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

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/

On May 22, 9:20*pm, traveller wrote:
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.

This sort of thing is common enough. I've never booked in Canada
(someone else drove the last time I was there) but I have experience
in the US. I booked in Florida where the standard restrictions were
on staying within the state. That's actually pretty large from
Tallahassee to Key West. At least most standard California rentals
are on staying within California or any of the bordering states. That
covers gambling trips to Nevada or scenic trips to Oregon/Arizona.
Once I rented a car in San Diego that had Nevada plates.

Isn't Quebec rather large? I think the northern end might be a bit
hard to reach though.

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.

...Isn't Quebec rather large? I think the northern end might be a bit
hard to reach though.

Quebec is rather large, but Montreal is pretty near a corner of it.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto | "Why, I make more money than Calvin Coolidge,
| put together!" -- SINGIN' IN THE RAIN

On May 26, 9:20*am, (Mark Brader) wrote:
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.
...Isn't Quebec rather large? *I think the northern end might be a bit
hard to reach though.

Quebec is rather large, but Montreal is pretty near a corner of it.

OK - I looked at a map and it does look like unlimited miles is of
little consequence if you can't even take it to Ottowa or Toronto
without incurring fees. I live in California and not near any state
border. My perspective may be skewed.

In article ,
Mark Brader wrote:
Quebec is rather large, but Montreal is pretty near a corner of it.

I had a similar thing happen to me ~10y ago in Las Vegas, which is near
the corner of Nevada. I wasn't planning on driving very far (about 100
miles one way), but I was planning on driving out of state.

Especially bizarre since I was renting at the airport, and Las Vegas is
the nearest commercial airport to several cities in California and
Arizona.

Lee

On May 27, 10:25*am, Lee Choquette wrote:
In article ,

Mark Brader wrote:
Quebec is rather large, but Montreal is pretty near a corner of it.

I had a similar thing happen to me ~10y ago in Las Vegas, which is near
the corner of Nevada. I wasn't planning on driving very far (about 100
miles one way), but I was planning on driving out of state.

Especially bizarre since I was renting at the airport, and Las Vegas is
the nearest commercial airport to several cities in California and
Arizona.

I'm not sure how many Las Vegas visitors head for Los Angeles.
Probably the most popular side trips for Las Vegas visitors are Hoover
Dam and the Grand Canyon. It's about the same time though (LV to
Grand Canyon or Los Angeles).

Lee Choquette:
I had a similar thing happen to me ~10y ago in Las Vegas, which is near
the corner of Nevada. I wasn't planning on driving very far (about 100
miles one way), but I was planning on driving out of state.

Especially bizarre since I was renting at the airport, and Las Vegas is
the nearest commercial airport to several cities in California and
Arizona.

Y.P.W.:
I'm not sure how many Las Vegas visitors head for Los Angeles.

Nobody mentioned Los Angeles.

Probably the most popular side trips for Las Vegas visitors are Hoover
Dam and the Grand Canyon.

One of which is in Arizona, and the other is half in Arizona. See?
--
Mark Brader | "Perl is a minimalist language at heart.
Toronto | It's just minimalistic about weird things
| compared to your average language." -- Larry Wall

"traveller" wrote in message
...


By the way this geographic limitation is quite bizarre. I only see
this in Quebec only with Payless of course.

I've seen similar things elsewhere. Hiring a car from Budget in Columbus
Ohio they had a sign up that unlimited mileage didnt apply if you
were taking the car west of the Mississippi. I was driving to Washington DC
so that was fine but West St Louis would have been a no no even though
the distances are almost identical

Bizarre

Keith

wrote in message
...
On May 27, 10:25 am, Lee Choquette wrote:
In article ,

Mark Brader wrote:
Quebec is rather large, but Montreal is pretty near a corner of it.

I had a similar thing happen to me ~10y ago in Las Vegas, which is near
the corner of Nevada. I wasn't planning on driving very far (about 100
miles one way), but I was planning on driving out of state.

Especially bizarre since I was renting at the airport, and Las Vegas is
the nearest commercial airport to several cities in California and
Arizona.

I'm not sure how many Las Vegas visitors head for Los Angeles.
Probably the most popular side trips for Las Vegas visitors are Hoover
Dam and the Grand Canyon. It's about the same time though (LV to
Grand Canyon or Los Angeles).

Its also out of state as is the far side of Hoover dam, quite a few people
also head to Death Valley (California) , Zion NP (Utah) etc

Keith

On May 28, 12:32*am, (Mark Brader) wrote:
Lee Choquette:

I had a similar thing happen to me ~10y ago in Las Vegas, which is near
the corner of Nevada. I wasn't planning on driving very far (about 100
miles one way), but I was planning on driving out of state.

Especially bizarre since I was renting at the airport, and Las Vegas is
the nearest commercial airport to several cities in California and
Arizona.

Y.P.W.:

I'm not sure how many Las Vegas visitors head for Los Angeles.

Nobody mentioned Los Angeles.

It was just a thought. However - I'm now thinking that some LV
visitors might also want to combine that with a trip to a theme park
in Southern California. Maybe Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea
World, Legoland, or the San Diego Zoo.