We rented a car with Payless May 14-19 at Ohare airport. All was fine except ...check your credit card statement once you get home. Altho we returned with a full tank of gas they had charged us $80. to fill up gas tank. Once I called, questioned and proved we had filled it up, rep told me a refund would be issued within 5-7 biz days. Don't know if they do this regularly hoping it will go unnoticed? Even if only half go unnoticed it's a nice little profit for them. Always check your receipts! read more

We picked up our rental car at Payless Car Rental, O'Hare Airport, on October 1st 2025 at 9:30 PM, and the experience with the agent at the counter was extremely disappointing. From the start, his attitude was arrogant and dismissive. Instead of providing clear guidance, he treated us as if we were ignorant and wasting his time. What made it worse is that we had just come off a flight of nearly five hours. Anyone working in airport car rentals should understand that customers are arriving from long journeys and need to feel welcomed, respected, and at ease not belittled. This agent failed completely in that regard. For a role that is all about customer service and first impressions, his behavior was unacceptable. He showed no patience, no respect, and certainly no professionalism. It left us with the feeling that he should not be working in a customer-facing position at all. read more

We have never rented from Payless in the past because I was worried about all the bad reviews. however, after we showed up to Hertz at O'Hare at 6am after a redeye flight with our small kids, tired and not eager to drive another 4 hours, things got worse when Hertz told us our rental was canceled for some reason (it showed I checked in fine so the only thing I could assume is the rude attendant gave away our holiday weekend rental). The hertz attendant that day was not willing to listen or help sort it out and instead told me to call a national number. We walked over to Payless which had no line unlike all the other companies. Gill helped us immediately and was very friendly. He found us a rental immediatel, gave us an airline discount that matched the Hertz price, and even upgraded us. Very happy with our experience and that Gill made a stressful situation much better very quickly! read more

Payless Car Rental - Happy we got a last minute rental and free upgrade! - Car Rental Near Me - Franklin Park, Illinois

Don't use payless car rental at OHare. The representative had us sign for the gas fill up even though we told her we would fill it. She stated that the charge would not happen if we bring it back full. Totally Not True. We were charged. I contacted Payless about the charge. They said we signed it so its a valid charge. So I guess this is there way of getting free money for something they lied about. We won't ever use them again!! read more

Rented from Payless and declined the refueling option. Still got charged for it, even though I returned the car with a full tank of gas. The denied a refund or credit for both amounts. read more

We had a good experience with this company. The shuttles from and to the airport were clean and the staff were very friendly. We got a great price and a nice car. A cute little brown Kia Soul. Checking in and out were easy. I will say the building had an odd smell. I don't know what it was, but at least it didn't affect the car. The bathrooms are nice and clean too. Just keep in mind that this location is 3 miles from the airport, so give yourself time for the shuttle ride. There's also a reasonably priced gas station very close by. As long as the price is right, I'd definitely rent from this company again. read more

Payless Car Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Franklin Park, Illinois

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If you're a tightwad and used Priceline to get the cheapest possible car rental at O'Hare you'll likely end up here. The place is grubby. No way around it. And the personnel are a bit more ghetto than you'd expect. And it's nowhere near any of the other car rental offices. Each time I rent from them I find myself prepping for a hostile interaction and so far it's never materialized. So if you go in understanding that you'll be fine. The employees don't care and there's probably going to be some sticky gunk in the cup holder but the the price is awesome and at least the doors are all the same color! read more

Pick up/return was easy and the people working at the desk were nice and got everything done quickly, but the Payless cars are absolutely awful. The car I got had some sort of configuration set that limited the maximum speed of the vehicle to just 60mph. I called both customer service and roadside assistance and neither knew how to remove the configuration and they refused to switch the car out with another one. So when I returned the vehicle the next day, I asked for a refund and they wouldn't even do that. Because it was a problem with the car itself, it's not their responsibility because they don't make the cars, they only rent them out. Which is one of the worst excuses I've ever heard. Luckily, I have a good credit card and they took care of the dispute for me and I got my money back. Do not rent from Payless unless you have a good credit card that will take care of any disputes/chargebacks for you. read more

You definitely won't pay less than renting from a reputable national brand. Poor experience from a guy that's rented many cars over the years. Rented a car from them back in August for my brother's Navy graduation. They have a free shuttle service which is nice, but be prepared to wait over an hour for your rental car, pick up and drop off. Didn't matter if there was a line out the door (pick up) or no one at all (drop off). Its gonna take an hour. Also the sales agent does this bogus thing to try to get you to spend the extra money on insurance and the ez pass. Don't fall for it. You'll never go through enough tolls to make it worth it and most credit cards have rental insurance as a membership perk. Some people waiting in line that were dropping off vehicles were very concerned about missing there flights- so I would advise you (if you chose to ignore this review) to drop off your car at least an hour early to avoid missing your flight. read more

Bottom Line: I would def use again. I booked the car through a global car rental site. No money down and no credit card hold. Got on the shuttle from the airport. Took the quick ride over to the rental office. Was taken care of immediately and was on my way in a clean car for the advertised price. Got exactly what I booked for exactly the price advertised - I was happy and would use them again. read more

If I could give this place no stars for this experience I would definitely do so! Now don't get me wrong, I've rented from them in the past and my experiences were nothing like this one! The car they gave me while nice(on the exterior)was on the inside essentially a train wreck. Let's start with the horn that did not work at all! The charging outlet looked as though it had been burnt. Only one side worked and it was also dusty. The car was not vacuumed out front nor back, the inside panels were filthy with crumbs and dirt from however many previous rentals, the seats were either worn out or burnt as well, and the part that holds the seatbelt for the third row was hanging from the ceiling out of place. But since they gave me half off they figured problem solved.. NOT! I paid more to fill up the gas tank than I paid for the vehicle in which I shouldn't have been charged for at all read more

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While picking up the car, I had wait for 15 minutes just waiting for a car. Once the car was available, I was met by another customer picking up the same car. It took them another 15 minutes to figure out a replacement car. Once I opened the door, a stench of smoke/weed almost made me sick. As I was in the rush, I didn't have time to complain so I just rolled down the window and rolled with it... To top it off, I filled up gas about 10 miles away from the airport and was still charged 64 bucks for the gas. Way to nick and dime customers on top of the exurbent amount about rental rate they are already charging. read more

Beware! They took my car back at 2PM and only when I received my bill did I find out they didn't actually return it in the system until after 10PM--incurring an extra day charge and late fees. It took three different contacts to get the spurious charges refunded (and took nearly two weeks for the refund to post to my account). Now I'm seeing toll charges to the same card I used despite never using a single toll road or even opening the ezpass holder. I have filed disputes for these later charges and if they're not refunded I will be contacting my state's Attorney General. Like others have said, the service is terrible, the shuttle is slow and rarely on time, the location itself smells like a bus station bathroom. Horrible. Spend a little more and rent ANYWHERE ELSE! read more

Do not use these guys!!!! Shameful business practices. 2 weeks after I returned the car I got a notice that I was being charged $450 for smoke smell in the car. I do not smoke, never have. They sent pictures but I'm not sure how they could get pictures of the smell from smoke. Spoke with them and figured it would go away but they refused to change their adjustment...unbelievable. This is actual theft on the company's part. Shame on them. read more

40 minutes for the shuttle and then the car was not ready. After a long 24 hours of international travel. This is not the first time the wait for the shuttle took forever. I guess at least this time it wasn't subzero temperatures. Time to look elsewhere for my car Still slow!! They don't care if they leave you waiting. Don't respond to the text for pickup. Crappy service. read more

A 2nd rate operation. - Fewer shuttles and long wait times at the curb - Long lines at the desk - Their facility is a mess - The gas tank was empty in the car they gave me Not worth the few dollars you save. read more

Keith was the staff that assisted me with my rental. My sister had reserved the car for the wrong day; so we were worried that we would not get a rental car. Keith took care of us, he figured out the dates, found a competitive price for the type of car we needed. What a relief! He was so kind and patient with us. I will use payless car rental the next time in Chicago. They exceeded my expectations. Thank you Keith for talking the time to care. read more

Payless Car Rental truly lives up to the old saying; "You get what you pay for" at least in terms of customer service. With the exception of one super star employee (read one for details), the customer service sucked. After doing some research, I found that Payless offered the cheapest car rental so I booked and prepaid online. When I arrived to the Chicago Airport, a van picked me up and drove me to the Payless lot- which was pretty far away from the airport compared to the other car rental companies which we drove past. When I arrived to the facility, I waited a few minutes then began the check in progress. The man who helped us was fine at first, but was later became very rude when I wanted to switch the primary driver. Apparently nothing can be done after you've pre paid online- he suggested next time we just pay when we arrive. Honestly I thought I was making it easier for the company by pre paying. The rest of the check in took more than half an hour which was annoying. But as for the best employee of Payless- it was the transportation driver who took us from Payless to the airport. He was BEYOND friendly and kind. read more

It took me over 40 minutes to rent the car June 2021 and when I got to the car it was dirty Covid 19, didn't matter to this company. There was still garbage in the back seat, under the seat and in the front panel. There was no way to report the existing damage, so I took a video to note all the damage before getting into the car. Fast forward, Oct 2021 I was charged $150.00 for a traffic violation with no clear image of me or street signs. There was a notice sent to Payless and the rep. said it took over 2 months for Payless to receive the ticket notice by mail. As a result I was charged $150.00 for a $100 ticket, the additional $50 was for Payless processing fee. I was given no notice or way to dispute the charges because pass the date to dispute and according to the rep because it was already paid. In future when charging a renters credit card 4 months pass the rental period, I notice by mail, phone, email should be sent. I will never rent from this company again and advise others to steer away also. read more

Would love to leave a zero if I could. The "Chicago Airport" which is actually in Franklin Park was HORRIBLE. I wish I had the name of the agent who did everything she could to try and not WORK. She saw customers waiting and when she finally decided to go to her computer she took one customer. We were next in line and she walked away and was shooting the breeze with the manager in clear view of us. Finally, another girl who basically was working her tail off took care of us. I totally blame the manager for his lack of leadership. I also blame the LAZY AGENT. The return in Nashville wasn't as bad but still bad. read more

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! Basically what everybody else has said. Price on the rental was good...and basically that's all this place was good for. Honestly, you are basically rolling the dice with this place. Was it worth it? ABSOLUTELY NOT...and this is coming from someone who didn't have an issue with the vehicle itself! - YOU HAVE TO CALL for the shuttle. Waited 30 minutes after several calls. - The desk employee was RUDE and disinterested in basic customer service. - Upon return, the shuttle back to the airport TOOK OFF without checking if the office had passengers needing to go back to the airport. This is an airport location...PEOPLE HAVE FLIGHTS to catch. - I had several other customers waiting in line ahead of me and ALL OF THEM walked away ANGRY. The staff just chuckled and moved on. - They had ONE small shuttle (think a family sized Van) running between 4 terminals and the rental place (about a 10 minute drive). Let me repeat...ONE bloody shuttle van between 5 locations. BE READY TO WAIT and DO NOT EXPECT the staff to help at all. If you absolutely had to USE this place...I'd call Uber and just spend the extra $15 to the office. I WOULD NOT USE THIS PLACE AGAIN! Seriously, don't let a company like this RUIN your vacation. read more

BAD COMPANY! You've been warned use at your own risk. Employees seemed super unhappy... Now we know!!! Not a $$$$ saver it's a huge time waster and a vacation robber! Wished I read reviews! Took forever to get picked up and brought to their poorly staffed facility. Wait to get our car was again long. Didn't have car we payed for. (Gave us $35 off) asked employee why the passengers side of car was all fogged up only... Got in car after hour and 45 minutes took off my shoes and stepped into a pool of sitting water! GROSS! Water proceeded to drip onto my Sandled feet. Called customer service super uninterested in helping. One representative SERGIO was so rude and unwilling to help ACTED like he couldn't hear me until I said his name...I actually got angry with him! They said we had to drive all the way back gas, tolls and time wasted! After more water on my shoes and a sore throat probably from mold they traded our car and said that's all they would do. No compensation just the same trained corporate uncaring, uninterested, unacceptable behavior! ZERO STARS FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE! ZERO MONEY saved with PAYLESS. You'll PAYMORE! NOT WORTH WHAT THEYVE COST US! read more

Payless Car Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Franklin Park, Illinois

Same experience here as other folks. Filled up at amoco by the airport, dropped off car, and was billed an extra $100 for fuel. Said I used a half gallon. Wont even bother calling these fraudster charlatans to sort it out, will just dispute charge with Amex. What a scam, no wonder there's a class action pending for unauthorized charges! Avoid at all costs! read more

This place is the most inefficient place to rent a car ever. My sister and I landed at 9:30 p.m. and went out to the shuttle van area to take you to the rental cars. We waited for 30 minutes and no vans came. So I finally called them and they said they would send a van out. The van gets sent out about 5 minutes later and this family that just showed up jumps ahead of us in the van seats which are now full. I'm livid as we had just been waiting out here for 30 minutes. But rudeness wins in this case I guess. So we wait until the next van gets there which is about 15 minutes later. We finally arrive at the Payless center and there are about 4 people ahead of us. It's really good that the family jumped ahead of us (sarcasm) because they made it a whole four people ahead of us in line and are still at the counter when we arrive. The line takes forever as there are only two people working the counter and one guy just standing back there - no idea what he is doing. We finally get up there and the lady gets us checked in - which to this day I still don't know why this process takes so long and it's nearing almost 11 p.m. by this point. She then gets the key and has to go out to retrieve the car herself! Wait? What? How in the hell is this efficient? Just give us the key and tell us what spot to go to and we will go get the car. Not a big deal and what most rental car places do. We finally get on the road a whole two hours after we landed to begin our drive south for three hours. I thank Payless Car Rental for getting us to my grandma's house at almost 3 a.m. Ridiculous. So coming back we plan extra time to get our car returned knowing how inefficient this place is. We pull in the line like you do at any other car rental place except there is no one outside helping any of the cars like all other car rental places do. They have this window by the line you drive in so I walk up to the window thinking it's where you return the key and no one is at the window. 5 minutes later a lady walks up and I ask if that's where we return the keys and she says "you need to go inside into the line" in one of the rudest voices ever. This is how you treat your customers? Excuse me! Geez. So I go inside and wait in yet another line to give the key over to the lady. Who then has to check us out through the archaic system and then we have to go wait in another line for a van to take us back to the airport. This is 2017 - get with the program. When they say PAYLESS they really mean you are paying less for some seriously horrible customer experience. Also, it wasn't that much cheaper than other car rental places. Do yourself a favor and save yourself the headache and time and pay a little bit more for one of the other car rental places at O'Hare. Never again. read more

Payless rental: 10 min drive from the airport via the free shuttle. Friendly staff and several agents available to keep the line short. The added insurance is very expensive. read more

We had a Pretty quick check in. You walk out into a numbered lot and find your car. Guess that's why it's Payless lol. We were close thankfully. Looks like an old hangar. Highhhh ceilings. Vents looked like they were covered in black mold. We got a brand new car pretty much. And it was literally just returned. Was still wet on the outside. The inside is spic and span. Great experience for a discount rental company. Not anticipating any issues or complaints on the return which looks like an extremely easy and quick process. read more

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BEWARE: Just waited over 30 minutes for a shuttle pickup from O'Hare. Luckily, my wait wasn't as long as others. I overheard one guy saying he waited almost an hour?! I called the desk and was transferred to another agent who said "Yeah, yeah...we're putting it all over the radio right now for Terminal 3." No apology, no explanation for the delay, nothing. And, full disclosure, I have used this company in the past with no problems. I guess this was karma coming to bite me in the ass. Apparently, with this company you are destined to receive poor (customer) service. read more

We got bumped from our flight and so I called Payless to let them know we'd pick up at 6pm instead of 2pm. The original rental agreement was $180, and they quoted me over $500 to modify the reservation. While I understand that my flight trouble is not the fault of the car rental company, their inability to work with a customer in an already frustrating situation says a lot. Luckily, I reserved through Orbitz, so cancelling was free. I went with Alamo instead, which was about half of what Payless tried to charge. read more

Pay more Car Rental. They added a gas charge on my bill of 47.50, despite having a full tank, and receipts to prove it. They wouldn't reverse decision. Had to dispute charge with Credit Card. These people did this intentionally, and are crooks. read more

David, the driver that picked us up from the airport was extremely rude. He almost drove past us again after we had already been waiting and had called twice for the airport shuttle to pick us up. He got mad when we joked saying we thought he didn't see us waving him down. He threw our luggage in and yelled at the other passengers, "PARKING OR RENTING WITH US?!" He shouted even louder and ruder when the passenger did not understand what he had asked. He drove erratically, speeding, making sharp turns and then slammed the brakes on when we arrived. We still thanked him after all that twice and he purposely ignored us and then slammed our luggage down on the ground. Our check in experience was unfortunately very similar; rude and rushed. Customer service is very important however at this rental office the treatment was poor and I would not recommend anyone return there. read more

If you've got an hour to waste in a line of 5 people while watching people at work just stand around behind the counter... this is the place for you! Slowest customer service and general disregard for customers I've ever witnessed, period. read more

Chicago O'Hare airport Payless auto rental at this location customer service sucks!!!!!! The representative that handled my rental was rude she acted as if it were an inconvenience to help me rent the car. She then gave me a car that smelled profusely of cigarette smoke and had dirty seats! She then further continued to ruin my experience by chartering my credit card for 3 times as much as the actual 4 day rental I had reserved????? Wth is wrong with the people who work at this location! I will never rent from them again. When I asked if I could have a different car she stated all others were dirty and this is the only compact car they have available????? When I asked her to cancel my reservation and refund the funds she was hiking in 3 times the amount necessary she stated it would be 5-10 days before they can release my funds? Who does this? I hate that Payless rental location! read more

This review is directly written to Kyle Currie (Operations Manager) 1. Please take a course on customer service on how to properly treat guests. Your cold and defensive demeanor is not fit for a manager. 2. We were given an unsafe car that had electrical issues. The alarm in our car suddenly went off with horns blaring and lights flashing while we were driving on the highway at night. The alarm on the car continued to go off during the night and the car would not start. I'd like to stress how incredibly dangerous it was to have the car horn go off with flashing lights while driving at 75 mph. Kyle asked us how this was a dangerous situation and insisted we simply had a bad experience. 3. Perhaps Kyle and Payless rental should consider being more clear with what you consider an unsafe situation. 4. Our replacement car took 4 hours to arrive. Double the amount of time they told us and we were the ones calling to get updates. Lastly, when we brought up the situation to Kyle Currie, he insisted we simply had a bad experience and refused to recognize or take responsibility for giving us an unsafe car. He told us that electrical issues are out of their control so basically too bad for us - it happens. He then offered to take $20 off and essentially told us to take it or leave it. I understand unpredictable things happen but how a company decides to then handle the situation is what truly matters. Payless rental made it clear that people's safety is not their priority or something they value. read more

Staff could learn lots of customer service! We returned the car an hour early and right when we got there they tried to pack us with a family who was already leaving for the airport. They rushed us, said it was our fault that family was waiting, and did not mind being super super super rude to us even in front of our face. read more

Being that I have traveled to 53 COUNTRIES, and having used rental vehicles in most I am providing a review for your perusal. Payless was very convenient, and cost effective. The rate was outstanding. The car was in excellent condition with average cleanliness. The standout customer service agent was EMAD and he was kind and professional. I highly recommend Payless as it was easy, convenient, good price, and great agent (Emad). read more

Bad bad bad. Picked us up at Terminal 3 after nearly 25 minutes. Then after being picked up, The driver swung all the way back around and picked up from Terminal 3 again. What?! Was on the shuttle for several minutes after waiting for it for several minutes. Only God knows how much time it will take after dropping off the car to get to the Terminal. Last time ever using this company. Oh oh, you actually have to call for the shuttle - and -after speaking to a human the first time, the second and third time went to being on hold for several minutes. read more

This is the worst rental company I've ever used in my 55 years!!! I was traveling for my son's navy graduation and this POS company almost left me stranded! I rent about 10 cars a year for personal and business and have never had a single problem with any other rental company except this garbage company. I new it was a bad sign when I and two other customers waited for over 45 minutes at the shuttle pickup while all the other rental company shuttles came and went several times. I finally spotted the shuttle after 25 minutes, but he slowed, never pulled in, was completely empty, and then sped off? One of the other customers called the office and yelled at them, but it still took another 20 minutes to show up. Finally we get to they're little run down building and after showing them my priceline reservation, which wasn't cheap, they ran a credit check on me because I used a debit card and said I was turned down WTF? I had them run my business card too, and same result? I don't use credit cards, am retired, and have very little credit but plenty of money in those accounts. I told them take what ever you need for a deposit. They said there was nothing they could do. I told them I would be leaving a scathing review on almost sites, and the clerk didn't care. They also seemed very put out that i asked for a ride back to the shuttle pickup. I loaded my own bags was was finally dropped off at O'Hare. While in shuttle, i purchased another car from Hertz in about 2 minutes and it was half the price of Payless! Also, the checkout took less than 10 minutes and the staff was amazing. I also got to choose whatever car model I wanted from a long line in the lot. I saved about $100 and will never trust a car rental company Ive never heard of before like payless again! I got the Payless reservation on priceline originally and will be leaving this review there too! Hope this review steers people away from this horrible company. I've Never had a single problem with Hertz, Enterprise, or Alamo... Stick with the large name brands! read more

I am writing this review not necessarily because of the company but because of an employee. Kevin is one of the kindest and most professional people I have worked with at ORD yet. I needed a car rental for two days to move across town. A rental car was cheaper than Zipcar (by the hour) or UHaul (by the mile). Went all the way out to ORD and ended up making it to the counter a half hour early. Kevin was totally cool with giving me the car a bit earlier than my reservation. He also gave me an upgrade to a larger vehicle so I could fit more items with the seats down. Part of that upgrade included SiriusXM for no additional fee. And he gave me the basic insurance instead of having me pay for more than what was necessary, a very rare occurance for this city. I am so happy with how Kevin handled my reservation and so long as he is working that desk, I will be there. read more

There is a reason why this place has so many bad reviews !!! I should have known better, but the prices were so good that I figured id give it a try. Well, now I know why. Save yourself the hassle and rent somewhere else. This company is just not worth it. I reserved a full-size sedan. I was issued an SUV. I said to the agent at the counter "I'm sorry, do you have a car like I reserved. I prefer a car over an SUV" His response to me was "I've never seen anyone deny an upgrade. This is an upgrade & no there is no other car" I went on to explain to him that for me it was not an upgrade. As I am traveling alone, the SUV wastes more gas & its a lot larger making it more difficult for me to get around a big city like Chicago. The agent's response "Well sir, if you don't like our option I can gladly cancel your contract & you can rent somewhere else". I don't know about you, but I find that answer to be completely unacceptable. I asked for a manager. He was even worse. You could tell they are all friends and covering for each other. The car I got was disgusting, seats stained, scratches all over the front of the car. Just awful! Worse they make you sing that the car is in perfect condition without an inspection. Do yourself a favor & do not rent here. You will regret it! read more

DO NOT RENT FROM PAYLESSS- OHARE!! SCAM!! The management Terry Stancie at Ohare Chicago is the worst ever beligerent, rude and totally unprofessional. First at their new facility with no signage to direct you to the company or where to drop off car- Google maps are off and you cannot find location. Then had to wait for an hour to stand in line to return and when you finally get to the counter their new printers weren't working so that took another 45mins to work out. Then I got over charged and asked what was that charge for and they said well you were late. I said I couldn't even find the place becuase of no signage but still got car here on time and had to wait in line and for you to figure out your printer issues for an hour and a half but now you're saying I'm late an hour??? WTH?! I even recorded the manager acting a damn fool and eating and yelling in front of customers! This is the worst start clear and watch being over charged! read more

Payless Car Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Franklin Park, Illinois