Was required to use this car company when traveling for the military due them having the cheapest price. That car itself was dirty and kept giving me "maintenance required" warnings. The worst part, however, is that they have refused to issue me a receipt. Even after calling multiple times and being promised a receipt, I never received one. None of my customer service requests submitted online have been answered. The phone number for the desk at the JAX airport redirects to a call center out of country. I can't submit a travel claim to the military to get my money back without a receipt, so I'm left paying the bill out of pocket. If anyone from Payless is reading this, I'm going to submit a chargeback through my credit card company if you can't get me a receipt. read more

This is the absolute worst car rental company. I rented a car in Kansas Missouri last month. They were supposed to send me a receipt, they never did. I called them and all they could say was check your email, I said I checked my email. They actually said they had no record of me renting a car, seriously? Do not rent from these idiots. read more

More than one person behind the counter would be nice. Waited an hour. Never again. Payless is awful

I rented a car on 10/26/24. There were approximately 20 people in line and one agent for payless, it took one hour and forty minutes to get a car! Never again. read more

I just want to say that I rented a car in PHL and it was the worst car I have ever rented. It smelled horrible and was filthy. Also the oil change light was on as well as the tire pressure. The cars are not well maintained. The seatbelts also were folded over and did not work I had to fix them. Never again.!! read more

Absolutely worst service. No one available at the counter waiting for 45 minutes. Rude Avis lady refusing to work on a Payless reservation despite the fact that they are one company and all of the customers are required to wait in the in the same line. Stay away from Jacksonville, Payless, budget and Avis . read more

Worst car rental experience of all time. They overbilled me on at least four occasions despite the fact that the car was returned early and full of gas. I called on five separate occasions to having billing adjusted. Each time I was told it would be adjusted to the contract rate I agreed to and it wasn't. There was line of almost 30 people because they had rented out all their cars. WARNIN, ABIS, Budget and payless are the same at this location. The lady at the counter literally took lunch while we waited in line. read more

Don't walk, RUN..... RUN to one of the other rental car venders and save yourself a world of anguish. The couple of bucks you may save in the price is not worth the risk and down right horrid customer service at this location. Each person was taking over 20 minutes to process by the one guy working the counter. His opening line with every customer was a combination apology and excuse... seriously is was almost scary. Come to find out that Arthur was really the garage attendant supposed to receive vehicles and whoever was supposed to issue the contracts and book in people had abandoned their post faster than Bowe Bergdahl defecting from his camp. I can't make this stuff up. Even the gal working the Budget counter was sympathetic to the poor souls trapped at Payless. At one point Arthur threw a random set of keys, my credentials, and a screenshot up on the counter in surrender from his inability to produce a contract. The car was a full size Nissan with nearly 40K miles and lots of dings and rubs. I am still fearful they will try to pin damages on me as a way of running up billing. Look, unless you are okay with shabby service and long waits sacrificing your valuable time I'd seriously opt for another car company. If I could give a negative star on these reviews, Payless would quite likely be a recipient. read more

Payless Car Rental - Car Rental Near Me - Jacksonville, Florida

I have rented from here twice, both times making the reservation online through a third party platform. The first time I went to the airport to pick up my car, there was only a short wait to get to the counter, but then I was advised that they did not have a vehicle comparable to the one I reserved, and initially told me it would be at least an hour before said vehicle would arrive from another location. Needless to say, I was very frustrated at that moment and was deciding whether not to go to a different rental agency. However, I asked them if they would supply a different vehicle at the same rate if they had anything available. The counter agent replied that yes they could, and they had a minivan available, so I excepted that (even though I knew the gas mileage would be much worse than the vehicle I was going to rent). The vehicle itself was clean and was fine for the purposes for which I was renting it. When I returned it, I had no issues doing so. I had to go on business this week, and again selected a vehicle from here because it was proximally $20 less than the other rental agencies, at least through the third-party portal. I arrive 10 minutes before my pick up time, to find there was six or seven people in line. There was only one counter agent, and it took over 50 minutes for that employee to be able to work with the customers in front of me. I overheard the customer in front of me become agitated when the employee advised that, in addition to providing a drivers license and the proof of payment, they would also have to provide "local resident verification documentation." Apparently, they and other agencies are having issues with local renters, so they were requiring something such as a bank statement or utility bill that had a local address matching the drivers license. A customer in front of me stated that this requirement did not appear anywhere, to which the employee advised that it was on the terms and conditions on their website, and it was posted next to the rental desk. I will upload a picture of the"Posted information" for this. Needless to say, this type of information never appears on third-party rent all entities, but I fortunately thought quickly and had access to a bank statement. So, when I reach the desk, I immediately presented drivers license, form of payment, and displayed the bank statement, and the employee was able to quickly process me in and out in less than five minutes. This time, they had my vehicle and that it was clean and fuel-efficient. , My two day rental (compact) only $60, with unlimited mileage. So, everyone should make sure they are familiar with local rental requirements, and be prepared for potential long waits. The employee was very friendly and I think was doing the best he could, but staffing during busier times should be addressed. If they can continue to have very competitive rates, I will continue to consider renting through them. read more

Long waits, terrible service if you call on phone and accommodation of multiple reservations. Had to extend my trip a day and needed to rent a car for a day longer. I had to drive back to the airport to exchange cars. Waited 30 minutes in the airport line for a car. Waited 45 minutes on the phone two times because they inadvertently hung up on me the first. Also, if you call the local rental number you get the call center. read more

I can't begin to understand why oh why would Payless have 1 agent at this location while processing a crowd of passengers who are tired & want to get to their hotel ASAP. I'm very disappointed on how they have this set up. read more

Waited over an hour to get to the counter When I finally got to the counter they told me that I had to wait another 30 min since they had to wash the car since it wasn't ready. The lady told me to wait outside and they were going to valet the car to me but she forgot to mention to me that it was going to take another 1 1/2 hours more. Never expected to be there for more than 3 hours what a horrible experience. read more

Ridiculously long wait to both get the car and return. Additionally they charged me for extra coverage which I did not want, and customer service was no help at all. read more

I booked my reservation through Hotwire...was assigned Payless as my car rental provider. The staff needs some coaching and development that would encourage them to engage with their customers and communicate why such lengthy wait times at the desk, and where to go to receive car and why there's such a painful wait in the garage when expecting vehicle. There's no personnel to greet you, nor any signage that would better direct the customers where to go. When my first car finally arrived, it was the wrong vehicle. I've been waiting another 30 minutes, then a "runner" came to help and bring me back to the counter only to witness a customer service agent arguing with a customer, loudly. Now I'm standing by myself, with no assistance. This is the worst level of service, wow. Corporate definitely needs to spend some time at this store assisting with bettering processes and enlightening their staff on proper customer service levels. read more

I decided to use payless but I normally go with Alamo but I saw they had a good rate. rented the car got down the road when I looked in the back seat it was trashed, newspapers, plastic bags, straw wrappers. I called the rental agency and was told to bring car back, I was almost 50 miles away by then. gonna stick to my usual co mpany and just pay a little more and get a nice clean car. read more

When is a rental car reservation not a reservation? When it's made 7 weeks in advance and you show up at the counter on-time only to find out, after a 15-minute wait, that they have no full-size cars to fulfill your reservation. 35 minutes later, I finally left the Payless facility at JAX in an alternate vehicle that had to be brought in from off site. To add insult to injury, my 'non-smoking' car reeked of cigarette smoke once it heated up in the sunshine. Bottom line: This will be my one and only rental from Payless. P.S. - Read the rental contract carefully! They tried to get me to initial that unreplaced fuel would be charged at $9.99 per LITER. When I challenged it, the customer rep tried to say it was 'per Gallon'. Change it to 'gallon' on the contract before initialling. read more

there cant be a rating when you want to put ZERO Don't believe a word they say This is the worst underhanded car rental company I ever went thru I told the man all I wanted was the car and did not need insurance They charged me $177 dollars for insurance I found out later also you could not even find the right booth as they have the smallest PAYLESS sign under all the others The car was so dirty you could not see out or the windows Lucky I had a bad rain storm to wash it of read more

Thankyou to Maribeth, the ever helpful petite lady who helped us find the perfect car for our much awaited family vacation... Two thumbs up !!!!! We will sure comeback ! Thankyou!!! read more

I wish I could write a review that gets sent to every single person on this planet, just so Payless Car Rental wouldn't get a drop of anyone's hard earned money. The customer service is horrible!!! They are suppose to refund your deposit back once you return the car and they do all of their inspections. Here it is two weeks later and I have NOTHING! I spoke to a gentleman last week (did not get his name) he was able to give me a case number and said someone would call me back with assistance. They never did so I called again today and spoke to Anna. SHE WAS USELESS. I gave her my case number and she was only able to tell me I'm on a list and someone would call me. That's not good customer service!! I want someone to get to the bottom of this and return my money!! Is there a huge list of people that your company is so busy screwing over that you can't get to me?? Where are the managers in this place because clearly the supervisors aren't doing their jobs. read more

Surprised this location has all one star reviews. Aside from a 20 min wait in line to rent the car initially (I've certainly waited longer at other companies), they were quick to complete the paperwork, didn't try to talk to me into insurance and other things I didn't need and the car was in great condition. I would definitely rent from here again. read more

Do not rent from Payless at the Jacksonville Airport. We have been standing here waiting for a reserved car for over 30 minutes and there is no one here to assist. Their call center is in Mexico so they are no help at all. If their price is the lowest, it's because their customer service is the lowest, as well. Simply ridiculous! read more

Stupid car rental company RAN OUT OF CARS right before I got to the desk at the airport! Even though I had a reservation!Forcing me to go to Thrifty next door, which isn't thrifty because it's a last-minute rental! Dude! read more

Where to even begin? For those that just want the highlight reel, here are my top three reasons not to rent a car through Payless: 1) Incredibly slow service - waited for over an hour to pick up a car even though there were only three customers ahead of me in line 2) Intense up-selling - I had to decline over six different types of "insurance" or fees 3) Most importantly - the final price of the rental won't actually be as cheap as the quoted rate anyway, so you might as well use a nice company For those that want the full saga, I'll start at the beginning: I rented a car for a 4 day weekend in southern Georgia. I was quoted a wonderfully low price on cheaptickets.com - a good $30-$40 cheaper than all the other car companies out of the JAX airport. So far, so good! After disembarking from our red-eye flight from CA we made our way to baggage claim and then the car rental counters. The Payless counter was wedged between two other major brands, but there were only a few people in line, so I was optimistic that it wouldn't take too long. Twenty minutes later the same customers were still at the counter and I watched as much longer lines dwindled down to nothing. Well over an hour later I finally got to the counter and started the process of getting a car. I had reserved it ahead of time, so I figured it shouldn't take too long - they have all my information already. Ten minutes later my patience was wearing thin as I was receiving my first dose of southern hospitality in the form of the worlds most inefficient rental car check-out process. Though I must say that the rental agent helping me was very kind, and seemed to just be a victim of the lame, inefficient Payless processes. Don't even get me started at the attempts at up-selling me insurance and anything else they could think of. Here's the list of the insurances/fees that they tried to up-sell me on before I could even rent the car: * Collision Damage Waiver * Partial Collision Damage Waiver * Personal Accident & Effects Insurance * Emergency Sickness Protection * Supplemental Liability Insurance * Roadside Service Plan We finally got on the road, and everything was fairly smooth sailing from there. The return process was shorter than the initial check-out process, but still not as streamlined as it could be. You can't return the car at the curb, as with may companies. Instead you have to go back to the counter near baggage claim and return the paperwork there. Even though I cut to the front of the line to just drop off my paperwork, the rental agent made me wait through entering some additional information (that they should have already had) into their system. The last surprise was getting the actual invoice. It was 20% more than the original quote, due to five miscellaneous fees, taxes and a "late fee." I was less than 20 minutes "late" for their arbitrary return time. When first getting the car I asked about the return time and didn't receive a response, which I took to mean, that no, the exact return time wasn't too important (as it has never been important when I've used other car rental companies in the past). And more importantly it was never made clear that being a minute later than the arbitrary return time would result in any sort of late fee - even though ample time was spent trying to up-sell me on all the different insurances. In summary you might as well rent with one of the more major, reputable car companies since you'll end up paying more than originally quoted. Plus you'll never get back all the time spent waiting in line. read more

Do yourself a favor and avoid ANY Payless at all costs. I wrote a review about my horrendous experience at the Payless in Orlando (check it out). My experience at the Jacksonville was horrible customer service. I reserved an economy car back in March. First things first, I stood at the counter for about 10 minutes (they were not busy at all) until someone from another rental car company went and got someone from Payless to help me. When she finally came out she acted as if I disrupted her coffee break. I had just turned 25 a few weeks ago and 3 times the girl tried charging me an underage rental fee after I told her/showed her my license repeatedly that I wasn't. When I went to sign the contract I once again had an underage fee on there. When I pointed it out the girl proceeded to roll her eyes, sigh, rip up the contract, and rudely throw another one at me. When I reviewed it again there was a $250 fee for an early pick-up. My rental was reserved for 9AM, I was there at 8:40AM. She told me I could wait 20 minutes to avoid the fee. Instead of asking to change the time I asked for her and she did, finally. She just handed me the keys to my car without telling me where I needed to go. When I asked she responded as if I was stupid. I ended up having to ask someone in the garage where to go. My car was nice and clean and when I returned it a new girl was at the counter and much more friendly. When you file a complaint you get a generic response that basically says "sorry not sorry". Save yourself the headache and rent from hertz or enterprise. In the end you end up paying just as much with all of Payless hidden fees. I am a pretty patient person and it takes a lot to ruffle my feathers, but I have never encountered a company that has absolutely NO regard for their customers. Problem is is they know we live in a world where people are on a budget and will go with the cheapest place, which is why they DON'T care. Never again. I will pay $100 to go with anyone else before I go with Payless again. read more

Very deceptive, cheaters. I rented a van online at their site. It had a second driver free promotion. When I went to pick up the van at the Jacksonville airport the attendant said that that only applied to spouse. I eventually was able to get that charge off. but he also added a " sickness insurance" without my knowledge. Most addon features one declines by initialing on the line. But for this add on if you initial at the line you accept it and pay almost $ 5 /day. The were supposed to give a booklet , which they never did. The service was very slow both for checking out and returning the car. Would never rent again from them. Would give zero stars if possible read more

I made a reservation through orbitz as I was spending the weekend with friends for the holidays in the St. Augustine area. Flight delayed a bit got to the counter at about 11:30pm. No rep at the counter.... Waited for a while... Budget rep next door tells me that Payless counter closes at 11pm. Budget rep tells me he can quote me because Budget owns Payless. My original quote was for $49. Budget rep quotes me $181. Needless to say, I had my friend pick me up at the airport. I wish I knew the counter closed at 11pm so I could have booked elsewhere. I never booked with Payless before and I will never book with them again. Very upset with being stranded at JAX. read more

Avoid this company at all cost. Had a CONFIRMED reservation and they "overbooked and ran out of cars." Staff was rude and could care less that I was stranded at the airport! 800 number was equally rude and neither offered any help or compensation. Had to pay the counter rack rate at another company's kiosk. Will NEVER use this pitiful excuse for a company again!! Check out their reviews all over the country. Sincerely hope bankruptcy is in their near future! read more

Worst one out there... Waited in line for over an hour with 1 1/2 agents (1/2 because one of the two was either going on break, to bathroom or lunch)... Ran out of cars, they also hold double of what most rental agencies do on your credit card (debit is $300 + rental) called uber and left will never try to use them again. read more

I rented a car from Payless on January 28 at the Jacksonville International Airport. On Jan 29, the car had a flat tire. I called the emergency road assistance number. I waited a little more than an hour before someone came to change the tire. He put on the temporary tire and told me not to drive over 50 mph nor more than 500 miles. I again called the emergency number and was told I had to drive the car back to the airport to get a new car. It was dark by this time so I had no option but to drive on the temporary tire. On Tuesday, I had no choice but to drive on the temporary tire as there were things I had to get done. On Wednesday, I decided I would pay myself to have the old tire patched and finish what I was doing since driving back to the airport would involve several hours of my time which I could not afford. I took the car to Sun Tire in Jacksonville and was told not only could they not patch the old tire (it was too bald), the other front tire was also bald and not safe to drive. Feeling I had no other choice, I paid to have two new tires put on the front of the rental car and put the bad tires in the trunk. Payless has repeatedly refused to refund the money I paid for the tires, telling me I was responsible for damage to the car, I had the opportunity to inspect the car before I took it, and anything else to keep from admitting they rented me an incredibly dangerous car. Reading other reviews, this is NOT THE FIRST TIME THEY'VE RENTED A CAR WITH BAD TIRES! Pay a little extra and rent from a reputable company. read more

Horrible customer service. Poor car choice. Got a car after struggling to deal with their staff then get to the car and the one they issued had tons of significant cracks in the windshield. I then had to drag my bags all the way back inside the terminal and wait in line again. All they did was give me a different car...asked to speak to the manager and she was no help either. Will never use again. I always have good service with other more reputable car rental companies there so will stick with those. read more

SCAM ALERT! I visited Florida from 2/3/2018 to 2/10/2018 and rented a car from Payless Car Rental. I received a letter in early April dated 3/23/18 stating I was being charged $150 for pet hair clean up. I am HIGHLY allergic to all animals. No animal entered that car while rented by me. I actually was able to provide email proof that I had requested a Pet-Free hotel room. I also offered to provide medical proof. Knowing this had to be a mistake, I requested that Payless provide information regarding the make/model of the car that we rented and they were unable to provide that information. Payless ignored the proof I provided and charged the $150.00 anyway. I believe they purposely charge senior citizens knowing that many travel to Florida in the winter with their pets. I was only there for a week's vacation and as stated earlier certainly was not traveling with a pet. Airline and medical records can also back me up. read more

My son is on active duty and was charged $25/day for being under 25. Most places do not charge soldiers. I called and manager agreed to take off the charges when we turned in the car - which they then refused. Pay a few dollars more and go see Enterprise or Hertz. A couple of days later we did call corporate and they agreed to credit the funding .... so thanks for that! read more

I wouldn't recommend renting from Payless at Jacksonville. Even though Travelocity said Payless was in-terminal, upon checking in at the desk (with a confused associate), we were notified they'd have to bring a car to JAX from a lot 10 miles away and they don't have cars there. After a wait, it did arrive, but we weren't exactly comforted by the experience. Return your car to Budget, as there is no sign for Payless to return at JAX. read more

Never rent from this company especially if your a local resident, they want a copy of your pay stub and bill received at you your home address, this is the only company that requires this, only found out after waiting thirty minutes in line to receive this info. I WILL NEVER USE or Recommend this company to anyone. Out of town residence are not required to provide these documents, say what ? read more

Awful attitude towards customers. Guy with receding hair has the opinion that customers come and go, so why bother being genuine or doing the right thing. He just wants you to sign and move on. Avoid these guys, they will Nickle and Dime you on anything they can read more

It's unfortunate you have to give at least one star. Do Not Rent From Payless! Or bother to try, rather. I made arrangements through Hotwire 2 months in advance. I didn't get a car. Heard people complain while in line - one guy dropping off a car (that ended up apparently going to the people in front of me) and another returned and took another car because they said it got up to speed and was unsafe. Then that guy who helped these folks left. I waited in line for 45 minutes as this woman helped 5 people (almost 10 minutes per person!! - while Budget flew threw people next to us) and then was told Payless was out of cars. She said they overbooked. The 20 people in line behind me ran for the other companies while I was left inbetween the ropes, so now I was after all of them as everyone went from company to company looking for a car. All cars were gone for the area given the 3 large activities going on, so all I could get was a freakin' BMW from Avis. I tried calling Hotwire from the airport and couldn't get a live person before getting the AVis car, so I took it rather than get stuck without anything. Payless lady was an idiot with no concern or customer service capability. Ridiculous. Never. Ever. Again. PS - Avis was great. read more

If I could give this "business" negative stars, I would. My parents made a reservation online, and when they arrived, they were told my father needed an additional form of identification proving Florida residency. I have never heard of such a policy, but I guess it goes with the type of operation they're running. After sending them countless pictures of pieces of mail with my father's name and address on them, I was told that they needed a bank statement. Had I not been available or near a computer to sign into my father's banking to send him a picture of his statement, they would not have been able to rent the car. Once that was out of the way, my parents were taken outside to wait for their car. It sounds normal, until my mom calls me (just now) to tell me that they are still outside waiting for their car when people who arrived after they did have already driven away. I am a frequent consumer and yelper, and I have never been so disgusted with a place of "business." I will post this review wherever I can so that no one else is exposed to and left with such a sour taste in his/her mouth. read more

DO NOT rent from this company when you are traveling abroad. rented a SUV in Costa Rica from this company and website indicated rental included insurance - upon arrival at the rental counter in Costa Rica was informed the website was incorrect and my rental did not include insurance - the insurance for 15 days was over $900 - had to take the insurance or they would have placed a $3000 hold on my credit card - they are not helpful - in fact told me - take the insurance or go to another rental company - read more

Terrible Terrible experience. Got flat tire on rental car on my way to the airport, trying to get onto departing flght away from Jacksonville. No spare tire in the trunk. I called the number for road emergency service given to me by payless. It showed up 1 h later , picked me and the car. The driver dropped me off at the terminal returned the car at the rental parking. I missed my flight, but united associate was kind enough to set me up with next flight. After that , I tried to reach Payless in Jacksonville by phone with no success for over a week. I created a ticket on their website trying to find out if my rental closed and how much is the charge. Corporate office is helpless. they closed my ticket, saying they sent a letter to the jacksonville location and as soon as they got response from them, they will let me know. it has been over one month I havent heard anything and didnt get a copy of the receipt on my email. In a meanwhile I noticed my credit card was charged extra 400 (I assume that is for that flat tire, can only assume, because didnt get any receipt from payless), and it was posted 3 weeks ago! That is terrible customer service, poor communication between local and corporate office and the customer! never again "payless" read more

The 1 star is due to the hidden (refundable) fees due at rental whether you use debit or credit, the terrible customer service from both corporate and the location itself. When calling the location they won't pick up, instead they send you to a voicemail that they won't return a call from. If you're using Payless to save a few bucks, pay the extra and go somewhere else. Avis won't be any better so don't try it! They are connected. read more