On 4/4/26 (Easter weekend) the Payless desk was closed when I arrived at the Austin airport for car pickup at 11 am. It had a sign to go to the next desk, which had a sign to go to Avis, & that line was ONE HOUR LONG. When it was finally my turn & I asked why & they said they had staff shortages, & Avis owns Payless. So it appears they need to increase wages. But worse was when I returned the car with no time to fill it with gas, & I assumed they'd charge regular rates to fill it. Two weeks later when overcharged, the billing department said it was because they charge $9.99 per gallon! This rate had NEVER been communicated to me on the website, in the emailed reservation, or at the counter, so shame on AVIS! This rate should be communicated & transparent to all customers ahead of time. DO NOT RENT FROM PAYLESS or AVIS! read more

We had a reservation and they didn't bother to have anyone at the counter that day. No text, no email, no nothing. Payless is an embarrassment. They only get a star because I can't put zero. read more

Rented a car in Austin. While driving on the freeway the tire came off leaving us in a very dangerous area. We contacted them. It took over 45 minutes to even reach someone. They said they were sending a tow truck and it would be there working 30 minutes to an hour. Almost three hours later we are still stranded on the freeway waiting. No spare tire. These vehicles should undergo inspection. Insanely unsafe. Horrible service. Complete disregard and lack of communication. Absolutely disgraceful. read more

Payless Car Rental - Tire - Car Rental Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Payless car rental 4 hour wat to get a car at Austin airport. Budget is 2 hour if you have a reservation. Not good... read more

Really really bad. Car had the stench of cigarette smoke that wouldn't go away. Car was dirty. Car had scratches. Unable to get a hold of car rental office via phone. Useless. TURO ALLLLL THE WAY. read more

Horrible company! Zero signs for Payless at airport. Nobody at counter.Returned car with full tank of gas. The liar punk kid says it had a half of tank. On the phone for 1 hour saying the same thing over and over. Typical transfer to wrong department over and over. Never use this guys or their sister company Avis again read more

I rented a car through Payless for pick up at the Austin airport. The Toyota Corolla I had reserved was unavailable and I had to take a Jeep Gladiator, which according to the woman at the desk was "just a Jeep" Ha! I took photos of the outside and noticed it hadn't been washed. This wasn't a big deal to me and the inside seemed fine. I returned it 5 days later; it was checked in but not inspected in my presence. Now I'm being charged with a $450 cleaning fee due to a "smoke smell." None of us smoke and there was no smell; I would have noticed! I called and the agent was unclear/evasive about the "proof" they had, then I was asked if I had proof! Seriously???? When I asked who else I could talk to she said "no-one." She literally could not/would not refer me to anyone else. I emailed, but am expecting more of the same so I'm writing as many online reviews as I can and will file a dispute and also report this to the Better Business Bureau. read more

Never had a problem before. Rented from this location and had to extend the time due to freezing rain, snow and road closures. As we spent our time snowed in with no power or water they only waived a 20 dollar fee and charged me over 1,000 dollars. No customer service in a time of need. I will never rent from them again or recommend their services to my guests. read more

Payless Car Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Austin, Texas

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So I was I was not able to rent a car my cards had a zipcode mis match no biggie was told by the great lady at the counter no worries just call and they will refund your pre payment. I called and spoke to a person over sees that didn't really understood what I wanted but got the issue done told me 3-5 business days well guess what 3 calls later and 2 wks later still no refund continue to be told 3-5 days 3-5 days next step is BBB complaint read more

This is a terrible company. It felt like a bait and switch as when I got to the counter they no longer had any gas cars and only had electric. My reservation never mentioned electric cars, if it had I never would have reserved. Original price was $245, final price was over $600. If I could give them negative stars I would. read more

My $181 was refunded on 4/26. I checked my credit card statement today and saw on 5/16 I was charged $10.39 from Payless. Like wtf? I called AGAIN and the telephone rep Stefany said it was because I booked a compact car and they gave me an intermediate. Uh no they didn't. She said I will be refunded again. At this point if you have ever booked with them, I would check your statements to make sure they haven't overcharged you read more

Terrible signage. Don't be fooled and go to the 3rd level (where the signs say) as that is just where you pick up the car. Paperwork is in the level 2 row of counters. Next sad sign says "Payless customers go to Budget counter" and they have the longest line and only a single clerk. Plus I'm now 15 min later in the line than if I'd had a good sign. Learned my lesson. For a few $more go with Budget where I am a FastBreak client. read more

Payless Car Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Austin, Texas

This place is awful. They have one guy working the desk at 7pm mid week and the line is 13 people deep. Since I started standing in it each customer has required approximately 10 minutes to get checked out with a key. At this rate the people in the back of the line will be here two hours before they get their car, that is absolutely insane!! I already canceled my reservation, moved over to the line at Dollar, and rebooked online immediately at a $30 increase in price for two days. Update - 15 minutes later and I'm in the garage with a black Charger Hemi, BOOM! Go Dollar or Go Home. read more

Payless Car Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Austin, Texas

Friendly Service with hidden fees thrown on. Yeah, it's the cheapest at booking, but it's got to be the most expensive one n the end. Nice scam they are running, exploit people in a hurry by rushing them through fine print and "helping them out the door"..... Even the service techs where quick to point out how much you pay in fees, "Yeah, they don't tell you that." read more

Whatever you do DO NOT RENT FROM THIS LOCATION! After waiting over an hour at the counter to receive a slip that put us upstairs in another line for pickup that was well over another hour. Unless you want to spend a good portion of your day in lines, Uber off airport property and rent elsewhere. First review I have ever left... but needed to pass on this information. By far horrible car rental experience. read more

The name says it all. I made our reservation through Expedia when I got our flights. I thought the card I used for the flight would be charged for our rental. It was not. Really, really long story short we tried to shift the charge to a different card and it never happened. Furthermore, we were given incorrect information about the tolls and have had charges associated with our toll road usage. Will never use it. Again. And don't make our mistake. read more

I will say that I have never had any company blow off my concerns like Payless Rental car company. I paid over $100/ day for a small vehicle that usually rents for $15/day. I understood that going in, but the vehicle that I was given was filthy on the inside, smelled like old cigarette smoke, upholstery was stained and windows were greasy. There was a shortage of vehicles so there was no other option for me. I finished my trip and called Payless to see if they could adjust my final $656 bill - they offered me 5%, because I couldn't prove that the vehicle was in bad condition and because it was deemed "drivable".... I have been dealing with their "expedited team" since November 12th with no answers to my concerns. I will NEVER rent from them again and I would advise others to choose a different company as well. read more

DO NOT USE... This excerpt from story from ABC just about sums it up: "The BBB says it has received more than 800 complaints about Payless in the past three years and has given the company an F rating. Now the organization is urging attorneys general in four states -- California, Florida, New Jersey and Oklahoma -- to investigate Payless and its parent company, Avis." http://abcnews.go.com/US/bbb-issues-nationwide-warning-payless-car-rental/story?id=47585004 I have to battle credit card fraud after waiting 45 minutes for someone to show up at the counter to give me the car. No one was present to accept the return and now I have 3 extra charges on my card (and the original amount was overcharged). read more

Don't rent a car from this place. It is the true definition of bait and switch. The car that I got was fine. When I turned in the car I was supposed to get money back. I was told it would take up to two weeks. A month had passed and when I called in they said that that money went toward fees. Save yourself the trouble. This company should rename itself "PayMORE" read more

3 hour wait to receive the keys for my rental. No hardcopy receipt upon return. Archaic and useless website asks for all your information, wants you to create an account, and then promptly sends you to another website that asks you to repeat the process. All of which resulted in filling out a service request form and no receipt. Had to eventually call customer anti-service twice to get a receipt. A flailing hapless system seemingly designed to waste a traveler's s time. If it was an option this review would be negative 2 stars. Avoid! read more

The longest line to get the car. They had Avis, Budget and Payless all in one line with 2 staff member. However, only one of those people could do Payless rentals so we waited 45 minutes. This wasn't peak time by the way. No other car rental places around us had more than 1 person in line. The guy at the desk was a sleazy salesman type who was so rude because we didn't want to upgrade our car. Then when we returned the car we were given no instructions and when asked for help we were met with a very unprofessional response. It was just a bad experience all around. read more

PAYLESS CAR RENTAL COMPANY IS SIMPLY THE WORST -ZERO STARS !! If you have a problem with Payless car rental, don't expect a quick response - It's just as likely you will receive no response at all. Payless employees are strictly forbidden from discussing problems over the phone. You cannot speak to a supervisor, manager or customer service department or even leave s message. The employees are so strict & rude about enforcing the "Payless no verbal discussion of problems" policy, I feel certain their jobs are at risk if they break the rules. The only option for reporting, discussing and/or resolving a problem with Payless Is to submit an online form known as a "ticket". I submitted a "ticket" & never received a response. I was told to try again. When I did not receive a response to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. ticket, I was told to submit another ticket about not receiving a response. I am sure the other part of the Payless "problem" policy is to frustrate & anger the customer into giving up because they realize they are just wasting their time. read more

As an experienced traveler I'm savvy to the sneaky tactics many car rental agencies use. Even so, this Payless station is among the worst. Even after declining all the upgrades and optional coverages when picking up my vehicle, the contract offered to me by the counter agent was almost 20% higher than the estimated total in my reservation. "Oh, that's because taxes," the agent explained. WRONG. The estimate included taxes. I prodded him to explain each line item. It turned out there was still one optional service in the contract they'd added on that I never requested or agreed to. That one item added nearly 15% to the total cost. Once that unauthorized extra was removed my contract was only a few dollars more than the estimate. "ONLY"! I decided it wasn't worth my time to fight for the last few dollars or walk away and try somewhere else, so I signed it and took the keys. BE VERY CAREFUL if you choose to rent from this agency. Read the contract, push back if the numbers are too high, and be ready to walk away. Or better yet make your reservation with a company that's more honest in the first place. read more

Do not rent from this company. They will steal your money. When you get to the counter they will not be there, and they send you to stand in the Budget line (the same company owns both). Even though I had prepaid for the "Payless" car, I stood in line for over an hour and a half, and watched one of the two people at the counter, take a half-hour dinner break. I did not get the car I reserved, and I was told to take a lesser car, but to get my money back for the downgrade, I would have to stand in the line again. When I brought my car back 24 hours later I was charged a late fee, which amounted to another 75 dollars. When you go to the website to report this ( no one answers the phone) it is "under construction". Never had this kind of an experience, and I rent cars frequently. read more

I was a bit apprehensive after reading the less than ideal reviews but gave them a shot. I had rented a full size car for a week in Austin. Upon arrival at the counter, I informed my agent, "Rock", that I hoped things went well so I could leave a good review as I had seen many poor ones. I explained up front that I had my own insurance, and did not want all the add-on features that run up the tab (Loss damage waiver, Personal accident and effects, Emergency sickness plan, Supplemental liability insurance). Those four items would have cost me an additional $55 A DAY. The Rock fixed me up with a nice car at the agreed price. I'll be back. read more

VERY SHADY COMPANY!!! AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!! Payless is terrible. They obviously don't care about customer service. I rent from Avis/Budget (owned by same company as Payless) quite often. Sometimes I need my rental car longer than anticipated. When this happens, Avis/Budget just tack on those extra days to my rental bill, no extra charges or fees. Payless (owned by Avis/Budget) added fees and fines when I did this. It was an honest mistake which could have easily been explained and taken care of with a simple call or email. With those extra days, my total rental bill should have been $600, instead... Payless charged me over $1300 and refuses to refund. When I tried to contact them to discuss the issue, I got a call-center in Mexico. Instead of being able to speak to someone about it, a "ticket" was created. To which they responded via email saying all charges are valid and no refund will be issued. No phone number to call to speak to a supervisor, NOTHING. Payless has AWFUL customer service and refuses to give customers a way to speak to a supervisor for simple misunderstandings like this!!!! I will never rent from them again. There are never surprises like this with other rental companies. Even with rental car companies under the same umbrella as Payless. I suggest using Enterprise, instead. Enterprise actually cares about their customers and they don't play the "e-mail" game when a customer has an issue. AVOID Payless AT ALL COSTS!!!! Not worth saving a few bucks only to get MASSIVELY overcharged with no opportunity to speak to a supervisor to straighten out the overcharge. Just a "we don't care" email from some anonymous person with no phone number to contact. SHADY!!!! I will notify the rest of the people in my industry who frequently rent cars to AVOID Payless and choose a different rental car company!!! A company is only as good as its customer service and it's obvious Payless doesn't care about their customers!!!!! read more

DO NOT RENT FROM PAYLESS! I bought an online "deal"for one week out of Vegas, $200. My flight was delayed, so I called customer service from Austin to ask them to hold my reservation. They said that the Payless location in McCarran Int'l Airport, Vegas, would hold my car until midnight. I arrived at 3:45pm, and they said they no longer had my car and I would have to upgrade for another $100. I told them I had been assured a car, and asked for the manager. Bryson was extremely rude and wouldn't even summon a manager. He told me to go try any other vendor and I would learn that it would be impossible to get a car (Spring Break). I went back to Payless and rented the car, took names, and said I would be dealing with customer service to get a refund. I called customer service the next day and they said I had to complete my rental before I could file any issues for recourse. I filed a complaint with customer service once I returned to Austin. Their response to me - because I agreed to take the only car they had for me, then I had to pay the extra charges. Typical Bait and Switch. After reading the other reviews, I'm sorry I didn't check them out sooner. If I can keep one of you from renting from them, I believe I've gotten recourse. PLEASE STAY AWAY!! read more

Spreading the truth about your companies practices and customer service via word of mouth and via social media must be done for the public. They billed me for maintenance and normal ware and tear. I did nothing wrong to that vehicle. They billed me $241 for a sensor on the windshield being extinguished the way I received it. I sent attachments provided to Jeep Mechanics and Jeep salesmen. Jeep agreed I could not have been at fault for a faulty sensor. There was never even an inspection walkthrough documentation given to me before driving out of the parking garage. The neglect, ineptitude and malfeasance is alarming and disturbing of epic proportions. Their customer service is an example of everything not to do. STAY AWAY! read more

BUYER BEWARE!!!! I had fraud on the card I used to pay for the reservation IN FULL so suffice to say I couldn't use that card when I went to pick up the rental since I had to cancel the card. Prior to my trip I called and explained the situation hoping they'd be able to work with me in some way (I did read the terms and conditions). I mentioned I would be happy to pay the difference of what I paid versus what the amount would be now given the circumstances and they refused to do anything to help me. Instead I have a cancelled reservation and I'm waiting for the refund less the $50 "processing fee". Based on the other reviews for this company in Austin and other cities, I'm not the only one who has been subject to their shady customer service. Do yourself a favor and pay a little more and do business with reputable company! read more

Bunch of crooks and ripoffs!!!, they charged me $256 more than the original agreed total amount, there was extra costs for upgrade that I never asked for, added extra day, etc.. Have called them for the reasons on extra charges, no body is there to answer the questions, have filed a complaint on their web site, no response. Never will use them again and will not recommend them to any body. Shame on Payless car rentals. read more

Pay the extra couple of bucks and go anywhere else. Poor selection. Junk cars. I booked third party and was still up charged. I was sent out in a dirty vehicle with 40,000 miles on it. Soon as I'm on the highway the front end starts shaking. I call customer service and they tell me to call Payless. Payless doesn't answer I call back they tell me to keep calling until I get ahold of someone. Jeez is this a legit business? No it's not. Won't happen again. Came back to edit finally got ahold of a very unfriendly border line rude Payless employee and boy did she not feel like helping. Never again Payless rental car. Never again. read more

Should have read the reviews first - it happened to me too! Pickup wasn't too bad, but literally not a soul in sight at the returns line. They do it that way so they can accuse you of not returning full and then whomp you with a fuel charge. Mine was only an extra $79 and thank goodness my credit card company is more scrupulous than Payless. They are about as close to zero stars as it comes. read more

Terrible experience with this place. Would give zero starts if I could. Ending up paying $220 when I was only suppose to pay $87. Was charged $97 for a half tank of gas. I payed more for gas than I paid for the car. This place is a rip off. Will never rent from here again! read more

This rating is well-deserved. We had NO problems. The counter was quick to access after baggage claim. The attendant was polite and helpful. The amount charged was EXACTLY what we were quoted on the internet. There was NO pressure or even hint at upcharges. When we turned the car in, the amount, again, was just EXACTLY what we were expecting. Our overall savings by using Payless helped save us money for gas and meals while in Austin. We WILL be using them again on our next visit to Austin. read more

Piss Poor Service---My first car had bad brakes and when I returned my second car there was no one working the return booth at 12:15 PM... I brought by keys to the rental counter on first level and I am still waiting for my receipt--- An awful Customer Experience!!! read more

Not worth paying less for a car when they try and haggle you for more money after you drop the car off. Charged me 1300$ ON TOP of my reservation charge because they cant keep track of when cars get dropped off. Then they expect me to provide proof I dropped the car off. (Proof is that I handed your employee the keys and the car at the time I was supposed to) Very disappointing, please choose ANYONE else read more

If I could give a half star review I would. This place takes no accountability for misrepresenting the product you rent versus the product you receive. They tried to pass off a compact car as a full size car. I picked up the car, it was filthy inside in out. The headrest were on the seat backwards.... If I wanted the most smoke blown up my backside and had to choose between a smoldering fire or Payless, I would choose Payless. read more

DO NOT RENT A CAR WITH PAYLESS THEY FREAKING SUCK. We had a reservation for 11:45 pm and they aren't even freaking open. Why have availability for 11:45 when you're not even open? They redirected us to freakin budget who also has terrible service (go figure same horrible company) who redirected us to AVIS which had a long line with 50+ people we had to wait in line for over an hour and half. read more

I have been traveling abroad for over 30 yrs. and have rented many cars. My experience with Payless has been the worst. They advertised a low rate but when we arrived at our destination we were told we had to purchase liability insurance that was 3x the amount of the car rental. When I contacted Payless to tell them my experience and explained to them that the agent changed the price after we said we would take a bus instead they had no problem with it. I understand Payless is not in control of government regulations but they are certainly aware of the charges in each country and should let their customers know in advance. I will now refer to them as PAYMORE. read more

BEWARE !!!!! Zero stars! DO NOT USE THIS CAR RENTAL COMPANY! Not only do they have TERRIBLE customer service. (Waited an hour to get the car) They charged us over $300 more than we were suppose to pay. They said they would fix it and reverse the charges. Then charged us an even larger amount! When trying to resolve the charges on the credit card they gave us the run around. Computer is down. You need to talk to this person. Even hung up on us! Don't let the low prices fool you let their reviews speak for themselves. So many added charges and hours and hours of time trying to resolve! read more