Enough Of The Justification

Back in December, I posted 21 things that I still had not learned about YTB. Shortly thereafter, a Coach's Corner Member who hosts another blog, embarked on a mission to answer my questions on a one by one basis. What began as a legitimate effort has morphed into a daily personal attack. When one can no longer adequately debate an issue, this is typically the response. When I began this post, he was up to #13 and had provided no real answers; most are nothing more than regurgitations of previous "answers". Now it seems he has migrated to the latest "get rich from YTB in 30 days program". The blogger notes the lack of comments and then takes that as an indication of a job well done. Not so much.

Once you cut through the fluff, the answers (or lack of them) become evident Here is a sampling:

• I asked about the need for a 12 page compensation plan. He whittled it down to 4 pages and said that the compensation plans of Vicki Freed, Microsoft and BellSouth were also lengthy documents. Well, I would hope so, they are profitable companies and the average employee earns more than the $297 YTB pays their reps on an annual basis. However, he did not address that the document is carefully worded for legal compliance, yet craftily worded to create confusion to those that might fall under its guises. Smoke and mirrors.
• I asked about the $226 million in verified sales. The response was a series of snippets from YTB justifying and legitimizing the numbers. There was no real documentation provided and the closest he came was a quote from Vicki Freed saying that YTB had sold "millions" with Carnival. Sales is a very easy number to come up with for ANY organization. Well, easy for all but one.
• I asked about the de-emphasis on training at the annual convention. The response was he could have spent three days training for travel. Perhaps. But he also could have spent three weeks training on recruiting methods. The travel training classes were, by far, the minority. I did not count them, but if they amounted to more than 25%, I would be surprised.
• I asked how RTAs can collectively pay $79 million into a program and only receive $9.3 million in return on their investment. Again, there was no real answer other than to say that commissions are not realized until travel is fulfilled. Well I am glad that his three year industry veteran status is paying off. Are we to assume them that there is at least $69 million in outstanding commissions? Back calculate that number and you get $115 million owed to YTB. Translated that means YTB ought to be showing sales of $1.15 BILLION this year. More smoke and mirrors.
• I asked about the sale of stock by the executives. The answer was that executives of all companies sell stock. He even referenced some sales by Sabre and Royal Caribbean executives. The difference is that the executives of those companies did not sell the majority of their positions and they were not the founders! The stock has gone from $9.50 to under a dollar in 6 months!
• I questioned the competence of the YTB employees during the cruise sale. The answer was that there was some undisclosed information I needed to provide to unlock the travel mind at YTB. Apparently, they are not allowed to talk unless they are given an active RTA number. But there is a big discrepancy if that number is to be public knowledge or top secret information. Regardless, YTB encouraged people to call to book cruises on one day in November and when they did, they likely were not able to be helped.
• I asked why when Reps or RTAs are questioned or challenged, a standard response is, "you just don't get it"? Well, his response was essentially, "you just don't get it" followed quickly by, "it will come in time". Another top shelf answer.
• I asked about how RCCL and IATAN were "misunderstandings". This answer really baffled me. It was the story of someone locking their keys in a dark house. Then there was discussion about Bermuda, Bahamas, Guam and American Samoa followed by a comment that IATAN was unimportant as was Royal Caribbean. I think that remains to be seen.
• I asked about how airline tickets were booked. More smoke and mirrors. The answer referred back to the dubious Power List once again which showed some ARC sales, but at one point, it was explained that there was another company included on the power list under YTB that should not have been included. Must have been an errant glean. I asked a simple question--whose ARC report do the air transactions get reported on and there was no answer supplied.

There are quite a few more questions to go, but based on the responses so far, I do not hold out much hope for any real type of explanation--so little that I probably will not even bother to check back. I certainly am not entitled to any explanations either. But I do have the right to ask the questions.

Since I refute all of his "answers" as provided; I will likely keep asking questions. Smoke and Mirrors is all that seems to come from this company and their minions--I wonder if that is on the training schedule for this year's convention?

As to the other blog..well he can continue with the circuitous answers, oddball stories and the errant plug for some motivational guru. There will be no dialogue of any meaning on that blog simply because the author has exercised his right to moderate comments and delete those that do not further or agree with his his position. Have there been errors on this blog? Of course and they have been corrected. Have any comments been deleted? Yes--two! One when a RTA made 30 identical comments in succession (all were deleted except the first one) and the other was when a "director" asked me to remove the RTA number of a member of his downline. I am not afraid of the criticism (as some appear to be) and the comments will remain open and unmoderated. Freedom of speech is a good thing.

In closing, just a comment to the RTAs and Reps that are reading this. Put all of the BS aside and ask yourself why you got into this (or any) business? Is it safe to assume it is to make some money? The next question you need to ask yourself is simple: "Are you?" Look at the percentages! They don't lie.

I don't think so, and in the meantime the efforts of YTB, TraVerus, GTI and the others are doing nothing but dragging an industry down while the top pyramid squatters enjoy the fruits of your labors! Think about it!