A Virtual High Five To Pilgrim Tours

While Pilgrim Tours is a relatively small company specializing in pilgrimages for the past 20 years, in November 2007, they established a policy regarding the card mills and specifically name YTB and Global Travel International. We have alluded to this policy in this blog in the past, but never re-published it.

So, just to be clear, here is one more company that refuses to deal with YTB or GTI and I applaud Pilgrim Tours for their insight and for their commitment to professionalism in the travel industry. While it has taken a while for supplier to come around, they slowly are and I am sure that Pilgrim Tours is pleased to be included with the likes of IATAN, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Perillo Tours, Azamara Cruise Lines, Qantas Vacations, Celebrity Cruise Lines, A Plus Tours, and Norwegian Cruise Lines. Slowly the suppliers are coming around to the realization that doing business with an MLM is bad business. Granted, it is business, but the suppliers are beginning to see that it is not the business they want!  To Pilgrim Tours, I say "THANK YOU!"

Pilgrim is getting an alarming number of calls from prospective travel agents who have purchased memberships and/or travel cards from companies such as YTB, Global Travel International, etc..  They use the company IATA number from the agency in order to get a discount or rebate on their own travel.  We also have travel agencies who encourage clients to do all the research on a tour, choose the tour they want and then call their agency for the reservation.  If the client has already done the research, the agency will then rebate some of the commission back to the client.

Pilgrim's classifies the above situations as unethical practices that undermine the travel agency commission system.  We will not support these practices and discourage honest people from buying into any form of this activity.

Does Pilgrim Pay Referral Commission?
Pilgrim Tours pays commissions to travel agents who refer clients to our product line and help the client through the quotation and booking procedure. Commissions are normally paid only on our Christian Retail Tour Products.  We also give commissions and small group net fares to tour operators and approved CLIA agencies that wish to promote our Christian Tour products.  It is our policy to not give commissions to agencies if the client has first been quoted by a Pilgrim agent.  We appreciate very much the work that professional agents do if they initially deal with clients, but we only pay commission under this condition - no exceptions.  Pilgrim also does not pay commission on clergy or industry discounted fares.

In order to receive commissions from Pilgrim Tours, your agency must be a valid travel agency that is not involved in rebating in any form.  If you are interested in applying for our "Qualified Agency" status, please fill out the form at the following link.  Click Here

A Statue Update

Well, it appears that the Fake Statue of Liberty might have a home...well half of her! From the Post Tribune of Northwest Indiana:

She was touted on eBay recently as the largest replica of the Statue of Liberty ever produced.

And still no one wanted her.

Even before her 15 minutes of fame last fall for a convention in St. Louis, the 132-foot, 50,000-pound foam and plastic statue already had been scorned by environmentalists as "the ultimate waste product."

Since then she's been rejected twice, first, by Lake County as a memorial to soldiers and law enforcement.

Then, Hammond thought it wanted her to stand proudly on Boy Scout Island in Wolf Lake, but a study revealed that she wasn't strong enough to withstand the weather.

Now, the Lady Liberty knock-off -- the faux-leather Gucci bag of Ellis Island -- languishes in a Hammond warehouse.

But Miss Liberty, or at least part of her, may soon find a temporary home as part of one of the annual exhibits at the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority.

Hammond and authority officials are in "the very early states of discussion" about using the statue's head or torso, and torch for a convention and visitors display.

Hey but if you read the article, if Chicago gets the 2016 Olympics, the FLL might be a tourist draw. Somewhat ironic that YTB's Beijing Olympic stunt failed miserably, and now another of their failures might ultimately be an Olympic draw! Oh the irony!

And for those that missed out on the bidding on eBay (or those that doubted it was "that" statue, please click here for the listing and all the full color photos!

See, THIS Is What I Am Talking About

In the comments from a post a few days ago, I was discussing how the bulk of the Reps with YTB will simply exaggerate or outright lie to get the sale.

For being such an "ethical" and "Christian" company one might think that stuff does not happen. But it does. Even our own Firemedic is lying again. Remember he spoke with forked tongue a while back after he claimed to never "diss" the competition and then created a blog for that sole purpose?

Well, a few days ago, he was on here lying about ditching YTB for Traverus. He even took his blog down and changed the title to "Traverus Rocks". Well, not many people believed him, but just to give the benefit of the doubt, I did some checking and as suspected, he is a liar. I know how some bloggers like to see documentation for claims, so I offer the following:

From:
Date: Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Subject: Status Change on Your Trouble Ticket, ID: 36855
To: xxxxxxxx@gmail.com



Trouble Ticket ID: 3X8XX
Description: New TraVerus Member

-------------------------------------------------------

Please be advised that the status on your trouble ticket
has been changed from Submitted to Closed
with the following comment:
-------------------------------------------------------
Comment: XXXXX,

I am not showing a Conrad that has signed up recently at all in the system.

thank you,
Ginger

To reply to this comment directly, please click on the link below:

http://www.exdesk.com/TraVerusTravel/index.cfm?addcomment=yes
-------------------------------------------------------
Status changed by: Ginger Johnson
-------------------------------------------------------

Regards,
noreply@traverus.com
---

Thank you!

TraVerus Support Team

Now come on, what would Coach say? What happened to the old "if it ain't right don;t say it" line he loves to use? Firemedic, this is no way to get a chance to sit on his lap like Doug does. This will never get you invited to the mansion owned by John Simmons. All this does is move you up one more notch in your quest to be the valedictorian of the Dumbasses Den!

Traverus Takes Some Heat

Travel Agent magazine is dishing some dirt on Traverus and rightfully questions if they have all the accreditations as they claim or are just piggybacking on someone else's numbers. (I am not taking odds on that bet)

For travel professionals, TraVerus’ offer can be quickly identified as a multilevel network-marketing scheme offering rewards for building the network’s membership as well as for travel sales. But to the unwary consumer the offer appears a legitimate business opportunity - and in an economic downturn a possible source of added income. Its doubtful that the average consumer is aware of the bankruptcy of Joystar or the allegations against YTB by the attorney generals of California and Illinois.

And when Travel Agent tried to contact them:

The presidents phone number is a pre-recorded message.

No Need For The Sunday Comics

YTB revealed all sorts of information to their TSOs on their weekly one sided conference call.

1. Effective March 1, 2009, there will be an RTA Stock Option Program (OMG--you mean an opportunity to earn the valuable YTBLA? I wonder what needs to be done to earn the options and exercise them? Guess we will need to wait till the SEC filing to know.)
2. Coach advised everyone that YTB is an anomaly in the travel business. No one can understand how they get 20,000 people to pay to go to their convention when the traditional travel agents pay for their members to attend. (Dammit, my copy of this announcement must have got hung up in my spam folder.)
3. Every meeting the travel industry starts with the words "YTB". (Coach needs to go to a real travel meeting)
4. At these meetings, the main topic of discussion is how YTB was able to put that many brick and mortar agencies out of business.(Good question fantasy. But Scott says they are not competing with brick and mortar. Hmm.)
5. All of the travel companies are laying off people left and right. YTB is going after these people to bring them into our company.(Well, there have been some layoffs, but usually they are the dead wood in an organization--good growth plan there Coach...hire more deadwood.)
6. By 2020, YTB will "own" the travel industry. (Seems like he just pushed a goal back by a decade. How is that "billion in travel sold in 2008" coming along?)
7. YTB had the most successful Red Carpet Day last week with almost a thousand people there. (But later he said that 600 of them were Directors and Coach's Corner Members, so how many potential recruits were actually there? Ask Kim. No wait that will never work, he doesn't know how many RTAs he has.)
8. In 2020, YTB will "own" the distribution system on the Internet. (I imagine it was all he could do to stop from breaking out in him Dr. Evil voice).
9. At the Directors and Coach's Corner meeting they planned to break out in 20 groups of 20 (see the theme here..2020) but because they had so many it was 20 groups of 30 to discuss how these people want to see YTB become the owner of the distribution system in 2020. (Well, first of all, invite the right number of people and learn how to do math. But why are you asking these people? The only thing they know how to do is recruit and point to the website. Some may know how to install stereos as well.)
   
10. YTB's cash position has never been better. We have millions.(We will need to wait and see on that one; but I hope it is at least $125 million.)
11. YTB is growing so fast right now that in the future, YTB will be studied at Harvard Law School. (Oops, now that's a Freudian slip if I ever heard one. And he is probably right.)
12. YTB does not sell travel, cars, and flowers. YTB sells hope and opportunity. The hope for a better day and the opportunity that a business will be there for them, YTB has that. (Till Jerry is done with them. And what about the meat, the clothing, and all the other stuff you sell?)
13. You HAVE to have 7 to 10 friends or relatives that NEED what YTB offers and you need to get recruiting like crazy. (There he goes again, recruit alienate all your friends and relatives so Coach can get his money.)
14. Coach wants to help everyone on the call be one of the 10,000 millionaires he will create but he cannot do it without each of you recruiting 7-10 people that need hope and opportunity. (Let's see, 10,000 people times 7 to 10 people, each at $500 and $50 a month..oops that is not nearly enough to make 10,000 millionaires, but that's OK, math is not the RTA's strong point, they will never figure it out.)
15. YTB can do more for the economy than Barack Obama's Economic Stimulus Bill. (No argument from me there. Most people will not see $104 from the bill; but they do stand a chance to earn that in YTB if they work hard and become one of the top earners. Oh and make sure your payments of $1100 are on time.)
16. When you run across someone that says they cannot afford YTB, how do you think that makes them feel? In this economy, it is the perfect time to join YTB--they need hope and opportunity and you can give it to them. (Coach, here's an idea, why not include a large jar of Vaseline when people sign up to recruit for you. It will make it that much less painful and you can find it in Aisle 19. And, you probably can earn a decent commission on that from your HUGE Aisle 19 downline.)
17. People are looking for hope, opportunity, trust, and something to believe in. YTB is it. (Somehow I think many will disagree with you--Ted Lindauer, Jerry Brown, the BBB, and the members of the Class Action.)
18. YTB's finances are built so solidly for the long run that it will be here for you, your kids, and your kids' kids. (Wow, with that many people involved, just how do you do that on $600K in cash according to your last SEC filing?)
    

What was amusing about this call, is that Coach kept referring to himself in the third person. Coach said this and Coach did that. Kind of interesting. I know that some folks will say I am exaggerating the contents of this call. But I encourage everyone to take a listen at one time. They are all essentially the same. Every Saturday at 12 noon Eastern you can call 641-594-7505 and then when prompted, enter 601340# to be connected. They are only a half hour and typically have a bunch of commercials as well, but these calls are almost as amusing as the Sunday comics.

I had an interesting email exchange from a current TSO after the call. He had a very good question. Instead of making 10,000 millionaires; why not make it the goal to make ALL of the people financially self sufficient? Wow, now there is a concept that will never cross their mind! 10,000 millionaires out of their potential base of 305,000 is only 3%. Well, that seems about right. BINGO--YTB only cares about the top 3% of their participants!

And yes, it appears that Doug is still so close to being a Director he can taste it! Personally I think it might be a bad batch of Kool Aid in Aisle 19 that is leaving an aftertaste! But hey, it's only been four years!

It's All In The Crowd You Hang Out With

Well, the image above is looking for criminals, and it seems we have found a doozie in Wood River!

Glenn and Starla Green were awarded the President's Award at the August 2008 YTB Convention in St. Louis. They are Level 2 Directors with YTB and Kim Sorensen, the apparent good judge of character that he is, awarded them the prestigous President's Award.

Fast forward to this week, YTB is promoting and encouraging attendance at the Millionaires Mindset Conference on February 21st in Dallas. If you want more details on this conference, you can visit their site, Millionaire Mindset Conference.

On the surface, this appears to be just another scheme organized by fellow Directors Dave and Marlis Funk to grab $10 a piece from unsuspecting RTAs. (Or maybe it is to pay for the fuel in their rolling YTBmobile.) I am not sure of the intent, but one thing is for sure with YTB. If you scratch the surface a little bit, you will always find the dirt.

Well, it seems that Glenn Green has plenty of it. Back in December of 2006, the Houston Press News did an expose on this Millionaire Mindset Conference. Glenn Green does not come into play until the bottom of page 4 when he threatens the reporter several times. One of the threats was to not investigate him. Well, as any good reporter would do, he investigated. And here's what he found:

Except the ten-year sentence for theft in 1990, according to Harris County Court records. Green was released after one year. According to an affidavit by a Texas Department of Public Safety officer, the theft worked like this: Green gave an accomplice an American Express card in Green's ex-wife's name. The accomplice charged multiple purchases of $49.99 at a Chevron station, when "in fact, no merchandise had been bought." The accomplice then gave the cash to Green. During April and May 1990, the charges exceeded $20,000.

At the time Green was popped for that crime, he was on probation for forgery for two earlier charges out of Brazos County, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Michelle Lyons. He was sentenced to ten years for those, which he served concurrently with the Harris County sentencing.

Also falling short of the Glenn Green Investigative Worthiness Standard was the ten years deferred adjudication in 1993 for fraudulent transfer of a motor vehicle. According to the investigating officer's notes, part of the case record in Harris County Court, Green bought and sold over a dozen cars, promising to pay off the leases, when he had no authorization from the lenders.

All but one of the 20 associated charges were dropped. He was also ordered to pay $31,233 in restitution

Harris County court records also show that the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo sued Green and his wife, Starla, in 2002. The suit was for nonpayment of $107,000 Glenn and Starla bid on a champion steer and a grand champion barrow pig named Cowboy in the 1999 Rodeo auction.

"I know that the money spent here goes for a great cause," Green is quoted as saying in the Rodeo's press release.

Then Starla chimes in about the 17-year-old Brownfield Future Farmer of America who spent four hours a day after school tending to Cowboy: "[He's] very deserving. We were prepared to do what it took."

Everything, that is, except actually pay what they bid. A Harris County judge ordered the Greens to pay the full amount, plus legal fees.

Rodeo Vice President Leroy Shafer says the Greens never paid the money -- the largest debt of any one entity in the show's history. He says it was the first time in the Rodeo's history that a grand champion was involved in a bad purchase, and the first bad purchase of two champions in one year. (The highest bidder's money goes to whoever shows the animal, any charities the bidder earmarked money for, and the Rodeo's scholarship fund. Shafer says the Rodeo was able to pay the $25,000 promised to Cowboy's exhibitor, as well as the approximately $1,000 Green had earmarked for the Houston Women's Shelter.)

Green now works for a multilevel-marketing travel package company called Your Travel Biz.

Wow, Coach and Kim really take that Yale to Jail thing seriously. Penn State to State Penn. First there was Chris Paraldi, then Phil Piccolo and now this. This man has it all. I mean what more could YTB want in a Director. Someone whom they promote and encourage others to emulate. I wonder if all of the non-profit associations YTB is supposedly managing are aware that one of their directors stiffed a non-profit for over $100,000? Maybe in the interest of being transparent, they will add this to their "Facts" About YTB website!

Just to recap, here is the rap sheet on Glenn Green:

• Theft
• Forgery
• Fraudulent Transfer of Motor Vehicles
• Breach of Contract with a Non-Profit where he failed to pay then $107,000

NOTE: To all the Directors and Coach's Corner Members (and esteemed guests) currently in Wood River for the "Best Director's Meeting Ever"--watch your wallets!

MLM Bingo

How to play MLM Bingo - a fun game for all ages:

1. Print out and bring the MLM Bingo card to any meeting that you suspect may be intended to motivate you to join an MLM company, or excel at being an MLM distributor.
2. Each time you hear one of the phrases on the board, or see one of the actions described, cover that square with your last penny, an M&M, a small pebble, or other marker.
3. When you get 5 in a row, you win! At that point, you can be sure you are in a rip-off scam MLM meeting and that you will be screwed. It’s advised that you leave, run like hell and never turn back!.