In late September I received a late night call that my mother was in a hospital in Phoenix Arizona. I took the first flight out to be with her.
Upon arrival, because it was a last minute flight to Phoenix, I had to search for an available rental car in the "captive audience" arena which is the Phoenix airport car rental facility.
Payless Car Rental people indicated to me that they had available cars, and that they had a good rate for me.
On September 28, I rented a car from Payless Car Rental in Phoenix. The rate quoted to me was an open-ended, weekly rate of $168.54, inclusive of all taxes, tariffs, etc. It was also explained to me that if I should return the car before a full week, then I would only be assessed and charged the per day rate of $13 (plus taxes, tariffs, etc. On the days actually rented).
It was agreed that I would be able to extend the weekly rental simply by calling in to the Payless Car Rental desk at Phoenix airport before the end of each weekly rental period.
By mid-October it was clear to me that I would be better off simply buying a car, instead of renting, since it had become apparent to me that my mother would not be leaving the hospital anytime soon. After I purchased a car, I returned the rental car to Payless Car Rental on October 22 with a full tank of gas (those of you who have experienced trying to find a gas station near the Phoenix Sky Harbour Airport will understand this was no small feat in itself).
However, Payless Car Rental has continued to process rental charges against my credit card, in the full weekly amount.
Calls to the Phoenix Payless Rental Car phone number only go to an answering machine or service, and no one has returned my calls.
Charges so far to my credit card are: $834.11
Based upon my contract and time of return, I should have only been charged: $601.93
In addition, the car that was rented to me was not in good repair: there was a bubble or similar default in the right rear passenger tire, which required me to add air to the tire approximately 3 times per week. The defect on the tire was not visible to me when I rented the car—I only knew that the tire constantly needed more air (the car I rented had a tire pressure monitor on the LCD dash screen)
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