Payless Car Rental Reviews 409

4 hours before we received the car. 2 times in the appointed, but wrong, lane.
Dublin Airport.
Car with lot of defect.

Last week, my wife and I rented a car during a week’s holiday in Croatia. We rented a car through booking.com at about 173 EUR, but the car rental company was Payless Car Rental. During pick up, the car rental company covertly added an additional fee of 277 EUR for an ‘optional’ ‘vehicle coverage +’, without informing us or asking us if we wanted this ‘optional’ ‘service’, which more than doubled the rental price. I should of course have noticed this before signing the pamphlet, during which the employee focused on the 500 EUR security deposit and examination of any preexisting damage to the car. Still, adding an ‘optional’ fee without asking for the consumer’s consent is just shady business practices.

Rented a car in St. Louis Mo. Payless employee told me since I had insurance with Alliance when I booked my flight, their insurance will be refunded to me after I returned vehicle. Call customer service to inquire about refund and they did help in getting insurance refund. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT USE THIS CAR RENTAL COMPANY EVER!!!

I reserved a midsize car, "Toyota Camry or similar," at Payless at San Diego airport. When I arrived, late at night after a delayed flight, I was told that I had reserved a Honda Fit, which Honda classes as a compact car. As a tall person, the FIT was too small for me. When I pointed out that the FIT was NOT a midsize car by any description, I was told that "we size cars differently" and that by their standards, the FIT was midsized.
Then the counter agent made a big presentation about how he would give us a larger car at a discounted price. Which then nearly doubled our bill. When I pointed this out, he went into a song and dance about how our $250 deposit would be subtracted from the bill, trying to make it sound like our final bill would be $250 less than was shown on the rental agreement. When I pointed out that what he said was not what was on the paper, he just doubled down on his double-talk.
The next day, I called the manager to try and resolve the situation. She was completely unhelpful. She defended her unscrupulous employee. She also blamed the vendor's ad for her agency's deceptive practices. Which told me that this type of unethical behavior was engrained in the corporate culture. AVOID PAYLESS CAR RENTALS!!!

Absolutely horrible company. The counter staff will add optional services without telling you when you pick up the car. If you try to argue with this shit company afterwards, they will just pass the buck to each other.

I had a terrible experience with Payless Car Rental In Albuquerque and would strongly advise others to avoid them at all costs. I was returning a rental to the airport and, due to a freeway accident, was running tight on time. I pulled up and asked the check-in staff how much it would cost for them to fill the gas tank. He told me he didn’t know and said I should go inside to ask.
Inside, I was met by an incredibly rude agent who told me it was $10 per gallon—which is outrageously overpriced. I immediately told them I’d prefer to fill the tank myself, as I was being told the charge only after already arriving. But they refused to allow it. They claimed the car had already been “checked in” and wouldn’t give me the keys back, even though I had just walked inside.
To make matters worse, the tank was almost half full when I returned it (it’s a RAV4 with a 14.5 gallon tank), but they charged me $107 to top it off. That math doesn’t even come close to adding up, and it felt completely predatory.
It felt like a total scam. There was zero transparency, no customer service, and absolutely no flexibility. I got overcharged for gas in a way that felt dishonest and predatory. I will never rent from Payless again—and I recommend others don’t either. There are plenty of rental companies that won’t treat you like this.

Dishonest and deceiving business.

Their cancellation policy is written intentionally to screw unsuspecting consumer. I guess a fool and their money soon part ways, but it's obvious they do this just to be slimy and deceptive. Oh well, I guess every business can choose its own ethical standards. Gross! Would never rent from them again.

Got scammed by the payless desk in Split Croatia, when i arrived late, the checking in clerk said.

"oh good news your full insurance is included" i thought i may have just added this when booking but couldn't remember.

He then rushed through the paperwork, saying its only a £400 deposit, i thought this is great and off i went.

when returning the car and checking it back in to drop off, i got them to sign off the car to say it was in good condition which it was as i didnt use it much.... BUT there was an additional 450 euro bill??? i questioned this as the hire was just £119 he said i needed to go to the desk to sort it out.

turned out that the insurance wasnt included, and in fact they had added absolutly every insurance upgrade they could, personal accident insurance, upgraded cover and various others.

total scam, the worst part about it was that because they tricked me into signing, i have no way of arguing it as i had signed.....VERY bad practice, i will NEVER use them again

The Worst Rental Experience I’ve Ever Had – Avoid Payless at All Costs

I don’t usually write reviews, but this experience deserves to be shared.

I rented a car through Payless via Expedia, and what followed was a complete disaster:
• Upon arrival, I had to wait over an hour with no explanation.
• The car I had booked wasn’t available. I was given another vehicle with the excuse: “same price, bigger car.” Not true.
• The next day, the car broke down with a check engine warning light. Mechanical failure.
• I contacted support. It was a nightmare—long calls, no answers, no responsibility.
• They sent a tow truck but told me I had to go with the tow truck for 40+ minutes to get a replacement. Absurd. I refused.
• No replacement car was provided. I had to use Uber at my own expense and cancel important meetings.
• They promised a refund for one day. Never delivered.
• Then they had the nerve to send me a coupon. I will never rent from them again.
• Worst of all: no one communicates internally. I had to explain my case to three different agents and still got generic answers.

⚠️ I lost time, money, peace of mind, and received no fair solution. This is the most disorganized, irresponsible company I’ve dealt with.

If you’re thinking of renting from Payless—don’t. You’ll regret it.

When we went to pick up the vehicle the morning of May 27th the front desk girl was very discourteous and verbally strong with us because we had questions about our rental car and my wife was hard of hearing. The car did not look very clean but because of the rain on that day and we had an appointment to meet, and they were busy we just let it slide, not to mention having to talk to the rude clerk again.

Upon returning the vehicle all seemed well. But a couple of weeks later after we get home, we get a letter dated May 26 (we picked up the 27th...) informing me that they had added a $125.00 dollar to my credit card because the vehicle needed to be cleaned what?!!!!

Im in the process of contacting them about this. We returned the vehicle in the same manner that it was given to us. But they are going to charge $125.00 to vaccum the car? They will have to refund me or I will be back here with another bad review and will contact someone above them. I didn't see their low ratings, else I would have not bother renting with these company. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE at all. Their low prices are a bait for people to rent and then they come with charges for cleaning the car for $125.00 - We road travel very often, this rental was done in a hurry because we were on a deadline with our dateline, and we couldn't find the the full size vehicle we needed for our family. We are heading to another trip during the holidays and this summer this month. But this company will not be our choice for rentals.

I will be back here to report and inform you how they handled my refund request. The letter they sent me is not even the day of my rental, we had not even picked up our car yet. Im hoping it's an error on their part because our car was not dirty to the point of $125.00 for cleaning services. Vacuuming should be a standard procedure after receiving the vehicle.
One start because I had to put something up but would be zero otherwise.

I had a great experience with this company. I'm used to rent a car at an Airport so i knew what to look for... after checking online for the best car-rental programs in Istanbul Payless came out as my prefered. Always take a video of the outside and inside of the car so you have proof of the current state of being of the car. The first broker dindt like that but i'm the one who is renting so i dindt give a shit what the tought about me. After returning he said that was the best i've done because the damage there were accusing me for doing was already on the video before i drove off from the parking-lot. So i got my refund(and more). And the skipped the HGS-cost(tunnels and briges in Turkey) which was 4550 telle... but honest to say i slapped the guy working in the terminal office and as i was loud and very innoying they dindt want the Polis to come and check out what's going on. They called me a gangster but i was just a traveller trying not to get scammed. So my advise is..: BE LOUD AND VERY TROUBLEFULL. Otherwise you will get Scammed

I rented a vehicle for 5 days at $173, and hardly drove the car. When I dropped it off on-time, I never recieved notification it was dropped off. After trying to get them on the phone for days, they told me the car was never checked in and a case was made to find the vehicle. I had to call again to get an answer if they found the vehicle, then they charged me $211 for gas charges!! I talked with them again and they said it would be refunded, but it never went thru. After all this I had to call again and they said I had to pay the gas charge of $211. I hardly drove the car, this is unbelievable how they can get away with this. They lost the car, then over charged and took advantage of people's trust. Horrible customer service and business practices.

If I could, I would give them 0 stars! They charge you almost the triple you have booked, give you the car one hour later than confirmed and the cars are full of schrathes. Never again! I hope this review will help people to avoid Payless.

Thanks to Matthew our experience was amazing! He was a great help and would definitely recommend!

We picked up van. It was in ok condition. (It had a cracked windshield which was noted). After using the van for 10 days, I dropped it off off and was told all was ok; I got a receipt but later the next week was notified that I was being charged a $450 "cleaning fee". When I called the number listed on the notice, I was told I called the wrong number and was told to call another number. When I was able to reach an agent, I was told the cleaning fee was for excessive sand in the van and that there was nothing she could do with the fee. I've rental numerous vehicles and have returned them in similar conditions and have never been charged. Was there some sand, yes, excessive, nope. Very disappointed in the experience

Nightmare wait. No one at Payless counter. Apparently Payless uses Avis/Budget reps to staff. Indianapolis counter took longer than hour. my wife called customer service while waiting and they basically they were on break. Ridiculous customer service. Couldn't be more rinky dink. I guess we learned you get what you pay for. Avoid unless you want to wait over an hour to get your car.

I had a shocking experience with Payless at Istanbul Airport on May 9, 2025, around 9 PM. I agreed to rent a car for $40/day. After signing papers, the staff suddenly said the car wasn’t available and tried to push another one for $50/day. When I refused and asked to cancel, the staff (including a man named Malik) became angry and disrespectful.

They started yelling and then told lies about me in Turkish to other nearby rental companies — not knowing I understood the language. I was then blocked from renting a car from anyone at the airport.

When I called to complain the next day, I was connected to the same staff, and they admitted had blacklisted me and refused to transfer me to a manager. This was humiliating and completely unfair. I do not recommend this company to anyone.

If there was the option of 0 stars i would choose it as this was a total scam. Waited for the car for more than an hour car had scratches as per normal rental car used in highways. We returned and 5days later sent us a bill of over 1k coincidence almost as the deposit stating car had scratches a missing thing from trunk and charged us an extra day aswell

We rented a Mid-Size SUV through Southwest for April 3rd - 6th in San Diego. Upon arrival at the Payless Counter, the attendant offered us an upgrade for only an additional $10/day. Shame on me for not reading the details, but we were charged an additional $40/day, I guess I’m too trustful. When we went to receive the vehicle, it was not an upgrade. The attendant in the lot told us this was the vehicle he had cleaned for us earlier that morning. The counter attendant also continued to say, over 4 different times, "you wanted the insurance?", and "I have you down for the full coverage", I had to insist several times that we declined the insurance. The overall experience was very, very shady. To top it off, I had temporarily misplaced the rental keys at our resort, when I asked the concierge if anyone had turned them in, he asked which rental company. When I told him Payless, he went on a 10-minute rant about being an ex-employee and to make sure I read all the paperwork and fine print because they are encouraged as employees to be deceptive. Again, shame on me for not doing my due diligence but shame on Payless (AND AVIS) for being this type of company. We travel over 12 times per year for competitive softball and I will never use Payless or any of its affiliates (Avis or Budget) again, due to this experience. I've already cancelled 2 future reservations.

Is there a 'no star' option for this company? Cos that's what they deserve. The charged me RIDICULOUS expenses after car was returned in great condition and full gas. I have spoken to 3 customer service personnel 2 out of whom were outrightly RUDE. None gave me helpful assistance on how to give me my refund of $59. The actual cost for rental for 4days was $212.40 @59 per day... now take a look at the additional RIDICULOUS charges 🙄 11.11% concession recovery fee $35.74 ( what were they : recovering?") Customer facility charge $6 per day making $24, late fee $20, energy recovery $2.40, MA excise TX reimb $16.46, 4.50 for transportation recovery.. then sub total tax of 6.25%, city surcharge %10 and police training fee $2 then Another toll and fuel services per day 59.96 totaling $417.94 for a 4day rental 🙄...like my flight from MD to BOSTON, MA was cheaper than this... this is just highway robbery...three customer care gave 3 different reasons for this charges, one said the $59 was for tolls, second one said because my contract hasn't closed, he can't do anything to help me and the 3rd said $129 was charges for bringing the car 4 hrs later than I said I would return it even though I had requested for an extension at the time of me picking up the rental. I blame myself for not reading their reviews before booking them through southwest. One of their customer care simply just hung up on me...this company's name should be changed from " payless" to "payMORE" car rental. Do not book EVER from them!