- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Movies |
- All
Payless Car Rental
Rating Details »
Category: Car Rental [Edit]
Neighborhood: Middletown3346 Kettner Blvd
(between Sassafras St & Vine St)
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 296-4966
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 6:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m.
9 reviews for Payless Car Rental
You get what you pay for.
I paid a cheap rate for a little car and got a free upgrade which was sweet!
All other car companies had shuttles circling the airport - except for payless- my hubby had to call them and get them over there! Wish they would have indicated that on the website because we had already stood around waiting for 30 minutes.
Other than that it was fine. The car was a little stained up but whatever.
People thought this was:
- Useful (2)
- Funny (3)
- Cool (2)
Extortion of foreign tourists.
My family is visiting from Europe and I made a reservation for a minivan at Payless: pick up in San Diego, return in San Francisco, 13 days, $1,400 (Payable in advance)
On day 4 of the reservation, we needed to add a driver. This is where everything went downhill:
(1) My family was told that they were not allowed to return in San Francisco, when at reservation time, it was no problem. Therefore my family decided to return the car on day 4 and rent another one for the 9 days left on their trip.
(2) My family was told that they would not receive a refund for the 9 additional days that they already pre-paid. They would instead need to call customer support and ask if they can get a refund. I called for them and of course there is no live person to help, one needs to send a claim letter and hope for a refund, who knows when. I also left 2 voicemails with the San Diego Payless branch general manager but of course nobody has called me back and it has been 3 days.
Basically my family was charged $1,400 for a 4 day rental. I am furious that this happened and furious for not having heard anything back from the Payless people. I hope this review will get them to change their business practices and that nobody else will get tricked. Please avoid this place at all cost. And by the way, the minivan was old, and the paint was peeling off.
Payless. Get less than that. The car had no gas, six different external damages, and a smashed interior console.
We rented a car from Payless on the internet to take a bunch of kids to Disneyland. Don't expect to find a nice rental car agency here this place is more shady than professional. The staff was not friendly and lack customer service skills. It felt liked they knew they were renting junk and were tired of dealing with complaints. Lucky I read the reviews in yelp so I was prepared. Unfortunately the car had been paid for and it was too late to change otherwise we would have walked out. First Payless gave us a Toyota Sequoia with its check engine light on. When asked about the warning light, they said there was nothing wrong and don't to worry about it. We refused to take the car telling them we were not comfortable driving it with the engine warning light on. They then gave us a van whose tires were worn down to the wear indicators and one tire so low that the low pressure light was on. I asked if they knew about the condition of the tires they said yes and said they did not have the ability to put air in the tire. When asked about what would happen if I got a flat, they said I would have to pay to fix it as well for any tow charges or damages resultant of the flat. When I questioned that policy (especially given they were renting a car with worn out tires) they said that I could try to submit for a reimbursement from their corporate office. Being now an hour late for picking up the kids we reluctantly took the van and drove to a gas station to fill the tire ourselves. My friend drove the van to the kids house, when I asked if it ran ok she said the steering wheel shook a little. I drove it I found the shake was severe at freeway speeds so we ended up keeping it below 60 on the freeway and still ended up with numb hands from griping a vibrating steering wheel. I can't believe it is legal for a place to rent cars out in such poor condition. Forgot to mention the van looked like it was never cleaned since the previous rental, it had empty soda and water bottles all over the floor and sand on the seats. The van only a quarter tank of gas in it , but the rental paperwork listed half a tank. I pointed it out and they agreed to their was only a quarter of a tank. I would never rent from hear again, regardless of their cheaper price.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
Pay extra and go somewhere else.
I waited 40 minutes before the shuttle came. Other companies came around 2 or 3 times. Also, the rental office was pretty shady looking and they had a small collection of cars. I waited for a long time to get processed and I was given a pretty gross looking Ford Focus. It has sticky stuff in the cup holders and an electrical sensor was off telling me that a door was open. Nope.. all doors were closed. I went back in to tell them and was told that it just needs to be reset but I should be okay.
The car was on working condition but compared to some other rentals I've had, this one was in bad shape. I was kinda embarrassed to drive it around. It looks like I just stole the car from the hood.
When I returned it, there were already 3 parties ahead of me and only 1 guys working the desk. YAY!
Overall, pay the extra $2/day to go with a bigger company.
Payless. Get less. That should be their motto.
I was expecting some sort of giant car rental lot in SD where all the rental agencies share, but we got shuttled off to this tiny shack off of the 5. It seemed a little sketchy, but the reps were rather pleasant to deal with. They didn't hassle me to take the insurance or buy any gas. Even though it's a small biz, they were pretty quick about everything...even when I returned the car. They don't have much selection like the big boys, so hopefully you reserved ahead of time. We ended up with a Focus that was in OK condition. Only one cigarette burn in the driver's seat and some scratches all around the car, but decent.
Maybe you'll be lucky to get the chatty shuttle guy too:
S: What airline?
J: Virgin America
S: Virgin America? They should call it Virgin Mary. Is America still Virgin? Virgin America? Is anything still Virgin? Right?
J: um yeah...right. *crank up MP3 player*
I think I'll see what my other options are next time in town.
People thought this was:
- Useful (6)
- Funny (9)
- Cool (4)
If you're under 25 and need to rent a car, this unfortunately may be the best place to go, because they only have a $10 per day underage free. All the bigger rental car places charge $20 per day. I still got a pretty cheap deal. The car was pretty beat up looking for a 2008 car. My window visor was detached and missing. The gas cap was a totally different color than the rest of the car. And near the backseat window, one of the car's electric wires was hanging out. But hey, I did book an economy car through a third party website, http://priceline.com. So in a way, this is what I paid for. How sad. The clerk who gave me the car was a nice guy. Very charistmatic. He looked a little like Ludacris, and he even joked about that. The gas was filled with a quarter of a tank, but he said that I could go ahead and return the car empty. That was pretty nice. Good customer service, but if you're looking for a quality car, obviously don't book economy and through a third party website.
The shuttle was waiting for me when I arrived like personalized car service.
Payless Car Rental is a small rental car company not a major player like the Hertz or Avis or Dollar Rental Cars which are corporate giants. The owner is from Florida I think they mentioned. It's a small and therefore personable business. The guys who helped me were all really attentive and friendly.
This is a new branch for them in San Diego.
I buy car rental insurance because my old boyfriend told me (so it's hearsay...) that if he got into an accident in a rental car and it was not his fault, then his regular car insurance wouldn't be affected.
If you go into Mexico, you do need to buy additional insurance specific to Mexico. And remember, down there it's Napoleonic law. (You're guilty until proven innocent; not like in the USA where we're innocent until proven guilty.) Don't risk a prison in Mexico. It ain't pretty. Total side comments...
Bottom line, if you're in a rush and not on vacation and traveling during peak hours...this isn't the service for you.
But if you want good service and a nice small business instead of corporate dragnet-- then this is a sweetspot.
Quite possibly one of the worst car rental experiences I've had in San Diego so far. Stupidly, I thought I would change it up by renting at a different car company than usual (I am usually in San Diego for a few days on business every month), and I chose Payless solely based on price. Expedia had them with a daily rate of about $32, which was the cheapest.
I arrive at the airport and go over to the place where rental car shuttles pick up. And wait. And wait some more. And keep waiting, until I finally decide it's time to drag out the phone number of the place and call. The phone rings about 15 times before someone finally answers, and I'm told that I have to call for a shuttle. Pretty surprised, as EVERY OTHER rental car company in the area has constant shuttles running to and from the airport. So, I sit down and wait for the shuttle. And wait some more. And then some more. By the time the shuttle actually comes, I've been on the ground in San Diego for more than 45 minutes. Renting at Enterprise I'm usually well on my way to the office by now - often already there. When you only have two days, every minute counts.
The shuttle driver is seriously annoying - asking me obnoxious questions and when I say I'm in San Diego for work, he says, "Well, you know the motto, don't you? More play, less work!" Um, sorry, no. Not funny, not cute, just obnoxious. Don't you think I'd like to be here on vacation? Thanks for rubbing it in, asshole. The shuttle itself was a worn down pile of bolts - the hand rail was unscrewed from the ceiling and was rattling off.
Once I finally arrived at the rental building (which is a tiny shack on Kettner near the 5), the clerk did apologize - but I had called him at least 4 times during the whole ordeal so he knew I'd be pissed. The amusing thing is that the ride from the airport to the rental site was about 5 minutes, but if the guy at Payless had been telling me the truth about where the shuttle driver was the whole time, the reverse trip had taken about 30 minutes. Even with a full shuttle and lots of drop-offs, that seems a tad unlikely. Especially since there weren't many cars or interested renters that I saw.
He gave me a "free upgrade" to a Ford Focus - wowee! He described the class of car I originally booked "a piece of crap". Nice. Unfortunately, the car he gave me also turned out to be a piece of crap - a beat up interior, engine light on, and the windshield wipers didn't work. Double nice.
All in all this luxury rental cost me $100 for two days - $40 in taxes, fees and CDW. I really need to check if my normal insurance covers rental cars - CDW is ridiculous. And Payless is a disaster. They need a major upgrade in facilities, cars, shuttles and staff. The way it's looking, though, they might as well throw in the towel - not much to salvage there.
People thought this was:
- Useful (10)
- Cool (4)