The problems are actually caused by national management, not only with these mergers, but by offering such low prices and dealing in volume, while not putting nearly as much money as they should to staffing. You can't call for a stampede of customers, and not be ready to serve them with only 2 clerks at the front desk. The result is a 90 minute wait for a car. Fortunately, they have the cars, however, by the time people get them, they are fuming. And I have to ask: Who in this day and age uses a dot matrix printer? That part alone just screams that national management really doesn't care. If they're going for volume they have to invest in standalone tablets so people can check themselves in, and choose their car and coverages, in addition to having the clerks. As far as their Perks club, the app doesn't work in the car rental terminal. Also, the app itself doesn't allow you to cancel without talking to someone on the phone at the national service center. Overall, everyone at the ABQ Payless Car Rental, and online has been nice. But it's offset by this untenable situation that the national corporate management has set in terms of staffing. read more

Absolutely Awful Experience - DO NOT RENT FROM PAYLESS 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. read more

Payless Car Rental - fuel gauge - Car Rental Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

One of the smoothest rentals I've done ! They got me in and out quickly. Only thing that took a while was to get the hold lifted off my card after return , but it was within the time frame. I had a great experience and paid a reasonable price. read more

I'm reporting Payless Car Rentals @ ABQ airport to the better business bureau. I watched a classic bait & switch today. The man in front of me had prepaid his car rental. His receipt stated a 50% increase. He stated that his prepaid information was on his computer at home and he needed to retrieve it to prove his case. From $400 bucks to $1100? And, he was an Elder. The panel on my rental had a nonfunctioning backup camera and dashboard display. I bought the insurance for the car because I hate fighting about ding/dents. I just checked my invoice and it is $85.00 more. I hope there is a special place in Hades for such despicable practices to steal from customers. SMDH - S read more

Long wait, horrible service, given wrong car This was the worst car rental pick-up experience I've ever had. There was a LONG queue (about 20 people) and only 1 person at the desk to begin with. It took him 20 minutes JUST TO CHECK IN THE FIRST PERSON. Finally another guy came out to help, but then the first guy left. Everything was EXCEEDINGLY SLOW and their computers were having issues. Neither of them even acknowledged the many other people who had now been waiting in line for over half an hour. Neither of them were personable or gave ANY kind of customer service to us. They were rude and gave the impression that we were a big problem to them. All in all, it took me NEARLY AN HOUR after arriving at the rental car counter to complete my check-in and receive my car, which is ridiculous. To top it off, I wasn't even given the car I booked. I was given a huge pick-up truck, and I did NOT want a truck or a big vehicle. So, way too long getting the vehicle, extremely poor customer service, and I didn't even get any sort of vehicle that I wanted. Will never rent a car through Payless again. read more

No Hassle Except... This was a very different experience for us in contrast to our experience in Las Vegas. Hubby booked for a rental car here at Payless online and specified the time that we would pick up the car. It gave him the option to choose a time in the wee hours of the night. DAY OF ARRIVAL/PICK UP: Since we were traveling to NM after our work hours with connecting flights we weren't expected to arrive in Albuquerque around 2:00a. We took the shuttle that took us to the car rental companies. Joe, the shuttle driver, informed us that the car rental places opened at 6 (some at 5:00a). Hubby and I looked at each other at it was nearing 2:30a only. Even the business hours showed 24/7 in Yelp (someone had edited the hours since then). Lo and behold! when we got to the car rental place we were not alone! There were other folks who thought that the rental companies were open 24-hours also. Our resort was in Santa Fe which was some hour away and when we checked Lyft there were no cars available! The only option for us was to wait it out. The other people waiting took other means as some of them were picked up by cabs or family members or friends. 3-1/2 WAIT: Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock. Joe, the shuttle driver that dropped us off from the airport, came to us often to check on us. He was very nice and caring. We appreciated him for that. When 6:00a came we were the first ones there! LoL! right? One person opened and we walked up to the counter. Susan was very nice. The rental process was quick and no pressure upsell (opposite from our experience in Las Vegas!). Susan gave us restaurant discounts in the Old Town Santa Fe and Albuquerque area as well as a tourist guide book for New Mexico. We got our car in less than 10 minutes and off we went to Santa Fe. Returning the car was just as fast and easy. Out of there in 5 minutes. This rating is 2 stars because of the nice small gestures in hospitality we received from Joe and Susan. The hidden charges sucks. My receipt clearly showed that I declined all their "Optional Products and Services" and yet they tacked it on the final bill. I opened a claim with my credit card company disputing the charges. This doesn't reflect anything on our enjoyable stay in beautiful New Mexico... it's the car rental company, in general, throughout the U.S. We will be back another time but not using Payless Car Rental. Cheers and happy travels! Review #0535 read more

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Only got a star because 0 isn't an option. Stupid wait time because they are understaffed. 1 hour 15 minute wait. Line stayed consistently long entire duration. Only 2 people at counter. read more

Found a $1,500 charge on my credit card a month after returning the vehicle. I had no idea what it could have been for as nothing happened to the vehicle in my short trip. Found out by having to contact them before that they hadn't communicated anything and apparently they replaced a broken tail light. They have no proof or evidence (because there was no broken tail light) This company is fraudulent and outright the worst company I've ever had to deal with. They will try to steal your money with any reason. Payless should be shut down and out of business! read more

This is the absolute worst car rental place out there. From start to finish, the employees were unfriendly even after I made the extra effort to try and be. I love being the customer and asking the employee how they are doing today, and get "fine" as the response, not "fine, how are you?". But that's a small frustration compared to what followed. 1) They didn't have anyone working at their desk, so had to wait on someone to show up to start with. 2) They immediately told me that they didn't have the vehicle I reserved, which was a 4 door Ford F-150 Truck. Instead, they tried to say that a little Toyota truck was the same vehicle class and size, and didn't offer to adjust the rental rate. For the record, a Toyota is not the same size as a Ford F-150. 3) I needed to extend the rental a few days, so I called the customer service #, spoke to someone who updated the reservation and managed to give me a new price, but somehow missed that in their system and they began hounding me that the vehicle was stolen and completely disrupted my day, started calling relatives out of the phone book or something and creating unnecessary drama and chaos. 4) Upon returning the vehicle, there were 2 employees yelling at each other in the return lot and too focused on that to properly check anyone in. I went inside the building to see if I could I could confirm the vehicle check in and final payment, and there was a line and I was told I didn't need to do anything else. Fast forward a week later and they are trying to charge me TRIPLE the price they gave me for the reservation. They never apologized for accusing me of stealing the vehicle, or not having the correct one to begin with. No, instead they are trying to charge me THREE times what I was quoted. The daily rate they are attempting to charge is greater than their weekly rate for the same vehicle. There were no damages. It was returned with a full tank. I would not recommend this company to anyone. Here is further evidence of their bad business practices: https://abcnews.go.com/US/bbb-issues-nationwide-warning-payless-car-rental/story?id=47585004 read more

Payless Car Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

I nobody was there to serve renters. Signs said see budget. But nobody was there either after wandering around the helpful enterprise staff told to go to Avis and that they would handle Payless and budget. But no instructions anywhere from Payless. Budget or Avis. Be aware that you will have no assistance from anyone if you get in later at night 10:30 read more

This was my worst car rental experience EVER! I rented through Rentalscars.com...NEVER do that!! Evidently so did everyone else in the airport because when we arrived at the car rental site, there were 25 people in line! Actually there was NO ONE in line at the Payless counter, because it was CLOSED with a sign directing you to the Budget counter. After a 30 minute wait in line - during which there were only three agents working and a supervisor who would not help check people out - my agent took 30 more minutes to complete my car rental, during which he screwed up three times and had to start over. After I left the rental facility and was driving away my cc company texted me that I had been hit with THREE separate car rentals as a result!!!!!! Phone calls to Payless went downhill from there....the representatives were less than enthusiastic or helpful about the situation. In addition, we got a Nissan Rouge...never again...first it was dirty, and there was a film on the windshield and rear window that made it actually hard to see out of!!! We stopped and bought window wipes...which helped about 10%, but no more....so not sure what that crap was on the windshield but it was not coming off. Disgusting.... Also this car only had 30,000 miles but it had a constant metal-type banging noise coming from who knows where...we could never find the source. A crap car from a crap company. Beware of getting a "good deal" from rentalcars.com and avoid Payless at all costs. read more

Honestly, this place was okay. I reserved a car for $31. They offered, but didn't push the upsell. The man at the counter was friendly. No surprises when I brought it back either. Quick and easy dropoff. However, I do wish I had been able to reach someone via phone when I called. Minus one star for not getting anyone on the phone in 4 tries. read more

Please avoid this place at ALL EXPENSE! You will get ripped off. You will end up paying MORE than what you bargained for. If you drop off your keys in the morning, before business hours, you will undoubtedly be charged twice to three times more than what you paid for your original contract. read more

I've rented hundreds of cars and never have I had a worse experience. To begin the sad saga that was my recent rental. My flight was delayed and unbeknownst to me Payless cancels your rental reservation if you don't pick up your rental by COB. I had prepaid for a week long rental so I was rather surprised when I showed up the next morning and the associate told me my prepaid week long rent was canceled, no refundable and I'd need to rebook at a price 40% higher than my original rate. After some discussion this was eventually rectified and an hour later I was on my way. Car was fine and the rest of the trip was rather uneventful. When I returned the vehicle the associate checking me in gave us the all clear and I thought that was the end but oh no. 2 weeks later than receive a lettering the mail stating that I would be charged an additional $450 for "excessive dirt". I imagine this was because they had failed to include floor mats with the vehicle. There was a small amount of dirt and sand but nothing a quick vacuum wouldn't address and certainly nothing excessive. Needless to say after wasting hours of my life trying to address these attempts at extortion I will never be renting another car from this company and I will certainly be disputing this charge and the other random $50 BS charge for changing my reservation. read more

The folks at Payless Rental were slamming us with a smile on their face! They told me a bold face LIE that "our luggage and my family (wife and child) would NOT fit into a Hyundai Accent"!! They were forcing me to upgrade which I refused!! Then I noticed the dollar amount of our reservation was different that the online quote and noticed that they were forcing US to buy some crazy insurance for theft!!! I asked them to take it off and she quoted me a higher up-front fee !! I plan to dispute this once we get back to California since we had declined ALL the extra insurance they were also trying to slam us with!! The only reason we opted to use them was the they had listed a Ford Focus as the car available in this class. And wouldn't you know it that they could NOT deliver on that one either !! I would advise to stay against these folks cause it appears they have created an incentive for their staff to FORCE people to upgrade and buy items they rarely would need. read more

I rented a car through Travelocity and picked Payless because they had the cheapest rates. When we went to the airport in Albuquerque New Mexico to pick up the car, we were asked about purchasing additional insurance. We explained that we have plenty of insurance and also utilizing our credit cards we have insurance coverage for car-rental that we are double covered. No need to purchase their insurance. When we get out to the car lot to be given the car we noticed on the contract they had charged us for road service assistance insurance. I asked the car lot attendant about this and told her we had declined taking any insurance. She told me they put it on everybody whether they ask or not because they figured people would want it. She told me it is to cover other damages like flat tires towing etc. I said that's not right take it off I have coverage! It was an additional $4.95 per day. That particular problem was taken care of before we pull the car out of the lot after thoroughly inspecting the vehicle we had the car for two days. Everything went smoothly we then returned the car with a full tank of gas and showed the lot attendant a receipt as proof. We were given the okay to go and we took the shuttle to the airport. The car rental was Albuquerque airport May 10 through May 12. We were never told there was a problem with the car we dropped it off and it was in excellent condition there were no problems or damages to the vehicle. A lot attendant looked it over and told us it would be billed to our credit card receipt. This is where I am niw writing to you about the complaint. Yesterday, three months later , I received a bill for an incident report. Payless wants to charge me an additional $224.80. They mail me an incident report that went to their San Antonio subrogation management team. It states that customer brought the car back and the inspection missed a crack on the windshield. I can tell you for sure there was no crack on the windshield. Payless had the car window repaired by Safelight Repair. Payless then charged us $160 for physical damage $14.80 for loss of use $50 administration fee for a whopping $224.80. They are asking for us to pay this. They also indicated they tried to get a hold of us but They said they had the wrong phone number on file. That is a lie! The rental agreement clearly states a perfectly good phone number. My husband is a doctor and we travel extensively and use Travelocity for almost all of our reservations. He has a cell phone number with him so patients can get a hold of him 24 seven if needed. There was no way they tried to get a hold of us. Now if you go to the Internet and Google Payless car rental complaints there are 103 complaints about the exact same stuff that I just got billed for. Also Yelp people are complaining about Payless having very low fees on the Internet enticing you to rent their car and then they get you for all kinds of damages later. Payless provided a phone number to call on Monday morning as they are closed the weekend. There is a phone number to call out of San Antonio, TX 210-657-0064 Regarding the bill that I received from them. I believe this is a scam and very fraudulent. FILE COMLAINTS WITH CONSUMER AFFIARD DIVISION AND BBB read more

You get what you paid for? I think we paid way too much with all the hidden fees. I have to revised my review with this "company" not the people that serve and work there. You see we came too late this morning and have to wait till 6am for this company to open. It is not their fault that our connecting flight was a red eye arrival. Got to hand it to Susan who made our 3 1/2 hour wait at the rental area bearable. She was was very polite, friendly and didn't push for any add ons. Clearly my wife declined on the contract and what was disclose to us was 142$ and some change for a week rate. Had an economy car ... A Yaris and it took us all over the New Mexico, Texas and Colorado. It was decent but when we got it, it had already had "maintenances required" lit up on the panel. We drove it anyway. When we returned the car, we assumed the price quoted and what we reserved for was the same. To our suprise we were billed 260 + $$$ way over what we expected. My wife fought some of the hidden charges and got some money back but still was over $220+ over 70$ more of what we expected. Sadly to say !! This will be our last time to rent at Payless. You see we rented at Las Vegas and had an awful experience there as well. Although the service we got from the people who worked at ABQ was excellent, it's the company that allows this to happen. I have to tell the truth and have others that may rent at Payless to think twice what they are about to get into. Either Getting pressured for add ons or get charged with hidden charges that clearly you declined. I should have read the reviews prior to booking with Payless. read more

Rented a car for two days for a business trip. Returned the vehicle without any hiccups. Over a month later, a charge of more than $500 hits my credit card without any notice or documentation. After sitting on hold a representative finally tells me that there was glass damage? No glass damage occurred while I had the vehicle. The "documentation" I had to REQUEST provided no pictures or any proof. So I guess it's my word versus theirs. This is an absolutely RIDICULOUS way to handle this situation. No wonder their reviews are so awful. I will gladly take my business elsewhere. read more

I would give them zero stars if I could. Worst customer service ever and will NEVER rent from them again. My husband left his glasses in the rental upon returning the car because he was distracted with our 1 year old. Now, I totally get this is his fault. HOWEVER, after realizing they were left, while still on the shuttle about 5 minutes later we called and talk to someone at the location. They said they couldn't help us because they needed to transfer us to lost and found BUT they couldn't transfer us because the person in lost and found was in classes all day. WHAT!!??? seriously?! He couldn't walk the 10 steps to the car and grab the glasses which were in their case in the center console of the car!? I even sent my parents there to talk to them, who by the way had to drive all the way from Santa Fe (45 mins). By the time they got there they were told the car had gone to cleaning already. Then when my husband tried to call again before we were about to take off, the manager yelled at him and hung up. 3 days later we never heard from lost and found. My husband calls several time and finally gets through. What a surprise - THEY NEVER FOUND ANY GLASSES!! What a joke of a company. Terrible customer service, even worse management. read more

Save yourself a headache. Don't rent from this Payless. The car was dirty inside and out when I got it. The passenger door had been damaged and was super difficult to open. Then, the car overheated while I had it. Turned out there was no anti-freeze. Luckily I made it to a gas station, where I also checked the oil (why not, I'm already dirty)...and guess what, the oil wouldn't register on the stick. So I had to put oil in the car as well. If that isn't enough, when I returned the car, they tried to charge me for the insurance and road service which I always waive as I have AAA insurance and road service. A total of over $110 additional for three days rental. I grabbed the documents they had given me when I rented the car, and discovered that the documents they so nicely folded up and placed in the little packet...were unsigned, and completely incorrect. What I signed, and what they gave me were different documents! Now I have nothing in my hands to prove what I was telling the guy. I was furious!!! The totally "duh" attendant just said, "well, there's a phone number you can call to dispute the fee"... We had to catch a flight, which I think they use to their advantage, so we had to leave. When I got home I called the customer service line several times, where you only get a voice message box. No returned call until the next day. The representative listened to my story, but was dismissive in his response to me that "we have a video and voice recording I will review, and then I will contact you"... Really?... He can review all the videos he wants. I agreed to nothing. I noticed they have already processed the full charge on my credit card. So, I called my credit company and filed a dispute of charges. This will clearly be a battle to the end. Just so you know: in addition to your "base daily rate" they will charge you: Rental tax of 5% Concession fee of 11.11% Sales tax of 7.1875% Leased vehicle surcharge of $2 per day Energy recovery charge of .56 per day Energy recovery fee of .60 per day Consolidated facility fee of $3.50 per day And that's just the beginning... Their low base price ends up being equal or higher than the better rental companies. read more

Not the best experience I've ever had. Long wait at the counter in the middle of the afternoon because there is only one agent for two or three different companies. I was already perturbed at the much higher prices in Albuquerque compared to Salt Lake City where I was coming from. But then after we drove away from the airport and I plugged in my GPS so I could find my way around the unfamiliar city, I discovered the power supply was not working. We made it to Santa Fe and our hotel using my phone, then tried several times to contact someone, ANYone at Payless to see if they could do something about getting us a car with a functional power supply. As far as I could tell, the car we were driving had only one power supply, so I couldn't just plug in at a different one as might have been possible in some vehicles. After several calls to different "help" numbers listed on our contract and online, I finally gave up. I had spent about an hour either on hold, or looking for other numbers to call. Didn't have more time to waste on what was obviously a futile effort. Thankfully my companion is a car savvy person and was able to locate the fuse for the power supply and get a replacement for it, which solved the problem. I should send them a bill for the service, but of course I need to get on with so many other pressing matters that it won't happen. I can only imagine what would have happened if it had been a more serious problem with the car, as there was just no getting through to anyone with this company. They really need to check out their vehicles more thoroughly for things like power supplies since almost every traveler these days is going to have some device that needs to be plugged in to help them communicate and navigate in an unfamiliar location. read more

Here is what happened: Reserved an SUV in Albuquerque because I expected snow in March in New Mexico. Somehow I got an SUV with only front wheel drive! Well who knew that front wheel drive SUVs exist, my fault for not checking. But now I am parked on a country road in Santa Fe, stuck with a GIANT gas-guzzling vehicle that can't take me anywhere because there are 2 inches of snow on the ground. While waiting for the snow to melt it occurs to me I can at least return this useless behemoth - that is, as soon as I can move it. Even a smaller front-wheel-drive car would be better! So I call the Santa Fe Budget/Payless office and I'm told that there will be a $50 one-way drop fee unless I can get my originating rental office to "waive" it. OK, now there's a plan. Call and ask. I've now spent OVER AN HOUR trying over and over again to get through to Payless in ABQ, using the local phone number on my rental contract. If I select any of the numbered "options" at all I end up talking to someone at a call center in Los Angeles, and they say can't help me with this. If I just wait on hold, I stay on hold forever and ever and ever and no one ever picks up. As I type this, this is my 10th call, and this time I've already been on hold 15 minutes. Nobody is there. They will never answer. What a waste of precious vacation time. Conclusion: Payless, never again. read more

Agree with others, may appear to be the lowest cost, but they gave me a car with that they should have paid me to take!! The absolute worst piece of crap eco car ever -- it didn't even have electronic locks. No cruise control. Nothing. CRAZY. I would absolutely NOT rent from them again. . I was overcharged too -- just like other reviewers. It's all bait and switch. They quote you a lower price online and then jack it up when you arrive and are stuck needing the car. I can add Payless to the list with Thrifty as NEVER AGAIN car rental companies read more

Yeah - sucky. Car was covered in bird poo and the remnants of some sort of decals. Smelled funny. Nobody would answer the phone in the San Antonio office for hours AND then when they did answer the phone, my travel plans changed and I tried to ask about driving the car to a different town. Uhm - that will be a $500 to "get out of your contract". Whatevs people. Good thing the car rental biz isn't competitive and there's nobody else to use. read more

Super friendly staff at the check on desk.

If you want to get ripped off on taxes and addon go to Payless they will take your left arm off, or maybe your right. Any other agency is better and I will make sure I never use them again. read more

Worst car rental company ever. How they haven't been shut down by the BBB is beyond me. Lemme tell you. I rented a car from them for 24 hours. That was the EASY part. I had to drive a couple hours away from ABQ because my mom had a medical emergency. So I called to let them to let them know I needed an extension for 24 hours. When you call the local "505 247 6705" local number, it automatically connects you to their national customer service line. When I try to extend it with them, they say, "we can't extend it. You have to go to where you picked it up." Then I say, "this is the 18th time I've told you and your coworkers, IM NOT NEAR WHERE I PICKED IT UP. THERE WAS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY." Then they reply, "lemme give you the local number." Then I reply, "Whenever I call the local number, it connects with you guys!" Then I usually get hung up on. After 5 hours of trying to extend it, someone said, "Somebody from lost prevention will be contacting you..... hopefully." Moral of the story.. something so easy turned into a s*** show. It is now the following morning. I'm heading to the airport to return the car. Wish me luck I don't get arrested for grand theft auto. read more

Wish I read the reviews. Everything about this place is a mess. It's housed another facility so not only does it take forever to get out because the confusion, the people are rude about everything. When you get back, you have no idea where to turn the car in, etc, etc. When I turned the car in, they said their computers were down and they'd email me the receipt, but obviously they didn't. I was charged $98 for a $21 car rental. When I called corporate, they said I had to talk to the local office and the local office said I needed to talk to the manager. They would not take a message. When I called back when the manager was there, I was left on hold forever. They basically told me they didn't know if he'd ever be available. I called back about 30 times and when he got on the phone he told me that they said I refused to give my name and number. Wow. The dishonesty is amazing. The manager didn't even bother to apologize. I filled a complaint. Waiting to hear back. Save yourself the hassle. It's not worth saving $2 from the next cheapest place. read more

I'll have to look over the rental contract a bit more carefully next time (if I rent from this place again). I booked a car online with my flight for one day and only noticed after I picked up the car and got to my destination that the insurance they applied (which they made it sound like was a mandatory charge) was listed under "optional/products and services". This was the "loss damage waiver" and at $26 per day, that's expensive. Without that charge and including all their little taxes and fees, it would have been about $30 for the day which is what I expected. I gave this 3 stars because the process of getting the car and bringing it back was pretty efficient. Walked up to the counter, got the papers, walked to the car (which was a little hard to find at first because they updated their layout), got in and drove off (about 10 minutes total). Came back the next day, pulled up, an employee looked it over, gave me a receipt and then I left. read more

Walked up to the counter with no one in sight. There was a sign on the counter that stated to go to the budget counter for service. Headed to the budget counter and they were helpful with the rental. When I had to return the vehicle there was the sign again and I worked with a budget agent. It almost like Payless is a shadow company for budget. I have yet to see a Payless rental employee at the counter anytime I have gone in for rentals. read more

Words cannot describe what a terrible company this is. I had an employee hang up on me because they didn't want to deal with the problem. I actually called the Enterprise location to *ask them to go to the Payless kiosk to ask them to answer their phone.* They don't answer their phone. Their employees are rude. DO NOT EVER RENT FROM THEM. They lost a big contract; my company will never rent from them again. read more

THE WORST CAR RENTAL EXPERIENCE EVER! First, I waited over an hour for a car. They literally did not have enough cars despite the fact I'd reserved it several days prior. Second, and this is my real gripe, when I returned the car, there was no one there to check it in - just a sign stating no one was available and leave the car on the dash. I did that, and they charged me an extra $125.00, stating that I didn't turn the car in until 6:30 the next morning. We are disputing this with their customer service, but so far they have been super unhelpful. Not surprising given how they are trying to gouge us. Don't rent from these people, you'll regret it. read more

Normally I pay ahead of time when I rent a car, but this time I didn't, which resulted me in being unable to rent a car from Dollar Rentals and a few others, because of a lack of a major credit card OR two forms of picture ID (who carries around a drivers license and a state ID? And why carry a passport if you're not leaving the country?) So we wound up at Payless where Jose was very helpful, got us into a car and even waived the second driver fee. So five stars for Jose helping us out in a pinch. read more

The headache is not worth the price. Let me start with the positive. Our car was clean and new, and we did not experience any mechanical malfunctions. The end. Now, for the negative. Their customer service is horrendous. In fact, more accurately, it is customer disservice. It doesn't matter who you talk to, or where you talk to them, I didn't encounter a single employee who cared about the problems that we experienced, nor did I encounter anybody who could personally resolve our issues. No one department or person seems to posses the power and ability to resolve customer concerns without making you jump through rings of fire. Any good company gives their frontline employees the power to address customer concerns at the first point of contact, because every good business knows that the faster and more effectively you resolve a customer's issues, the more likely you will be to recover the situation and convert them into a repeat customer. They are extremely disorganized. The left hand truly has no idea what the hell the right hand is doing in this company. Two weeks after we returned from our trip, we are still fighting to have erroneous charges refunded. Their customer care team can't even find the time to create a genuine reply or make a genuine attempt to resolve a problem (and I'm convinced they can't recruit a decent employee who knows how to write or deal with customers). Don't trust anything that anybody says, because they either don't know what they're talking about, or they're flat-out lying to you. I was given a very elaborate explanation of the erroneous charges that we incurred, and the entire explanation was factually incorrect. I was being led to believe that we were being charged an early/late return fee, despite returning our vehicle well within the 29-minute grace period. Be very cautious: watch their every move and double-check every piece of paperwork you receive. Hold them accountable for their actions. Essentially, you'll have to do their job for them, because each and every one of them is inept and incapable of properly doing their job. Bottom line: Their slogan should be, "We don't give a f*ck about you, but please give us your money anyway." read more

Gave 2 stars only because Jose (the rental agent at counter) was professional, polite, helpful, and kept me informed of wait status. No stars would of been given as one would think if you have a reservation they would ensure a vehicle is available. I made reservation weeks ago, very poor business model. My advice, pay a little more and rent from more reputable company next time! And this was amongst 3 at this price point so wasn't going with cheapest. read more

Payless Car Rental - "Cars available" sign doesn't mean actual cars are available here!?! - Car Rental Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

They steal things. I'm sorry, but there's no other way to describe what happened to us. We rented a car (no issues there) but left a priceless, one of a kind item in the backseat when we turned the car in. Within *15 minutes*, we realized it was gone and called to leave messages. We couldn't get back to the car rental service center as we would have missed our flight. A couple of things you need to know here, too, for your own experience -- you'd better hope nothing ever goes wrong, as these guys DO. NOT. PICK. UP. THEIR. PHONES. Any of them. In trying to retrieve our item, we attempted to get through on every single numbered option. They don't pick up any of them. Most don't have voicemails. We left voicemails with Customer Service and Lost & Found. I called, my wife called. Not a single damn thing was done. They didn't return our calls, nothing. There is simply NO WAY that the lady who took our car in would not have noticed the item in the back seat. As soon as she looked in the back seat, it would have been obvious. The only explanation is that she stole it. It couldn't have been missed (and yes, we will curse ourselves for not looking there ourselves, but we thought we'd packed it and you know what it can be like in the mad dash to the airport when traffic has been bad getting you there). At any point along the way between us dropping the car off and it getting to its next customer, any number of Payless employees would have had an opportunity to report that item if it were there. None did. No one returned the calls. They stole it. Plain and simple. Dishonest people working there stole it, and the fact that the company won't lift a finger to look into it, or even return a phone call, means that they are absolutely fine with the theft (or worse, encourage it). I finally called the national office and filed a report. The way their system works is that they take your report, file a claim and send that claim on to the actual branch (in this case, ABQ). And then they (the national office) considers it CLOSED. They actually closed the case and when I asked them about it they said someone from ABQ would contact me. Needless to say, they never have and I'm sure they never will. Payless rentals are cheap, that's all they've got going for them. If you are prepared to rent a car and *know* that there's just no way anything can go wrong for you, by all means roll the dice. But if anything--anything at all--goes wrong, you're up a certain creek without your proverbial paddle. They won't do a damn thing. If you leave anything in that car, they'll steal it. Guaranteed. read more

Because this company is "Partner of Southwest Airlines", I reserved a veh with Payless Car rental in San Jose, CA 11/18-11/23/2020. I waited for over 2 hrs before being sent to an Avis Rental counter to process paperwork & pickup veh. Avis representative was helpful & professional. Garage personnel guy was a jerk when asked where was brake release & trunk release. Upon returning veh, I made certain gas tank was full & had receipt to show. The guy checking in veh's waved & said receipt was not necessary as his hand-held remote apparatus reads the veh dashboard gauges ie mileage, fuel etc. He was very, very prompt handing me a receipt indicating rental return info and asking if we could promptly move on as there would be more cars returning & space was needed. Not true as there was plenty of parking spaces & no other car/s waiting. While waiting for our flight I reviewed the return receipt & discovered I'd been charged $116.73 for fuel & miscellaneous fuel service. Contacting Payless Customer Service is a JOKE! I was promptly issued a complaint # to attach to the documentation I needed to be sent to the company. I've repeatedly sent in the documentation to the company & as of this date, almost 3 months later, I have NOT had any reply from Payless Rental. I've contacted Southwest Airlines & documented my displeasure they are recommending this company. Their reply was cordial stating they will forward my complaint but they would not be of assistance to remedy. If there was a "ZERO" rating, this would be my rating. Extremely poor service from beginning to end. I doubt I'll ever recover any of the overcharge. Nothing worse for advertising is an "UNHAPPY LADY!" And I am that lady so would not promote them regardless of what city Payless Rental is located in. read more

Every time I rent from budget at Dfw airport there is a big guy at the counter next door of sister company Payless that is unscrupulously trying to strong arm people into coverage or things they do not want. He is relentless and most of the time they very sourly accept just to get car. This guy is the worst I have ever seen for company image although I am sure he shows great sales quota numbers. Bottom line : stay away from this company if you don't have the intestinal fortitude to fight for What you want. read more

Understaffed - 3 car rental agents & about 30 ppl waiting @ the Albuquerque Airport location 12pm on a Wednesday - unacceptable!

I give my review 5 stars based on a 1 star rating that already exists for this company. First off....you have to take a shuttle to a "car rental center." This seems to be happening more and more at airports. The shuttle was very timely. When we entered the line at 2:30, there was 1 worker. At 3 p.m., 2 more agents came on duty. Our agent was Maurio. Friendly and polite, but he did offer an upgrade (for a fee) and I took it. I also added the fuel option, since I knew we were putting 500+ miles on the car. My $398 quote turned into $611. We were given a Toyota Camry. Maurio said it would have more power for the mountains and a better overall ride. We really enjoyed the car and the ride. We spent about 16 hours in the car. Finally, we had to return the car overnight and there are no attendants. Maurio instructed us to put the keys on the dash and a shuttle would be running about every 1/2 hour. Spot on advice. I received a receipt via email within the hour. I'm also supposed to get up to 600 Southwest miles for the rental. read more