I rented an intermediate car for Feb 18-20 went to pick up the car they are out of that size so they gave me an upgrade of VW Passat which is very bad on gas and it's a rough ride, I took it but they forced me to take road side asst for $5.99 per day claiming it's mandatory for each contract, I called the 800 and complained and asked them they told me no it's an optional and they will check with the office there and see , investigation still pending , new renters be carful renting from Payless Indianapolis airport , it runs by a money hungry scammers, look at your contract and if they force you to take anything you don't want call the 800 number and the media and complain . read more

Horrible, horrible service. Long waits and poor customer service. Will never rent from here again. It shouldn't take more than an hour to get your car. read more

My employer booked this for me due to how cheap their services are. I did not have an experience like I was dreading from these other reviews. Maybe they read them and got their asses chewed a little. I waited 6 mins at the airport for a shuttle and less than 4 mins when I returned. Maybe I was lucky but these guys aren't all bad. I'd use them again. read more

If I could give zero stars I would. Upon arriving at Payless rental they only had 3 cars on their lot. An employee did not try and rectify the issue or lower the price on a smaller car. Instead he tried to up charge a vehicle and made no apologies. This is my first and last time coming here. read more

I've been renting cars for years and this is by far the worst place I've encountered. Went here because they were the cheapest online. Off site airport location is a 10 min drive! Driver said that even though I have a paid reservation, I may not get a car. Only car left was Kia sol. As I began to drive it, it was apparent that the car and severe alignment issues. Please rent elsewhere read more

The customer service was horrible. They gave me a dirty car , which I had to ask them to wash before I left. I had to wait almost an hour to get a car. I waited at the airport over 30 minutes before I was picked up. My experience was all around terrible. read more

i would like to post zero stars but it won,t let me. placed my order 2 weeks in advance. called to confirm day of pick up. got to indpls airport.....surprise....no line at payless desk....all other rental places were full....bad sign of things to come. was told they can,t rent me a car on a visa debit....and could not assure me the charges would not go on my card anyway. shuttled us out to a crappy little trailer in the ghetto and told us if we paid $31 extra dollars a day they,d rent us a car. i left and told them i now understood the 2 star rating they get. it,s way too many stars. we were in the middle of nowhere and they just left us. did not even shuttle us back to the airport. be smarter than me. listen to the reviews. they are true. don,t do business with 2 star companies. read more

Do not rent from here. Ever. If possible I would give this company zero stars. I reserved a full size car with a toddler seat, for a 2pm pickup, several months before my trip. The quote online was $70 for a 3 day rental. When I arrived, the car was not ready for over an hour. Next, I was charged all kinds of hidden fees and charged for the kid seat that was supposedly free when i was quoted online. Then i was told that i was upgraded to better car. For me, an upgrade from full size (altima, optima, fusion,etc) is a luxury car. Instead i was given a tiny Mazda hatchback piece of crap. The car smelled like used mop water, which made me nauseous for the entire trip. The people at the Payless were rude and unhelpful. The rental cost me over $100 more than I was quoted online. Horrible experience. read more

I wish I could rate with a "0". Of the thousands of times (literally) I have rented a vehicle, this is the worst experience I have ever had. The exception? The shuttle drivers and the check in crew were nice. The group that checked me out with the car were bad enough that I made a call to document that I was certain that a rip off was soon to occur. I checked in yesterday so there may be more thrills in the future, I certainly hope not. (I do have 30 pictures of the car that I took before I left and a video of the car upon return). They also require a $200 dollar deposit which they immediately ran against my card. We'll see how long that takes to come back! After the shuttle drivers, the absolute best contact was with the gentlemen who cleaned the cars after they are returned. He was professional, and stepped up for me when there was a question about the car. He and the gentleman who checked me in almost (almost) pulled Payless out of the fire. If, however, you are ever making a video about how horrible customer service can be, this would be the perfect place to make it. Just record the "check out" team. Your video will make a fortune! As a footnote, I had made note of roadside assistance fee (11.98) and had declined all coverages that had been offered. I just called and questioned the charge, and was told that I should have read the contract. That should be added to the video also!! I didn't realize that Payless would be synonymous with Worthless. It would be so embarrassing to be associated with that type of service. read more

Oh, my. Shady as all get out. Charged us $200 extra than originally quoted, and conveniently had no copy of our contract. Could not print out anything on check in or check out, and could not email a receipt. After three attempts at one email, and one at another, they blamed it on their computers. They said only the manager could print anything, and he wasn't there, imagine that. No receipt, no paperwork. Too bad, the drivers did a great job and were friendly and efficient, the lone star goes to them. read more

I reserved a van with Payless a month in advance for our family vacation. The day comes for me to pick up and I called in the morning to confirm the van and pick up time. The guy says 6pm. I show up at 6pm and there's no van. The guy working at the counter says I'm at the mercy of whoever is currently renting the van to bring it back. So they have 1 van? He then went on to tell me that they called everyone who rented a van that day to let them know they didn't have any vans. I said, 'no, I called you and you confirmed a van and the time'. He basically just shrugged it off like it wasn't his problem. Save yourself time and just go to Enterprise. I was able to walk right in and get a van for the same price. Payless is a waste of time. I'd give them zero stars if possible. read more

This is by far the worst place to rent a car. I made my reservation online an attempted to call to see if I could get a confirmation on the car I would have. I was left on hold for over 20 minutes and no one even answered back. Once I arrived to get my rental I saw a group of people waiting for their rental cars, all watching as one employee ate at a desk and the other employee complained about the computer being frozen. We all were in there about 30 minutes and I couldn't believe an employee would rather us wait for her to finish eating before assisting her coworker. Very poor customer service was conducted and I will never rent from here again! read more

I have rented from this location twice in the past month. The online reservation works great, the car has been fine and the service has been acceptable. I am specific with the person at the counter that I don't need roadside service or insurance. My frustration is with waiting for the van to pickup or drop off. We just missed the departing van to the airport and would have had to wait a long time for the next one. So we took an Uber. read more

I'm happy that I was able to get a car here last minute and they did have reasonable fare, easy airport shuttle and very nice people working at the reservation desk! However, I have tried to call this location for the past 5 hours and I keep getting transfer to some foreign speaking customer service who can help me with anything and they say call the location directly. Which is what I have tried to do and I keep getting transferred. I was unsuccessful at getting anyone at this location on the phone and had to drive 2 hours to get there to have my questions answered. This is unacceptable. I will not be back! read more

Avoid at all costs! They claim that I damaged the car I rented for 5 was. Always INSIST the rental clerk do a walk around with you and take pictures before leaving the lot. When turning the car in do the same, make sure your check out clerk do a walk around and take your after pics BEFORE you check out and pay. Otherwise you may get a bill for damages that had to have been done on their lot. Totally unethical and then it is all but impossible to get in touch with them. Bad reviews all the way around and have an 'F' rating with the BBB. read more

Absolute worst car rental place ever. I got in at 9:30pm and waited until 10:00pm to get a shuttle. I arrived at their office only to be standing there, waiting for someone to help me. 5 minutes later a man comes in. I declined all extra fees and charges and disctinctly remember saying so. After looking at the bill, I noticed pre-paid fuel fees and roadside service fees when I distinctly remember declining these. When calling to resolve this issue, they were absolutely no help and had no customer service experience. Please save yourself the hassle and DO NOT RENT FROM HERE EVER!!! read more

Awful and rude personnel. 10-15 minutes off airport. Way to far for way to little. Try to up sell you on every turn.

I see many comments regarding being overcharged. Same thing happened to me. I paid for insurance with Travelocity. However, when picking up the car I was told I had to sign for insurance even though I paid online. I questioned it and again was told it was simply to show I had insurance. When I returned the vehicle, I was charged $63 for insurance. I recounted my previous conversation to the individual at the counter; however, they said I would have to call the 800 number. I did. They said I would have an answer within 3 days. Nothing. Still nothing after repeat calls. I rent cars frequently. Never again with Payless. read more

I reserved a rental car ahead of time and was quoted $187.00 for 8 days. That's a pretty good price. The agent asked if I would like to purchase extra insurance coverage on the car and I declined. My credit card has since been charged over $500 because the agent went ahead and added the extra coverage. They refuse to reimburse my money and my credit card company cannot help me. Spend the extra money and go with a different rental agency. read more

We used this company for parking while on vacation. One word. Don't. Took an hour for them to pick us up. Then the car was still snow-covered when we arrived. We listened to the driver's very loud music while in the van. read more

Don't. Just don't!!! Booked through car rental.com and my reservation said I would owe $116 at drop off. After long wait for shuttle and riding with irate customers and complaining driver for 20 minutes, the counter tried to charge me $397. I showed them my reservation and she said I must have changed my reservation. I said I did not and she said to take it up with Corporate. I refused the car and another customer gave me a ride back to the airport where I rented a clean new car for half the price. The office was filthy, the cars beat up, the staff unkempt and rude. They should be jailed for their bait and switch operation. read more

I would give them a zero if I could!!!!!!!!This one of the worst customer service experiences ever! Do not rent here. The price changed from 185.00 to 325.00 because our flight was delayed and we were late, into the next day. It was 3am. Yes because we were late. I wanted the car less time so they wanted to charge 140.00 more!!! The guy behind the counter could not pump gas for the first customer so he had to redo the paper work, then he couldn't make the printer work. The next customer he told her they did not have a van for 7 people. She had been waiting more than 1/2 hour at 3 in the morning with her whole family. He found a van but charged her more and told her she could talk to the manager in the morning or on Monday. I waited 50 minutes so he could serve two people and then left with no car. He tried the line with me about calling the manager to get the rate adjusted but I was not falling for it. I left with no car. They changed the price of the rental from the reserved and agreed on price. How is that even legal! Travelosity needs to look into them. read more

I had specifically picked a car for a family trip out of state due to its gas mileage. Arrived and was told they didn't have it available, the only car available was a gas guzzler Jeep. The man working tells me he is going to upgrade us at no charge because it's all they have. I was disappointed because I was trying to budget for this trip based on the gas mileage of the original car. Whatever. The guy barely spoke two words the whole time. When I gave him my payment card, I expected to be charged for the total (about $75) but instead saw a $200 hold on my card. I asked him how long the hold would be on and he said until I returned the car (after vacation) so that was super inconvenient. Had he just explained that I would have used a credit card or something. The same man who we picked the Jeep up from was the same man there when I came back to return the car. He never acknowledged me when I entered. When I finally got up to the counter, he again barely spoke and then walked out to the car, came back, printed a paper and handed it to me and then didn't even say thank you or anything and turned and walked into the bathroom. Extremely rude, unprofessional, and I will never rent from here again. read more

I use them for rentals for military duty. I have never had a problem with them or Ace rentals (previous ownership) until now. I have never been charged any late fee for returning the vehicle that has always been prearranged when I pick up the vehicle. My schedule is done by the military and I have no control over it. The old management never charged me for being the vehicle back 2 hrs later than my pickup time because of the schedule. They waived the fee...and have done so for years. Now this new team comes in (Feb 2016) and proceeds to charge late fees and $200 hold on credit card. I see Payless has no regard for military personnel or veterans. I see now this is how they want to treat us. Completely UNSAT!!! Note: DO NOT rent from them if you are military/veteran! read more

Worst rental experience ever. Orbitz said my fees would be 223.00 I returned a day early and the fee was 322.00 No customer service--tried to call the next day no one answered. Beware. read more

Terrible customer service. First, the office is off site and you must take a shuttle to get there. Most of the other car rental agencies are in the airport itself. When I arrived, I was informed that they had no cars. The time specified on my reservation had passed so they did not feel obliged to honor the reservation. They did have a mini van available for an additional $20 per day. No, they would not rent me the van at the same price. The poor clerk kept repeating "That's what my manager told me to do". So I paid the extra. I wasn't alone; I had to wait forever for the people ahead of me in line had to decide how to deal with the same issue--no cars, only SUVs and vans at a higher price than reserved and promised. it seems to be standard business practice at this place. A complete rip off. Never again! read more

CRIMINALS!! They should not be allowed to stay in business. I have contacted the Attorney General of Indiana. Lazy staff in the office. I rented a car in August 2017 that already had some scratches and dings. I went over this with the agent and marked it down on service agreement. 3 months later I received a notice from their insurance company(Sedgwick) saying $2200 of damage was done to the vehicle while in my possession. Not True! I didn't keep my service agreement for 3 months so I have no proof. I now take pictures of every rental car before and after I use it. I learned a hard lesson. There is a reason they are cheaper than everyone else. I hope the AG of Indiana follows thru on this but I doubt they will. So here is a warning to as many people as I can reach, DO NOT USE THIS CAR RENTAL COMPANY!!!! Apparently I have to give at least 1 star, that's a shame! read more

I just got done writing a review on Google about the mysterious upcharge for insurance that was never explained to me, and that added $128.70 to my total bill (it had been prepaid, so obviously I was concerned with cost all along). I wrote this review (my first ever) after being told by Payless "customer service" (yes, those are scare quotes) in terse accusatory tones that since I'd initialed an unexplained space on the contract that pointless cost was mine to eat, and that's that. Only then did I look at Consumeraffairs, Yelp, et al., to discover that this mysterious "roadside service" insurance is a running scam whose primary benefit seems to be fleecing unsuspecting renters and skimming money from their bank accounts. Caveat emptor: do not rent from these people without making them explain, in minute and meticulous detail, every square inch of your contract. By the way, the Google review is under the name G Firmin, and though I stand by my comment about how nice the shuttle drivers are, do not mistake that for sympathy for this company. These people are either willfully oblivious to their misguided cheating company policies, or they're vile corporate thieves who gleefully take money right out of your account and then scoff at you for seeking answers. And either way the manager here is their toady. Where is Robin Hood when we need him? read more

Payless is not a reliable company. We had rented two minivans months before a trip our Canada Trip, but on the day of the trip they told us that they didn't have them. They didn't give us any other option either. We had even confirmed the order a couple days before the trip and they ensured that they had them. We found 2 suv s from Hertz at the Airport. Then at the airport they told us they didn't have them but at least they gave us 2 minivans for a very good price. Thank you Hertz!!! read more

On October 14, 2015, I made a reservation to pick up a rental car at Indianapolis International Airport. The price I was quoted, including "taxes and fees," was $187.01. Upon drop off, the total charged was $219.65, the difference being largely the result of some tacked-on bogus charge of $35.94 for "Roadside Service Out of Area." Plus, the rental location was a 20 minute shuttle ride away from the airport. When I called to complain about the charge, I was told, "there's nothing we can do." It was obvious that they receive this complaint all the time. They defended the charge by indicating it was disclosed in the contract. I don't doubt this is true, but when you travel several thousand miles by plane and then, surprisingly, have to take a 20 minute shuttle ride to their off site location, it does you little good at that point to learn the price you were quoted when you made the reservation was bogus. This is a classic "bait and switch", made worse by the fact that it's not mentioned by the person at the counter and if you do notice it, what choice do you have? Refuse to take the rental car and find yourself stranded in on the west side of Indianapolis in some bad neighborhood at 11:00 p.m. at night? Plus, why exactly am I being charged for "out of area" service when I has never more than 30 miles from the rental area? Both the false representation that they are located at the airport and the false amount they indicate you will be charged when you make the reservation constitute material misrepresentations and are at the least an unfair business practice, if not outright fraud. I would urge those who have had similar experiences with this company to file a complaint with the Indianapolis Better Business Bureau and the Indiana Attorney General's office, as I have. read more

Payless was recommended by a passenger on our flight to Indianapolis. We needed a car last minute due to weather & we could not be happier with the service that was provided! Not only did we get a nice Ford Escape to drive with an incredible last minute price but the staff was amazing & knowledgeable . Thanks to our shuttle driver William who was the absolute best!! We honestly could not have had a better experience. read more

I didn't come into town via airport, I have a second home here and just needed a car for a couple of days. I made the reservation on the web, and was forced to reserve at the airport location, but I knew where the lot was located. The agent "helping" me at pickup told me I must return the car to the airport, not where we were standing. OK,fine. I soon discovered the car had no wiper fluid, and I was unable to move the driver's seat until I later forced it out of some sort of trance. Filled the wiper fluid, an entire gallon. Noticed that the rear wiper hung straight down at 6 o'clock , disabled. Returning on the appointed day, in a snowstorm, I went to the airport only to find out there is no facility to return Payless cars there, only the lot. Returned car to lot, asked to speak with manager, and was soon greeted by an escapee from the local psychiatric ward, a Mr. Simo Najib. Simo evidently had no time to attend customer service training, and couldn't afford to buy a set of good manners after his husband kicked him out of the trailer. Pity the creature. Simo denied his vaulted and perfect Payless would rent a car with these problems, in effect calling me a liar, which I considered a bit rude. When I asked him why he wouldn't give any consideration to my complaint, once again affirming his assumption that I was a liar, he told me to leave the premises or be arrested. I understand, this was likely the only cogent thought he had to play with all day long- once again, with his limited IQ and lack of skills, poor Mr. Nijib can barely earn enough to provide the basics for his survival. It's tough out there. In the end he refused to put me in contact with his boss, embarrassed because he couldn't remember her name, most likely. As I left, in the howling snow storm, I stopped to open all four doors of the rental hoopty, and open the rear hatch. It was the least I could do for the simple Simo. I found his boss, and will entertain him tomorrow, with delightful tales of comic tragedy, in the hope that Simple Simo might receive the help he needs: sober living, rehab, and gender re-assignment surgery. A moment of silence for the pitiful shadow of a man, our dear Simple Simo. read more

At the Lafayette, IN location, they talked me into upgrading but gave me a filthy car with no discount, and I was in a hurry to get on the road so didn't want to wait for them to clean it. Also, they added almost $20 to the cost for "road service." All in all, I didn't "pay less", that's for sure. read more

The only reason I gave this place one star is because zero stars wasn't an option. If you are flying into Indianapolis and need a rental car use one of the companies located at the terminal. It is a 20 minute shuttle ride to the car pickup location and once you get there you will have to stand in line at what looks like an old mobile home to get your car. You will also find that there are additional fees that are not disclosed when you book the car through Expedia. Finally, the employees have nearly zero customer service skills and are poorly dressed with minimal grooming standards. Never again would I rent from Payless. read more

I knew the shuttle would take awhile. I knew not to expect too much white glove service based on the reviews. I did NOT know that I totally saved my entire vacation by taking advantage of the pay ahead feature. The site asked me if I wanted to save $10 by paying ahead of time. I decided to go for it. $10 is $10. I only went with this company because I was coming in on a red eye flight to Indy at 2am and there weren't any other rental car companies open then. When they picked me up, they told me that I was lucky. They still had one car left and the only reason they had held it for me was because I had paid ahead. 8-9 other people showed up that night ahead of me, WITH reservations, and were told they had no car. I asked the driver how that happens and he said, "We actually do have cars, but they've all just been returned and they're still dirty and there's no one here to wash them." I asked how many people were in the office at 2am. He said just him (the driver) and the desk guy. Then I asked, "so if you aren't driving to the airport to pick anyone up since you don't have any cars, why can't you wash the cars?" To that he said, "well, if they want me to be washing cars, they have to start paying me more because car washers at our company earn $1.25 more per hour than what I'm making now and I'm not going to do that work for free." So they'd rather turn away customers who ALREADY had a reservation than try and keep their business. The other down vote was the sad state of their mobile trailer office. Filthy with stains on the carpet. Junky office and the desk clerk's shirt was covered in stains. Let's end with something happy here.. The car radio was great! read more

Hate to pile on but this is a really bad experience. Expect to add 30 min or more to your travel to drop off or pickup a car at the VERY off site location. Employees are nice and doing the best they can but it should really be posted that this is 15-20 min from airport. read more

Well not sure if this will get posted, but I was just about to book a car here until I read all the reviews. Thanks everyone, I will pay the extra for a car from within the airport. read more

DO NOT USE!! Payless isnt pay less for the car it is expect less on professionalism and service. Watched employees bicker, no sense of urgency to meet customer needs, bare minimum at every step. read more

This place is horrible!. The customer service rep Simone is rude, arrorogant and very ignorant! I rented a vehicle on 9/3 for week since I had been in a accide t and needed transportation. I returned the car on 9/5 and she wanted to charge me for the full week. Then I said no I will keep the car since I already paid for it. She told me no this would require a new contract..? No refund has been issued! read more

The worst experience ever, the staff are not helpful and not professional at all. They say something and do something totally different and they make you pay for it. When you walk into the office no one to help and they want to finish your check in and run back to the office. If you want to rent a car make this company your last option. read more