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A group of plaintiffs claim that Payless Car Rental Inc. unlawfully charges renters for fuel, insurance, and other add-ons that they had expressly declined.
The class action lawsuit filed in New Jersey alleges that Payless and its parent company Avis Budget Group Inc. unlawfully upcharge customers for their car rentals by tacking on charges for add-ons like insurance, roadside assistance, and fuel options – even after the customers specifically declined those add-ons.
All the named plaintiffs in this Payless class action lawsuit allege they were hit with extra charges for gas service plans, roadside assistance plans, or loss damage waivers, all of which they say they expressly declined.
The plaintiffs say these charges were assessed at Payless locations across the country and overseas.
Plaintiff Arcadia Lee says a Payless representative in Costa Rica told her the extra charges were only “deposits” that would be returned – a statement she says turned out to be deceptive.
The plaintiffs also take issue with what they say are fraudulent fuel charges, assessed when customers return the vehicles to Payless.
Some customers complain they were charged a “fuel surcharge” as high as $185, even after returning their car with a full tank of gas.
Complaints made directly to Payless got no results, the plaintiffs allege. They say Payless directs complaining customers to open a ticket with its help desk.
The plaintiffs allege that once they open this ticket, Payless responds with a form message essentially telling the customer that they did indeed authorize the charges and that Payless refuses to give them back their money.
In addition to the allegedly unauthorized add-on and fuel charges, plaintiffs quote online customer complaints alleging other underhanded dealings by Payless.
Customers report Payless charged their credit cards as much as three or four times for the same transactions or failed to return hundreds of dollars’ worth of security deposits.
One complainant alleges she lost a $175 rental fee she had already paid when Payless cancelled her rental supposedly because she failed a credit check.
Still others complain that when the specific car they had a prepaid reservation for was not available, Payless refused to refund their money and instead proposed to charge them for an upgrade to a more expensive vehicle.
The plaintiffs propose to represent a few specific plaintiff Classes. The Nationwide Unauthorized Add-Ons Class would encompass all persons who rented a vehicle from Payless and were charged for add-ons they specifically declined or that were otherwise unauthorized.
They also propose three unauthorized add-on subclasses consisting of Class Members from the states of New Jersey, Nevada and Florida, respectively.
Their proposed Nationwide Fraudulent Fuel Charges Class would represent all Payless renters who declined to have Payless refuel the vehicle, returned the vehicle with a full tank, and were charged by Payless for refueling.
They seek an injunction barring Payless from misinforming renters about the nature of their add-on fees and from charging credit and debit cards without notice and specific authorizations for the charges to be imposed.
They also seek awards of damages, restitution, court costs, attorneys’ fees, and applicable pre- and post-judgment interest.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Bruce H. Nagel and Greg M. Kohn of Nagel Rice LLP and David J. DiSabato and Lisa R. Bouckenooghe of DiSabato & Bouckenooghe LLC.
The Payless Unauthorized Charges Class Action Lawsuit is Bacon, et al. v. Avis Budget Group Inc., et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-05939, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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61 thoughts onPayless Car Rental Class Action Says Customers Charged for Add-Ons
Rented a car for 2 days at Las Vegas NV, agreed price was $157.00 paid with my AMEX. Returned the car on time. took the plane back home to LA. One weeks later, got a call from Payless requesting me to return the car when i have already returned at the airport facilities… sent them proof of me flying back to LA. Payless Lost Prevention Department called me twice the next two weeks with the same issue, the car was not in the facilities they blame on me to never returned. Went over the same explanations, sending Proof of American Airlines that flue on the day of the return, Long Story short, a month later, someone returned the car in the state of Virginia, and they charge me $4,500 USD on my Amex Account.
Amex never honored the charges, cuz payless presented the Invoice for that amount under my account that was never close for only 2 days of using the vehicle.
Now I am have a debt of $4,500 + interest with AMEX, they said, I need to fight Payless.
Can someone please advise if I can do something from LA… can’t travel to Las Vegas to sue them.
I recently rented aa vehicle from Payless through American Airlines, Record locater IMYMMS. I requested a midsize SUV, non smoking with GPS. The price indicated in the reservation was $219.06 When I got to the rental car desk the only vehicle available was a 7 passenger full size vehicle that smelled like an ash tray. The cost was $320.82, the attitude of the agent was poor. I was told I needed and “eze pay” service for toll roads which I accepted. However the person that gave us the keys could not tell us how to operate the device and i don’t think it worked.
I would strongly urge American Airlines to discontinue recommending Payless as a vendor.
After returning home and checking on Payless I learned of a class action suit against them. “— — The Better Business Bureau is issuing a nationwide warning to customers about Payless Car Rental, a major car rental company found at
airports across the country.”
I rented a car for Atl pickup through Priceline, when I got the car I was asked did I want various things I declined them all. I had the car 3 days and was billed 587.00 after the car was already prepaid through Priceline. They claim to have given me an upgrade, but I drove off with that same Versa I reserved. They charged me for insurance, but I had purchased it online, they also charged me for gas and I filled it up before I got there. This company is a total ripoff. On top of everything you can never speak to anyone everything is done via email.
Through Orbitz I secured a car rental for $265.00 for the week of October 8-15 2019 at the Denver airport. I checked into PAYLESS and instead of getting a Nissan Versa or something similar I was offered a Yaris? I asked if he had another car that I could choose from and Mohammed said to me, “I’ll tell you what, I have a Suburau out there that you can have, it is a 4 wheel drive and it is going to snow so this will be a great car!” I said OK. Never did he ONCE tell me that it was an extra $11.00 a day. I was told to sign and initial (which I did) I asked why my rental was so high and he said that sometimes they take out “deposits”. I bought that hook, line and sinker. Again he never told me that it was an extra $11.00 a day. I leave and only upon looking at my receipt I realized he upgraded me without me asking. MY TOTAL BILL WAS $361.88.
Time to return the car. I come in on October 14 to return the car and I talk to Jeromie about the “up-charge”. He smugly said that I had initialed the contract and signed it. That is true. However I think that this is a bad business ethic to not say anything to the customer. I showed him a copy of the car rental that I got from Orbitz and he came back and charged me the base price of $177.73. Which is fine. However, when he was checking me out he asked if I filled the car up, and I said yes that I had just gone down the street to fill the car up. He tells me to bring the car to the side, which I did. (While I’m waiting for Jeromine to come and take the car, I snap a picture of the gas gauge.) Jeromie comes out of the office and practically throws the rental agreement at me. Fine. Upon looking at my checking account to see what I was charged, seems that Jeromie charged me and extra $23.10 for 2 gallons of gas and that the car did not come back FULL. Why does this business practice this way? I looked up this company and the complaints are numerous. Life is hard enough and I certainly don’t need a PAYLESS to rip me off. You give someone your business in good faith and they try to screw you every way they can. Very very disappointed because it seems that PAYLESS grew up without ethics.
I am being harassed by a collection agency supposedly acting on Payless, behalf for a scrape on the bumper of a vehicle that I rented in May of 2017. At the time of vehicle return I completed a statement contending that while in my Poseidon, the car was not parked close enough to another vehicle to have been scraped. They sent an estimate, not a completed work order to myself and credit card company who would cover the reported damages if proof of repair were provided. As of my last communication with them in October of 2017, they still had not received corroborated proof that a repair was done so did not settle the claim. Now, here in October 2018 I am receiving threatening calls from a collection agency demanding immediate payment of the $623 repair that was not confirmed to have been done plus another $623 in collection fees. I have not paid and spent countless hours since getting the run around to multiple numbers with no help in resolving this issue! I opened a ticket on their customer service site and was directed to the same number that I already left voice mail on that was not returned. They are threatening legal action, but I can’t speak with someone at Payless to resolve. What can I do?
I’m actually corresponding back and forth with them now! I ordered the vechicle online, was quoted a price of 205.00 reserved a Hyundai Accent for one week and picked up exactly that. When the agent asked me did I want an up grade I declined, but he added it, I declined insurance because I purchased it online. My final bill from Payless went from $205.00 to $384.38. They’re telling me they don’t refund! Very angry and disappointed customer!
I was charged for the loss damage waiver(26.99 a day for 2 days), RSP(5.99×2) AND THEN CHARGED 249 FOUR TIMES!!!!! THEEEEEN AN EXTRA 100 FOR NO REASON?! the manager couldnt even tell me why I was charged 100 extra dollars. Told me to talk to my bank aboit being charhed over 1200 dollars!!! Imdianapolis ohare location.
I RETURNED THE VEHICLE WITH A FULL TANK OF GAS AND WAS CHARGED FOR NOT TOPPING OFF, THE WORKER SAID.
I RENTED AGAIN AND WAS CHARGED $1994.54 FOR 20 DAYS WHEN I ONLY KEPT THE VEHICLE FOR 3 DAYS AND SHOULD BE CHARGED NO MORE THAN $75.00 FOR 3 DAYS PLUS APPLICABLE TAXES.