Customers of 7-11 Travel stand outside the company's office today.
Photo by Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin

The agency, 7-11 Travel, at 429 Waiakamilo Road, accepted money for Las Vegas hotel/travel packages for customers, but allegedly failed to follow through on reservations with Jackie's Travel, which said it was an innocent bystander in the transactions.

Sharon On Leng, complaints and enforcement officer for RICO, said only two formal complaints had been filed against 7-11 as of yesterday, but that "lots of calls" had been fielded by staff since Friday. A complainant must fill out a written form before it is considered formal.

This morning, about a dozen angry people waited outside the closed 7-11 office, waiting for promised refunds. Several said they had been waiting months to get tickets but had been given one excuse after another.

Kiyono Au paid $3,285 on July 18 for nine people to travel to Las Vegas, leaving Oct. 14. She was among those who filed complaints with police when it became obvious that neither the trip nor a refund was forthcoming.

Like all the others, she said she booked with 7-11 after seeing an ad in the Sunday newspaper. There is no listing for the agency in the telephone book, but a number is available through directory assistance.

Vernon Chang and his wife were all set to leave last Saturday for a Las Vegas trip. But when they arrived at Honolulu Airport, they were told they were not booked for a Jackie's Travel tour.

Chang paid 7-11 $578 on Sept. 4 for two round-trip airfares, four nights lodging for two at the Las Vegas Club, plus hotel transfers. He was given a receipt and an itinerary and told to show up at the airport. He was told he was part of a Jackie's Travel group.

Neither Keola Perreira, owner of 7-11 Travel, nor his son, Prince Perreira, could be reached for comment. A man answering the younger Perreira's home telephone yesterday said he would relay the Star-Bulletin's request for a comment, but the call was not returned by late this morning.

A handwritten note dated Sept. 14 and signed by Kehaulani Perreira, apparently Keala Perreira's daughter, begged customers, "Please don't condemn us, for we are not bad people xxx Please give us a chance to correct all this with no grudges."

The note said the family was unable to be at the office "not because we are hiding, but all this pressure and not being able to satisfy your travel arrangements has affected my dad's health."

The note said the family would be meeting with other agents and would get back to customers.

Chang said someone called him Sunday night and promised he would get a refund by yesterday. He was still waiting.

Sophie Vereze and her mother, Evelyn Vereze, paid $706 and $578, respectively, for Las Vegas tour packages, Sept. 28-Oct 3. They said they have tried for weeks to get either tickets or a refund. The last word from Perreira, Sunday night, was that his attorney would be at the office at 9 a.m. today to present refund checks. No one showed as of late this morning.

Clifford Horita, assistant general manager with Jackie's, said hundreds of people apparently have found themselves in the same boat.

"There are some people who claim they paid 7-11 and were supposed to go with us," but no reservations were made with Jackie's, he said. "For the last couple of weeks we've been having that kind of problem. But we've been saying, 'You have no reservations; you basically have to go back to the agency because they collected your money and they haven't bought it off of us.'" Horita emphasized that Jackie's received no money to book the travelers in question. 7-11 is one of more than 150 independent travel agents that Jackie's sells packages to in the state, he said. 7-11, which apparently formed in April, had purchased packages in the past.

One problem with 7-11, Horita said, is that it was selling the Las Vegas tours for less than they bought them from Jackie's.

"People see Jackie's selling it for $299 but say 'we can can buy it for $289 and (still) go with Jackie's Travel,'" he said.

One chagrined man said he went with 7-11 for a $5 savings.

Some of the people who thought they had confirmed bookings were forced to spend "hundreds, sometimes up to $2,000," to book last-minute flights, Horita said.

Leng asked complainants to contact her office at 587-3222.