 2 hotel rooms in my destinations for the 3 day vacation. The day before our journey I went over to the location and was straight off asked where I was going, and like an honest bloke I said such and such place. I was immediately nailed with the ‘then sir, unlimited miles does not apply.’ I was reeling. Should I cancel and get another car? Should I try to negotiate? It was too late to cancel my vacation. This was the classic bait and switch.

I left the place and sat in the lobby to think for a bit; it’s interesting that when I dropped of the car later I saw 2 fellows cancel their reservation on the spot. Anyway it was too late so I went ahead and got the car, and begged them to lower my over distance fees. I hate getting surprised like this. I hate losing control over my destiny, and being at the mercy of others. Anyway through their infinite magnificent grace and mercy they decided to extend by daily km allowance out of province and to reduce my charge per over km. Nonetheless when I brought the car back I was hit with a huge excess charge. Of course the smart fellow behind the counter blamed it on me, saying it was my fault I did not read the fine print. How convenient. I wonder how the credit card companies like it now, in North America, that the governments are forcing them to vomit the sneaky fine print out into bold letters in boxes above the sign here line.

I wanted to be a bit of a smartass so I asked the guy, what if I lied and said I would drive around aimlessly inside Quebec. He said, well sir we will check this on the audit of the contract, with the satellite location finder records showing you left Quebec, and we will then hold you in infraction of the contract. So don’t try that – honesty is the best policy always. By honesty I mean the complete truth, not part of it.

By the way this geographic limitation is quite bizarre. I only see this in Quebec only with Payless of course. I used to live in Boston for 10 years and regularly rented cars there for unlimited mileage and I never saw any geographic restrictions. I looked around other rental agencies and I think unlimited only applies to Canada, and entering the USA is altogether another aspect. These is in general a cautionary tale – call ahead and confirm that the unlimited miles means what it says; calls the agent you used [online or otherwise] and the rental firm. Finally get it in writing that it is indeed unlimited.

Conclusion – ‘Payless’ means ‘Getless’, and you end up paying the same as others, through tricks and games and deception.


Located in the Lobby of the Hilton Hotel
12505 Cote de Liesse
Dorval, Quebec H9P 1B7
Canada
514-828-9494
Montreal paylesscarrental.net
http://www.paylesscarrental.com/

NO-NO-NO-NO-NO-NO
DO NOT RENT A CAR FROM THEM - THEY SUCK AT JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING
YOU PAYLESS AND YOU GETLESS.
READ ALL THESE REVIEWS AND DON'T THINK FOR A MINUTE YOUR EXPERIENCE IS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT IN ANY CITY.
I, BY PURE ACCIDENT CONFUSED THEM WITH ANOTHER RENTAL AGENCY IN SAN JUAN . OH MY GOD, THEY ARE WAY OFF THE PATH SO I THOUGHT WHAT THE HELL, WOW !
SPEND A LETTLE MORE GET A LOT MORE FROM SOMEONE ELSE. YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE COULD USE THE HELP TOO.
HEED THE WARNING - DON'T DO IT YOU WILL BE WRITING ONE OF THESE TOO.

HORIBLE!
The company should be called " Pay more and we CARE LESS".

These guys are rip off artists. I had to deal with them in Ontario, Canada. They will give you a good sounding deal but then give you a smaller car and charge much more than you signed up for.

For gas they charged me for 80 gallons of gas for a compact car!
I fought it and won with American Express.

Go with a reputable company. You will save your time and MONEY.

PayLess car rental Newark...

I rented a car from newark NJ. the rental office location is off airport and diffficult to find how to reach there.

the staff require all the insurance information before you rent the car. they don't even give you same rate as confirmed on internet. You are restricted to move in NJ only.

I only run the car for 80 miles filled nearly 5 gallons but fuel meter was not showing it full. The pump guy tried everything to put more gas in it but tank was full so wasn't accepting any more fuel.

when I explained the same to office clark he refuced to accept that fuel meter is faulty. and charged me for addition 2 gallon.

the overall service of payless is very bad. Please be aware of this scam.

You will try to save some bucks but eventually will loose a lot more....

Pay the extra $5 or $10 a day and go with a reputable company.

They charged me $150 in extra fees on a $120 contract. In SFO and OAK they are off airport and very incomveniant.

The manager in OAK was so rude I would have liked to punch him.

I travel frequently as a consultant and this is hands down the biggest scam rental car company I have ever delt with ( including centeral America)

a nightmare that wont end is what I got with payless online est 80.20, arrival estimate 182.00, car return estimate 202.00 see how this is going I am now wondering what my bank is going to see for charges, they ruined my vacation car had tons of dents and dings when we got it that you conviently cant see in their dark garage, i actually wish I would have just tried to navigate through the public transit system of Phoenix I guess next time I will just drive my car 1200 miles to Phoenix alot easier on my mind and bank account, oh yeah and they have put a hold on my bank account already of 468.00 if this sounds like fun than go ahead and book a car with them you can be as sorry as I am

PAYLESS CAR RENTAL IN TORONTO IS TERRIBLE.

Went onto Orbitz and got what I thought was a very good deal for a car rental c$300CDN for 2 weeks.

When I got there I had to wait over an hour to be picked up. I rang their offices 6 times and they did not seem to care that I was waiting. I did request a GPS device, but was told on arrival that they didnt have any left

I then got there and was treated to a long wait and told that the insurance was not included and this was $45 CDN per day - a significant increase on my estimate.

The car came out and was full of dents and was not really what you wanted to be arriving to important business meetings in.

I had the car for 14 days and must have driven 100 miles over the course of about 6 of these. I returned the car with more fuel than I needed to and was then forced to wait to give it back (despite my Flight taking off in under 90 minutes).

Finally, I was served. I was then told that they wouldnt accept my company credit card and that the fee had risen to a massive $911! This now included all of the local, state and airport taxes...But he wasnt finished. He wanted to charge me for a flat tyre which he says that I had damaged.

I went back out to inspect the car, the tyre was a little deflated (possibly a slow puncture) but not the cost of a new tyre which he was desperate to charge for. Luckily his manager sided with me and I 'got away' with the cost only being 3 times what I had expected.

I then had my customary long wait for the shuttle back to the airport and got my own luggage from the trunk.

I have never written on a blog before, but really wanted to spare someone else the poor service which I have endured...Why, oh why did I not use a reputable company or at least do a little research before booking.

PAYLESS CAR RENTAL HAS MANAGED TO RAISE THE BAR ON POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE!

Thanks

Paul

ORLANDO PAYLESS IS NOT THE CHEAPEST IT JUST APPEARS LIKE THAT. GO TO A WELL KNOWN CAR RENTAL PLACE!!! PLEASE READ SO YOU DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE WE DID. My daughter booked a car reservation on line for 5 days and confirmation was received for $127.00. We knew there would be an extra charge because she is under 25 ($69.75). However, my credit card was billed $342.00. When she arrived to pick up the car (Ford Focus) she was told that there were two cars to choose from a Ford Mustang or a Yaris. One was a 4-door and one was a 2-door. She was told that the 2-door was cheaper. Cheaper than what is the question. The 4-door or the Ford Focus. She took the mustang. Well that turned out to be an additional $49.95 for the 5 days. She had in her possession her own car insurance papers/policy which stated they would cover her for a rental. She was told by the rental agent that most people take their insurance of $13.99/day and if she didn’t her credit card would be charged a $350 deposit and if anything happened to the car they would charge the credit card until her personal insurance took care of it. So she initialed for their insurance. I called Payless to ask how the charges totaled $342. I spoke with the administrator because as I believe that the Ford Mustang should have been the same price quoted for the Ford Focus and the administrator said she would go back and view the video of the transaction. Later she called and said that she was not able to view the video as my daughter’s rental was on March 14th and she could only go back to March 19th. Then I spoke with the agent who rented her the car and after going round and round with no resolution and he constantly repeated that my daughter initialed everything she got. The other charges consisted of 5 different taxes (sales 16.27, recovery 25.31, State 10.25, Florida 6.25 and one other for 5.00). Also I received a letter in the mail charging my credit card $10.75. They claim my daughter ran a toll. Payless paid the .75 toll and charged us a $10.00 fee to do so. My daughter doesn’t remember running any toll.

Payless Rental Car is the biggest scam business out there, in my opinion. I recently rented a car from them in Orlando. It was a terrible experience from beginning to end and I will never rent through them again.

First of all they are offsite and you have to take a shuttle to get there. Then you are faced with a huge line that takes forever to get through (about 30mins min based on my experience). Then when you finally get to the front of the line, they don't have the car that you reserved. This seemed to be a common thing as I overheard this situation with several of the others in front of me in line. So then they try to upgrade you to one of their premium cars for and additional charge. When I refused to take the upgrade the guy kept arguing with me. I basically had to raise my voice to the guy. Then he magically found an SUV he could give me at the same quoted rate as the compact I had booked. They make it sound like they are doing me a favor by giving me this upgrade. When to be honest, I didn't even really want it. I had booked a compact for a reason, since there were only 2 of us and we wanted to save gas.

So I finally accepted the free upgrade to the SUV. The guy then proceeded to sell me all kinds of additional insurance (which I expected). I told him I had all my insurance and didn't require any from them. The guy then argues with me about why my insurance is not good enough and I should buy theirs. After emphatically telling the guy no about 10 times, he finally gave up.

Upon getting to the vehicle I had rented, I noticed it was pretty beat up. The exterior and interior were filthy. there was about an inch of dust on the dash and stains all over the seats. There were also many rock chips, minor scratches, etc, since the vehicle was at least a couple years old and had 35k miles on it. No one came with me to inspect the car and have me initial and agree on the condition of the car. So I don't know how they would possible know if the last renter caused the damages, or if I caused them. They obviously do not inspect or do anything to the vehicles between customers. I witnessed them giving cars straight from one customer, to the next. Also the gas was only filled up to 3/4 tank although on the rental sheet it showed that we were responsible to return it with a full tank.

After a long day of travelling and spending time lining up and arguing with the counter attendant, I didn't feel like arguing any more. So I took the SUV provided to me. The next day the car started shaking really badly at certain times. Also the brakes were making a loud squeeking noise. So we ended up having to take the vehicle back to Payless Rental Car. Where we got the pleasure of standing in line for another 30 mins. At which point they gave us another vehicle, an SUV again. Once again the vehicle was filthy, inside and out and only had 3/4 tank of gas in it. Also the keyless remote entry had been lost. And since the vehicle was obviously equipped for keyless entry, it has no key holes to unlock any of the doors except for the driver's door. This meant that anytime you want to get into the vehicle through any of the passenger doors, or open the hatch to put your luggage in, you have to first unlock the driver's side door, then use the inside poor locks to open the other doors. Also the cigarette jack did not work, so we were unable to use the GPS I had brought.

Anyways Payless Rental Car is complete junk. I wouldn't recommend this place to my worst enemy. If you do choose to rent from them, expect the following:

Long waits for Shuttles and to get to the counter

Rude, pushy desk attendants

No chance in hell that they will actually have the car you reserved available for you

A car which has not been cleaned inside or out. And which appears to have never received any maintenance or inspection between customers.

Basic safety issues on the vehicles such as working brakes and decent tires not looked after

3/4 tank of gas but then they expect you to fill it up on return

Good chance that you will be charged with additional fees or damages upon returning the car


I'd also like to mention that shorty after I returned from trip, I received an email from Payless Rental Car asking me to participate in a survey. I completed the survey, giving them a very poor score, and explaining my dissatisfaction. However I never received a call or email back, to apologize or try to make things right with me. So that tells you how much they care about Customer satisfaction. Payless is lucky to mostly operate in high tourist areas, which gives them an unlimited supply of new customers to rip off. Otherwise they would be out of business, as I highly doubt they see much return business.

Payless (LAX March 2009) is simply a dump.

It is like any rental outlet I have seen in Mexico. The very bottom of the barrel compared to the others I have experienced. Not worth the few dollars cheaper.

The Ford Fusion I was looking forward to (and reserved) turned out to be a PT Cruiser, which is not even a vehicle in the same class. There appeared to be nothing on the lot even resembling a Fusion.

Go there if you are seeking out the experience of renting a vehicle in a third world country.

They along with the Fox rentals company that share their name and location are to be avoided in my opinion.

EXTREMELY Unprofessional company and a bunch of cheaters. They over-charged me for a couple of hundred dollars and when after a month I noticed it in my bank statement, they said it was just a normal mistake!!!

I made the mistake of being lured by their cheap cars, but their policies, fine prints, service and professionalism is the worst. Eventually I paid much more than I would have paid to Hertz or budget care rental.

Save yourself the trouble and avoid getting cheated. Pay a little more upfront to avoid hidden costs later, and get treated well.

I came to rent a car with Payless at Las Vegas. The front desk lady was real cute & sweet. She told us she was giving us a free upgrade.

It was a scam. Not until after I had signed the papers and received my bill did I find that they charged 20$ extra -a day- for that "free" upgrade. When I called up to complain, they just told me it was my fault for signing the papers. It also took 5 calls before they'd even consider listening to me.

Yes, I know it was stupid not to check the fine print. But that is still not a good way to run a business. I will never rent with them again.

If it was 5$ a day, I wouldn't have complained. But 20$? They are seriously milking this. Be careful of cute front desk ladies and thier "sweet" deals.

Just rented from Payless in Orlando and I wish I had seen this site before I went.
They used every scam described below and everyone on the bus back to the airport complained about the suuposed damage the company rep found on returnng the car.
Run don't walk from these people

Here is my story from using Payless. I wish I would have read this site before I rented from them.

I came to Tampa to watch my son play football in the Outback Bowl. He is an Offensive Lineman on the Iowa Football team. I ordered an SUV the equivalent in size to a Ford Explorer (which I own and know my family will fit in comfortably). I was given a Toyota RAV 4 (not equivalent in size to the ford Explorer.

The salesman at the counter said to me "you look kind of big so I am going to give you a great deal on an ungraded Bigger SUV for only $19 a day". If I was the sensitive type I would have been offended by him insinuating that I was fat (I am 6'3" and weigh 270 so I guess he was right I am fat). Anyway I ordered the ford explorer equivalent because I am big and my sons are big, One son is 6'5" and 230 lbs and the other is 6'8" 320 lbs. He only had to drive in the car for half a day because of the football game, but it was a miserable half a day for him. I thought it was horrible that your company wanted me to pay an extra 100 dollars to get the SUV that was the same size as the ford Explorer. I didn't take the upgrade I suffered through the week in the smaller SUV.

When I turned in the car in ( I added my oldest son on as a driver. I was told there was no charge). When I turned the car in and was given the bill I was charged to put my son on as an additional driver. Then to add insult to injury when I turned the vehicle in the attendant charged me for two gallons of gas. The vehicle was full of gas. When I questioned the charge on the bill he said oh that was a mistake and they would fix it the next day. He said they couldn't fix it because the manager had already left the store. What a bunch of crap. It made me wonder how many people at Payless does that to (add a couple of gallons to their bill routine). He told me that they would fix the charge. I am waiting to se