Payless Car Rental Actionable Misrepresentation Phoenix Arizona

Counter agent told us Arizona was one of two states where a person's car insurance does not cover rental car collision damage. Base on his statements, for the first (and last!) time in my life I agreed to the CDW insurance at $29.95 per day. With fees and taxes, the insurance charge was $168 for our 5-day rental. When I returned home I asked my insurance company about this, and was told that car insurance applies to rentals in all 50 states. You and I might say the agent lied, but I think the legal term is "actionable misrepresentation."

The agent also persuaded us to take the pre-paid fuel option, since the Payless rate was $2.70 per gallon, while the local service station price was $3.12 per gallon. He neglected to mention that with fees and taxes, the final price to us was $3.62 per gallon!

Extra driver? Sure, it's only $10. Ah, but that's $10 *per day!* And again, plus those fees and taxes.

Overall, my $216 online reservation became a $524 rental.

Other details: I found a pair of glasses in the console tray, showing the car hadn't been cleaned from the last rental. The car itself had a number of small dings and dents, but fortunately I wasn't charged for putting them there. (Nothing like a few close-up photos of the car as cheap insurance.)

The checkout parking garage counter was understaffed and overworked, meaning another 15-minute delay in getting the car keys and leaving. That was on  top of the 20 minutes the counter agent devoted to his sales pitch.

Think I'm exaggerating? Better Business Bureau of Phoenix gives these guys an "F", with 39 unresolved complaints. Have a look at ConsumerAffairs.com and Yelp, too.

Don't rent from Payless, and keep in mind that Payless now is owned by the Avis-Budget Group.