There it was in the newspaper (Honolulu Star-Bulletin 7\/9\/08), the same sad story written by a visitor to Hawaii. I see this same letter several times a year. The story is almost exactly the same. The only difference is the author. <\/p>\n
The visitor came to Hawaii, had a wonderful time, people were great, the weather was fabulous, they really felt the Aloha spirit. Then: disaster. They got ripped off. They lost everything. Their luggage, their cameras, their wallets their valuables. Everything gone in the blink of an eye.<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s the same sad story, again and again. <\/p>\n The saddest part of the story is this disaster was totally preventable.<\/strong> Totally and completely preventable. Totally and completely.<\/p>\n Let me explain: in the latest version of this letter, the tourists had just finished a wonderful vacation. They had a late flight and decided to stop at Ala Moana <\/strong>(a major shopping center), for a late night dinner before their departure.<\/p>\n Here is a qoute from the letter:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We had our luggage in our rental car and were only in the food court for about an hour. Imagine our shock when we opened the trunk of our rental, a Chrysler Sebring convertable<\/strong>, to find my daughter’s two luggages were gone…all her new clothes, and leather bags as well as Hawaii souvenirs…she had to leave Hawaii with only the clothes she had on….” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n The writer goes on to explain, the entire family will never return to Hawaii. They will also discourage anyone else from vacationing in Hawaii.<\/p>\n I really am angry and frustrated that no-one from the rental car agent to their hotel clerk to anyone else they met, explained Hawaii’s dirty little secret<\/strong>: there is a very small but very dangerous group of locals, whose full time job is to steal from anyone they can. <\/p>\n Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Hawaii is any different from any other place. You will find the same small dangerous group of rip-off artists anywhere you go. <\/p>\n But, just because you are vacationing in one of the most beautiful places on the planet does not mean there are not criminals here.<\/strong><\/p>\n Listen: these creeps know that the only person who would drive a Chrysler Sebring convertable<\/strong>, is a tourist. <\/p>\n Believe me, your rental car sends out a beacon to would be crooks that says: “Steal from this car”.<\/strong> It’s like there is a flashing light and an arrow in the air pointing directly at your rental car. “Beep beep. Flash flash. Valuables inside! Steal from this car now”<\/p>\n Listen: there are literally thousands of cars parked at Ala Moana at any given time. What do you think the odds are that these Bozos <\/strong>picked out a random car to break into?<\/p>\n This was no random act. This was planned and calculated. The car was there less than an hour. This was a crime of opportunity. And unfortunately, you just rewarded these cockroaches <\/strong>with new luggage, clothes and souvenirs. So now the next time they see a tourist rental car, they will break in again.<\/p>\n Sure, I agree that there needs to be better security and more police patrols and hasher sentencing for criminals.<\/p>\n But the best thing you can do is to follow this advice: <\/p>\n Never, ever, never leave anyting of value in a rental car.<\/p>\n Never, ever.<\/strong><\/p>\n This is one of those times when an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure. Be procactive. Be smart. You need to outwit the bad guys before they act. <\/p>\n This one bit of advice will save you a ton of heart-ache. Had these latest victims taken their luggage with them, to the food court, a crook would have broken into an empty car. Or they easily could have checked in their baggage, and eaten at the airport.<\/p>\n So if you come to Hawaii and you rent a car: never leave anything of value in the rental car. This includes going to the beach, going shopping or even stopping off somewhere for a plate lunch. <\/p>\n So now you know. If my rant saves one less tourist from getting ripped: I will be elated!<\/p>\n Taste some Hawaii right now:<\/p>\n