traveller76

Payless Car Rental Montreal – hidden geographic restrictions on ‘unlimited miles’

A few months ago I booked a car on Travelocity to go from Montreal to a location 600 km away and back again. Naturally like a fool I gravitated to the cheapest option – Payless car rental based in the Montreal airport hotel, an independent franchise. What a delight when on the screen I saw unlimited miles; however little did I realize there was a hidden clause on the next tab of the page under geographical restrictions saying unlimited miles is only for the province of Quebec.

Anyway I went ahead and booked the car and also 2 hotel rooms in my destinations for the 3 day vacation. The day before our journey I went over to the location and was straight off asked where I was going, and like an honest bloke I said such and such place. I was immediately nailed with the ‘then sir, unlimited miles does not apply.’ I was reeling. Should I cancel and get another car? Should I try to negotiate? It was too late to cancel my vacation. This was the classic bait and switch.

I left the place and sat in the lobby to think for a bit; it’s interesting that when I dropped of the car later I saw 2 fellows cancel their reservation on the spot. Anyway it was too late so I went ahead and got the car, and begged them to lower my over distance fees. I hate getting surprised like this. I hate losing control over my destiny, and being at the mercy of others. Anyway through their infinite magnificent grace and mercy they decided to extend by daily km allowance out of province and to reduce my charge per over km. Nonetheless when I brought the car back I was hit with a huge excess charge. Of course the smart fellow behind the counter blamed it on me, saying it was my fault I did not read the fine print. How convenient. I wonder how the credit card companies like it now, in North America, that the governments are forcing them to vomit the sneaky fine print out into bold letters in boxes above the sign here line.

I wanted to be a bit of a smartass so I asked the guy, what if I lied and said I would drive around aimlessly inside Quebec. He said, well sir we will check this on the audit of the contract, with the satellite location finder records showing you left Quebec, and we will then hold you in infraction of the contract. So don’t try that – honesty is the best policy always. By honesty I mean the complete truth, not part of it.

By the way this geographic limitation is quite bizarre. I only see this in Quebec only with Payless of course. I used to live in Boston for 10 years and regularly rented cars there for unlimited mileage and I never saw any geographic restrictions. I looked around other rental agencies and I think unlimited only applies to Canada, and entering the USA is altogether another aspect. These is in general a cautionary tale – call ahead and confirm that the unlimited miles means what it says; calls the agent you used [online or otherwise] and the rental firm. Finally get it in writing that it is indeed unlimited.

Conclusion – ‘Payless’ means ‘Getless’, and you end up paying the same as others, through tricks and games and deception.


Located in the Lobby of the Hilton Hotel
12505 Cote de Liesse
Dorval, Quebec H9P 1B7
Canada
514-828-9494
Montreal paylesscarrental.net
http://www.paylesscarrental.com/

live42day

I just reserved a car to pick up in Ottawa Ontario in July and we are driving to Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and return. I did the internet search for the best rates etc. I almost booked National (Thrifty) because they were the cheapest, but took the time to read the fine print and yes the unlimited miles did not apply when you left the province, and the price increased substantially. I also phoned and asked, 'how would you know?' and the same answer, GPS. I checked a couple of more companies, and I think Payless was one of them, and the same thing applied.

I did find, for anyone who is planning to travel province to province, that Budget rent a car has the best rates and does not have restrictions on going from province to province. Going the the USA would be a different matter. If you pre pay you get 40% off, but the cancellation penalty is only $5.

So Payless is not the only one with this restriction and surcharge which is just crazy rules. Have a great time in Quebec!

toedtoes

There are many of these "fine print" items with all the car rentals. They vary from location to location.

The unlimited mileage is one, the amount of the deposit hold is another. There are even more that I haven't run across.

While it won't help you now, my advice to folk renting cars is to get to the point in the process where you can read the specific contract agreement for that location. Read it carefully. Then, if you have no problem with the specifics, go ahead and finalize the reservation.

lordsoth

They have GPS jammers now, that would solve the problem for you, however they cost about $100 and they plug into the lighter. Also I would not want to be a test case, to see if these things are legal in Canada.

At least in Ontario and Quebec, you can still find car companies with unlimited mileage withoug geographic restricitons.

In the Maritimes, the only company that offer unlimited mileage is Alamo, and only if you are a price club member. They are booked right now to the fall.

One thing you can do to protect yourself, is to use a prepaid card that acts like a credit card (not a gift card). BMO Mosaic BMO Travel card is what I use, and load the card to what the Car company is going to charge as a depost. $500 is quite common for a week. Its always better to be in dispute situation, when you owe them money, rather than trying to get it back after the fact. This way your maximun loss is the difference between the rental and the security deposit.

live42day

the one time I found this deposit a real pain was when I went to California, they put a $300 USD hold on my visa, I had a very low limit on my visa so it left me with little room. The exchange rate at the time was around 60C-1.00 so when they refunded the $300 back, it cost me quite a bit of money because of a buy/sell foreign currency. The next time I was adament that they not actually put through the amount, just hold it which they did.

CanadianWanderer

In my opinion, this company is deceitful. My experience with them was absolutely awful, tedious, and expensive. The most notable parts were when they contradicted my version of events with certainty, despite the fact that they weren't there, and, when I suggested it was dishonest of them to have me sign a document that they knew was false they said "Well let that be a lesson to you." The lesson is they cannot be trusted.

audios

Rented a vehicle from paylesscar rental or also known as E-Z car rental at Montreal airport hotel Aug 2009. If you don't want to read further, this is my recommendationO NOT RENT FROM THEM.
Vehicle was booked in the previous week, waited 15 mins at the airport for a shuttle, waited 20mins in line at the rental counter(I was second in line). It took at least 10-15mins for the only agent available to process the rental for each customer (note it also takes this long to process the return of the vehicle). I don't know why all the typing/info takes so long to enter since I had provided it all previously. The vehicle was a lower grade than ordered. Upon receiving the vehicle, it was dirty inside, it had not been cleaned after the previous renter. The staff were surly and aloof, believe they were doing me a favour and disinterested in providing directions. Returning the vehicle revealed many hidden charges eg. automatic fuel charge of $19.98. It didn't turn out to be the cheapest rate afterall, despite the online search and comparisons. At least everything worked in the vehicle and it didn't break down. If you want all of the "service" described and to pay the same rate as renting from the big name car rental companies at the airport itself, then this is the company for you. It is a "mom and pop" operation and I wonder if car rental is even their main business. I suspect they just change their name when the complaints become overwhelming. I have a soft spot for the underdog and those trying to run a good business, rather than going to the big companies. However, this is a great and expensive disappointment. This is the only way I can vent my opinion as a warning to all of you out there.

live42day

UPdate on Budget Rent a Car. Picked up car in Ottawa after booking on line and paying in advance for cheaper rate. Car was as described. Unlimited KMS. Went from Ontario to Quebec to New Brunswick to Nova Scotia and then return the same way. Put 4000 Ks on the car in two weeks. Great car, new, clean. Dropped off at the airport in Ottawa and took five minutes.
No surprises. No extra charges. Very happy with the rental.