the 1st car I got had ALOT of scratches & dents. It broke down & took forever to get a replacement. I return home to return & get 1 day credit after a 6 day rental. Then they mess up & charge me 3x in error & have to wait 7-10 days for them to fix. No apologies.

Perhaps I am biased as I am used to enjoying seamless car rental experiences, defined by a short wait to pickup my vehicle, easy to understand rental rules and instructions, and happy-tp-be-there staff. Then again, I don't typically rent with Payless. This rental was last minute, and they were cheaper than my usual pick, Avis, which owns Payless, and is the flagship renter of the whole group. I waited in line for 40 minutes just to rent my vehicle, which was already reserved, even though there were a mere 4 people ahead of me in line. One single woman was working at the desk. Another gentleman came in and out sporadically without much rhyme or reason and selectively helped people both waiting in line and waiting in chairs nearby. At the counter, a $100 hold was placed on my card, something that should not happen for a credit card based rental, not disclosed at booking, and important for others to know if they're on tight budgets. You'll get that money back, if you return everything in good order, but it may take a couple of weeks. If you don't have that money just waiting around, you've been warned. That's on top of the rental fee. I experienced that everywhere I went in California. Hotels, car renters etc. Much more than other areas. Reserve several hundred dollars extra somewhere for this or you'll be in trouble. If I hadn't been able to pay that I'm guessing I'd have forfeited my rental, and they don't tell you until you pay for the rental itself. Payless also seems to have more strict requirements about filling the gas tank. They require a physical receipt showing your purchase at return, it isn't enough to have a full tank and you may be charged for a full tank of gas without one, even if the tank is full. After waiting in the 40 minute line, I waited another 45 minutes for the single lot attendant to actually drive my car up to the pickup point. There was no going out to the lot to get the car myself, and this was a major delay. All in all, it took around 1.5 hours to get my vehicle from when I arrived, and that was without a crowded rental building. On an earlier rental with another company, it was much busier. I was not renting at that time with Payless, but I could see their line from across the room and passed several people who were vocally frustrated about their waits, which probably took several hours. I was informed by the desk attendant, who was not happy to be there, that 80% of the staff had been laid off, and that this accounted for some of the delay. That makes sense, and I get why workers might be unhappy having to work in a stressful and hazardous environment right now. But, compared to a comparatively relaxed experience with Hertz earlier in the week, this experience was chaotic and disorganized. It felt like no one knew what they were doing. One lot attendant appeared to be driving a mustang around the parking lot for fun. Good for them...but, again, it was frustrating as a customer. Overall, you get what you pay for. I wanted something cheap, I got something cheap-ish, and the experjence matched that. The car itself was nice, as it came from the combined avis budget payless catologue. As a result, as usual, I got a bigger car than I actually asked for. Personally, I don't mind that, since it's more space and often fuller featured. If you are however in need of a specific size, make sure you are clear about that at the counter for avis, budget, and payless, as you will not fit your intermediate suv into your intermediate sedan parking spot. On the flip side, if you wanted an suv but paid for a car, they may well be for you.

The Light was off at Payless by my late arrival but an agent from Budget said he could get it to work. Honored my reservation - no price change. And found a Payless car. The car was a Ford Hybrid. It was great.