Trip to Nowhere... Hundreds Duped Out of Hawaii Trip
Feb 9 12:18 PM PST
Hundreds Duped Out of Hawaii Trip
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Hundreds planning a week in Hawaii soon learned their dream vacation was canceled and the money they paid for it in limbo.
Some of the 500 people booked on Friday's flight out of McCarran Airport may not even know the trip is off. Some of them might not find out til they show up at the airport.
Two ATA planes were scheduled to leave for Honolulu just after 8 A.M., but customers have learned the tour company never paid the airline for the trips.
Now some 500 people are left holding tickets and going nowhere. Some came to town, just to take this charter. Where did their money go?
Eyewitness News spoke with one group who had about a dozen friends flying in from all over the country to take this trip. They are all out $1,000 each.
Their vacation time is now wasted, they've had to break plans with babysitters, and cancel credit cards. And there are hundreds of others in the same predicament.
One group of family and friends was looking forward to going to Hawaii. Their bags were packed. They were ready to go.
Mark Kerr said, "We have family coming in from D.C., from Wyoming, and about ten of us from Las Vegas."
The trip was a year in the making. It included going to the NFL Pro Bowl among other things.
"For me and my wife, it was our five-year anniversary, so it was definitely a special trip for us to do that, " said Kerr.
But now the trip is off.
"Disappointment big time. Everything from crying to you name it, " he said.
They are part of a larger group made up of hundreds of people who booked the trip through CEI Sports Tours.
Customers paid about $1,000 each to CEI for airfare and room reservations. They've now learned that CEI booked the reservations but never paid for them.
"Everyone's upset. Everyone's upset, " said Kevin Tuttle.
Tuttle and a group of two dozen friends made up of bar owners, police officers, and lawyers are also out of luck.
"No answers, no answers, no one knows anything, " said Tuttle.
No one answered the door at the CEI office or their listed phone number. However, we did hear one sales rep's voicemail message:
"We were told early today by the office manager and a text from the owner that we did not have enough fund for the charter flights or the hotels."
That same sales rep later told us his boss won't even call him back. CEI claims on its sign to make dreams come true. Right now, hundreds of customers are scaling back their Hawaiian dreams, now just hoping for a refund.
"I would love to see all the people who paid for this trip to get their money back, " said Kerr.
Some of the customers said they have called and told Metro police and the Nevada Attorney General's office about this issue.
But there is some concern that there may be even more victims out there, because CEI was taking reservations on other trips through next year.
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