Tomorrow and Wednesday will have some interesting info on the Tennessee caper. Over the weekend, I was speculating if there was a connection with Bob's bailing out on YTB and the RTA in Tennessee. Something just did not smell right to me and I wondered if there was a connection.
Well, apparently I was not the only one speculating as is evidenced by these posts found on the Yahoo Finance Pages:
Well, I do know this.. I know that Carnival, who he was chairman for, is investigating YTB at the behest of Carnival's largest "senior trip" planners after a YTB RTA scammed a number of students out of money for the cruise. The RTA alleged that she was told to book it all under her name so that the under 18 students would not be rejected. After YTB cancelled her RTA membership, they allowed her husband to continue with the account, and it appears that the trip will be going on. And it's not the first story of this.. that's the only thing I can think of. Maybe Carnival's about to turn off access to YTB and Dickinson found out about it?
And after a few posts, this clarification:
They're investigating right now who told her to do these things and whether or not she was in the wrong or not. In the end, the cruise line is investigating YTB and the company through which YTB apparently schedules class trips.. and the company that schedules class trips apparently has stated they will no longer work for YTB and has urged Carnival to do the same, and the students are still in flux about whether or not there will be a trip. This, by the way , is happening in Tennessee.
And finally this one:
Something to note is that she is claiming she was told by YTB to register under her name the students, because Carnival does not allow people under 21 to travel without parents/chaperones, and the trip was being advertised as an unchaperoned trip for 18 year olds.Too bad Ted Lindauer seems to have been silenced, I would like to know his take on this. Again, this is from a message board and not confirmed at this point, but this whole Tennessee thing needs to be watched carefully. The comments in the messages sound exactly like something YTB might tell an RTA to get out of a jam. Perhaps someone on the inside at Carnival may have been involved--maybe someone that stood something to gain is YTB had this group. Hmmm, it's a mystery!
Would this be fantastic if it were true? Well certainly a good reason for Bob to bail. And to be honest with the "tell them what they want to hear regardless of the truth" mentalit it does not seem too far fetched.
ReplyDeleteJon--you ought to watch this case.
I can hear it now..or maybe picture it now (LOL)
YTB: We don;t need Carnival either--we got Shanghai Springs!
Sorry, but I don't believe any of this. All cruise lines would check ID. If you're under 21, you must have a parent or guardian over 25 years old sharing the cabin. Even if the YTB RTA booked the trip, she would have had to have given the ages of each person in the group and could not have done the booking solely under her name or her husbands. This is just BS. There is no way to book a group of underage kids on any cruise line. Besides, a parent or someone school official would have had to have reviewed a Carnival brochure or gone on the website where it's stated. Something just isn't right with those postings on Yahoo Finance. Although YTB is not into selling travel and 99.5% of the RTAS are as dumb as a rock (suckers), I just don't see them allowing or making that big of a mistake. Nope. I've done my share of group bookings and you have to FAX them the names and ages of the PAX. Even if they lied about the ages, still.....
ReplyDeleteHere’s something else that a bit fishy.
ReplyDeleteSince when does "a company through which YTB, or any Agency, apparently schedules class trips book a cruise with a company like Carnival???
The group would have been booked direct, not through a company like he’s talking about.
Martha--
ReplyDeleteI am not so sure this is that far off. You are right, and as a TTA you know the rules. But an RTA likely would not.
YTB encourages their RTAs to recruit groups in schools and churches. It is the MO. I am wondering if the RTA did just that and not knowing the rules either tried to book it (or collected the money and then tried to book it) and discovered the rules.
Perhaps someone at YTB did indeed tell her to collect the money and do them as individual reservations--for some reason--remember the people at HQ are equally clueless.
All of a sudden there is a problem--invite Bob on board. When Bob hears about it, Bob backs down.
There is somethign fishy and I have posts on the Ternnesee RTA for tomorrow andf Wednesday--she is in the hospital and being charged for passing bad checks and has said her hubby is handling the trip now. Police say that since the trip has not not occurred, there is no crime. I suspect that they are scrambling to come up with the money and YTB intended to put the squeeze on Dickinson to waive the pol,icy.
If the money is gone and the trip does not materialize, she is screwed and if YTB has any thing to do with it, they are an accessory.
Hey RTAs what is it that a stewardess says when you leave the plane? Buh Bye!
ReplyDeleteI hear coach and scott are gassing up the Lear---th eparty is almost over!
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteHere’s something else that a bit fishy. Since when does "a company through which YTB, or any Agency, apparently schedules class trips book a cruise with a company like Carnival??? The group would have been booked direct, not through a company like he’s talking about.
There are companies that do specialize in group cruises for students that agencies can (and do) book through, instead of booking direct with the cruise line itself.
What trip? It can't be on Carnival or any cruise line if the kids are under 21. They would have to change the entire trip. Even with a few chaperones, one person over 25 has to be in a cabin with the kids. I even called my Carnival rep to find out if there were exceptions and she there were not. So if no crime has been committed yet, the trip still can't happen with a cruise.
ReplyDeleteIf YTB's back office told the RTA to collect the money and YTB handled the booking, then Carnival would still have to have names and ages unless I'm missing something here and if this is a senior trip, the time is very near so this would have had to be going on for some time. Also, it would be deposit first with names and ages, then final payment. This just isn't adding up any way you look at it.
I am also wondering why they said Dickinson was appointed to the board and then he said he declined. Did he accept and later turn it down? It didn't sound that way to me. It sounded like he was offered the board job and declined. Which is it? These 2 issues have me confused. Maybe I'll give Doug a call and ask him. I just hope he doesn't drool all over the phone since he has a crush on me.
What I don't get is the posts from the yahoo finance thread are from ONE guy who is not in the travel business who posted once in 1999 and then 15 posts since May 2????
ReplyDeleteHis name is Jarrod Henry, he was a high school place kicker and has a blog about Buddhist teachings (a peaceful religion) yet in some of his posts his hate speech is amazing.
Interesting yes, irrelevant, maybe, but interesting.
Again, to drop it at John's feet again, he makes it seem like there are several posters with inside info.
This one guy, just because he is in Tennesse "seems" to be an expert?
How does he know Carnival is "Investigating"?
Also, to try to draw the connection between that senior trip that went awry and Dickinson declining is giving ZERO credit to Dickinson and is implying that he sits around and either reads crappy blogs all day or watches local Tennesse news stations.
I saw the poster's history on Yahoo Finance--and it became curious, interesting and possibly relevant when it seemed he was NOT in the travel industry.
ReplyDeleteMartha--I fully believe Dickinson accepted the position and then declined. HE was quoted in TT (or was it TW) about YTB and so forth. They would not make up quotes.
The mystery is why he all of a sudden did an about face. Well, this whole Tennessee thing was not broken until the weekend before the announcement--likely after he had accepted. News stories from TN that are a little fishy were published on May 1--the day Dickinson resigned.
Coincidence? Perhaps. BUt I think there may be some connection. Then 4 days later, I find someone from TN on a finance board that has the same opinion? Hard to say what the poster on Yahoo Finance was all about, maybe he is the sheriff's son and does know about it. Perhaps he is one of the kids scammed or one of their parents who are now (day late and a dime short) looking into YTB and finding out what the company is all about?
ALl I am saying is that something is not right here. I think I am going to stay tuned for a little bit!
This whole thing is very fishy indeed! There is no way to book the cabins without the ages of the guests that were sailing.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what kind of written information the RTA gave to the students and their parents. Has anyone been able to get their hands on that?
I had no idea Doug had a crush on Martha! Fascinating!
When group space is held there are no names and ages necessary - just how many cabins and in which catagories. Maybe it had only gotten to this stage with Carnival and THEN fell apart after the names/ages went in to the group department.
ReplyDeleteGroups are not my specialty so others may know better. But it does sound like CCL never got any $$ so the RTA had it?
Let's keep in mind that NONE of this would have been in the knowledge of YTB. This was a bad, immoral, illegal act by one person and YTB terminated her AND according to an article i read yesterday YTB has been gathering all the info to, out of its pocket, reimburse those that paid
ReplyDeleteNone of this was done with the knowledge of YTB? What are you talking about? It was done by a YTB rep! Maybe Scott or the Coach weren't in the loop about it, but she is using the YTB name and presenting herself as a RTA. She IS YTB.
ReplyDeleteCoach is clearly more concerned about making money than he is about his reputation. When your RTA's commit crimes, but you continue to recruit from Yale or Jail, that really says something about what your intentions are.
How many business owners do you know that wouldn't start doing background checks after the first time you had to shell out several thousand dollars because one of your reps defrauded a consumer?
A lot of this does make sense. With official student groups on Carnival you must go through one of two companies that work with Carnival on student groups. For these the need to have one person in the cabin 25 or older is waived, but there are strict deposit guidelines, security deposits, etc. So the agent would be working with the other company to do the Carnival group.
ReplyDeleteJF and TTAs -
ReplyDeleteStick to your day jobs of selling travel.
Leave the detective work to real professionals.
Robert Dickinson being asked to join YTB's Board of Directors because of a TN rogue RTA is laughable.
Robert Dickinson deciding to give up his seat on the YTB's Board of Directors because of a TN rogue RTA is laughable.
There are bad people in every town in America.
There are bad RTAs in YTB.
There are bad TTAs, also. Posted here numerous times. Worked for traditional agencies (or owned agencies) and screwed the public on a similar level.
The only thing we are missing on this one is Deep Throat.
YTB and TRAVEL: A Great Mix!
Hey Doug I thought you were done with this blog and NOT coming back. Well, here you are posting anonymously again. We all know it's you because of the writing style.
ReplyDeleteShoo before I drop a house on you.
Does American Desitantions do thee cruises? Still, why no Press Release about that?
ReplyDeleteBob joining the board because of the Tennessee RTA I agree is laughable and I did not insinuate that and if I did, I apologize.
ReplyDeleteHowever, Bob rescinding his acceptance because of the Tennessee RTA is entirely plausible.
Remember, Coach all of a sudden solved Lindauer's issues with a meeting; I am sure he would assume that a possible pending termination of YTB from Carnival could be resolved with a meeting with their newest Board member who just happens to be the former CEO of Carnival.