Last year, Mouse Print* brought you a story from Consumer World reader Marcie S. alleging that Payless Car Rental engaged in various shady practices that often left customers with much higher bills than they bargained for.
Complainants said they reserved a car at one price, but were charged more at the counter. Others said they declined optional charges like roadside assistance, gas refills, and additional insurance, but were charged for them anyway.
We tipped off our friends at Good Morning America about the issues and they took on the case. ABC News went undercover, hidden cameras and all, and discovered similar things happened to them too. Their story aired last week.
After receiving more than 800 complaints, the Better Business Bureau has now issued a national warning about Payless and given the company an “F” rating. (Text version of ABC story and BBB warning is here.)
The class action lawsuits filed last fall against Payless continue. The question remains, however, what are our state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission doing about Payless?
We stopped renting from Payless many years ago after experiences similar to those described in the video. What neither the article nor the video points out is that Payless is a subsidiary of the Avis Budget Group who also own Avis Car Rental, Budget Car Rental, and Zipcar.
In the most recent 2016 J. D. Powers North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study, Avis Car Rental ranks just below the average for the industry in customer satisfaction while Budget Car Rental ranks significantly below average (http://www.jdpower.com/press-releases/2016-north-america-rental-car-satisfaction-study). Payless was included in the study, but not ranked.
Also of significance is that the percentage of problems with car rental companies reported in the 2016 study is 21%, “a substantial increase from just 14% in 2015.” According to J. D. Powers, “this high incidence [of complaints] is driven by many of the unranked brands included in the study.”
I’ve learned that if the main advertising of a company is the cheapness of their service, then it isn’t in my interest to pay for that service.
I have been trying to get a refund for rental overcharge and gas service charges since Jan 27,2017. I rented from the shady Newark location !!!
I have spent WAY TOO many hours on the phone with them !!!!
I’d rather my time be invested with this law suit !!! Payless is shady !!!