Recommend this business?
Add a Photo
At a Glance
?
10% return potential
“had a terrible experience with payless, they overcharged me on the number of days or b let i paid”
0% service
“i am impressed by the professionalism of their staff.”
10% wait time
“the service slow”
Write a Tip for
Payless Car Rental
Tips for Payless Car Rental
April 21, 2013
Made the mistake of not reading the
reviews on this place and going for the cheapest car rental place. Boy did I make a mistake.
These guys are COMPLETE CON-ARTISTS. First, they tell me the car I reserved is not available and I had to pay for the next class up. Can you believe that? One came in during the ensuing argument so I took the car I booked. Second, they say if you go outside of southern California, its an additional fee. We asked if the Hearst Castle is considered southern Cali and they said yes without hesitation.
I get back a week later expecting a $120-$130 final bill and they are charging me $600 and charging me 50 cents a mile for every mile I travelled since I violated taking the car out of southern Cali.
There is no map telling tourists whats considered out of Southern California and so its your word against theirs because they have GPS tracking on all their vehicles.
You should never rent from PAYLESS, they are COMPLETE CROOKS. Instead pay the extra 20 to 30 bucks and go to Avis
0
Heart
October 03, 2012
Don't ever get trapped to their cheap business tricks like I did! They are frauds, they dont have any courtesy towards customers..they just want to cheat you and loot money. Keep away from them or regret later like I did.
1
Heart
August 04, 2012
DO NOT rent from Payless Car Rental!!! My travel agent will be hearing from me. Worst car rental experience ever! First, we waited for 30 mins at the San Diego airport for the shuttle after seeing Hertz, National, Budget and others com and go. When I called, the person told me call the courtesy phone....I would have had to walk all the way back to the baggage claim area. One finally arrived while on the phone. At the check in counter, I fought everything ..... Vehicle CDW (said no, credit card will suffice), Liability insurance ($13/day), upgrades, etc, on top of exhorbitant SD area taxes! Long story short, I ended up with a total of $400+ instead of the quoted $180 for a week!! I even had to insist on another car because the rear tires were almost bald!! Bunch of bloody scam artists! You have been warned....
1
Heart
June 05, 2012
They are total con-artists. The fees they added on were ridiculous. I ended up spending more than $60 over what I had been initially quoted. The woman who drives the shuttle is the only thing good about this company - she is a great driver, friendly and extremely hard-working, The ladies behind the counter need a great deal of training in customer service. I will never use this crooked company again. Stay away from this place - the price may seem good online, but that is not what you pay when you show up.
0
Heart
May 23, 2012
Scammers. Scammers. Take pictures of your car before leaving. Protect yourself. Anything happens, take pictures. Seriously. Price is good, but you need to make sure you are covered, or just rent from another company. Also, be sure cars are safe before accepting. Check tire wear!!!
0
Heart
December 06, 2011
Unethical and unprofessional staff. These guys are scammers. They have you initial things telling you that you are declining products but they do it backwards from the other companies and your initials are accepting products and then you are charged for them when you return the car. I was very clear with what I wanted. You get what they want whether you want it or not. Pay a little more money for a reputable company who really do care about their customers.
0
Heart
March 30, 2011
Painful experience. Unethical selling of insurance policy that you don't need. Don't buy policy from them. They would make comment that your policy is not covered in California so that they charge you another 100$ on your rental. The car we had was 40,000 miles on it and it set off an alarm every time I try to unlock it. When I left two items behind my GPS holder and an expensive Brookstone charger I was told no one turns it in. There are too many other ethical business out there that do good business don't go there.
0
Heart
December 23, 2010
Avoid them at all costs. Protect your blood pressure & money.
I wish I had read the reviews (none good) before I rented. I selected them through Orbitz, but almost took one of the companies I usually deal with (and now wish I had).
They should have no stars, but I cannot post this without giving at least one.
It is the worst experience I have ever had renting a car anywhere in the world.
The bad feeling started upon arrival with long lines and lots of complaints and unhappy people fighting about charges they didn’t want (the bullying) and car damages they claim were there before the rental. I thought, “how could so many people be unhappy?”
It seems the agents are scoundrels. Instead of a friendly smile they seem to have an evil grin as they apparently compete to see who is most successful at ripping of the clients.
They gather information they need to screw you. Even though the business partner was driving, they wanted my driver’s license and CC, too. I should have refused, but didn’t know yet not to trust them. Once they found out who was driving the purposely put the car under my name, so they could charge the extra driver fee of $5/day. I told him he had mixed it up. His response was, cannot change it now.
By the time they finish adding unexpected charges to the Orbitz rental they added nearly $200 to the rental. I realized I could have been at a legitimate company and had no hassles, if only I hadn’t made the fateful decision to choose them.
Although they have a shuttle, it doesn’t show up (as all others do) unless you call. This isn’t explained anywhere, so you wait 30-60 minutes before realizing something isn’t right.
Avoid them at all costs. Protect your blood pressure and wallet. This company should not be in business.
0
Heart
December 06, 2010
thank you. I will tell everyone. Payless rented to me even though I didn't have a credit card. We were stuck at the airport looking for a place to rent a car but all the companies we called wanted a credit card for a deposit. We called Payless car rental and they gave us a compact for a small cash deposit and offered free pickup. Thanks again Payless, you helped us when the others wouldn't. :-)
0
Heart
September 15, 2010
Do Not Rent Here!!!!!.
First of all: Note that two of the three 5-star "reviews" on here are actually from someone who works there! (And the third is so poorly written, it sounds fake.) Just sayin'...
The customer service is deplorable: Grumpy, argumentative, mumbly, unkempt, unfriendly agent. His pat response to every issue: "That's the way they do it". I don't think he ever once made eye contact with me.
The car was not what we reserved; we got an "upgrade" to a little kia hatchback (instead of a full-sized four door). The agent called it a "mid-size SUV" and kept telling me how huge it was. Side note: on Travelocity, Payless lists a Ford Fusion as a Full-Size SUV, and a Ford Taurus as a Full-Size car. Hmmm.... Bait and Switch at its finest.
On the morning of the return we called to ask for directions and to see how early we should arrive at the lot in order to make our flight (shuttle times, etc.), but the phone just rang and rang for fifteen minutes. When we finally got to the place, the phone rang most of time we were there; the same grumpy agent completely ignored it.
Our estimated total in the email from Payless was $119, but we paid $251. And instead of putting a hold on the credit card for the total, then charging at then end - like every other car rental I've ever experienced in my entire life - they charged the whole thing up front. When we told him we weren't going to pay that much for that little, scary car he told us "Too bad, I already charged your card."
When we got pulled over for the tags being expired, he told us to drive it back and he would give us a car with good tags. "How about you bring us a car with good tags?", we asked. "That's not the way they do it", he said.
We asked for a manager and we told that there wasn't one available, but gave us a phone number of someone to call "tomorrow". Great, we'll call when we're 500 miles away... Thanks.
Do NOT rent here. They call it "Payless" for a reason: You get what you pay for.
0
Heart
Write a Tip for
Payless Car Rental
People also viewed
Your Friends
Sign in with Facebook Sign in with Facebook to see what your friends are up to!
Citysearch Mobile
Get the Citysearch Mobile app so you can spend less time searching for great places, and more time enjoying them.