Payless Car Rental Reviews 409

Disappointing experience. I booked a specific car model, but upon arrival, the vehicle provided was completely different. Attempts to confirm details via WhatsApp went unanswered. I chose not to take the car, yet was still charged the full rental fee despite not using the service. The lack of transparency and responsiveness raises concerns about the reliability of this location.

Extremely disappointing experience with Payless at Los Angeles Airport.
I rented a Tesla Model 3 that was dirty, poorly maintained, and had a completely damaged steering wheel. The car was also missing the charging adapter, which made it impossible to charge at my hotels – even though my route and accommodations were planned around that.

I immediately reported everything at pickup and later by email (with photos). For over two weeks, I received only apologies and generic replies from five different agents. No real solution, no urgency. Eventually, they offered me USD 100 compensation, which doesn’t even cover the extra Tesla Supercharger costs, let alone the time and frustration.

If this is how Payless defines customer service, I strongly recommend renting elsewhere. Cheap rates mean nothing if the car is in bad condition and support doesn’t take responsibility.

Dont go here,they going to put a lot of hidden fees on you,imagine walk in already booked as 60 dollars walked out as 325 dollars 🤣🤣 they put a lot of fees that i didnt accept

I hired a car from PayLess at Tivat and had a pretty good experience. The pick-up was a bit chaotic with a tiny office in the terminal and then an unsigned walk to a large parking lot (access via a gap in the fence!) and a wait for anyone to arrive to handover the car. From then on it was all good. The car was in good condition and as described. There was no hassle on returning the car, or attempts to find scratches, and it was all incredibly cheap. Would recommend.

The two guys at the counter basically tried to extort me into paying extra under various excuses — mainly claiming I needed additional insurance, even though I already had full coverage!
When I refused, they simply refused to give me the car, claiming I didn’t have enough credit available for the deposit (another complete lie — I gave them two Platinum cards with far more credit than required).
Absolute scammers — stay away, even if they offer you a car for free!!!

I rented a car from Payless in Sibiu, Romania and the technical status of the car was beyond any reasonable limit. Tires leaking air, wheel locked and impossible to change the tire, windshield washer not working during a rainy season, brake light bulb broken, low level cooling liquid and less than satisfactory answer from the people working over there." We don't have time to check the cars between rentals". Above all this, the car was old, over 170,000Km on the odometer and prone to break.

Long, disorganised queue waiting to pick up car @ Dubrovnic airport.
Many reviews regarding Payless have referred to the typical scams taking place regarding optional excess insurance cover, however when asked if I wanted additional cover, I advised that already had cover and declined, and this was not pursued further. Just make sure that you read the contract carefully regarding additional charges and make sure it is not included. However, it does appear that a new, not so financially rewarding scam has appeared in regard to 'Optional' car cleaning charge that appeared on estimated charges, that was made clear was not actually optional and that charge would be applied irrespective of condition on return despite protestation. 18 euros cost. Everything was prepaid except this and clearly a local arbitrary charge that booking agent previously made no reference to when booking. This additional charge will be taken up with Holiday Autos as the booking agent, but just a heads up that this is likely to be a standard charge even if all costs are pre-paid in full.

Hi,

On our recent trip to USA we had hired cars via Avis in San Diego and Dollar in Grand Junction and on average the day rate was around $64.

On returning to San Diego, I noted via booking.com that Payless offered 3 days for $89.80 so booked with them. Volkswagen Jetta. Good offer thought I.

At the desk at airport, the guy took details and asked me what sort of cover I wanted. I told him the minimum. His interpretation of minimum was different to mine. Also he cited local laws, site was airport based, could have been cheaper to just turn up and not book online and other puzzling reasons why there would be additional costs.

Big push for me to digital sign the additional costs and continue the process. He printed a one page for me.

Could not believe what I read. I was stunned.
$483.68. For 3 day hire. Average of £160 a day.

I challenged him to explain each line but clearly he wasn't going to do this as another customer was waiting - and as I had signed the 'offer' I wasn't given any 'No problem if you want to cancel Sir!'.

CDW at $45 a day. RLI at $14.25 a day. SLI at $15 a day. Incredible.

One funny I thought in hindsight - the list of items showed I had been given an upgrade at $30 a day - when I got to the car it was a Volkswagen Jetta that I had booked ... 59,000 miles on the clock with a dent and scratches at the rear. No idea what the upgrade was and I was still stunned at the overall cost I didn't bother heading back down to the desk to ask.

Payless's business model seem to work on the premise of pulling you in with cheap day rates and then ambushing you with their own insurance products and sets of fees and taxes. Serious lack of transparency on what and why of each entry - TLAs abound - ( Three Letter Acronyms ) - with no explanation. PPC, RSA anyone?

Lesson learned for me was don't tick or sign a box when under pressure if you are not sure of what you are committing yourself into. Don't make a deal if it's not right for you.

Challenge and check.

I booked a seven-day car rental through a website called Holiday Autos, which included full insurance coverage. I collected the car from Dubrovnik Airport in Croatia on August 21, 2025. The vehicle was provided by a company named Avis Payless Cars. I arrived at the airport around 8 o'clock in the evening, and the representative asked me for a €400 deposit and an additional €95 for crossing into another country. I paid a total of €495 with my credit card.

Upon my return on August 28, 2025, the car company conducted a full inspection of the vehicle. The handwritten notes on my invoice indicated that everything was in order, but I was refunded only €256.18. I sent multiple emails to Holiday Autos and Avis regarding this issue. Eventually, I received a response stating that €238.88 was charged for insurance by Avis .I was not informed about this insurance charge, nor did I request it, as I had already purchased insurance from Holiday Autos.

I realized I was not informed about these charges, and the representative who handed me the car was rushed, indicating that it was a busy day. He asked me to sign a document for the collection of the vehicle. Now they claim that I signed a contract for the insurance. I feel this is a scam; I was not properly explained the charges and was rushed into signing the paperwork, which led to my financial loss.

I encourage everyone to avoid this company. If you decide to rent a car, be sure to read all the documents carefully, as they may try to mislead you and take your money.

Absolute scam. When we arrived back at Cluj Napoca I should have been wary when he asked me if I had taken photos. I didn’t because the car had obviously been a company car with stickers on the side which had been removed leaving terrible paintwork, which they agreed. He managed to find a tiny crack at the bottom of the windscreen passenger side, which showed in neither the photos they took before or after the rental. They removed the whole £1100 deposit for a windscreen that was quoted in Romania between £200-450. I emailed them after for a breakdown but got nothing. Zest the car broker managed to get an invoice from a garage and it was exactly the deposit!! Zest should not use this company.

I reserved a mini van 3 months ago for my family and I to travel to Hoosier National Forest. We were scheduled to pick the van up and the Indianapolis International Airport on 9.18 and 7 pm. Upon arriving I was told by a gentleman at the desk that all of the cars had been recalled and they did not have a vehicle for me. He asked if I received a text, phone call, or email. I had not. My questions to him where:
Why wasn't a car/van found at another location and brought here for us to rent?
Why wasn't I called, text, or emailed?
Why didn't you reserve a car for us at another company in the airport and then send an email, text, or call?
He had no response for any of these answers.
When I called Payless customer service and asked these same questions- they first asked me to verify my rental by my email address- I gave it to them. They let me know they sent an email earlier in the day letting me know that my rental was cancelled. I told them I never received the email in which they replied, that's because we don't have your email address. Okay- so you just asked for my email address to verify my rental but now you don't have it.
The CSR said they would hold a car for me for the following day, and we could get a hotel at the airport- to which I asked, where they planning to provide vouchers and/or pay for the hotel? The answer was no. I asked them how they planned to make it right and the response was they weren't going to. We ended up paying $250.00 for an Uber to our location. I WOULD NEVER RENT FROM THEM AGAIN- terrible customer service, dishonest, zero problem resolution. Steer clear.

Don’t trust this company. I booked online without extra insurance, when I arrived to the counter at Montenegro Airport, I was asked if I want to pay for extra insurance and I declined. They still went ahead and added it to the contract and I signed for it without reading all the small print while there was a long queue behind me. I paid an extra £217 even more that the cost of the car hire. When I found out about it and emailed them to complain they never replied to my emails. Don’t trust this company, very unprofessional.

Avoid this company at all costs. I booked a car through Jet2.com, paying in full upfront (£350 including insurance). When I arrived in Montenegro, I was forced to wait almost two hours just to be seen at the Payless desk – painfully slow and chaotic.

When I finally got to the counter, Payless staff claimed they had no record of my prepaid booking, refused to accept the official voucher from Jet2.com, and demanded I pay an additional €260 on the spot. I had no choice but to hand it over if I wanted the car.

The whole setup is a scam. Jet2.com hides behind CarTrawler, their third-party broker, who are equally useless. I submitted every bit of paperwork and proof of payment, only to be told the “scans weren’t clear enough” and eventually brushed off with: “there’s nothing we can do – you agreed to pay at the desk.” Absolute nonsense – I’d already paid in full before arriving.

This isn’t just bad service – it’s dishonest. Payless Montenegro, Jet2.com, and CarTrawler are passing the blame in a circle while keeping my money.

Do yourself a favour: do not book with Payless, and think twice before trusting Jet2.com with car hire.

I booked my car on expedia app thinking Payless car rental agency at Sabiha airport would be respectful of their sponsor but they acted viciously and aggressively trying to force me to accept additional fees not advertised on expedia like additional insurance. When I refused to pay it they said I needed to have a security deposit of $10,000 or pay $60 for insurance for a 3 day rental. The agent, Çagatay, was very mean and cold I will never forget his shameful behavior. I canceled the car and rented from AVEC which is a decent agency to deal with.

Terrible, hostile customer service at Otopeni airport from each and every member of staff we encountered. Lied about insurance cover to scare you into upgrading (I didn't). Car terrible. Support for mechanical issues on the road amateur and unresponsive (thank goodness we didn't break down by the side of a road), charged to change (downgrade!) our car as our original car was cancelled "automatically by the system" because we were an hour late picking it up (plane delayed. Surely this happens all the time?!). You have to return the car in immaculately clean condition (genuinely!) or face yet more charges. I wouldn't recommend them to anyone. Don't be tempted by price. Nothing positive to say

Watch out for their insurance scam! It cost me £478 at Dubrovnik airport. I’d already paid extra insurance with Holiday Autos who I booked through. When I collected the car I was prepared for the usual insurance sales pitch but nothing was mentioned other than sign here and here, “it’s very important for the police.” I asked them and they confirmed that my full deposit would be returned upon safe return of the car and that there would be no additional charges. My card has now been charged £478 for extra insurance. My daughter who booked a second car has had exactly the same experience. So many people are sharing the same experience on review sites that this is an extensive practice that needs to be dealt with.

We never got our car because we only had visa debit card. The same card that was accepted to pay for the car plus full insurance so We wouldnt be liable for anything. Anyways i wanted to transfer money to my travel card but that wasnt enough. Marko the Clerk seemed more interested in showing off to the woman next to him than trying to fix the situation. Normally never give 1 star but this time we pay for a car we never get and loose precious time on our vacation. Basically get horrible customer service and no product. Dont see how it can get any worse 🤣

I had a very bad experience with Payless Rental Car. I rented a car and left a $116 deposit, but when it came time for the refund, they gave me only $100 and the rest in lira. At first, I didn’t notice, but later I realized they didn’t actually give me the $100 at all.
This feels dishonest and unprofessional. I trusted them, but they failed to handle the refund properly and scammed me out of my money. I would not recommend Payless Rental Car to anyone. Be very careful if you decide to rent from them!

PAYLESS LA AIRPORT– bald tyre leading to puncture; suspect claims by counter staff about insurance and special deals; customer service tickets ignored. Prepaid rental for a 48 hour stopover in LA – 4th to 6th July.
BALD TYRE: Puncture while travelling just under the maximum speed on the freeway. Changing the tyre myself, I found it had less than 1mm of tread at the site of the puncture. I filed an online maintenance complaint ticket, and it was responded to quickly. They gave an assurance to review their processes. It’s a safety issue and customers should not have to check tyre tread, but best to double check with Payless LA. No type of compensation was offered or asked for.
INSURANCE CLAIMS: I told the agent I already had full insurance with a well-known 3rd party provider and offered to show the policy. Without viewing the policy, the agent said I still had to take the Payless basic insurance. I’m not a US citizen and was unsure of my legal standing, so I accepted the agent was telling the truth and paid for the expensive insurance. However, I have since found no evidence that this claim is true. An online ticket was filed with customer service asking for clarification about the insurance. It was ignored, as was a repeat ticket a week later.
UNEXPECTED EXTRA COSTS: The agent said I was eligible for a special deal involving an upgrade of vehicle, which I got, and no need to refill gas upon return. With all my previous rentals I’ve never taken the agency refuel option. I asked the agent 3 times, and each time she assured me I didn’t need to fill the tank. I was charged for a full tank refill. I only used just over half a tank, so it was an expensive and unnecessary extra cost. I also made the rookie mistake of not checking every single line item (there are lots of taxes). She’d also added roadside assistance that I definitely didn’t ask for. Agencies usually go through the contract items before they ask you to sign. In this situation the contract was handed to me with a hurried ‘just sign here’. The no explanation of any of the costs was a big red flag I should have paid attention to. Customer service ignored the first and second ticket filed about the ‘special deal’.

Montenegro airport:
We were informed when we picked up the car that they could not rent us a car for the amount confirmed and that we have to pay an additional €281 for additional insureance. The earlier paid sum would not have been refunded because the cancellation period had expired.

Reservation document stated that no additional insurance needed and no payment at the airport desk - the reservation was paid in full beforehand.

Scam. Don't use Payless Car rental!