On January 30, I purchased online, with my First Hawaiian Mastercard, two tickets on Paragon Air's Molokai Grand Tour for November 5. Paragon Air charged my card $714.61 on 2/2/07. Their website refund policy states the client is due a 50% refund if he or she cancels the reservation before 1 week prior to flight time. I emailed and called to cancel this reservation beginning late April, and did so 7 or 8 times thereafter, until September and beyond. Not once did I receive any response from Paragon Air, and they have yet to refund any of the $714.61 that I paid.
What is really troubling, is that I contacted the Activities and Attractions Association of Hawaii's Executive Director, Toni Davis, to inquire with Paragon Air, and she said Paragon Air's database showed no reservation for me or my wife on November 5. That means they either cancelled my flight as I requested, but are not honoring the refund, or debited my credit card and never made the booking. This was to be my wife and my wedding anniversary, which I had to cancel early on due to an unforseen medical emergency she had, which I had to pay out of pocket for, rendering us in great financial straits.
Paragon Air's refusal to even respond to me once, after repeated efforts to politely contact them, shows a complete disregard for local 'little guy' clients and their stated (on website and in confirmation email) refund policies. I received email confirmation for our trip on January 30 at 5:13 PM to my email account. My First Hawaiian bank checkcard was charged on 2/2/07 for $714.61. What was purchased was two tickets on the 1-day Molokai Grand Tour, for Nov. 5 2007. They haven't called me back or emailed me once in 5 months of my inquiries, and more recently, the inquiries of the Activities and Attractions Association of Hawaii.
I have given them over 7 months of prior written and voicemail notice of cancelling this trip, clearly outside of their 1-week mimimum cancellation policy.By the way, they will never answer their phone directly. It's always a voicemail, and they will never call you back about a refund.
I have never come across a more unprofessional (by not once communicating with me as they kept my unrefunded money) and downright GREEDY business in Hawaii in my many years living here. Paragon Air outwardly portray themselves as being customer friendly and fair to locals and non locals alike, but when it comes right down to it, they will rip you off, laugh, and not look back. I did no wrong. My wife and I had no honeymoon that year, she had a costly and traumatic operation on her uterus, and Paragon Air still have our $712.
I'm still wondering how they spent my hard-earned cash... Whatever the case, you can check the BBB and the Hawaii Consumer Affairs office for a long list of others who have been wronged by them. So much for "Aloha"... All we wanted was to be treated with a mite of decency and respect. Even if they were adamant not to give us a refund, a simple return of my polite phone calls and emails would have gone a long way to ease some of the pain and sorrow my wife and I were feeling over this and our loss of cash then. I will never forget their utter inhumanity in this regard, in this great state of Hawaii where people generally are more friendly and neighbourly.
All I ask now is a simple apology. They can keep my cash if that's all they care about in life. But we care about treating customers and others with decency. A simple apology and I may be inclined remove this complaint and move on. Otherwise the bitter meory and this factual report remains.
Furtermore, Paragon Air advertise a "Perfect Safety Record." But read further:
Nonscheduled 14 CFR Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Accident occurred Thursday, August 05,1999 in KAUNAKAKAI, HI
Probable Cause Approval Date: 5/9
Aircraft: Partenavia P68C, registration: N4234L
Injuries: 1 Serious, 5 Uninjured.
History of flight:
On August 5,1999, about 0740 hours Hawaiian standard time, a Partenavia P68C, N4234L, operated by Paragon Air, Inc., Haiku, Hawaii, was preparing to taxi for takeoff from the Kaunakakai/Molokai Airport, Hawaii, when a late arriving passenger walked into the rotating propeller of the left engine. The passenger was seriously injured, and the airplane sustained minor damage. Neither the airline transport pilot nor the other four passengers, who were onboard, were injured. The on-demand air taxi flight was being performed under 14 CFR Part 135. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a company flight plan was filed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
The pilot stated that when the accident occurred the airplane was not moving. He was in the process of obtaining taxi instructions from the air traffic control facility.
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