Wednesday, February 6, 2008

YTB Olympic Tours Selling Fast


API -- Wood River, IL -- February 6, 2008

And they're off--the exclusive partnership between YTB and Shanghai Spring Tours for the summer Olympics in 2008 is off to a blazing start. YTB is the only authorized seller for SST in the US and has committed to sell 3000 tours to the Olympics in Beijing during the summer of 2008.

As soon as this initiative was announced late last year, their crackerjack team of 140,000 travel experts leaped into action and vowed to sell these packages to friends, family and co-workers. The ingenuity of these professionals knows no bounds. They have even established a state of the art e-commerce site to promote the YTB Olympic packages with specially designed logo merchandise.

YTB travel professionals have been seen on the various travel websites reporting on the sales as they seemingly fly out the door. People are being encouraged to book now as all space will be gone in a short time. It is rumored that an advertisement in a national paper will supplement their already brisk sales making them the number one provider of guests to the Beijing Olympics. It is hoped that this show of support will gain influence with the Chinese government and open the door to the Imperial Palace and allow YTB to recruite more RTAs in China.

In order to pump up the sales force and really get them enthused, the management of YTB took their top producers on a cruise--the Birthday Bash. The cruise featured such renowned figures as Phil Piccolo. It is rumored that everyone on board also was able to listen to the ruminations of Dr. Bob Seligman, PhD, RTA. The end result must have worked. RTAs were seen jogging off the ship ready to tackle the world and sell 3,000 packages to China. It has also been reported that the grocery stores in Nassau are just getting their kool-aid stock back to normal.

Back on January 2, 2008, it was reported that in a wild coincidence, YTB had already sold EXACTLY 9 spots on each of the 14 tours available for a total of 126 passengers. After the Birthday Bash Cruise, we can see just how enthused these RTAs are about selling travel--especially Olympic travel.

This evening, the official website is reporting that a total of 126 passengers have been sold. When questioned about the fact that not one sale had been made by a sales force of 140,000, company president J. Kim Sorenson said, "This is part of our plan. We are waiting on the Coach to call the play and we will book them all at once. One YTB, One Day, One Olympics--this is how we are legitimizing the business." Sorenson continued to say that he felt that by March they woudl probably have nearly 127 packages sold. When questioned about the daunting task of legitimizing YTB, Sorenson somewhat evaded the question by asking another question, "Do you have any idea how much it costs to have Success magazine feature you as a legitimate company of the month?"

So, there you have it. The YTB Shanghai Springs partnership is off to a fast start, well , maybe for a sumo wrestler in the 50 yard dash.

About YTB. YTB has two businesses. One is free and allows you the license to remove money from people's wallets by signing them up for a program that will never make them any money. There is no cost for you to do this. If you are looking to shell out $500 and $50 a month, they have another program that will allow you to receive approximately $70 per year for your investment. Of course there may be additional costs involved. With the travel business, you will receive a credential card that will cause travel suppliers to laugh in your face. With either business, you will get a discount card for your local grocery store where you receive 50% off Kool-Aid powdered drinks. This includes all flavors.

Note: In case some of the readers are slow (not naming names but you know who you are and so do I) this is parody! The Olympic gear is a real site, as is the tour site. Seligman is a fraud and Piccolo is a scammer extraordinaire!

53 comments:

  1. John, if you could only hear my "evil chuckle". Very good reading ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. John,

    While this blog started as relevant information regarding travel MLM's, it is now obvious it is nothing but frivolous attacks strictly on YTB and this post takes the cake.

    I did not think you would have stooped this low to such meaningless "parody" and low-class journalism.

    ReplyDelete
  3. John,
    You are nothing more than scum of the Earth! Just because YTB has this Olympic package, and you don't... how low can you go? I guess we just figured out the answer to this question. I hope the suppliers are reading this blog, and I hope they decide to stop doing business with you! not only did you turn this anti MLM into strictly anti YTB, but you and your followers have posted attacks against suppliers as well (mainly Carnival)!

    It is aparant that you still remain clueless about YTB!

    TravelPro, Proud, olescorekeeper, cruisin_man and other YTBers who post here, keep up the great work! You guys, as well as myself are among those who know the true integrity of YTB. We don't need to make up ficticious stories, as John does a fine job of that! He must have a degree in Dumbass! wait! He doesn't have a degree at all! I read that you don't even have to have a high school diploma to be a "traditional travel agent".

    ReplyDelete
  4. Woah! Harsh words there pal! Yes, John did go way over the top on BS with this post, but we agreed to leave the name-calling out of the blog. I agree thet it has turned into anti-YTB, but that's just the way he is. No matter what things we point out to him totry and teach him about the integrity of YTB, he always has to put a spin on it... even if it means making stuff up. Yeah, in small print, John did say that his words were parody, but so many people take it literally. He still hasn't a clue about YTB, and his statement below just confirms it.

    "About YTB. YTB has two businesses. One is free and allows you the license to remove money from people's wallets by signing them up for a program that will never make them any money. There is no cost for you to do this. If you are looking to shell out $500 and $50 a month, they have another program that will allow you to receive approximately $70 per year for your investment. Of course there may be additional costs involved. With the travel business, you will receive a credential card that will cause travel suppliers to laugh in your face. With either business, you will get a discount card for your local grocery store where you receive 50% off Kool-Aid powdered drinks. This includes all flavors."

    I have stated over and over again that the ONLY way YTB will not make someone money is if that somebody joined YTB and did absolutely NOTHING!

    John still has those earplugs in and blinders on. Yeah, he went to meetings and had perfect opportunities to ask questions. He didn't. Instead, he just sat there like a bump on a log because he was too scared to ask.

    Sorry about saying that last line John, but you know it's true.

    Man, before I joined YTB, I asked all sorts of questions.

    ReplyDelete
  5. John and the rest of us didn't turn this blog into a "bash YTB" blog. The YTBer's came here and started in with their crap, and it evolved on it's own. You know the old saying, the squeaky wheel gets the oil. If "agents" from any other travel MLM came here spouting the type of do-do that proud et al does, then it would be an "anti-that company" blog as well.

    Proud, as for John's "harsh" words, what exactly about the truth is harsh? Just go look at the statistics. Earlier this evening, evidently at the same time John was writing this blog entry, I was coming to the same conclusions, and posting about it on the Travel Weekly forums. When YTB first put these packages up on your generic booking sites, they immediately showed that 9 seats per tour were sold. As of today, 99% of those tours still show only 9 seats being sold. Same thing with the Europe trips, except replace the 9 with a 5.

    YTB has hung it's hat on the rack with an unknown entity in this country, and, in the opinion of many, a questionable tour operator. Not only are they not a member of the USTOA, but you can barely get their website to load, and when it does attempt to load, most reputable virus programs catch it as trying to download a virus onto your computer. There are plenty of US based tour operators that are offering packages to the Olympics that have a good, solid reputation, are members of the USTOA, have safe websites, and utilize established airlines to get the clients to China. A reputable travel agent is going to use a reputable tour operator for a clients once in a lifetime trip.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Once again, I will state--as if the different font and italics were not enough--that the piece is parody! I even included a link to the definition of the word "parody" for those who were still unsure.

    While I have said this is about MLM in general, I do agree that it has taken a YTB slant. Traverus, Global, and the others are not publicly traded (less info available), they are not as large (less BS available), and they are not as egregious (they are not releasing daily press releases).

    As someone else pointed out, the members of YTB are the ones that really are driving this blog. Hey, if it did not spark a conversation and elicit opinions, I suspect it would have failed. But apparently, I am hitting some sensitive spots here.

    Back on October 27 when this blog began, this was my initial post at 6:02PM:

    Welcome to a new blog. This blog is being set up to emphasize the point that MLM companies have no real place in the travel industry beyond being a source of referrals.

    Several travel suppliers have already ceased doing business with several companies and more are likely to follow. There is an online petition from the agency community that has started a grass roots effort to bring the fallacies of these businesses to the eyes of the travel industry as whole.

    If you want to see why these MLM/Card Mill businesses are bad for the industry. Check back here often and explore the links, documents and form your own opinion.


    And very predictably, the very first comment was at 8:46PM (less than three hours later) by a YTB Rep or RTA who remained anonymous (no surprises there) and said:
    Anonymous said...

    Good luck with this....YTB will kick travel agents ass this year. We are gonna sell $500 million dollars. That is half a billion.
    October 27, 2007 8:46 PM


    Now, let me ask you,I want to bring an issue to light. I do not mention any names, yet YTB comes on the attack. So am I expected to sit back and take it and not defend my position? The YTB crowd certainly doesn't--so why the double standard?

    Grow up people. Have you ever watched Saturday Night Live? It was a parody with some shades of truth. But for those that are not able to discern it (even with the explanation) I will state that the "press release" was a parody with some factual pieces. The following items are indeed fact:
    1. There is a website set up to sell Olympic themed merchandise by a YTB RTA (see Travel Weekly)

    2. It appears that YTB has sold zero packages to the Olympics. When the website (the preferred method of booking)was loaded it was pre-loaded with 9 seats sold in every tour--it still shows 9 seats. 9-9=0. There likely is a calculator in your backoffice to figure that out. I know math is konfusical.

    3. Dr. Seligman is based in reality about as much as Dr. Smith from Lost in Space. He may be an actor that plays a Doctor on YTB webcasts.

    4. Phil Piccolo is known throughout the MLM industry as a scam artist. It is bad enough when people outside your industry recognize someone as a scammer, but it is worse when your own industry recognizes it and a company welcomes him with open arms.

    So, I say to those that are unable to grasp the concept of parody--grow uo. Got an opinion, state it. If you can refute the facts, go ahead and refute them. As I look at the comments to this blog, an interesting trend is developing; when facts are presented that YTB cannot refute, there are tons of comments that ultimately resort to name calling and truly kindergarten games. All in the name of clouding the issues.

    ReplyDelete
  7. "No matter what things we point out to him to try and teach him about the integrity of YTB"

    How can you "teach" the integrity of YTB to someone else? Either one has integrity or one doesn't, if you have it, it should be very obvious to all.

    Integrity is defined as "Steadfast adherence to a strict moral or ethical code."

    Can you honestly say that the 140,000 members of YTB all follow the same strict moral and ethical code?

    It only takes a few to cast doubt on the group as a whole.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I thought it was funny. Of course, no one likes a joke at their expense but gotta keep a sense of humor in the travel biz.
    Phil and Bob are not funny. Phil and Bob are an embarrassment to YTB. Wonder wy they can't see that?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hrmmm I'm sure Proud will jump in with the, how do you know it's that "Phil". Prouds been pretty silent on that whole deal since it was brought up and proven it is indeed THAT Phil. But as usual, proven wrong, change subject. Typical YTBer.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I thought the post was funny John. I guess others do not have a sense of humor. Parodys are done everyday, SNL and Mad TV make a living off it. They roast people and say horrid things and people laugh. The sad thing is, majority of what John said was true. Its not a personal vendetta against YTB, its all the card-mills/MLM's. Just that YTB is the most vocal. They are opinionated as well, yet when they name call or attack, people look the other way. When we do it in defense of ourselves and our profession, we are bitter old hens or unprofessional.

    They made a very big hoo-ha about the olympics, shoving it in everyones face about being "exclusive" and being a great value, so why are the packages not flying off the shelves? Thats a simple question. But I doubt we'll ever get a simple answer.

    ReplyDelete
  11. John has asked plenty of questions about YTB...and I DID ask questions at a recruiting meeting. It's the ANSWERS to the questions, when you can even get one, that led me to form my opinion of YTB.

    ReplyDelete
  12. It is surprising that nooone from YTB posts here in an official capacity in an attempt to refute anything. I've read penny stock boards where Corporate will respond. Doesn't YTB have any Investor Relations or PR people? Or do they just not have answers?

    ReplyDelete
  13. iontop said, "Doesn't YTB have any Investor Relations or PR people? Or do they just not have answers?"

    I think they are too busy selling their own shares to stop and provide answers.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What would they provide answer to? They don't care as long as the "grang" keeps buying into the promised land and drinking the kool-aid.

    I can only imagine the great news coming soon, so says Tom. Let me see....YTB takes out a full page add in USATODAY!?! OMG hahaha

    ReplyDelete
  15. Actually they don't have it in-house. They hire a NYC firm, KCSA Worldwide, for their Investor Relations. KCSA's website doesn't mention YTB in their listing of clients.

    ReplyDelete
  16. dinwrulez, I was referring to that anonymous blogger who posted his coment... about his or her words being harsh. You thought I was telling John his words were harsh. Again... another twist by a TTA because of a failure to read properly.

    Yes, YTB is publicly traded, and yes we receive newsletters. The other companies don't. I think those other ones are the ones that should be further looked at with scrutiny. Their por members have no idea of what's going on with them.

    I think that YTBScam is in love with this Phil guy since in every topic he has to bring up that name regardless of relevence... LOL!!!

    John, no I don't expect you to sit back and do nothing, but for God's sake... get your facts straight!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Actually, I thought it was a funny piece.
    John, I'll bet you've told some whoppers during your time! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  18. For those too young to know what a "whopper" is. Here are the synonyms.

    BS, aggrandizement, amplification, baloney*, boasting, caricature, cheese, coloring, crap, crock*, elaboration, embroidery, emphasis, enlargement, exaltation, excess, extravagance, fabrication, falsehood, fancy, fantasy, fish story*, gas, hogwash*, hyperbole, inflation, jazz*, line*, magnification, misjudgment, misrepresentation, overemphasis, overestimation, pretension, pretentiousness, rant, romance, stretch, stretching, tall story*, untruth, whopper*, yarn*

    ReplyDelete
  19. John said, "Seligman is a fraud and Piccolo is a scammer extraordinaire!"

    I neither agree or disagree with your statement. But I do hope YOU have a "crackerjack" legal counsel. You never know when you have to back up a claim with the facts.

    In law, defamation (also called vilification, slander, and libel) is the communication of a statement that makes a false claim, expressively stated or implied to be factual, that may harm the reputation of an individual, business (YTB), product (YTB), group (RTA's), government or nation. Most jurisdictions allow legal actions, civil and/or criminal, to deter various kinds of defamation and retaliate against groundless criticism.

    That last part should get your attention, "groundless criticism"

    ReplyDelete
  20. Proud, you did not specify to whom you were speaking, so it was NOT a case of me misreading anything. You have a reputation of jumping on John and his opinions, so the logical thing for a logical person to think is that you were doing it yet once again.

    I did notice, however, that out of everything I said, that was the only thing you had anything to say about. Wonder why that is? Probably because deep in your heart you know it's true.

    ReplyDelete
  21. So a lame threat of libel is the best defense anyone can come up with in defense of Piccolo and Seligman? Like I mentioned earlier about answers..."when you can even get one".
    Sometimes criticism ISN'T groundless.

    ReplyDelete
  22. And feel free to say anything, it's going to be hard claim defamation of character when noone from YTB can even verify "which Phil Piccolo" we're talking about.

    ReplyDelete
  23. iontop, you assume that because we are in YTB we are supposed to know each and every other person in YTB personally??? All youi TTAs don't even know each other. If it wasn't for this blog, you wouldn't even be talking to each other, because you are competition.

    dlnwrulz, yes you did misread it. If you read it slower, you will see a line in there where I actually defended John against the name-calling. I have also commended John from time to time when he did post something factual... which is a rarity.

    ReplyDelete
  24. As for defaming Bob and Phil, get in line.
    Perhaps Proud can find verifiable info on Bob's credentials...Google can't. And Phil, well Phil is ALL over the internet...he's infamous!
    Glad to know who your heros are Proud.

    ReplyDelete
  25. So, you're saying that everyone in the world has to have their info and whole life story on google???

    Getting back to another statement by DLNWRULZ..

    You can't get the shanghai springs website to load? I can... no problems here.

    ReplyDelete
  26. You assume I'm a travel agent, I'm not.
    I assume nothing, but with YTBers here who claim a high ranking in the organization, with the ease of getting support and information from your upline and with the trips to HQ available, it is surprising that no YTBer has come back with a definitive positive statement on Piccolo or Seligman.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Proud--when one claims to be a PhD, developed the counter terrorism program for the US Secret Service, graduated from Harvard Business School and Oxford, been senior level executives at some very large publicly traded companies---yes there should be something out there on the Internet about him. If nothing else, I should have been able to find his thesis.

    ReplyDelete
  28. "All you TTAs don't even know each other. If it wasn't for this blog, you wouldn't even be talking to each other, because you are competition."

    Proud, you continue to show your ignorance of the travel industry.

    Traditional travel agents talk and help each other every day, and have been for decades.

    We have many organizations that have meetings with local chapters, etc, for support.

    ARTA, ASTA, OSSN, NACTA, I could go on and on.

    Some of my best friends are fellow travel agents - from other travel agencies.

    ReplyDelete
  29. All those TTA have one thing in common, they know travel. Unlike those in YTB who want to "believe" they know travel.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Proud, you even say that John goes off half baked with his opinions. I say he is scum of the Earth, and that's all there is to it! As far as name calling goes... if the shoe fits!
    Yes John, we come here because somebody has to counteract your misguiding opinions! You come up with a sphiel and expect everyone to accept it as fact because you say so or so and so says so! They
    're opinions!
    YTB's lawyer came back! That alone sould tell you thay YTB is a great company!
    Now, I just recently started up with YTB in November, and already have 22 people in my downline! 5 were sponsored by me! Those who deny the opportunities of YTB just don't see it and most likely never will.

    ReplyDelete
  31. "All youi TTAs don't even know each other. If it wasn't for this blog, you wouldn't even be talking to each other, because you are competition."

    Proud, you poor thing....

    I participate on several "lists" of Travel Agents who help one another out daily. three of them as a matter of fact, one is a Luxury Travel Group and one is an Adventure Travel Group - the other is just a group of like-minded friends.

    Not only do we communicate with and help one another, we even make a point of meeting up at industry events and socializing.

    You're so foolish - you keep making these blanket statement/assumptions and you are so off the mark.

    ReplyDelete
  32. "So, you're saying that everyone in the world has to have their info and whole life story on google???"

    Yawn... we went through this I don't know how many weeks ago ... right here...

    Look Proud - I'll be that if you googled your own name, you'd come up at least once - maybe not on the first page....

    I don't have a PhD, I haven't claimed to do the things Seligman purports to have done, but I am all over the internet.... for goodness sakes, these days you can't change jobs without it ending up on the Web. And hasn't Seligman published? I mean really, he should show up ....

    ReplyDelete
  33. This is the Scum of the Earth reporting for duty here.

    While the post was parody for sure--even though some of you still don't get it---follow the link....

    The underlying question is how come 140,000 cracker jack sales professionals have not been able to sell one package.

    Anonymous says he has 22 in his downline. Not one could sell a package?

    Proud...what about you? How many have you sold? Or are you strapped too thin from saving your neighbor from foreclosure?



    And as for Ted going back---other than his website saying he and Coach kissed and made up, I see no evidence of him re-employed at YTB. Maybe the kiss and make up was in the form of a check or some stock options. And if he IS back, why on earth does that prove that YTB is a "great company"? Logic please...

    ReplyDelete
  34. You want logic from YTB? That's funnier than todays blog! That's even funnier that a PhD without a thesis.

    Eddie BS, MA, PhD and whatever else I want to be.

    ReplyDelete
  35. C'mon YTBers, your upline is there to answer questions and support you...go get the company line on Piccolo and Seligman. Then, maybe, you can write something worth reading.

    As for buying a trip to China through a YTB website?...the only way they sell 3000...well, does anyone know when Scott's birthday is?

    ReplyDelete
  36. ANY OF YOU TTA'S THINK THIS IS GOOD? YOU ALWAYS COMPLAIN ABOUT THE LACK OF TRAINING. RIGHT?

    YTB International, Inc. Expands Travel Training Program
    Wednesday February 6, 12:38 pm ET
    Ten-Course Program Expected to Educate, Exhilarate, and Energize RTAs

    WOOD RIVER, Ill., Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- YTB International, Inc. (Pink Sheets: YTBLA - News; "YTB" or the "Company"), a leading provider of Internet- based travel websites and home-based independent representatives in the United States and the Bahamas, today announced the launch of the second course in its E-Campus Travel Training Program. This program is a part of YTB's ongoing education made available to its RTAs and Reps.
    ADVERTISEMENT


    The new class, Course 102 -- Lodging, covers many of the finer points of lodging, business basics, and insider secrets, educating YTB's network of RTAs on how the lodging industry fits into the travel business. The course is a part of the overall training program being designed by Dr. Marc Mancini, one of the travel industry's most highly respected and best-known speakers, educators, and consultants. It is estimated that nearly 300,000 travel professionals worldwide have benefited from training programs that he has designed or delivered with his company, Marc Mancini Seminars and Consulting.

    "One of the reasons that YTB is so successful is that our RTAs and Reps come from diverse backgrounds. Some have been brick and mortar travel agents, and others saw a great opportunity with the popularity of booking travel online," said J. Kim Sorensen, CEO of YTB Travel Network. "We take great pride in knowing that as YTB grows domestically and internationally, we continue to provide and improve training programs that are challenging, interactive, and instructionally sound. At the same time, the program is uniquely entertaining and will foster success, enthusiasm, and self-assurance among our RTAs."

    The E-Campus Travel Training Program is a Web-based ten-course series that offers thought-provoking and stimulating instruction for YTB's network of RTAs. The first course, Overview of the Travel Industry, was launched last year. Future courses will focus on a variety of meaningful topics including tours, groups, cruising, air, rail and car rentals, marketing, and destination geography.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hey I call it a start. But seriously, it is putting the cart in front of the horse. YTB has set forth 140,000 untrained people to represent the company and the industry.

    Training is good and if you are serious about it it is a good start.

    I do question why it is being done in pieces. It is a ten part program from Mancini being released twice a year. So in 5 years you will have completed the program.

    One of the greater questions is how many RTAs take advantage of this? My guess is not that many. IF 90%+ of the RTAs make no money (hey call it their own fault or whatever but the fact remains that 90%+ earn zippo) how many are now going to invest time to deal with this?

    ReplyDelete
  38. Possibly too little too late. Too bad.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Proud, read the whole post about Shanghai's website again. I said that it will load, but that virus programs catch it and will not let it load because it is trying to download something other than a cookie onto the computer!

    On to that press release about YTB training. So, whoop-dee-doo, you're going to have a grand total of 10 courses. The one that has just been released is only the second of this 10, and it has been months since the first one came out. At this rate, it will be the end of 2011 before all the courses are released, if you're lucky. What are you supposed to do for knowledge in the meantime? Fake it like you have always been doing? Boy, that's a real service to the clients, isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  40. Two question:
    Is the training mandatory?
    Does YTB offer the training at cost as an investment in their agents...or is this just another moneymaker for them?

    ReplyDelete
  41. And I realize it's getting late in the day...so if it takes until tomorrow for someone to get the answers on Seligman and Piccolo...no problem.

    ReplyDelete
  42. I too am interested if the training is at no cost, and if it is mandatory. If yes to both, then good for you.

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  43. It is my understanding that the CRTA training is a revenue producer for YTB as it costs the RTAs $149 to attend. I believe they also have a refund program that if they recruit so many people YTB will kick back the training fee. Way to separate the two businesses eh?

    As for the Mancini deal, I believe that these are simply recorded sessions (not sure if it is strictly audio or video as well) hosted on YTB's server and are accessible to the RTAs via their back office.

    ReplyDelete
  44. John, while I'd like to believe you and I'm sure you're right, I've read that it's aparent (sic) that you're "clueless about YTB" so I'd prefer someone in YTB answer the questions. They're easy questions and there's got to be a first time, right? I'm sure they're just waiting for the answers to come flowing back down the pipeline...

    Does anyone know an internet symbol for sarcasm? I could use one...

    ReplyDelete
  45. Getting a straight answer from anyone in YTB is like finding a needle on Mt. Everest...practically impossible. I've asked and asked and asked about Phil...never a answer other than Proud saying.."How do you know its that Phil?". And then onto more misinformation and subject changes. None of them can answer with truth, usually their answers are full of lies and misinformation. I don't see why this will be any different.

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  46. I know...I'm looking forward to hearing the excuses...just for the record I'm expecting to hear that everyone at YTB HQ is too busy booking travel especially with the Olympics coming up to be bothered with pesky questions...but we'll see...

    ReplyDelete
  47. Certain Training Modules have a fee and the fee is shared by certain reps and of course - ytb.

    It is not mandatory unless you want to achieve certain levels.

    Phil is a ploy. But - a good one.

    He can create massive action and generate insane revenues.

    If the guy was a crook - he would have been charged with a crime. Instead - in my opinion, he is just a shark that feeds on prey - so what? Who cares?

    Tom

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  48. in my opinion, he is just a shark that feeds on prey - so what? Who cares?


    Ummmmmmmm isn't that the problem so many of us see in ytb?

    ReplyDelete
  49. Wow. Is THAT the official YTB response?
    Why do you say that about Phil Piccolo and what does that make the rest of you YTBers? Any different? Just that he's a bigger shark?
    And who cares? I do.
    Let me tell you something...when I was first invited into YTB and went to that recruitment meeting it was obvious to me that the "play" was to pay my $500 and then immediately recruit 6 others to get the bounus and to get rid of the $50 per month. I'm pretty confident that I could have done that but there ARE some things I won't do for money. Treating my friends and family (and even strangers) as prey to feed upon is one of them.
    If you have no problem conning people you know into something that they're probably not going to make money at (unless they pay the conjob forward) I don't expect you'd have any problem conning YTB and your upline out of their cut of travel commissions like the RTA in the above thread.
    What's the expression?...There's no honor among RTAs...something like that.

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  50. iontop -

    I'm not in ytb.

    I'm not in Phil's group.

    My opinion is the guy is a shark and goes for the prey. It works for him.

    However - he's selling a product that stands on it's own.

    People aren't "conned" into joining - I'm sure they are all adults and make informed decisions.

    I just can't understand how people can read a post and still not understand it.

    Tom

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  51. In the YTB recruitment video they say to market to family, friends, church groups, etc. but it's your opinion that one of the top directors at YTB is a shark going after prey. Did I understand that post correctly?

    ReplyDelete
  52. And they're making informed decisions if they read this blog...not if they're going by what YTB tells them.

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  53. dlnwrulz,

    You know so little. Aside from those courses you talk about, I have already completed many other courses... most provided by the suppliers. This includes a lot of the CLIA courses offered, Disney University, Disney College of Knowledge, A few cruise-line specific courses offered online by the individual cruise-lines.

    I am well trained and knowledgable when it comes to providing service to my clients.

    You don't know me, so don't ass-ume.

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