Payless Car Rental
Reviews and Complaints

This is one of the most unprofessional companies I have ever dealt with. I picked up the car 1/1/17 in Reno after waiting 15 minutes at the counter for the agent to finish a personal phone call on her cell. Expedia price (itin #[protected]) with tax was a reasonable 36.20, but agent insisted on adding the gas option that added almost $40. She said it was refundable if I returned car with a full tank, which I did the next day in Sacramento. Had no idea they charged me the gas anyway until I got back from vacation. Called Reno, they told me to call Sacramento. Called Sacramento, got an argument from a kid dreaming up possible reasons why my price was different from Expedia. Talked to manager (our call was interrupted with a personal call on cell) who said she could not refund gas after 48 hours, call corporate. Called corporate and argued, finally created ticket (559597) and was told they would call in 1-3 days. One week later, I call and they say I have to send them a gas receipt. How am I supposed to do that if I didn't know to save one in the first place? Asked to talk to manager, was told this was the manager's position. Called Expedia, who call Payless, and they lied and said I was only charged the Expedia price. Don't know how this will end, but I know I will never do business with them again.

I hate this company, they cheated me and stole my money! Payless Car Rental is not to be trusted.
I rented a car from Payless Car Rental and they said it'll cost me only $100, but when I was about to pay they said I owe them $200. How did that happen? Why did the price change? I had so many questions but they kept telling me I need to pay. They scammed me with that $100 cheap price, I should have known that was too good to be true. I will tell everyone I know not to use this terrible service!

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 mini van 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 supposly 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 @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 of 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 its 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 its not their fought 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. Now we're in Atlanta trying to figure out what to do. Terrible customer service!

USBank Credit Card Dispute Case Number: 1903601FEB16 ( USBank Credit Card ending 6127)
On the morning of Jan 18 2016 I booked a car rental from Payless at Hotwire for Miles: includes unlimited mileage, Seating: 4 adults, Cargo: 1 large, 1 small suitcase, Models: Kia Rio or
similar†Features: Automatic Transmission, Air Conditioning, Air Bags, AM/FM Stereo. at $14.14 daily rate:
Cost summary
Car daily rate $14.14
Rental days 12
Estimated taxes and fees $152.37
Estimated subtotal $322.07
Rental car company will bill you when you return the car.
Estimated trip total $322.07
When I reached Seatac airport rental counter around noon they claimed they no longer have the Kia car. "We have a similar car Hyundai Elantra. Do you want an upgrade to that for $16.99?" When I asked them several times that with the upgrade my daily total rate would be $16.99 the black lady kept nodding and saying 'Yes'. On the contract I still see 'upgrade $16.99. Daily ' however when I returned the car at noon on Jan 30, 2016 they charged me that amount, plus they still charged me $14.14 daily for the reservation rate I booked, essentially the $16.99 was extra upgrade fee on top of $14.14. I considered this is a scam, fraud. They told me they would charge me $200 or $400 deposit on the next day which was Jan 19 2016 but they actually charged me $815.39 on the next day. On Jan 30 2016 when I returned the car I found myself in a dilemma so I tried to explain to the hispanic looking counter manager and I even called police to challenge Payless, I demanded them to replay the video they had for my conversation with the black sales lady but the manager simply refused, saying do whatever you I cannot help you.
I called USBank cardmember service their rep told me that Payless is wrong, they should simply give me a substitute rental car if they don't have one I booked. However after weeks of dispute USBank cardmember service failed to contact Payless to challenge their charge.

01/19/2016 01/18/2016 0816 Payless Seattle $815.30
Attached is (1) my original copy of the contract ( contract # RA.No. SEA-231217 ) I signed at 12:29pm on
Jan. 18 2016 when I took the Hyundai Elantra ( Plate 7FGD192 ) then returned on Jan 30 2016.
You can see that it list weekly rate at $84.85, so two weeks totals $169.70
However it put Upgrade at $16.99 which is flatly fraudulent practice because the black salewoman told
me several times my daily total would be $16.99 so upgrade part should be $16.99 - $14.14 = $2.85
instead of $16.99. We can demand replay of her conversation with me through their recorded video
surveillence. On Jan 30 2016 when I returned the car around noon then were only willing to issue me
$231.24 as shown by the receipt attached.
(2) my original car reservation rate at $14.14 daily rate for 12 days that I booked through Hotwire
itinerary #[protected] ( pickup Jan 18 2016 drop off Jan 30 )
The fraudulent tactic of Payless Rental car has several elements
0. They claimed they did not have the Kia Rio or similar car I reserved upon my arrival at noon.
1. It charged me $815.30 without my authorization on 01/19/2016. On Jan. 18 2016 when I took the car
the saleswoman indicated they probably will only put $200 or $400 hold on my credit card as holding
deposit, but instead they charged me on 1/19/2019 immediately without my written consent. This is
abnormal practice. I should have been charged at end of first week for weekly rate.
2. They did not call me at end of first week to advise me for a checkup or renewal of my contract, to
clarify the charge scheme. This also induced me to keep the car without realizing that they will actually
charge me at $31.13 daily. I would have returned their car on the 2nd or 3rd day or at most end of first
week, had I known they would interpret 'upgrade' as extra $16.99 on top of the $14.14 daily rate I got
from Hotwire reservation.
3. They added $16.99 daily charge as upgrade increase instead of $2.85 on top of promised hotwire
reservation rate of $14.14, which is flattenedly scam as a similar car like Hyundai Elantra I took ( to what
I booked as Kia Rio ) should never have a daily rate of $31.13 ( $14.14+$16.99 ). I challenged Payless
rental counter manager on Jan 30 2016 and I called police also, demanding Payless to play the video
which has my conversation with the saleswoman when I signed my contract on Jan 18 2016, the
Hispanic manager refused, saying go away do whatever you will in front of police I called in.
4. It's apparent that they have engaged this aggressive fraud for a long time to harm innocent
customers. As a bank I request your kind review of their nasty practice to stop their fraud.
5. I spoke with several other customers who walked out of the rental car counters and they indicated
same bad experiences before. They said they had experiences several times upon arrival and they
always say they don't have the car they reserved but instead offered 'upgrade' at much higher rate.
6. So maximum fair rental rate they should charge me should be $14.14 my reservation rate as I got
from Hotwire, they should honor it.
Very truly yours
Tom Chen
Box 6081, Bellevue, WA 98008
Phone: [protected]; Fax: [protected]
Email: [protected]@gmail.com

This company is dedicated to forcing customers to buy insurance when it is not necessary to have it.

After talking over ten minutes with the renter told us that we could not rent a car without insurance, and how many people we had also got in a hurry to rent the car and we left deceived.

Finally I rent because I needed and there was more car companies at that time, when I went to take back the car, I ask about insurance and my surprise was that it was not necessary. After several complaints they responded and they said it was not his fault if an agent had cheated me.

So watch out for this company to exploit of foreign customers

Payless is making thinks difficult for people booking for one days and force you to pay more. They demanding documents that did not mentioned in their confirmation. When asking to assist to contact relative companies to verify, they just say cannot do anything, it is your responsibilities and not theirs. Very arrogant, they are taking advantages of people along and do not have resources to do everything they demanded so they could charge more.
They may call themselves "payless", in fact, they practice the opposite, "pay more" is their goal. I will not contact this company again for car rental and hope everybody else do the same.

I am 51 years old and have rented cars in many, many cities over the past 30+ years. Today I discovered that Payless Car Rental is the most corrupt organization that I have ever dealt with.

After my car broke down near Toronto I made an online reservation for Payless who, by far, advertised the best rate. What they don't tell you online is that they have an extra fee for a spouse and that there is a 200km/day limit for the rental.

Just before I even received the car, I discovered their fraud and then attempted to cancel the contract so that I could go to another company. Their "trusted" employee "Malik" refused to cancel the contract and, instead, told me that he was going to charge me for an entire week.

After complaining to Payless' national office (who promised to return a telephone call to me within 30 minutes) I finally received an e-mail trying to justify their fraudulent practices.

Bottom line -- do your best to avoid dealing with Payless. Their staff is obnoxious and their customer service is non-existant. I only wish that I would have had the sense to read all of the other online reviews prior to making the reservation.

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.

ABSOLUTE SCAMMMMMMMMMM and THIEVES!

We rented from Expedia. Upon arrival I was working with an agent and denied extra insurance. All was well until his manager - LUIS ALBERTO (herein referred to as THIEF) - cancelled the agreement, ripped the contract and said - it was mandatory! MANDATORY! He said check the policy, blah, blah, blah - after 20 minutes of argument, I decided to check the policy. Surprise Surprise --- IT WAS NOTTTTTT MANDATORY as THIEF said it was. The insurance is optional! After being called out, THIEF decides that I need to put a $14k deposit on my credit card for the vehicle. According to the policy, they can ask for whatever they want.

These people are thieves and its a shame. They are not allowed in the airport and I now know why. They need to fire LUIS ALBERTO and close the location down. It's disgusting.

Payless accused me returning car late and charged me $200 with no evidence. Many similar complains with the same branch in the past 6 months. Payless is aware the operational failure of wrong time stamps of return cars and insists cost to consumers. Local office won't answer phones and headquarter doesn't care.

I was treated very badly. I felt bullied and pushed to take the insurance that was offered. When I declined, I was berated about how much my insurance deductible was and after I replied "I'm not sure", the person behind the counter looked at me like I was stupid and said to me "You really don't know how much your deductible is? Mine is $1, 000.00 so the $16.00 per day would more than cover your deductible" I said no. He then continued to push me to take the insurance and said that it would mean that I was not responsible for any portion of the car if took it. I said no thank you and he pulled out a form and said, then you are going to have to sign this. He wrote all over the form with his ink pen detailing that the deposit was $350.00. I felt pushed and I wanted to ensure that I did not want the insurance coverage so I wrote "declining coverage" and when he saw that we started yelling and said, "NO, NO, NO, I DON'T WANT ANYTHING ON THIS FORM EXCEPT YOUR SIGNATURE! I tried to explain to him that I felt he was being pushy to me and he said NO, I'M NOT BEING PUSHY and told me what this form was, He then read the title of the form to me, as if I couldn't read. I explained to George that I read the form, He then wrote all over the form again and I asked why it was ok for him to write on the form but not me. He didn't really have an answer and finished my rental. He told me that car was full of gas and he wanted it returned that way.

When I got into the rental car and was beginning to drive off of the lot, I noticed that the fuel was not full at all. I asked one of the lot attendants if she thought the tank was full and she said no. I then went back into the office and told George that the tank was not full. He said to just bring it back with the same and I said I didn't feel comfortable with that and I asked him to please come take a look at the fuel gauge. He looked at me like I was bothering him and huffed then got up and went outside with me. I offered him the keys 2x from behind him and we was obviously so upset that he didn't hear me and when he opened the door to the car and realized that the car was not running he very curtly asked me where the keys were, which were in my hand and I gave them to him. He then looked at the gauge and looked at me and said that it was full, but I explained to him that a member of his staff said that it wasn't full. He said, "fine, I will change it in your paperwork", but never gave me a copy.He just got out of the car and walked off. I took a picture of the fuel gauge for my records. I can be reached at [protected] and would like a call from someone about this.

For the great rate I received from Payless on a 3-day rental this summer, I could forgive (1) the off airport location that took me an hour to find; (2) the disinterested Payless employee who I had to telephone 4 different times to find directions to the facility; (3) the squalid conditions of the Payless office in a run-down strip center; (4) the stench of the car from smoke. What I can't forgive is the shyster scam that they pulled on me with regard to a nearby toll road. When I asked the Payless clerk for the best route to North Bay, Ontario, he advised me to head north from the Payless location and get on the toll road east to Rte 400 north. I asked about the toll and he said that it would be about $6 and that the charge would simply be billed to my credit-card in about a month. I took the route he advised and proceeded with an event-free rental. Two months later, I received a letter from Payless saying that I was to be charged an additional $72.50 on my credit card as my contract apparently said (in obviously very small print) that I was responsible not only for tolls, but for a $50 administrative fee to Payless for each toll plus applicable fees and taxes. They also attached a copy of the toll invoice showing that the total toll was $7.81. So after advising me to take the toll road, they had the audacity to hit me with a $65 surcharge on a $7.81 toll. Total shysterism. I am currently disputing the charge on my credit-card and filing a consumer complaint with the Province of Ontario. Shameful.

Horrible customer service, and tricky business practices to say the least. I rented a car from them 3 days ago in Toronto close to the airport. Had a dispute about the price as the price they wanted to charge me was $40 more than promised. After I said no, they said they won't drive me back to the airport! After I threatened to complain, the dispute was finally supposedly settled, the agent changed the rate on the form, and quickly asked me to put my initials in several places (highlighted by him). When I returned the car, my charge was $210 instead of $120! What I didn't know and couldn't even imagine - the agent asked me to put my initials next to the most expensive insurance package, even though I specifically asked for the cheapest liability insurance package ($8.95), and he know exactly how much I agreed to pay him! That's the way to get back to the customer. When I returned the car, the same guy was there smiling, and I was dealing with the other agent. I couldn't do anything as my initials were in the form next to the most expensive insurance package. If they can't screw you one way, they'll find another one. VERY UNETHICAL COMPANY. NEVER RENT FROM THEM, AS YOU WILL BE PAYING MORE FOR HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE, AND BADLY SERVICED CARS (the oil on my care was supposed to be changed at 55K and it had 64K). I WILL NEVER RENT THROUGH THESE LIARS AGAIN, and I wouldn't advise you too. Just go with respectable company - you will pay less at the end and will send you some nerves!

I rented 5/27 with return on 5/29. Due to traffic, I extended to 5/30 because I wouldn't have arrived within the. grace hour. when checking my card I was charged $153 for the extended day, which was more than the rental for the two days. I've emailed, phoned, and are totally being ignored.

I James appalled and are pursuing the matter with an Attorney. I know I will spend more than the rental fees but the principle is worth it. this is a shame and disgrace for them to "steal" from customers.

Horrible! Tried tricking me into over paying for a vehicle with numerous hidden fees. when asked about said fees the 2 guys at the counter both gave different answers. almost as if they were trying to pull a fast one. Incredibly unprofessional, rude, disrespectful|. man at the counter started insulting me when i said i refused to pay his hidden fees". and that i should have money if i intended to rent from them and started blurting out personal credit card information, . Crooks, thieves, Shiesty, are just a few adjectives that correctly define this shady car rental operation".

Similarly to another user i thought that i would neglect what was said on this forum before trying it out for myself;. i wish i had taken heed to all of your messages.. as a one star rating is luckily for them, the lowest we can give - which in my opinion is extremely generous".

The piece of mind that a legitimate car rental place offers is worth the few extra dollars in car rental fees.

Ms D.S., Vice President, Air Travel Rental Corporation d/b/a Payless Car Rental,
500 Route 1 South, Wyndham Garden Hotel, Newark, NJ 07114, Tel: [protected], Fax: [protected]

This letter is to report a complaint about the horrible experience I had on July 3, 2008, about 5:30 pm at the above facility of Payless Car Rental. The entire experience was bizarre and very humiliating. The behavior of Ms. D.S. was extremely unprofessional, rash, rude, and intimidating.

I booked my car rental through Priceline.com. This was for “unlimited mileage” as clearly mentioned on reservation confirmation . By the way, this was deceptive in my opinion not to mention the geographical restriction on the Priceline reservation confirmation and rather mentioning this in the fine prints of rental policies on a separate web link. Even in the fine prints of the rental policy there is no mention that I need to declare names of all the specific cities I may visit.

The staff at the Payless Car rental asked for my driver license and my credit card and charged my credit card (American Express) for $368.43 (which was later voided). Then they asked me to specify which cities I will be going to. I told them I may go anywhere in the areas that is covered in your plan as "free" and colored green in your map. However, they kept insisting that I HAVE to tell them which cities I will be going to. I said I may also go to Philadelphia in addition to New England. I told them to please just mention in the rental car agreement that we may go anywhere in the "free" covered area. I found it strange and odd that they have to know and they have to specify in the rental agreement all the places I may visit in the next 10 days.

I am still mystified as to the reason for the way she (Ms. D.S.) behaved. She was full of attitude. She told me that she will not give me a car and cancelled my reservation. In my hand, I had a copy of the rental car agreement I had just signed and a customer copy of my credit card receipt. She came and PHYSICALLY snatched these documents from me and called the security. A few minutes later, one of her staff gave me the yellow copy of the rental car agreement/invoice and voided Amex receipt (photocopies of which are enclosed herewith). The entire episode happened in front of my wife and my son who were horrified and disgusted, and could not believe if this was really happening. Two security guards came and talked to me and my wife. He told us that this lady is "full of attitude and in the past she has had several incidents with other tourists including a female German tourist recently". We asked them why no one takes action against her. He said she "owns" this Payless car rental franchise.

I have rented cars on numerous agents over last several decades. Needless to say, I have never had any experience anything like this. I was totally shocked with what had happened today. I along with my wife and son then went back to Newark International airport (several miles distance) and rented a vehicle at National Car rental. The experience at National was pleasant, friendly and smooth. My 12 year son told me that why did not we come to this facility first. He is absolutely correct.

I would appreciate if a thorough investigation is done in to this matter and appropriate actions are taken. In my view, at the minimum Ms. D.S. and her company should be stripped of her Payless Car rental Franchise and people like these should be debarred from any participation in customer service. I would not be surprised at all if there are past complaints by other tourists against Ms. S and her Payless car rental franchise.

This was the first day of our long planned 10 day vacation and this experience at Payless ruined our vacation experience, and caused immense emotional and mental harm.

I plan to leave no stone unturned including a possible legal action unless and until appropriate action(s) is taken against Ms. D.S. and her Payless Car rental Franchise.