Payless Tampa: Worth It
Written: Mar 23 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good minivan, nice people, great savings
Cons: VERY aggressive about selling extra insurance, off-airport location
The Bottom Line: Rent from Payless Car Rental, but do your homework first. The savings might be worth the minor hassles of doing business with them-- it certainly was in my case.
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| atltpa's Full Review: Payless Car Rental |
I organized a conference in Tampa on February 29 and March 1 and needed to rent a minivan to help transport attendees around town. I rented a minivan from Payless Car Rental and had a relatively positive experience with them.
I arrived a few days early to handle last minute arrangements for the conference, so I needed the minivan for a total of 5 days.
Although I am a regular Avis customer and a member of the Avis Preferred club, that proved to be of little help to me in obtaining a decent rate with that company. After a Google search, I found Payless and reserved with them.
By doing so, I saved about $300 over what Avis wanted for a minivan for those same 5 days.
There are a couple of things to know if you want to do business with Payless Car Rental in Tampa. First of all, they are an off-airport car rental facility. You can't just walk to your car like you can with Avis or Hertz at Tampa-- you must ride a shuttle bus.
That's OK, but it's a 10 minute ride from the airport to their office on Westshore Boulevard in Tampa. Couple this fact with the reality that they only run 2 shuttle buses, and you could end up waiting for 15-20 minutes or so before getting picked up (like I did).
Second, they are VERY aggressive about trying to sell you their rental car insurance. Like many people, my regular automobile insurance covers me for rental cars, as does free coverage I receive through my American Express card. The bottom line: I don't need their insurance.
I learned that Payless Car Rental is aggressive about trying to sell their insurance by reading the other reviews of the company on epinions.com. Therefore, I came to Tampa and the rental car counter with a copy of my regular automobile insurance policy. This was very helpful and allowed me to end the discussion about buying extra insurance both quickly and effectively.
All of the Payless people I dealt with-- from the shuttle bus drivers to the clerks at the counter-- were very nice and quite professional. And the minivan (a Nissan) was clean and in good condition.
Would I rent from Payless Car Rental in Tampa again? You bet-- particularly if the savings were comparable to this experience.
Should you rent from Payless Car Rental? I'd suggest it. However, if you do and don't want to buy their insurance, be prepared to stand your ground and insist that you don't need it. And bring a copy of your own automobile insurance policy.
As always, an educated consumer is the best consumer.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
atltpa
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Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 0 members
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