Is Illinois Preparing To Make A Move On YTB?

I have a feeling that the State of Illinois, who is currently investigating YTB, may likely be taking this to the next step soon. Maybe now that Lisa Madigan is done with Rod Blagojevich, now she can have her office pay a little more attention to YTB. I did notice that both she and Jerry Brown were at the Inauguration of President Barack H. Obama last week! I wonder if they had a chance to grab a bite to eat and talk shop and swap notes?

Even More Blah Blah Blah From A YTB Supporter

And the drivel continues from Endless Drivel Travel......

It isn’t just about where I can get the best percentage commission.   If all I wanted to do was book cruises…I would just go get a job doing that.  Chasing a higher commission split is not unique to those in the travel industry, and though some will do just that…I am not one of them.

Plenty of business to go around my friend…and yes…the high I experience being my own boss is incredible with no employees and with no overhead is awesome.  As an independent contractor, I gladly pay a monthly service fee, which is in fact reimbursed, for YTB to handle my licensing fees, E&O and all the paperwork.  

And now I see that a new twist lie has been tossed into the mix. YTB now handles all licensing fees, E&O, and all the paperwork. Are you sure about that? I Have a source that says otherwise!

More Blah Blah Blah From A YTB Supporter

Round two from Bob Cushman from Endless Journey Drivel Travel.

 

As you are probably aware, many network marketing companies have tried to do what YTB is actually doing, and none have succeeded.  Our travel sales are proof of our success and impact.  YTB didn’t cause the paradigm shift, the internet did.  All we did was recognize an opportunity to capitalize on the consumer fulfilling their travel needs on the internet instead of calling a travel agent.  The only thing Barry Dillar (Expedia) got wrong was the power of word of mouth vs. advertizing.  Simple as that.  What YTB has done is take that model and put the relationship back into the transaction.

Sure it was disheartening to see the California AG filed a lawsuit, (key word ‘accusing’ ) but YTB wasn’t surprised it happened…they were only surprised it took them so long.  Who do you think put pressure on the AG to do so?  It will be amicably settled, just like the one before it and the one previously filed in Florida and the one in Rhode Island.   Just like Art Williams took on the entire insurance industry, as Primerica Financial Services and refused to give in to those who vigorously opposed them…YTB too will ultimately prevail.  If you were to read Art Williams’ latest book, “Coach, the A.L. Williams Story…you would see the parallels.

Sure sales are down…as they are across the entire economy and just like other companies; YTB has taken appropriate measures to compensate.  I served our great country for 22 yrs, and have learned the meaning of loyalty, commitment and the values that determine a great leader.  What I believe is not important; I look to a person’s actions which reveal true intention.  Yes, there are those like yourself who believe YTB is a cult and/or some illegal pyramid scheme.  Professional Network marketers are a rare entrepreneurial breed, and the ones who have chosen to build the foundation of YTB will be justly and richly rewarded.  Controversy is just part of what our CEO calls Success Tax.

I am right here; aware, informed, educated and taking action.  I will continue to build relationships with my clientele who will book with me.  I will also continue to share the YTB opportunity with others who seek a genuine home based business opportunity.  YTB isn’t for everyone…but many do want to learn how to: earn commission on their own personal travel and that of their friends, family and co-workers - save money on their travel - and take advantage of the legal tax benefits that are available to those that work their business with a clear intention to earn a profit.  Our Founders along with our legal department will continue to vigorously defend our rights to do so.

Who needs IATA or even IATAN?  RCCL "DEMOTED" Lisa Bauer for the decision to not do business with us because we did $13 Million in business with them before they made one of the biggest mistakes EVER!  In response, we sold more cruises in ONE DAY with Carnival, setting the record for the ENTIRE INDUSTRY (not just MLM) for the most cruises EVER sold by one agency in a single day. 

If I were you, I would be careful of what you say because you might have to eat your words later. 

More Trouble For YTB's Board of Directors

2008 did not seem to be the best year for YTB's Board of Directors. Bob Dickinson was in, and then out. Burt Saunders was in, and then out so he could "consult" with YTB. John Simmons was just plain out.

This Board has a record of approving all sorts of shady inside deals. YTB bought a plane from a Board member, their land is secured by notes from a bank formerly owned by a Board member (that was seized by the Feds last year), and the actual land they own was purchased form a Board member.  Then there is the whole deal with Beryl Martin being owned by Lloyd "Coach" Tomer, Scott Tomer and J. Kim Sorensen. You remember that company, the privately held one that built a $6 million dollar styrofoam statue for YTB--the publicly traded company (YTBLA).

It seems missteps are all over the place and 2009 does not look to be any different. Apparently the land company owned by two of their Board members is being foreclosed upon. Yes, it seems that Clay Winfield and Tim Kaiser (who have mysteriously dropped out of contact) are in a bit of trouble. I wonder if any of the YTB properties are affected?

But if this is the type of leadership and direction that YTB attracts to their Board of Directors, one has to wonder about the company as a whole. I have not counted but I have to guess that 90% of anything YTB touches ends up in some sort of controversy. Pink sheets, Dickinson, statue, earnings, Olympics., California's Attorney General, Class Action lawsuits. When will it end?

Now that Lisa Madigan, Attorney General of Illinois is done with the Rod Blagojevich scandal, maybe she can turn her attention this. Remember YTB claims to have upwards of 112,000 paying RTAs and over 300,000 Reps. Now they have just added a new MLM to their line with Aisle 19! Lisa Madigan--are you listening?

First Class Training Overview

Well, this weekend YTB launched their First Class Training. My personal feeling is that it is a small step in the right direction, but it is a long way from being where it needs to be. But one does have to wonder why a "travel" company has been in existence for 7 years and only now (after $225 million dollars worth of lawsuits have been filed) they begin to consider training.

The training will be completely online and hence no opportunity to ask any questions or interact with the people doing the trainign. The exam is self monitored and you can take it as many times as you like to pass it. Yesterday they offered the training live in several cities prior to it going solely online and following are my notes from the 4 hour session:

• An overview of the new "titles". An "Affiliate" is what is now known as an RTA. These people will refer to their sites and all transactions will be handled online. They will not be permitted to work with clients or vendors. They will earn 60% of the commissions received by YTB.   The new version of the RTA will be allowed to book groups and contact vendors directly. They will become RTAs upon completion of the First Class Training  and exam. They will earn 70% of the commissions received by YTB. Down the road, a future exam will be created allowing the RTAs to drop the "R" and call themselves "Travel Agents".
• An overview of a revamped RTA website. The new "technology" will allow RTAS to place their actual contact number on the website. A cost for this new site was not mentioned, however I suspect it will be an additional monthly cost for an "enhanced" site similar to the Rep site.
• The First Class Training will be taken online, and there is no time limit for completion nor is there any monitoring of the exam.
• The "training", while better, was certainly very light and offers no immediate benefit to the consumer. A YTB director narrates the video sessions and introduces a very few select vendors who overview the product they sell. CLIA's Terry Dale presented a recorded overview of CLIA.
• E&O was glanced over and it was briefly mentioned that the YTB policy only covers transactions booked by clients online. So, if any RTA books direct, they are NOT covered. This was a minor point and not emplasized at all.
• Marc Mancini had a recorded session explaining how geography training was important. It was recommended that RTAs view the classes in YTB's e-Campus for more detailed travel training. It is important to note that Marc did not present ANY geography training or travel traingin in this recording for First Class Training.
  
• A brief overview of select vendors was presented. These were not the earlier vendor presentations but essentially a listing of the vendors that work with and "understand" the YTB business model.
• Group travel was covered for a long time. They did not go over the nuts and bolts, but emphasized the ability to earn greater profits from group bookings and highlighted some of the difference between individual and group bookings. They told everyone where to find the forms in the Back Office. If YTB is going to focus on groups as they have in the past, I think this is a huge lapse in judgement and in depth group travel training needs to be covered. Look at what happens when a RTTA tries to book groups--Baltimore....Houston....Nashville!
• Recruiting was covered, but it was certainly not the focus as it had been in past classes.
• They encouraged people to attend the Funshine Events and the CLIA 360.
• They encouraged RTAs to take advantage of FAMS and ship inspections.
• YTB indicated that they would arrange private YTB only ship inspections.
  

 All in all, it is a small step in the right direction. I am curious as to how the vendors feel now that YTB is encouraging the RTAs to pay the fee for this training and then call the suppliers directly. 

Notably absent from this training was:

• Any mention of how to run a business including liability insurance, local and state licensing, etc.
  
• Client problem resolution
• Industry jargon and lexicon
• Geography (as stated above)
• In depth liability discussion
• Responsibilities of the RTA to clients and vendors and YTB
• Accounting methods
• SOT issues and requirements
  

Now I know that all of this cannot be included in the 4 hours they allot for the training. It is a disservice to the vendors and the consumers to allow RTAs to go out in the world with this minimal training. It is a little more than was offered before, but not much more.  The RTAs are now emboldened to do more and the potential to create more mistakes is huge.

There is no supervision and there was no mention of being able to rely on YTB (other than the recoreded videos) for any help. With a legitimate host, when an agent has a problem, he can speak with the host and their staff , other members of the host, or look to the other many resources that are available to legitimate travel professionals and not YTB. Networking among RTAs is ineffective--you cannot expect a kindergarten class to solve a calculus problem. Contacting YTB headquarters is also ineffective as their management has no background in travel and very few (if any at this point) of their call center people have any background. Without a means of support, the consumers are on their own.

But hey, again, it is a reactive measure based on an Attorney General's lawsuit and a few class action lawsuits. It took the non-travel executives and Board 7 plus years to decide that training on "travel" might be an appropriate thing for a "travel" company.  For me it seems a day late and a dime short!

It also should be noted that the "Award Winning" Candi May or Bob The Travel Guy were not featured in any of the training. "Dr. Seligman" was also not featured!

More Financial Woes For YTB

When it rains it pours. Directors quitting, stock sliding, RTAs fleeing, and an Attorney General that is hell bent on proving his point. And that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Last month, we posted about the only source of funding for YTB being investigated for improper loans and unsound banking practices. Well, it seems that Meridien Bank, whose owners represent 22% of YTB's Board of Directors, also don't like to play by the rules. The bank was closed yesterday morning by the Federal Government and taken into receivership.

Sure times are tough for banks, but Meridien was given ample warning to comply with federal regulations but apparently they were either a little too late, or just did not want to. Thankfully, their depositor's money is safe because the FDIC has taken the reins before the unsound practices could continue.

According to the St. Louis Post Dispatch, in a recent SEC filing, YTB said it can draw "no further amounts under that loan," and that it has no other credit available.

With a market cap that is dwindling each day, no access to credit, $225M in pending lawsuits, not many (if any) sources will be willing to lend any capital. What is next? Will the FDIC begin to foreclose on the new Headquarters?

And how long will the bank's principal's remain on the Board? Will Clay Winfield and Tim Kaiser feel the same heat that Burt Saunders currently is and undoubtedly the same heat that John Simmons did? Well, at least Simmons may get a nice house out of his deal.

Another Board Member Feels The Heat

Burt Saunders, one of the latest additions to the YTB Board of Directors is feeling some heat. As he mounts a campaign for US Congress, the question about his affiliation with an alleged pyramid scheme is becoming an issue.

Now I wonder what Burt will decide. What is the better gamble, becoming one of the Coach's Millionaires (at 48 cents a share)? Or partaking of the cushy pension and benefits of a US Congressman?

The story has created quite a flury of news in the Naples Florida area. You can read about it here, here, here, and here.  But Burt is keeping pretty mum on any of his dealings with YTB. Stay tuned!

Naples is no stranger to YTB. Remember, Rick Ricketts lives in  the area and he was investigated by the Attorney General and agreed to "settle" for $400K--do innocent people settle for nearly a half million dollars?. And we cannot forget the YTB Director and convicted gambling kingpin Chris Paraldi.

Coach Is Worried

Last week the three topics discussed on the Coach's Call on Saturday were:

When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going!
Tough Times Don't Last, Tough People Do!
G ood Enough To Win, Tough Enough Not To Quit!

This week, Coach is joined by Andy Cauthen to discuss the following topic:

How Do We Handle A Major Crisis In Our Life?

Hmm, is anyone sensing a theme here?  If anyone is interested, the call is at Noon EST on Saturday October 3, 2008.  Here is the telephone number to call:  641-594-7505 PIN 601340#

10% Owner of YTB To Sell 4 Million Shares Of Stock

Michael Brent, a 10%+ owner of YTB has apparently seen the writing on the wall and is looking to sell up to 4 million shares of YTB.

According to an 8K filed this morning,

On September 30, 2008, Michael Brent and Beth Brent entered into a Rule 10b5-1 Sales Plan ("Sales Plan") to be administered by Gilford Securities, Incorporated. Michael Brent is a ten percent shareholder of YTB International, Inc. (the "Company") and is the Chief Executive Officer of REZconnect Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. 

During the one year term of the Sales Plan, the Sales Plan provides that Gilford Securities, Incorporated will sell under Rule 144 up to a maximum of four million shares of Class A Common Stock of the Company held by Mr. and Mrs. Brent, subject to the price and volume restrictions stated in the Sales Plan.

Apparently, according to Rule 10b5-1 of the SEC, people that are privy to non public insider information are prohibited from selling stock. This likely will prove to be a problem for Cauthen, Clagg, Scott Tomer, Coach Tomer and Kim Sorensen as they all had sold securities when the California Attorney General Investigation was ongoing and not disclosed.  It may also be a problem for Brent, depending if that information was disclosed to him as well.

But there is a way out when someone is looking to minimize the risk. Essentially, a trustee handles the sales of securities at a predetermined schedule or per a predetermined formula. You can read about the details of the plan here.

According to Canaccord-Adams:

More corporate executives are using 10b5-1 plans to turn their risks into rewards with respect to trading company stock. Rule 10b5-1 plans allow corporate insiders to preclude trading liability and more easily access their personal wealth held in stock.

It seems that Michael Brent (who incidentally has already sold over a million shares in the last year) ,ay be concerned that because of what he knows as an insider, he may be guilty of violating insider trading rules. Essentially, he must feel that selling YTB stock is a personal risk.

What does this say?

Just An Opinion From An Average Joe

Here is an opinion from an average Joe who was solicited to join YTB and his analysis of the pyramid scheme. He is pretty right on. Some of the comments from his blog, Your Daily Remedy:

First of all, let's think about the presentation. Why is she doing a FREE presentation? Well, it's because anyone who signs up under Heather, is money in the bank for both of them!


Well, if I made a Peach Pie with Nectarines instead, sure it wouldn't be a peach pie, but it sure would taste, smell, and do everything pretty close to what a normal peach pie would do. It may not be "technically" a pyramid scheme, but it damn sure acts like one.


In the presentation, it sounds like you'll be making EASY money for the rest of your life! Well if it was so easy, then why is it that something like 94% of YTB agents make less than $90 per year?


So in order to make any serious money (or even semi-serious money) you can't really rely on booking travel, unless you book a TON of it. People aren't going to find your webpage on google since there's about 200,000 other YTB travel pages (unless you get tons of people to shamelessly link to you). You might be able to convince your family or friends to book through you, but if you're like me, you like to check a few different websites to get the best deal. I usually check a few (including a friends YTB page), and although they're competitive, I can usually find cheaper rates elsewhere.


At the end of Sabrina's presentation, I remember she said something like, "you have an option now to change your life. In one year, you can be in the same place you are now, or you can make a change that will affect the rest of your life." Convincing indeed. But you have to keep in mind that 94% of us are not going to be any different except maybe a few hundred bucks in the hole, but we WILL be contributing to her retirement fund! That's not a knock on her, but she's not doing this presentation to change YOUR life...she's doing it to enhance hers.

In his blog, he discusses a Director from California (Jane Doe #45?) Sabrina Dagostino. This young lady is remarkable in all that she has accomplished in a few short years. From her site she lays claim to:

• Owning and operating a helicopter transportation system
• Owning and operating a full service real estate and mortgage office
• Co-owned and operated The OC Cruiser (a bus transportation company)
• Owned and operated a a waterfront Martini Lounge
• Holding an Engineering Degree
• Holding a Real Estate Brokers license
• Possessing a Law Degree and being registered to practice law in the state of California

All this at age 28. Not saying it is not true, just that it is remarkable. Maybe she knows Dr. Seligman. He exaggerates as well!

Coach and "The King"

Apparently at one time Coach had a connection with "The King"--yes Elvis Presley. In yet another failed scheme he apparently purchased his plane with the thought of charging $300 admission for a tour of the plane. But of course that was not all. With the admission you were also able to sign up to become a rep for a gasoline additive called “Add-a-Tune".  Well, to make a long story short, Texas Attorney General shuit them down, partners were in trouble with the IRS and SEC, plane was repossessed. This was back in 1978---does history have a way of repeating itself?

Did Coach tell all of the minions about this failed attempt?  Read all about it here in the St. Louis Post Dispatch!

Bermuda Investigating YTB

Bermuda appears to be investigating but their laws have no teeth.  I wonder if this may have been a reason for the expansion into Bermuda in the first place?

From the Bermuda Sun, they know YTB is a pyramid, but the antiquated laws make it difficult to prosecute.

One legal source, who has links to the DPP said: "A file has been on the fraud unit's desk twice. We know they've looked at it, and continue to look at it, but it's a question of getting a prosecution. There's no doubt that this is a pyramid scheme, but the chances of getting a prosecution here are close to nil. In California, and elsewhere in the States, they tailor legislation for exactly this kind of situation. In Bermuda, our laws are more broad-ranging, so not much can be done."

And the Authorities appear to be cooperating with the Cal;ifornia Attorney General as well:

In a separate development, the Office of the Attorney General in California warned Bermudians not to get involved in YTB. A spokesman said: "This office does not undertake lawsuits lightly. Every action follows a thorough and complete investigation of the evidence. We hope that Bermudians will take note of what is happening here and will protect themselves from this kind of aggressive marketing."

The Dark Clouds Roll In

Well, the Coach talks a good talk, but he seems to have difficulty on the walk. I listened to a conference call a few weeks ago and he was whooping it up about the 2nd Quarter Results. He was so excited because they were "so good" that he was going to release them early and just before the convention. Well, Jerry Brown stole his thunder there I suppose.

Well, they are out and it appears, either he can't walk the walk, or does not realize that parentheses on a balance sheet are not good. Dashes mean negative, and red is not a good color!  Here are some initial highlights and key figures:

• The bottom line is YTB lost $199,577 in the 2nd quarter which increased its year to date loss to just shy of $4 million. It is interesting to note that this time last year, the report showed an income of $1.6 million for the quarter and only a $505K loss for the year to date.  Seems like YTB is sliding to me.
• Travel sales are WAY off.  Year to date they have paid out $14.1M in commissions. That will put them near $28.2M for the year.   At an overall 10% commission that places sales in the neighborhood of $282M.  Seems a long shot from the $411M they claimed to Travel Weekly. ANd certainly not on the way to a BILLION dollars for 2006 2007 2008.  $282M puts them in the mid 30s spot on Travel Weekly, but my guess is that they slide much further (while others grow) if they make it at all.
  
• This year they have cash on hand of $632K and last year there was over $1 million.
• They disclosed that an acquisition did not go through. This is apparently the highly touted American Destinations Inc. acquisition--could I have been correct? (Caution, this is THE post, hide your children and protect their eyes the photo is still there!)
  
• Also as expected, the RTAs are leaving at a record pace. This quarter, they sold 23,296 sites (last year they sold 34, 309 so recruiting is off 32%). But 30,638 quit. So for every new site sold, 3/4 of a site left.  And on a six month basis, they are still losing more than they are selling. But, this was already predicted and expected back in May.
  
• Canada appears to be a complete bust and represents only 3% of their income and interestingly enough, Bermuda and the Bahamas are not reported at all. I wonder if they produced ANY revenue?
• The number of RTAs has only increased 30% year over year, yet the administrative expenses (salaries, etc.) have increased  100% from $13M to $26M. Seems the overhead may end up killing them.
• And of course, there is absolutely no surprise where YTB makes their money. For the quarter, in first place is website rental and sign up fees at 74.5%, in a very distant second place is income from travel at 19.7%, and bringing up the rear is training materials at 5.1%. I will say that it is slightly better than last quarter as their 6 month picture is 76.9%, 16.2%, and 6.9% respectively. Not sure those numbers will be enough to convince Jerry Brown et al, but it may be worth a try.
  

And let's keep in mind that these reflect only through June 30, 2008. They do not take into account any of the issues surrounding the recent events from California, Illinois and the Class Action suit. Nor does it include the expense of the foam prop. Speaking of which, it is strange how it has all of a sudden been devalued from $8M to $1.8M. Some things make you go "Hmmmm."

I did notice that YTB included some deferred revenue in the filing to indicate sales made that have not been paid commission. If they are accurate in this number and it is only for unpaid commissions, the sales are even further off the mark. On Page 6 it shows the "Deferred Revenue" as defined on Page 9 to be $2.6 Million. This does not seem to be a large number. That shows that each RTA has commissions owed (at some point) of about $12.

I imagine that the steady decline of RTAs in the last three quarters will only increase exponentially in the 3rd quarter. I cannot imagine how people can sell the program with the black cloud of $125M in lawsuits hanging overhead and the probability of several more.

All in all, seems like the ship is sinking and I wonder what this dismal report will do the the stock that has already taken a HUGE hit over the last week.

False Claims Abound

Please pay attention around minute mark 2:00. You can earn 60% of of everything that is booked on your website!  Not misleading at all huh?

And I also believe this is the same guy that was talking about his boogers before! What was his name...Rufus!

Revisiting Ted Lindauer And His Threatened Suit

Ted Lindauer and his warnings have been a topic of interest this week as well. Many people have asked me about the letter to the Board of YTB.

Read the documents from Ted Lindauer and make your own decision if YTB had been warned to clean up their act or not. Remember, this is a man who was loved by YTB and when the issues were brought to light, he mysteriously fell from grace. When he went public with his accusations and threatened a lawsuit, all of a sudden he disappeared again. For a period, he had a statement on his website that he and Coach spoke and worked things out. There was no detail to clarify that statement, but now all that is there is a copy of his resume.

Calls to YTB at the time indicated that he did not work for the company any longer, yet many Reps have indicated that he does indeed still work for the company. Please look at this post and you can see and hear it from someone that apparently (in his mind) knows!

My guess: Ted got a big check and a thick agreement to never talk about YTB again.

The letter that appeared on his site and the subsequent letter to the Board of Directors of YTB can be found here.

Live From St. Louis

The spin continues and it is amusing.

It seems the YTB defense will be that the Attorney General does not understand network marketing. Perhaps the Attorney General feels that YTB does not understand the concept of the law. But Doug said that all will be well so we need to take him at his word and sleep soundly. Especially the California Directors...aka Does 1 to 100. If anyone has a direct line to Jerry Brown, please let him know that Doug has handled this and there is no reason to go forward. It is a simple misunderstanding!

To those that do not understand satire...that was an example. But Doug did make a few points that should be pointed out.

In YTB there are two separate companies. Yet the Directors (one of the companies) are the ones instructing the travel(the other company) training classes. This seems like they may not be so separate at all.

The last two days have been spent in training classes from some of our Directors that have been exceptional to say the least.

He also talks about a smirk

I’ve seen more of a steely eyed smirk on most of the faces here.

Well, if anyone has met Scott Tomer, you know that look. It is nothing new and it is the same look he has when heading to the bank depositing all the RTA monthly fees.

And finally in another attempt at deflection we have this:

YTB is on the map folks and if by chance, you are not here in St. Louis today, head on over to any newsstand and book store and take a gander at who is on the front cover of the Saturday Evening Post this month.

Well, I am not sure they are "on the map" but they certainly "in the scope". It is a nice fluff piece in the Saturday Evening Post (although the link points to a Tony Bennett cover) and I can assure you that some columnist (anyone know what Dan Rather is doing these days) is getting some heat for not fact checking as well as he should have. What an embarrassment for the Saturday Evening Post to print a piece like that and have Coach be the target of the largest suite ever filed in the US against a MLM company/ Maybe they can do a "Fall from grace" piece in s little bit.

Bermuda Takes An Interest

According to the Royal Gazette, Bermuda is interested following the charges as well. I know when YTB launched in Bermuda, they were questioned for being a pyramid scheme (here and here)  as well, but apparently their argument was persuasive enough to allow them to go forward and recruit 700 Bermudian citizens into the program.

A recognized authority on MLMs has told me that in the MLM business, international expansion can lead to federal inquiries. Foreign governments can see that the US is sending their "trash" to operate in their country, and now the Stste departments begin to talk. Before long, State asks the FTC to find out what is going on and then the FTC brings out the hammer.

So Bermuda and Canada might be worth watching in the coming months.

BBB Documents Many Complaints Against YTB

According to the BBB, the number of complaints against YTB has soared in the past year.

The woes of the YTB travel operation widened Thursday when the Better Business Bureau went on record with complaints it says it has received about the company in at least 31 states. "We've been monitoring the company for a little while. In 2008, the complaints really exploded," said Scott C. Thomas, a trade practice consultant with the Better Business Bureau of Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois.

The BBB complaints are certainly not unfamiliar to YTB. I have a letter dated May 14, 2007 that addresses to the BBB essentially the same issues the Attorney General alleges. What is interesting about this letter is that it is entitled:

BBB LTR St Louis-Director Version.pdf

That begs the question--what was the "version" sent to the BBB in response to their inquiry? Perhaps this version was a little different to give the illusion that all is well in Wood River?

I am not sure we will know, because it was penned by Thayer (Ted) Lindauer who was their attorney at the time. If you are interested in the backstory of Ted, he was fired, contacted YTB and explained what was coming down the pike and how they were operating illegally and threatened a lawsuit on behalf of shareholders. Very quickly he was silenced. You can draw your own conclusions. We posted about Ted here and here. I also have copies of Ted's letters to YTB and their Board.

NOTE: Per request, the BBB letter can be found here. For me to upload it to my server, I need to have single word names and the change of the file name to BBB was mine

Info From California Attorney General

The Attorney General has a web page set up for people to make a specific complaint or to tell their story directly to an investigator. If you feel you were misled by YourTravelBiz.com you can enter your complaint and one of the investigators will respond to it.

Access the online page here

Illinois Attorney General Launches Investigation

Well, as I suggested, it did not take long for others to begin to wonder if something was amiss in Wood River.

The Illinois Attorney General has launched an investigation of YTB and is charging them with defrauding investors. Of course there was no comment from YTB.

I wonder if the shady dealings between Beryl-Martin and YTB will come to light now since one of the companies is headquartered in the state.   Remember, Beryl Martin is owned by the two Tomers and Sorensen!