This is one man's opinion. I never suggest taking one negative review from someone who had a bad experience. That said...
I used Americar, but Americar and Payless share a building. The contracts say "Payless/Americar," and the key chains say the same. I'm assuming they're the same company at this point. So although the below is based on Americar, I'd be assuming Payless would have the same policies.
I'm going to cut and past this from my 2002 trip report. It's a little long, pardon that. It's an emotional issue for me. Note, we went in September, when Hurrican Isidor was hitting the Gulf Coast:
"The non-emotional view of Americar: Long lines when no one else had lines, due to people coming back and standing in line 2 and 3 times to go over problems with their car. This was precipitated by Americar/Payless policy to simply scare the living daylights out of customers so they would purchase waiver insurance. I am used to renting cars and signing many documents stating they can charge me what I want if there are problems: they can't. There are laws, and most credit cards have built in protection. Dodging the hard-sell of insurance is part of renting a discount car, but the problem here was the viciousness with which they performed this sales pitch.
They asked me what my deductible was, which is $500, then put a $500 hold on my credit card. I've never been asked to do this inside the Continental US before. I was told to mark everything bigger than a quarter and given a 3 x 5 card. When I went to the car, it looked like a crushed beer can. I went back in and insisted that rather than write this all down, I'd simply like a representative to stand by the car while I videotaped it.
When I came back in, I found my wife in a frenzy. I am not susceptible to sales pitches. My wife, who for the record is smarter and more educated than I, is somewhat susceptible to the same. In the five minutes it took me to document damage to the car, the check-in lady had my wife convinced that Isidor had, in fact, taken a northeast turn and was now expected to slam into central Florida. She also tried to convince my wife that our collision didn't cover hurricanes. After asking my wife what hotel we'd booked, she told Amy that the Best Western LBV had a lot of trees around and should the hurricane hit the area, which it most certainly would in some form or another, cars in the BW LBV parking lot would be sitting ducks for flying limbs, and again, our insurance wouldn't cover it because it was a "natural disaster." I cannot describe the anger I felt at this folly.
Also, they promised me a "Geo Metro" or equivalent. I didn't worry about this originally. Our needs from a vacation car are little, just to get from the airport to hotel and back, out to shopping, and for our trip to Citiwalk each vacation. We like having the car "in case" we want to take a day trip, mostly just for convenience. I prefer the smallest, most beat up thing on the lot, making it easy to park and perhaps something that turns off potential car-jackers. I figured NOTHING was smaller and worth less than a Metro. Ever heard of a Suzuki Swift? I'm not complaining about the car itself, it seemed like an OK car. But it's a three cylinder, not a four. And despite this, it seemed to get remarkably bad gas millage. Regardless, it was hardly equivalent to a Metro. Someone emailed me and referred to it as "an electric roller skate," which about covers it.
Finally, I was told the gas tank contained 2/3rds a tank of gas and I only had to fill it 2/3rds full upon return. This is one of the most pathetic ploys I've ever seen. She pointed out to me that as the tank only holds 9 gallons, "it would probably be easier to just buy the tank." I wasn't going to do that, but obviously, filling a tank that small to exactly 2/3rds of a tank was impossible, so I filled it. It's not the money: it may have cost me an extra $3 to fill the thing. It's the principle.
Since I've now written the diatribe I promised to avoid, I'll simply say that as someone who's rented literally hundreds of cars, this is the most disappointing, angering, and probably illegal transaction I've ever had with a rental company. I'd also point out I checked them on the Better Business Bureau site and they rank as unsatisfactory for refusal to answer to complaints.
So I had to spend the next hour convincing my wife that our collision DID cover rental car damage, even if it was caused by an "act of God." I'll not complain to Americar. I don't wish to speak with them for sixty two bucks. And although I'll be checking my CC bill for the next six months, they don't seem to have pulled anything fishy with the billing. But note: I'm so easily pleased that some people don't take my reviews of Orlando services serious. It takes a lot to tick me off. But these guys win the prize."
Megan 4
Grace 2 
