Well maybe he has been reincarnated as Bill Alverson.....back in late June,
we wondered if Joystar had jumped the shark into the slimy MLM model for selling travel.Apparently the
notion of them being an MLM is an issue. They vehemently denied it to Royal Caribbean when they were terminated by the lines last October. As a matter of fact,
in a letter to shareholders, Alverson stated:
When we asked for clarification, we were told by Lisa Bauer, SVP of RCCL that she has decided to "broaden the definition of what a card mill is" and considers Joystar and our Enterprise members to be one. She also uttered the words "Multi-level" although I'm not sure why.
Well, I guess we now know why. Looks like Lisa Bauer was spot on.What is more bizarre is that Joystar is apparently attempting to utilize mafia-esque tactics to silence the people who dare to have a different opinion. It has been discussed before on different
forums:*
I was completely satisified with Joystar until I was booted out by the CEO over censorship issues in the Joystar Community bulletin board. I still don't know what I did wrong.
And some forums have even succumbed to the advertising pressure and removed any posts that did not sit well with the CEO of Joystar. Check it out
here,
here, and
here. And dare we forget the oh so professional letter where he referred to the President of another host agency as a
"wart on the ass of the travel industry". Class outfit. It should be noted that Joystar actually paid to have this letter broadcast to 100,000+ travel agents by
eMarketing Solutions Group, who did apologize for the broadcast, but the damage was done.But now it seems there are some strongarm tactics being employed by Joystar. Apparently, one of the ICs for one of their Enterprise Agencies voiced an opinion. How dare he! And the immediate response from his host,
A1 Travel-Vacation.com dba Home-Based Travel Agents, of Central Islip, NY was as follows:
You MUST retract your statement in XXXXXX that Joystar is an MLM. Failure on your part to do this will result in Joystar refusing to provide you with a FREE travel website and I will cancel your host membership with us quote from: Paul Davis, Presidentwww.HomeBased-TravelAgents.com
Wonder where Paul Davis got the message? Is anyone surprised? So, the next time you think about talking about Joystar, consider yourself warned--you may get whacked!
Oh Big Bad Bill might call you a wart on his ass!
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to question nearly everything related to travel. Is it really travel any longer or is it MLM sleaze? The suppliers need to crack the whip and become responsible in their selling. It reflects back upon the supplier if the client gets ripped off or has a an agent that screws up.
ReplyDeleteI'm also wondering which is worse, YTB or Joystar? OK, that's a no brainer but Joystar better pull it's act together or they won't have any legitimate agents left.
MLM & TRAVEL DOES NOT MIX!
I agree Martha. But the suppliers (particularly in this economy) are going to take the money at whatever cost. They can sort through the reputation thing a little later.
ReplyDeleteBut does Billy The Weasel Alverson really think there is not gonna be some talk when he pulls crap like this?
I bet that his investors are putting the screws to him and now he has to figure out how to turn a profit to justify his lifestyle!
Bill "Gotti" Alverson's intimidations are well known in the host agency circles. He had actually threatened me in person at a conference in 2007 and said he was going to spend one million dollars to put me out of business and in front of witnesses. For me that was the battle cry and the incentive for me to make others aware of this JoyStar CEO's tactics. I know of others he has threatened and of agents he has stolen from other agencies. He took Travel Max International down the drain in the late 90's and is doing it again with TravelStar.
ReplyDeleteHis return to the MLM model is an insult to what's left of his producing agents. JoyStar could have been a decent Host if they had a decent CEO.
Peter Stilphen, MCC
I do wonder about this. I don't believe it has any connection to RCL and CEL cutting them off, but really, how do the Joystar Agents feel about this?
ReplyDeleteSome of the lost postings were moved to their archive. They can be found here
ReplyDeleteand here
Bill Alverson couldn't be the sweat on John Gotti's testicles. Bill was a scumbag when he was with Amex ripping people off selling investments. Now he's a scumbag with a bigger ego,making threats to people who don't agree with him or his crappy MLM travel business. His new book How I screwed my Amex Clients,My Travel Max investors,My Joystar Agents and Investors. Follow these steps and you too can screw people to gain the financial success you desire.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone looked at their stock. More of a joke than YTB. Trading at 10 cents and it went up from 8 cents to 10 cents today and increased 25% in value!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if alverson has some mob money investerd and he might be getting whacked!
I used to do my travel bookings for my officials visits through Joystar .I must say they had very prompt services.Also the CEO Mr.Bill Alverson has being one of the best businessman ,he has also being the financial ad visor in the previous organizations.
ReplyDelete