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Payless Car Rental Consumer Reviews

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Horrendous Service and Overcharged for OPTIONAL Services Declined
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

TAMPA, ILLINOIS -- I selected Payless because it was going to cost me $30 less than Enterprise at the Tampa Airport in January 2016. It took me AN HOUR AND A HALF to finally get waited on. I had booked the reservation through Hotwire.com and their receipt shows it was supposed to be $123. At the counter, I waived/declined all optional services such as insurance and roadside assistance. The clerk had me initial that I waived everything. When I returned the car, it took several minutes to get someone to wait on me again. Once they did, they were clueless and kept bringing other staff over to look at the computer while checking in the car. All of them shrugged their shoulders - the clerk wouldn't tell me what the problem was. The shuttle was leaving so he handed me a piece of paper and I headed for the airport. A few days later, my credit card statement showed FOUR charges totaling over $400!!. I had my credit card company reverse all the charges until Payless could explain what was the true amount due. None of the 4 charges was near the $123 cost I had agreed to. Through Payless service desk online, I explained everything and also pointed out that the charge they slipped through did not say "Roadside Service" and the way I read the contract, I had declined ALL optionals. I told them I waived the RSP additional service and initialed it on the contract when I reserved the car. Payless declined to reverse the RSP amount. We have gone round and round and now they have sent me a new bill for $42.03 (as it was one of the charges that had been reversed from my credit card when it went into dispute).The Payless desk clerk was specifically told and knew that I waived all optional charges. I have several car rental agreements from other companies that would prove I never pay for anything optional. When I returned the car, Payless staff couldn't explain anything. I was not even in a position to fight the charge because the Payless office staff couldn't figure out which, if any, of the 4 erroneous charges applied to my rental. There were 4 random charges that were charged to my credit card by Payless (SEE ATTACHED Chase Statement), yet they wouldn't tell me that when I returned the car.. It's obvious Tampa staff didn't know what they were doing. So they advised me to call corporate once I got back home. Payless made lots of errors in processing my rental: from not declining all services as I requested, the major confusion of their clerks at check-in AND check-out; and Payless' inability to explain to me what was due. In addition, my pattern of renting cars has been to NEVER buy optional items. I did not misspeak, I am SURE I told the clerk to waive all Optional Servcies. I believe the "error" should be righted and the charge reversed. I have requested that Payless escalate this matter on at least 2 occasions and kindly refund the $42.03, but they refused both. Payless staff made several obvious mistakes (just look at my Chase credit card statement!), but yet they are holding me to a charge for a service I did not request and, in fact, declined! I request they reimburse me for the $42.03 that was erroneously charged to me. If you check ConsumerAffairs.com, TripAdvisor.com and YELP.com numerous complaints, you will see that Payless is notorious for overcharging people for services they didn't want.

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Do Not Rent From This Company.
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- I don't usually report on companies but this company MUST be reported. Do not... I repeat DO NOT rent a car from this company! I reserved a car back in Apr 2016 for a minivan because we have 7 people traveling. I got my confirmation and everything seemed fine. We go to pick up van for our family trip and they stated they did not have a minivan for us. As a matter of fact they gave all cars away.

We were of course confused. We were there at 8pm to pick up as promised but they did not deliver and was very uncaring about it... Like "Oh well." We spoke to the manager on duty who supposedly went to check on our case but he later came out stating our pick up was July 2 at 8pm. I quickly pulled out my reservation and it was for July 1 at 8pm. I almost sure the manager had changed the date on reservation from the company to cover up the mistake... But I had my confirmation.

He asked where we were traveling... We said Alabama. He stated he would give us the only car they had and he would call Atlanta so we could get a minivan from there. He picked up phone and called Atlanta. He told us he confirmed and that we could pick up the van from Atlanta at 8am. We drove the car given to us... Cramped for 6.5 hours and located Payless in Atlanta. To our surprise they had no minivan and stated they told the gentlemen that last night. He sent us anyway... We are more than pissed.

We called the Orlando office while waiting at Atlanta car rental place and a woman who could care less told us it's not their problem and we could deal with Atlanta. So when I stated they sent us here with the promise of a minivan. She yelled it's not their fault and hung up. Wow! I will NEVER EVER rent from them again. Please keep searching before getting a rental car from these people. They have screwed our whole vacation up.

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Upgrade Charge with No Disclosure
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA -- I received a price from Hotwire for Payless Car Rental for around $121. When we arrived at the Payless Car Rental facility, I had about 6 to 8 people behind me with only one agent. I showed him the Hotwire paperwork and he immediately started trying to hard sell me on getting additional insurance but I told him that my insurance would cover the rental but he kept on going about that it wouldn't cover this and that, windows, etc. minor damage, etc. After 4 times of saying no, he finally said OK and that he could put me in a Chrysler 200 convertible.

Wow, I told him that would be great. He never once mentioned ANYTHING about additional charges or upgrade or anything to indicate this would cost me more money. In fact the customer in front of me was upgrade (for free) to a VW Jetta so I didn't think anything of it. He then told me they would have to hold $280 or so until I brought the car back but it would be refunded to me. I thought that was pretty high but I had people waiting behind me and appointment to make. I would say about 4 days later I remembered this and looked at my paperwork. It showed that the agent had charged me an upgrade cost of $25 a day for the Chrysler for $125.00 extra.

I put in a complaint to Payless Car Rental through their web site but as of this complaint I still haven't heard a word from them. When I brought the car back, the agent I worked with was working so I went to him and explained my issue with being charged $125 extra for this upgrade which he NEVER mention any additional costs at all. I told him that if he had mentioned any type of charge in association with the Chrysler, I would said no way. His response was that I should have known better.

He said that he had circled the total cost and that I had signed the form showing the cost. I told him that I thought that was to deposit that he told me about and why hadn't he circled the upgrade cost of the Chrysler since he was being so upfront, he had no answer. He told me he would give me $60 back but I told him no since I shouldn't have been charged the $125 in the first place. He never once disclosed that he was charging me more for the Chrysler. The whole process seemed very under handed and high pressured. Not to mention that you are charging someone an additional $125 a week is dishonest. DO NOT RENT FROM THEM.

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Awful Customer Service That Lies.
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA -- I made my reservation online for 9 am. There was no information on the confirmation email I received telling me where to catch the shuttle but I found the location on my own. Please keep in mind that I never left the bus stop area between 7:15 am - 8:50 am and IT WAS 39 DEGREES OUTSIDE. I waited for the shuttle for 20 min starting around 7:15 am. 7:30 am - I called the customer service and spoke with Anthony. Anthony put me on hold and returned to me and told me that he had called the Payless office and THEY HAD TOLD HIM THE SHUTTLE WAS ON ITS WAY AND WOULD BE NO MORE THAN 12 MIN.

7:50 am - Still no shuttle so I called the customer service again and spoke with a guy named Peter. Peter also put me on hold and came back and said the CLT office said the shuttle was on the way. 8:10ish - Still no shuttle. Called the customer service again. Actually got Peter again. He insisted that the shuttle was on the way. He told me to take a taxi and make the CLT location pay for the taxi for inconvenience to me. 8:30amish - Called the customer service again. I can't remember who I got on the phone this time but again they told me the shuttle was on the way.

8:50amish - I got fed up and called an Uber to take me to your Charlotte location. 9:05 am - I arrived at the CLT location and told the manager the story that I just typed above. He told me that they didn't open until 9 am and that their first shuttle isn't until 9:30 am. He also told me that he had been at the location and that no one - NO ONE HAD CALLED REGARDING A SHUTTLE.

My issue is that the customer service reps lied to me on repeated occasions regarding a shuttle and that they had spoken to the Charlotte office. This was a lie. Also, the reps should know this office doesn't open until 9 am and that the first shuttle isn't until 9:30 am. I, the customer have no way of knowing this. Had the customer service reps been honest and straightforward, I could have just gone back into the airport and waited for the shuttle. Instead, the reps lied to me repeatedly regarding they had spoken to the office and that the shuttle was on the way.

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Horrible Experience With Rude Rental Clerk
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA -- NEVER EVER RENT FROM PAYLESS CAR RENTAL IN CHARLOTTE NC. I rented a car at Payless Car Rental in Charlotte North Carolina. As advertised by Travelocity, Payless shuttle to counter and car. Directions were to cross walkway turn left and shuttle would be there for the 7-12 minute ride to their pick up site.

Charlotte Airport is under major construction. We walked back and forth several times and saw no shuttle. Finally, we saw a sign the size of a bumper sticker over a construction trailer pointing us to the furthest end of the airport. We waited over a half hour for a shuttle. There was no number to call them so I called Travelocity. I was disconnected 3 times before I finally reached a very rude clerk at Payless. She informed me the shuttle ran every 30 minutes and very rudely told me to be patient.

I will say the driver was most courteous and helpful. I can't say the same for the most discourteous, disrespectful, insolent clerk I have EVER met. After filling out the required paperwork we asked about returning the car and the return shuttle. We were informed the shuttle was available at 9:00am. When we told her that we had to be to the airport for 8:00 her response was "Well I guess you have a problem".

What do we do, her answer "Guess you'll have to call a cab." And what about returning the keys, "well, there is no one here until 9:00 so you can't return them". What about a mail slot to drop them in? "You could do that ". This rude young woman did nothing to help us. She should never be in a position of customer service, anywhere. I will post this here in hopes no one ever has to be treated as poorly as we were. DO NOT RENT FROM PAYLESS. Next letter is to Payless.

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Worst Rental Company by Far
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

TEXAS -- Never ever ever EVER rent from these ridiculous, unorganized, unprofessional fraudulent thieves. My friend charged her card via third party to pay for a rental car in June of 2017. Because she was not yet 25, I provided my card for the $200 hold which was refunded once the vehicle was returned. Fine. Pretty standard.

That is until they decided to charge me the exact same amount that my friend had already pre-paid subsequently double charging us (me). I provided all of the necessary paperwork to show that they had erroneously charged us both yet somehow 1 + 1 does not equal 2 to these ignorant fools and they just plain could not see how we were both charged when only ONE – the prepaid charge from my friend, should have remained.

Because of the complete lack on intelligence I went ahead and took this to my financial institution to dispute the accuracy of this charge. I was issued a credit (because they can read) while they went after Payless – to which they never responded. Fast forward to January 2018 - SEVEN MONTHS after the initial rental, and I receive a letter in the mail stating if I do not pay the original charge, that they will “suspend my rental privileges and send the charge to collections”.

Now I'm being threatened for a charge that was never supposed to have been on my card in the first place. Escalated to a supervisor at Payless by the name of Ray **, who apparently also doesn't know what 1 +1 = 2, let alone what a double charge is. Because they are still over there counting on their toes, I am now dealing with their collections company in hopes that they, at least, have graduated from 3rd grade.

Listen here Payless, I'd rather PayMORE than ever have to deal with you baboons (no offense to baboons… they're probably more intelligent) again. Be my guest and suspend what you think is a “privilege” to rent from you. There are plenty of other reputable rental car companies who are happy to take my business from you. The trip in question was for leisure however, I travel for work more times a year than I can count. Regardless of the outcome, I'll make sure to “suspend” your “privilege” of my business as well as spare the frustration to all of my traveling colleagues. Collect that.

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Do Not Rent From Payless Car in Orlando (Or Any location.)
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

ORLANDO, FLORIDA -- I rented a car from Payless in Orlando via online. When I get to the counter it was a different rate than I had expected. The agent said it was because I had two reservations. This might have been true because after making my reservation, I found a cheaper price. I canceled one and rebooked. He said that even though I cancelled it, they still show in the system.

After getting my contract, I stepped to the side so he could take the next customer. I then began looking through my emails to see what I had booked and why I was paying more. The whole time thinking I must have made a mistake. He then loudly tell the other customers to step back in line and tells me to come back. I told him I am just checking to see what went wrong in my booking.

He kept telling to come back, took the contract from me, ripped and proceeded to make a new one. I told him I was not trying to make a scene and that he was embarrassing me. He told me he wasn't going to have me over his shoulder while working a new customer. (I was at least 4 feet to the right of him.) I got the new contract at the rate I was expecting and left.

Then I went online to make a complaint. Online only because the only other way to make a complaint is to fax or US postal (which I ended up having to do because the online contact is worst customer service than the agent in Orlando!) My original online complaint was opened 09/20/17 and after I responding several more times online, fax and mail, it was closed 10/26/17 stating that it was forwarded to management team in Orlando for review. Good luck if rent and need to make contact with customer service!

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Terrible Payless Rental and Customer Service Experience
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

ORLANDO, TEXAS -- When I rented the car in Orlando on 10/31/16 I told the Payless Car Rental agent that I was declining all insurance coverage as my credit card duplicates the coverage. He apparently didn't understand because he put a "PDW" coverage onto the contract without telling me he did that. I reviewed the contract, and verbally confirmed that I had declined the additional insurance coverage, and it looked as if the contract reflected that as it said "declined" next to coverage.

At that time the Payless Car Rental agent also told me that I would be charged $2.08 a gallon upon my return of the car for whatever was needed to fill the car which, he said, was a good deal because the local gas prices were higher than that. Unfortunately, when I returned the car 3/4 full on 11/7/16 the Payless agent receiving the rental return said I was being charged for the entire tank of gas.

I then refused to close out the car check-in transaction, saying I would instead take the car to a local gas station and fill the car the rest of the way and then bring it back full. The Payless agent gave me a receipt that said "CHECK IN CANCELLED. VEHICLE CHECK IN NOT COMPLETED" and told me to go inside and speak with the manager. The Payless manager Moe #** said I couldn't take the car to the gas station and fill it up because the car had already been closed out, even though I showed him the receipt saying the check in transaction hadn't been completed.

He also said he was unable to show me my original receipt where I initialed in ink refusing all coverage because he said it was "unavailable." I am disputing these additional charges for gas and additional insurance coverage, and look forward to resolving this issue with Payless customer services.

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Overcharged and poor customer service
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

TAMPA, GEORGIA -- DO NOT rent from here!! I rented a car from Payless in Tampa, Florida on 02/03/16. When I arrived at the airport I was told a shuttle would pick me up and take me to the rental place. I waited 45 minutes and there was no shuttle. I called the rental location and they advised me they would send someone right over. 40 minutes later, a shuttle arrived. I was told my rental would be $179.69 total. I was given a Mazda 6 which was a good car. When I returned the car, the hispanic girl at the counter that barely spoke English and was quite rude, just stared at my credit card. After about 3 minutes she called a manager over and they began whispering and speaking in Spanish. I asked if there was a problem and the manager told me the credit card they had on file for me was not the credit card I gave them. I only have 1 card. I asked what the numbers were and they told me something totally different than my card. The hispanic lady could not seem to get anything to work properly and started printing up about 500 pages of something. I finally asked what was wrong and she told me she was printing my receipt. She finally gave me the receipt which was for the correct amount. I got home and checked my bank account. She charged me for my rental, then another $159.91 and then another $153.11!! I called to 1-800 number to refute the charges and was told they would put a "ticket" in to the customer department and I would hear something within 72 hours. This is ridiculous! Do NOT rent a car from this location unless you just feel like having your stress levels through the roof!

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Terrible! wrongly billed
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- AVOID! They're a scam.

I had a terrible experience with Payless. I rented a Toyota Camry on day 1, while driving on the freeway the brakes started vibrating and a couple of hours later "Check Engine" light turned on. Even though I had Roadside Assistance I was asked to bring the car back to their location at the airport. I took it back on day 2 and all they had was an old Impala (which was dirty). I was forced to upgrade to a full-size car, which was $30 additional per day. So I paid additional fees and rented a Dodge charger. The very next day, on my way to LA the brakes stopped working in the Dodge! I had to stop the car by shifting gears (almost killed my family). I was stranded on a highway just outside the Vegas desert for THREE HOURS with my family, until their roadside crew arrived. They badly badly let me down by bringing in a Kia with a broken passenger seat! I had no choice but accept the car drive to LA because I couldn't wait any longer somewhere I didn't know with my family. So I'm paying a premium for the full-size Dodge, and they replaced it with a lower grade mid-size Kia and made no change to the new bill (which was handed to me by the roadside assistance guy).

I called their manager at the Vegas location, but every time I called I was told that she was at a meeting. I left a voice message, but never heard from the manager. Finally after I handed in the car back in Vegas, I demanded to talk to the manager, and yes you guessed it "she's at a meeting", so I wrote a complaint letter and handed in to their front desk. Two days later, I still haven't heard from anyone. Then I called their main office and filed a complain. They wanted 72 hours to respond. Next I called my bank, only to find out that I was billed for the premium I paid for the Dodge, which broke down.

Stay away at all costs. Payless is a scam! Their billing statements are confusing, you'll need an hour to figure out what you were billed for. I was also told that I will need to pay $5 extra per day for their roadside assistance, but found out later that I was billed $5.99 per day (I was completely misled by them).

They had no regard for my issue, never even called to apologize! Billed me unfairly, offered no rebate/discount to at least acknowledge the disruptions caused to my trip.

Two broken cars in 3 days, took three hours for roadside assistance to arrive, 3rd replacement car had a broken passenger seat, received no apology, zero discount to acknowledge disruptions caused to the trip, never heard from a manager to-date, wrongly billed! YOU DECIDE IF YOU WANT TO GO AHEAD WITH THIS COMPANY. Good luck!

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Payless Car Rental Rating:
Star Empty star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.2 out of 5, based on 50 ratings and
71 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Payless Car Rental
P.O. Box 699000
Tulsa, OK 74169-9000
1-800-729-5377 (ph)
www.paylesscar.com
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