Payless Car Rental

This place is a joke. This place should not be in existence. The customer service was awful. The employees were very unprofessional and disrespectful. They much rather talk amongst themselves than to help out the customer. I highly recommend going to another car rental place than this one.

I’ve been in line for almost 20 minutes and there’s still 5 people in front of me. SLOWEST service I’ve ever encountered. FOX RENT A CAR AND PAYLESS CAR RENTALS are the most frustrating companies to get a rental out of LAX.

Don’t rent here! You get what you pay for. We waited 20 minutes for a shuttle from the airport, only to arrive to the ticket counter and have 20 people ahead of me. After waiting in line for 20 minutes, and only seeing 2 new people be waited on, we decided to ditch the rental and catch a cab to our hotel! The total for the car was going to be $ 90. The cab ride from their office to my hotel was $ 100. I wasted my time and money. Never again.
It’s a reason why other rental car places charge triple and next time, I’ll pay it.
Stay away!
If I could give it 0 stars I would! I was forced to put 1!

Terrible customer service. Shuttle took 25+ mins which shuttle driver said was an average wait. Then he said another shuttle had just driven by 5 minutes earlier. Other ppl waiting with me and ppl from next stop confirmed this to be a lie.
Get to the rental car center and they take your money and neglect to tell you they don’t have cars available and make you wait. There was a large crowd of upset people waiting for cars, some saying they had been waited over an hour for a car. Then I remembered someone at checkin who had asked if there were cars available right now and they were told yes (another blatant lie). No one is able to take care of the people and there are tons of nicer cars available, but they won’t give anything out unless we paid for an upgrade.
Employees were laughing at the frustrated customers and/​or talking back to them. They were not only unhelpful, but also disrespectful.
Strongly do not recommend this place, it’s not worth the trouble, time, and disrespect (not only in employee behavior, but also their lies).

On the way back home. The checkout attendee was swift and profession. The shuttle came in a timely fashion. He was really sweet… not sure if he has a script but he asked to make sure everyone double checked their cars for personables and he offered his charger for any dead phones.
I know others have had horrible experiences, but I’m on vacay, I’m relaxed, and not in a rush… I’m not bothered. Everything is was smooth with Payless.

Hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahaahhahahahahahah­aahaha oh man this place is a joke. If your reading this then consider yourself lucky enough to dodge this bullet. If not, then you’ve probably been standing in line for at least 45min. Not to mention your tired because you also waited 30min for the shuttle to pick you up. This is probably longer than your flight. Jesus help me.
Update: The car smelled like smoke and dirty.

Don’t waste your time
Payless and fox are in the same building
Service suck shuttle from and to the airport takes forever
I try ed Payless there just as bad as fox
I will not use these people again

I can’t believe that Payless was even an option on
as I am puzzled as to how such a poorly run, poorly reviewed company is affiliated with one I actually respect. This place truly merits it’s low rating. Heed the advice of countless other reviewers and STAY away. The cars are poorly maintained and filthy inside and out, many smelling like cigarette smoke. We had to buy Lysol wipes at Target and clean the inside up ourselves. I’m not sure what’s worse– the customer service or the excruciatingly long lines. Don’t be tempted by the low price and rent from somewhere else!

Shortest version: if you don’t believe these negative Unilocal ratings, check out their consumer affairs reports!
You can see that this service primarily relies on people who’ve never used them before using them once and then learning their lesson and never doing it again. Shout out to all the new suckers like me, only coming here AFTER they’ve had the bad experience. We should check next time!
Pick up involved a wait of 30 minutes even though there was really no line and two agents. One of the agents left as soon as he finished helping the guy who was with him before I arrived, for no apparent reason. (Lunch break? Umm it was 4pm.) The girl checking me in seemed sweet but lied about the cost of gas to get me to buy the prepaid fuel. She told me their price was 20 cents a gallon cheaper than gas prices outside. I just landed in the city, I don’t know! I’ve had agents offer the gas many times before but don’t even remember them lying to me about the rates.
She also convinced me to upgrade to a car with a USB charger, which is smart – navigating LA drains your battery if you’re relying on maps on your phone – but even when I picked up the lowest/​most basic possible upgrade, the total ended up being three times the original quote, when I made the rental. I called the customer service number to request that the gas be refunded (I hadn’t returned the car yet; it was at the start of my reservation) and it was the classic call center experience: a guy basically telling me to go f— myself from the start, even though I was mild mannered and not rude to him, just amused and kind of shocked about how angry and mean he was. He was really awful, and the reason I’m here writing the review.
I’ve rented a lot of cars before from all the usual suspects (Enterprise, Fox, Budget, Hertz, Avis) and I never remember having an agent outright lie to me before, or having paid so much for such a bad experience and standard car. Really disappointed and kind of sad (!) – it always feels terrible to know bad/​dishonest people got your money. Will never use again.

Can’t give zero, so the 1 star is well above thr deserved negative stars. The check in counter clerk was the only good part. After him, every single individual was completely rude. The shuttle service is half ass. All the other companies had full size buses, and twice the number. Won’t ever use these guys again.

This rental car company is the best one even there is always line and waiting time maybe long but at the end you get the car you want with a good customer service, even they usually try to give you a something for your waiting time like upgrade you to the better car for free or give you gas for free but this not every time.
The best thing about this one is they Don’t charge you a lot off fees and taxes like the other pay rental company I try them and try others too they are way cheaper and way petter.
Or better deal you should try Priceline they give an awesome prices, the lady at pudge rental car can’t believe I got a car for this price I guess that is why she charge me too much taxes and fees.
But you better get the INS from the counter it is better than the INS from the Priceline website.
Enjoy the ride…

Took an hour for the shuttle. Could have walked here
Been waiting for 45mins in line to get my rental !!! Tell me why they would only have 3 people working

Absolutely dreadful. I, like many fools before me, went for the cheap price. And I paid with my time. Waited in line for an hour. I got «upgraded» likely because they didn’t have my car — which is the sort of mistake you’re happy to have happen, but it didn’t make up for my cancelled plans that evening that didn’t take into account spending more than 15 minutes at the rental car agency.

This is laughable. It took over 40 minutes for the shuttle to arrive. Now we have been waiting 20 minutes to even get to talk to the person at the counter who hasn’t acknowledged anyone waiting in line. Oh, and the guy in front us paid in change…
The car we received (Toyota Yaris) was ok. It wasn’t clean inside though (crumbs, lipstick smears on the passenger seat). It also smelled like urine /​mold when it got hot inside.
The return process was surprisingly fast and hassle free. I’m kind of holding my breath though because my husband and I are sure they will blame some dings on us. Let’s hope not.
The return shuttle was much, much faster than the pickup. I’m giving them 2 stars but we would never use them again.

This happened on Sunday, April 10, 2016 at around 11:30am. My flight was Southwest Airlines at Terminal 1 where you can’t be dropped off at the terminal and have to walk 150ft from the drop off.
I accidentally left my phone on the shuttle from the Payless Office and I realized this when I was already in the security line at least 10 minutes after being dropped off. I turned around to leave the line and the driver had found my phone, remembered me, and not only came to the terminal but found me in line! AMAZING! He was super nice and really showed an incredible thoughtfulness. He went above and beyond and because of him I will be sure to be a loyal customer of Payless Car Rental in the future and recommend you to all my friends who travel.

Long wait. Terrible service. Never again.

Never again, we landed in LAX at 4:15am, didn’t get picked up until 5:42am, waited over an hour. Kept calling and the recording kept coming on. Other people called too and were told that the shuttle would be at LAX in 10 minutes.
Driver finally came and almost left without we, I had to flag him down. The other drivers from the other car rentals came out of their buses to talk to us.
PAYLESS must stand for you pay less and get less quality customer service. Driver was rude at first. .. .. . what a way to start your day.

I needed a car last minute and booked one day in advance at $ 30 for the day. I thought I had scored.
But I think it was so cheap because they have like, ONE person on payroll. I waited in a line of around 10 people for 45 minutes, after a super early, cross-​country flight. At some point, employees of Fox Rental (which is connected) came to help, but the wait was ridiculous, the employees were terse and unfriendly and I will absolutely never rent there again. Unless your time is worth NOTHING to you, spend a little more, literally ANYWHERE else.
Note: I’m typing this while waiting for a car… this experience has now taken a full hour…

I also did not read the reviews before reserving a car and it was purely for the incredibly low price. I will say three things, so book at your own risk:
1) Indeed, the shuttle from the airport to the rental place took over 45 minutes, and I was late meeting with a friend I hadn’t seen in 5 years. On top of that, the line was very long and I waited for an additional 45 minutes in line. While the other two customer service representatives seemed patient and nice, the lady that served me was appalling and rude. She started being nice but as soon as I started asking her questions, she started getting very short (and insulting) with me, blaming me for being tired, not understanding her, being confused, having no idea what I’m talking about, having no idea how insurance works, etc. All because I asked if the additional insurance was optional, for checking for any hidden charges on the final invoice, and for declining the pre-​pay gas option. I told her that I wasn’t going to use even half the tank on my trip, and she said I was crazy and did not know myself. It was absolutely appalling, and I think she should better watch out because her mannerism will lose the company business, although she thinks she’s trying to extort customers. The shuttle driver drove horribly (gave me motion sickness) and did not help the customers retrieve their luggage from the racks (one customer on the shuttle commented on it; he said he didn’t care).
2) However, although I was late by 2 hours (which I had never gotten with any other car rental agency so far), I did get the car I wanted and it was very clean (spotless, new).
3) Only after obtaining the car, did I see the online reviews and was horrified to read about equally bad return service. I was apprehensive about the return because I had a flight to catch, and also did not want to add in another 2 – 3 hours in case the car return was bad (since I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep). So I added in 1.5 additional hours for return, just in case of bad service, but surprisingly, everything went very smooth! I just parked the car in a queue, got out of it and left it there, and a lady came over promptly to inspect the car. She greeted me with a warm Good Morning and handed me a ticket. I took the ticket to the return desk, there were 5 people in front of me, but it was only a 10 minute wait. While I waited, two shuttles came and left, and my heart sank. «It will be another 45 minutes before another ones comes… but this time I will be Ubering to the airport as a backup plan…). As soon as I thought it, another shuttle came, and the driver was very courteous and helpful. He was very nice and helped us with our luggage. The LA traffic was bad, but it was apparent that he was sensitive to getting us to our respective terminals. I tipped him because I was so relieved.
So… if it wasn’t for the positive return, I would have been extremely upset with the company and had given it 1 star. But, in the end, the car was cheap, I did get a partially bad experience, and I guess I can only say: use at your own risk. Like what the other customers have said: do plan on waiting and being late…

Absolutely awful. I was traveling on business. We made a reservation through Payless because the price was low. I should have known you get what you pay for! We waited on the curb for the shuttle for well over a half hour before the shuttle arrived all the while watching numerous other car rental company shuttles come and go. Once we were finally picked up, we got to the dingy rental office where we were treated to an hour wait in line. It ruined or day. The car was fine. Return was relatively uneventful however we waited a long time for the shuttle to return us to the airport. Good thing we weren’t in a hurry. I will never rent from them again. Oh, and they have changed the name to «Fox» which seems kind of sketchy.

This is Payless car rental at LAX. Folks of been waiting in line for over an hour while their employees with no sense of urgency behind the desk. And I use the term work loosely. Awful customer service.
Oh but wait… After an hour and a half we step thru the double doors to MORE LINES/​ugh

Do not sacrifice quality to save a couple of dollars! Unfortunately it was a very unorganized experience. We literally waited 30 minutes for the shuttle to pick us up from the airport and about 35min to return us to the airport. Also, the process of choosing the car was unorganized as well. If you choose to go with this company, I hope you have a better experience!

Can I give zero stars?
Hour long wait. Only 1 person helping at counter. Run, run far away!

Spend a little more and use another car rental! This place is the WORSE! Terrible customer service, and tried not to honor the online quote

The shuttle driver is a dick head… drive by folks standing at the pick up and then decided to scream at me because he thought I was coming from thrifty… fool if I was with thrifty I would be at the airport already because your slow a$& is doing one lap to their 10. Get a real job…

One of the most frustrating and depressing experiences I’ve ever had travelling. My husband named his price on Priceline and we got Payless as a result. I’ve used this company once before but it was from DFW years ago. This location and experience was so bad that I am willing to forego saving some money for the sake of my sanity and next time book a rental with a very well known brand so I can get into a car and be on my way.
Part 1 of the saga starts with waiting on the shuttle. After 30 mins, I started getting worried that maybe the company had closed for the night since I saw enterprise, Hertz, and Advantage shuttles comes by AT LEAST 4 times and my Fox/​Payless shuttle had yet to make an appearance. So I called the phone number on my itinerary and got a very unhelpful robot. The shuttle arrived 50 mins from the time I started waiting.
Part 2 was on the shuttle. I got picked up from Terminal 2 and by the time we got to Terminal 4, our shuttle was packed with people. There was a family who had been waiting for the shuttle for 25 mins but was hesitant to get on because their daughter was on crutches and it was a tight space. A lot of other passengers and I spoke up to tell them not to wait and get on. Even the driver said he was the only one working and he probably wouldn’t be back for an hour at best. So get on and sadly, in a bus full of men, I was the only person who stood up to give up my seat to the little girl with the broken leg. (the depressing part of the story)
Part 3 was trying to get a car. No one was at the counter. NO ONE! After 10 mins of waiting a lady magically appeared to remind me what a burden I was being on her for trying to pick up my reserved vehicle at 11:45pm. Well, I would’ve shown up earlier esp since my flight landed at 10:05pm. By the time I got out to the lot to pick a car, I was beyond annoyed. Every single car had damage to the body and an odor inside the car. So it took me another 10mins to fill out my form to document every single thing so that they don’t try to bring it back on me when I return the car. I noticed 4 families drive off without doing this. I hope they didn’t encounter issues afterwards.
TIP: If you absolutely must get to this rental company, don’t wait for their shuttle. Just take a cab to the location or grab a shuttle to the Westin and walk from there– it’s a 5 min walk.

I am I awe of how long I had to wait for a shuttle to show up. Watched dozens of other rental car companies shuttle passing by, but yet no Payless shuttle. It took exactly 56 minutes for the shuttle to arrive.
On rental car return, there was no personnel on site to check in the vehicle, and once again the shuttle was late and took a 15 minute meandering route to the airport 1mile away through neighborhoods and industrial areas.
Where has customer service gone?
This is my last time booking thru this company.
Wanted to leave zero stars but the app doesn’t allow it.

Both Fox and Payless operate out of the same facility. No rate is cheap enough to be worth using either of these two companies.
The shuttle buses run very inconsistently. It’s not uncommon to wait an hour both at the airport to be picked up and at the rental car facility to be taken back to the airport. The shuttle bus drivers are rude and inconsiderate.
The wait at the Payless counter can be extraordinarily long as there is generally only one person helping customers there. The fox counter however does have more employees and they generally get you through faster.
If you’ve got time to kill and nowhere to be in a hurry and you don’t mind waiting for the rude shuttle drivers, the rates are excellent. However if you have a plane to catch or an appointment to make I would encourage you to use a different company.

Pretty bad experience from start to finish. I only picked this company because it was the only one with available cars close to Christmas. Lesson learned. Few shuttles, check-​in inefficient (staff constantly going on breaks mid-​customer!). My Nissan Versa was filthy, could barely see through rear window. Idiot lights (gauges) came on randomly: first telling me I had a flat (no) then that I had a loose gas cap (no). Final morning of rental, check engine light was on. Drop off was fine, informed them of problem warning lights. Shuttle back to airport took so long, people were calling cabs. As I said, never again. Nor their partner, Fox.

Waited in a long line for 2 ½ hours to get the car. Not sure whose fault it is. An employee said the other rental places were out of vehicles and started booking their customers over; and they didn’t catch it in time to stop the flow.
Either way, they offered the cheapest rate online. So you get what you pay for.

Do not rent from Payless with an online checkbox.
Do not rent because they’re really a sneaky Fox.
Do not rent a super great valued car
Do not rent one here– you won’t go far
You will wait in a line that twists like a snake
You will wait and wait in a line as if at a wake
When you finally reach the head of the line
The slow ass counter person will act like you never reserved online
You will wait again and again as she clicks the key
You will wait and wait for another eternity.
So if you want a car right now,
Go someplace else or better yet, rent a cow.

I was very skeptical about going with payless for my thanksgiving trip after reading all the negative reviews. But, i still wanted to try just coz they were giving me a very good deal.
I got a jeep patriot for $ 190 for 5 days. The car was not bad. much better than i expected.
There were a few dings which i missed mentioning when i was checking the car out at PAYLESS (it was too dark for me to notice the dings in the car holding area). A call to the customer care a few hrs later took care of that. Besides that, the car was in good condition. Interiors could have been cleaned better.

They say the shuttles come by to pick you up every 10 minutes… It was closer to 25 minutes in reality for me. When walking into the building there was 1 person working the counter with about 6 people in line. Another person came to help maybe 20 minutes later. By then the line had swelled to maybe 20 people. The employees definitely did not seem like they were trying to get things moving. Very leisurely pace… as the line continued grow.
Returning the car was equally frustrating. So many cars were lined up to return it blocked street traffic for about 20 minutes as people kept honking. I guess you get what you pay for. Lesson learned.

My experience with this company has truly not been a pleasant one, I have read all the reviews and I wanted to give them a fair try, because sometimes people exaggerate on the reviews but nope everyone is right, the waiting time is ridiculous and there’s no line!
I don’t understand why they’re making us wait an hour to pick up our car when I made reservations.
I’m still here!

Don’t expect the shuttle to pick you up in a reasonable time frame. Figure 2 hrs from your landing.
Don’t bother with calling customer service, their wait time is 20+ mins and when you finally get through they’ll tell you that the shuttles come every 10 mins.
When the shuttle DOES (finally) come… it’ll probably be full and you’ll have to wait on the next one. Even though it’s less than a mile from the airport, the cab fare minimum is $ 19.
Then what happens? You get to the office and there are 90 people ahead of you with 3 reps.
You wait forever and ever due to the worst organization on the planet… Guess what that means?! Your reservation is now expired and the car you requested is suddenly unavailable ;)
Shell out an extra $ 100, go with Avis or Hertz, skip the headache, and enjoy California.

Dear Payless
It would be nice if your desk was open for starters. The one hour in line at Fox is bad enough… but the lack of direction and lineup control is worse.
Absolutely horrible.