Introducing Mr. Roberts from YTB.

[RobertsResorts.Net]

Hello: Says you won't bite, but one of your feature writers on this site, Mr. John Frenaye, Jr. also a Travel Columnist for MSNBC has recently launched a full-scale attack on a industry he calls MLM/Card Mills. Now
this industry as with several others, I've been involved in for years. Everyone of you here has a relative, friend or neighbor associated with
this pretty accepted and cost-effective method of delivering goods and services to the end user. Today we, (millions and millions of Americans and others world-wide) are not afraid to call it MLM marketing as several
of our national and international associations use the same name. We also are known as Network Marketing Industry and Relationship Marketers.
And I guess now, cockroaches as one of the signers on John's new Attack petition called us. In Al Williams insurance days they called these MLM agents termites...think about it.

I just want to say here for the record and I've already contacted the Publisher of this site and complained about John's association with and ability through Tripso and MSNBC to use his postions to further not the industries view, though some may, but his own personal views on a industry and an entire group of people he for some reason dislikes, hates or whatever. To mention or out anyone company like he did mine YTB
in his recent article on MSNBC.com is unexceptable and I too have submitted a petiton to ask that he stand down from his position as Travel
Columnist on that site because he insist on using his postion as a place
to launch personal attacks on millions and names our company in sentences like, scams, card mills or piramid schemes, which he, you and
I knows are illegal.

So we are a nearly 8 year old scheme that is quickly approaching a Billion in annual sales. We are going after and capturing a market consisting of 80 million Americans now using Expedia, Orbitz and others that THIS conventional industry let slip through it's hands.

Make no
mistake folks. We are college educated, licensed with background checks in our fields with business degrees and years of marketing experience. Many of us are full-time travel marketers comitted to learning our trades
and pioneers such fields as internet marketing, webinars, tele-seminairs,
and other cutting edge technology including bending the web and controlling the conversation, which I've just done here, if you've read this far.

Like the conventional insurance industry in the 80's & 90's said about the
MLM company known as AL Williams, a company that was attacked and
laughed at by that conventional industry. While under full attack they
became out-raged at their attackers, got busy and trained and licensed
500,000 insurance agents that out sold all other companies in the market-place at that time, and revolvutionized the way insurance was sold in the US forever. Today this company is known as PrimeAmerica and owned by Citi-Bank, anyone every heard of that conventional bank?

Does John attack Expedia, hell no. Does he attack the click and order industry, no way. [offensive content deleted. -Mod.] He creates an enemy and like a bunch of fools, instead of looking at and fixing your own problems
you look at and blame others for them. Your industry does not have that
great of reputation, Hello, I seriously doubt that we are going to help drag you down. You've, not you new-comers here persay, but you as the conventional industry have shot yourselfs in the foot. Don't blame our
industry or our company. Your hands are not clean.

And don't blame us because 75% of your Egypt Fam trip was YTB reps that embaressed you, You folks for the most part are underpaid as a industry and over-worked. Can't afford or don't have the time to take the trips your own industry gives out as perks. WHO'S FAULT AS THAT JOHN...MLM, YTB OR YOUR OWN?

[greenearth]

Originally Posted by RobertsResorts.Net

Does John attack Expedia, hell no. Does he attack the click and order industry, no way. [offensive content deleted. -Mod.] He creates an enemy and like a bunch of fools, instead of looking at and fixing your own problems
you look at and blame others for them. Your industry does not have that
great of reputation, Hello, I seriously doubt that we are going to help drag you down. You've, not you new-comers here persay, but you as the conventional industry have shot yourselfs in the foot. Don't blame our
industry or our company. Your hands are not clean.

I hope to respond to this at some point in a rational way. But right now-this comment has totally offended me. [Deleted -Mod.] I hope this thread gets deleted.

[RobertsResorts.Net]

Says I need to expand this message even further. Check out our travel industry presentation at [deleted] I'm interested in your imput either here or at my home office on 140 acres in Nothern CA. The Salmon are running up the Sacramento River into Battle Creek on the south side of the property. They look like many are 40-50 lb ders....I mean it.

[RobertsResorts.Net]

Put yourself in my shoes, my industries shoes and my company shoes, like your people are always asking others to do. I stand by the comment. But you may need to read the articles I mention and the comments being written in the petition that John started. Sorry I sure did not intend to offend any nationality only an entire industry.

Wake up Folks...Clean up your own backyards before you start looking into mine. SEE YOU ON THE BEACHES OF THE WORLD. I've lived in Hawaii twice and I'm about to move back!

[John225]

Mr. Robertsresorts, I doubt you will find many friends here. We all pretty much agree with John.

Now, the difference between you and yours and sites like Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. They focus on selling travel, not selling of "business opportunities". Get the difference? I doubt it.

Yes, I signed the petition. I am number 43 on it, and proud of it. It's obvious that it is just more than us think you are a scourge on the travel industry, with the suppliers now starting to take a closer look, and cutting you off.

By the way, do you have a California Seller of Travel number? Do you know what APIS is? Do you know what an MCO is? Do you know what documentation is needed to visit Russia? This is all stuff that a REAL, professional travel agent knows.

[weblet]

RobertsResorts.net's post is extremely inappropriate in this thread. Perhaps he'd like to take this up somewhere else?

It's all right Greeners, some people make ignorance an art.

[John225]

I've also read your letter to Travel Trade, and playing up the disability issue will get you no where. I myself am disabled, and I didn't find the need to join YTB.

Since I can't get an answer to this anywhere else, maybe you can answer it for me. To join YTB, I would have to pay $499, and then $49 a month to make 60% of earned commissions. With the host I am with now, my sign up fee was $100, and my monthly fee is $20, and I earn 80% of earned income. Now, why would I want to sign with YTB to spend more money upfront, and then earn less?

[weblet]

Thanks, Mods. Now we can duke it out in a better spot.

[RobertsResorts.Net]

The presentation was not an advertisement for me just an overview...professionally put together for your enjoying pleasure.

Surprised I still have a forum here...I signed the petition too...number 1425. After reading all your let's call it "conventional cry-baby, wash-ragging" comments about how YTB is ruining your business and turning your customers into YOUR Travel agents...I see and can read the fear between the lines.

But the only thing our industry is doing is helping your industry get its' act together.

No.I'm new to the business. I am not yet selling travel but one of my new 15 companies has already been to training and I can refer anything to my head office and I assure you they are gettting real good at handling all the orders.

Now seth has been in alittle longer...3-4 months has 25 companies...mike and Kate has 500 and Ryan has 2500 sites and agents and Andrew has about 15,000 I would guess by now.

Who will your customers book their next trip with....Orbitz or Seth's and Joy's mom?

This is about the last place I would ever come to recruit....trust me. Thanks for allowing the continue posting...I'll try to be good. I promise and who knows maybe in a year or two I can be a REAL Travel Agent like some of those here....smile.

As far as being disabled. As you can see...I'm not asking that anyone feel sorry for me. I've made a career change and I don't give a good.___if you or or industry likes it or not. Non of you ever asked permission to get involved in any of the industries I've been involved in.

And I'm having more fun....Please Tripso staff...disregard the letter I attempted to send all of you regarding your temp hold on my comments here. I thought for a minute your last honest travel site was bunk but I can see now...only some o...never mind? Smile I promised

[Annette]

Actually a temp hold was placed on your comments and those of a few others while we reviewed whether or not they were a violation of our terms of service. You weren't singled out, although you evidently believe that you were.

We have no fear of selling travel online. Many of us are home-based agents and not traditional brick and mortar agents. What has us concerned is the disregard for the welfare of the client. Travel is not a commodity industry, it is a service industry.

Should someone with no idea how to cook be allowed to operate as a caterer?
Should someone with no training or clue about the legal issues be allowed to act as a realtor?
Should someone who can barely add be allowed to call themselves an accountant, even though they have no certified training?

The fact that MLM "agents" are allowed to call themselves "travel agents" is an affront to every legitimate, professional travel agent. I may operate my business from home by I AM NOT the same as someone who one day wakes up and decides to buy an instant travel agent ID. MLM "agents" are a black mark against every REAL travel agent out there.

For someone with a real, true interest in selling travel and becoming a travel agent there are a number of legitimate host agencies out there that are NOT card mills. YTB is NOT one of them.

For anyone considering joining YTB, or the validity of their business, I urge you to re-read the first post and decide if this is something you want to be associated with. It's almost a shame that the offensive content was removed, for it provided a lot of insight.