Students and parents at Island Pacific Academy are learning an expensive lesson on doing business.
They paid a $1,400 deposit for a party at The Groove Hawaii in Kakaako.
Project Graduation plans, scheduled for May, included a night of go-kart racing and other fun activities.
But those plans came to a screeching halt when they found out that the place had shut down.
“What are we gonna do? We need to find another place. We have to book something right away, then we had to tell the kids we just lost your deposit,” said parent Pam Chin-Pangelinan.
The school paid the deposit back in October, which is half of the total cost. The Groove shut down back in December, and the school didn’t find out about it until they saw the notice online just last month.
“It’s kind of despicable in a way, especially in a way where you don’t give someone back the deposit and you don’t let them know that you can no longer fulfill your word,” said senior student Tullie Olin St. John.
The school made several attempts to get the money back and the company has not responded.
Students and parents wanted to know what their options were so they called Action Line.
KHON2 went to the Hawaii Better Business Bureau and found out that other groups have also lost their money by putting a deposit down at The Groove Hawaii. BBB is asking others out there to file a complaint.
“We can turn over all that information in aggregate to the Attorney General’s office as well as the Office of Consumer Protection,” said CEO Gregory Dunn.
BBB says there are some red flags to look out for when putting a deposit down.
Be extra careful of businesses less than a year old (The Groove lasted 10 months).
Look for businesses with the BBB accreditation, because they’ve developed a good reputation over time.
Also, a 50-percent deposit is not standard. Reputable companies charge 10-20 percent.
We’ve also tried contacting the owner of The Groove Hawaii, but so far, there’s been no response.
The school has since found another site to have its Project Graduation party.
Parents and students say it won’t be quite as festive because there’s not as much money and there isn’t enough time to raise any more funds.