Just Some Comments

This weekend, I have been re-reading this blog and, more importantly, the comments. I have said it before, my beef is with the model of MLM in travel. It is not with YTB, Traverus, GTI, or any of the others that are out there. Sure, they will be used as examples, and to be honest, YTB has taken the brunt.

I ask myself why? Well, first off, they are a publicly traded company and a lot of their info is public. Second, they seem to be the largest MLM out there. Third, they are the loudest.

Since I published my column, I have received thousands of emails and most say the same thing--"it is not a scam because someone told me it is not." Maybe it was not those exact words, but similar in sentiment. Well, to the people involved--WAKE UP!

Do you buy that "brand new" Yugo because the salesman told you it was in perfect shape? Do you plunk down a life insurance premium because a salesman sold you it "was the best one"? Do you buy some Firestone 500 tires on eBay because the seller said there was "plenty of tread left."? Of course not. So why are you buying into a business where no one can show you anything?

I have been told that the FTC prevents anyone from discussing any types of earnings. While this is false, it should raise a BIG FREAKING RED FLAG to you. The FTC does not allow YTB to tell you about earnings, but it has no jurisdiction over the independent people. YTB is the one that forbids you from talking (it is in the contract you signed)--and I am sure there is a good reason why.

In these comments, I have heard it said I will never say anything good about YTB. Well, here you go--they are an outstanding marketing company. They know how to recruit. But I am afraid it stops there. Everywhere I turn, YTB comes up on the dirty end of the stick. RCI fires them. Perrillo fires them. They are all over the Internet and the most linked term is "scam". You just do not see this with traditional agencies. Sure there are some bad eggs, but it seems that the YTB basket is full of bad eggs--they are the norm, rather than the exception.

Just this morning, I was a guest on Peter Greenberg's syndicated radio program (150 stations and XM 166). He was talking about "become a travel agent" scams. Peter's office contacted me. I did not seek him out.

Last night, a reporter from WBAL-TV in Baltimore called me about a YTB agent that booked a group of 30 to Las Vegas, and then ran with the money. YTB is doing nothing to help these folks, yet they had no problem renting their IATAN number for this woman to pull off the scam. WBAL-TV will be coming to my office on Monday afternoon to air a segment on Thursday at 11pm. Again, they called me! And on Friday, IATAN apparently pulled the plug on 4 US Agencies as well. Travel Weekly reported that they were of the "MLM/Card Mill" Model. I am not saying it is YTB--we have not heard. But this goes to show that the industry is starting to take notice of the monster that has been created.

So, as I said, YTB and the term "scam" are never far apart. Rather than point the fingers at me, why not point some back at yourselves and the management?

And in the meantime, the offer is still out there--show me that you are making money selling travel under YTB. We are going on three months and the closest I came was a woman saying that "I made enough to buy me a Cocaine White Bentley that I am gonna drive to the next YTB meeting." In case you are wondering, Bentley does not offer "Cocaine White" as a color--check it out!

So, I will keep on plugging. MLM is bad news for the industry and slowly the industry will come around. I will keep it in the forefront. I will continue to show examples (and yes, opinions) as to why it is bad news. I will continue with the petition and I suspect there will be more changes ahead.

So, if you are in the Baltimore area, check out Thursday's 11pm newscast and see what I had to say with Peter this morning!