- Report: #1283330
Complaint Review: Payless Car Rental Inc. - Indianapolis Indiana
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Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Payless Car Rental Inc.
5773 W Washington St, Indianapolis, 46241 Indiana, USA
Phone:
3177777337
Web:
https://www.paylesscar.com/
Categories:
Business Rating:
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Payless Car Rental, Inc. Avis Budget Group Deceptive Practices During 2016 North East Blizzard Travel Indianapolis Indiana
Report Attachments
Summary
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I'm a professional traveling photographer that has rented LOTS of cars all over the world, and have gotten quite proficient in doing so. This is not a confused consumer unaware of hidden contractual agreements complaining about "basic" insurance rates I didn't realize I was signing up for or hidden charges I didn't read about closely. This is a REAL RIP-OFF REPORT of a situation where Payless took advantage of someone they assumed was a new to the process. It may only be $16 but this is done ALL THE TIME AND ADDS UP! THIS IS OUR HARD EARNED MONEY BEING STOLEN RIGHT UNDER YOUR FEET!
Why a Rip Off Repot?
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I am NOT writing this report in hopes of "getting my money back." This is a consumer alert I would like to make public of the succesful attempt by Payless to take extra money from a me, and likely thousands of others over course of the strorm. They want you to say "$16 is too much of a hastle to fight over. I'm too tired to agrgue about it. I just want to get home!" That is just what they are hoping you will say, and walk away. It's only $16 to you, but it adds up to MILLIONS AND MILLIONS to them! Don't allow it! Stand up for youself and fight for your hard earned money! YOU EARNED IT!
The Details In a Nutshell
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While traveling back to DC from a job in the Pacific Islands, I got stuck in the midwest due to severe weather in DC. Being my fourth rental in the week, I picked up a 2015 Kia Soul from the Indianapolis Payless Car Rental Office at 2:34AM on 1/24/2016 for $16.41. This is not the subtotal. This was the final contractual price, including taxes, fees, insurance, etc. etc. Payless' policy is to allow this rate to remain in effect as long as the vehicle is returned within 24 hours of pickup + 1 hour grace period (so by 3:34AM on the 1/25/16). When I knew I would need the rental about 15 hours longer than the original contract, I called Payless on "1/24/16 7:19 PM" (recorded straight from my sprint account history) and that I needed to extend my contract for another 24 hours. The told me this would cost the original $16.41 + $18.00 (extra day fee) + $11.00 (late return fee) for a total of $45.41. This wasn't a suggested price, guess, etc. This was the price I was quoted from the rep that my extended rental would cost me. When I returned the renatal I was charged $61.36. Well hey, it's only $16 difference, right? Maybe there was something I didn't read? Didn't understand? NO THERE WAS NOT! This was a bait and switch operation. Give me one price and then charge another when they knew most consumers were, tired and exhausted from days and days of delays due to huge storms. The story is that plan and simple!
What Did I Do?
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Why was I charged the extra amount? What did I do? I contacted the consumer service number and was given a ticket (recording here: http://picosong.com/85kF/) and explained simply my situation and that I wanted to be refunded the difference. I was hoping Payless would do the right thing.
I also have a travel photography website that gets just shy of a half a million visitors annually. They are going to become my "Consumer Alerts!' section! You have to fight where you can!
What Did Payless Do?
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Nothing! Well, not nothing, but near nothing. I spoke with "Terrence Payless Executive Desk" I could immeditaly tell this was a dollar and cents operation for them and they were not about to just hand back $16. What about my quoted price? The contract? It didn't matter to them. It was a quick open and close case. You could tell they were VERY GOOD at this. They wanted me to just disappear. Again, how much of my time is $16 worth? No matter how much I explained, reworded, I would get a canned response that was 90% rewritten template and 10% was the message "and our findings show that no refund is warranted for this rental." When I replied back with lengthy explanations, information on my traveling background, prior rental experiences etc. I would just receive very passive aggressive responses such as "This ticket is now closed, and no further correspondence is necessary. Thank you for choosing Payless Car Rental." What!? That's it? No appeal process? No higher up the chain because this guy seems to be really convined something is wrong? Nope. Nada. Nothing.
What do I Want?
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Spread the word! Please! Let other consumers know! And who knows, maybe WE CAN GET TERENCE TO GIVE A REAL RESPONSE! Stand up for your rights! We worked hard for them and WE NEED TO KEEP THEM!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
UPDATE: Informaton Sent to Attorney General
#2Author of original report
Sat, January 30, 2016
We can win this. Join the fight! Write your attorney general if you too have been taken advantage of!
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Dear Attorney General ******,
I am writing to alert you to a concern I have with Payless Car Rental, Inc. headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. I believe Payless fradulatly charged me a small dollar ammount ($15.95), and possibly other consumers, during the 2016 East Coast Blizzard, when many of their consumers were stranded and unable to properly defend bogus charges.
I am looking for Payless Car Rental, Inc. to reinvestigate consumer complaints and provide refunds where appropriate to those customers.
In a nutshell, the contractual price given to me was blatently ignored and over invoinced when I was returning the vehicle during a layover in Indianaplois on my very delayed flight to Washington DCA airport. This is not a simple case of confusion on my part to understand my contractual obligations. The original contract agreement (which was verified before return through their national call center) was ignored and attempts to rectify this were also ignored and closed by their consumer support program.
The original contract clearly stated a total price of $16.41, with an aditional day price of $18.00. I have rented many cars in the past (I am a professional Photographer and travel frequently) and am not new to this process. Because I was returning the vehicle with an "additional day" added I called the Payless Customer Sevice number at (800) 729-5377 to confirm my total return price would be $34.41. The customer rep alerted me to an unstated $11 fee for late returns that was corporate policy. Although I did not find this amount listed anywhere on my contract, I agreed to the fee and that my total would be $45.41.
When returning the rental to the Payless location at 5773 W Washington St, Indianapolis, IN 46241 , I was invoiced $61.36 with no explanation of the discrepency. Because I am quite familiar with the rental process, I was confident this was a mistake. Unfortunately, every attempt I have made to get the difference rectified or an explanation showing where on my contract this price would be justified was ignored. I am keen to notice fradulaent attempts to overcharge consumers in the car rental business because I am so familar with the process, and I really do believe this was such an attempt.
The representative I was most closely working with at Payless was "Terrence / Payless Executive Desk."
Feel free to contact me at *********@gmail.com, or at 585-***-**** if you would like more information or a better explanation of the events.
Sincerely yours,
David ****
