This stinks on several levels. I had planned on writing about my Pittsburgh Steelers who have safely touched down in Tampa for this weekends Super Bowl and with “Media Day” scheduled, I wanted to write about some of the lesser known “characters” with the team. I have no idea if Jeff Reed will show up on NFL Network or ESPN or not, but if you do a little research, you’ll find a fun guy, who also likes to play practical jokes.

I still have most of the week to write about MY Pittsburgh Steelers, but for today, I have an update on the Travel Industry, more specifically Joystar which I wrote about a couple weeks ago. I’d also like to clarify some things that I’ve read out there on the internet to help separate fact from fiction. It astounds me that people either don’t know how to read, or don’t know how to research.

First, InterContenential Hotel Group (IHG) has won their suit in U.S. District Court against Joystar and a judgment has been ordered for $179,000. In a report filed by Travel Weekly, who by the way got it right, states that it was one of Joystars Agents, not Bill Alverson or Joystar themselves who committed the offense. (The Agent was a former IHG employee who hacked the IHG system.) You may be asking why Joystar is even involved if that’s the case. Well, Joystar became more or less an accessory when they failed to return $115,000 of the $163,000 that was claimed improperly. If Joystar would have done the right thing and returned all he commissions, they more than likely would have gotten a slap on the wrist, and charges would have landed solely on the Agent. (The commissions were charged to go to the Agent and his wife.)

In another case Joystar sought more time to prepare its response to an involuntary bankruptcy suit filed by a group of agents. Joystar owes individual Agents thousands of dollars in unpaid commissions. 85 agents have submitted sworn statements about money they are owed. Thus the word “involuntary” in front of the word bankruptcy. You might think that all bankruptcy should be considered involuntary, and many I’ve seen comment on this apparently don’t know the difference. True involuntary bankruptcy occurs when an individual or organization is made bankrupt at the request of their creditors, in this case the Agents who have filed the petition. In the case of Chapter 7 involuntary bankruptcy the debtor will be required to liquidate their assets in order to pay off their creditor.

In other words, the agents themselves are forcing Joystar into bankruptcy, and when assets are sold, they are the ones who get paid. If you didn’t catch the last paragraph in Travel Weekly’s report on IHG, if the petition is won, and judement is made forcing JoyStar to file bankruptcy, both the Agents and IHG become “judgment creditors”.

And finally, three major cruise lines — Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland American Line and Princess Cruise Lines discussed how to handle pending commissions and bookings still on the books. In filings with the court, the cruise lines had said that they needed the stay lifted so clients can make final payments on cruises so that they can take those cruises. The cruise lines’ court filings said that they also want to be able to transfer current bookings to individual Joystar agents themselves, withhold payment of commissions to Joystar and to pay commissions to agents once their clients have made final payments on their cruises or once the passengers have sailed. In court, lawyers also discussed putting those commissions withheld from Joystar into an escrow account for a short period of time, as well as logistics for transferring bookings from Joystar to the booking agents.

A long term solution should be address concerning this mess on February 10th.

Bill Alverson was present, and asked for a 20-day extension to prepare its response to an involuntary bankruptcy filing. Judge Raymond Ray, the presiding judge, gave them a three-day extension, and the next hearing in the case is set for Thursday.

At this point, it remains up in the air if I’ll report on this Thursday or Friday. it’s not that I don’t care about what happens here, but I do have more important things on my mind at the present time. ;-P

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I happen to be out of town, (without internet access!) but enjoying the Holiday with family none the less. I decided to schedule something for today before news became old news next week. First and foremost however, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and although at the time of this writing, presents are still wrapped under the tree, by the time this is posted and you are reading, I’ll be enjoying gifts my kids had made for me, and of course finding what Santa brought.

That being said, don’t think for a second that there isn’t something to talk about over this extended Holiday weekend.

Are you kidding me? This Industry?

While the jury may be out if some made Santa’s “Naughty” or “Nice” list, after what I’ve been reading the last several months, it’s time to bring this “Naughty” Agency to the forefront after a year long hiatus.

Back in October 2007 this blog gained considerable notoriety after tackling the issue head on concerning Royal Caribbean who terminated its relationship with no more than four Agencies. Two of those agencies came to light very quickly and the industry outrage on the internet concerning “Card Mills” came to a head.

Although it’s been documented that Royal Caribbean did in fact terminate four Agencies, Lisa Bauer, VP of Sales with Royal Caribbean at the time, skirted the direct questions asked by Travel Weekly concerning just who these Agencies were. To this day, there has been nothing to verify, although there has been plenty of speculation, any more than two Agencies. That being of course YTB and the other being Joystar.

Other than YTB, I can’t think of another Agency that has been the target of more controversy than Joystar. If you look at the founders history, you’ll get a better understanding to just why, and I did document his exploits with the first Travel MLM (TravelMax) back in the mid 1990’s. It looks as if both Bill Alverson’s and Joystar’s issues have not subsided, but in fact increased a year later.

While you found nothing concerning any new issues on this blog, there has been plenty to write about concerning Joystar a year after being terminated by Royal Caribbean. In addition, no less than three headline news stories broke back in October of 2008 concerning the Host Agency. One, October 9^th, reported that Joystar failed to pay commissions owed to its independent contractors along with laying off 14% of its staff. Later in the month, on October 23^rd, it was reported the CLIA revoked Joystar’s Membership for not renewing its Seller Of Travel License with California. (Although it appears that SOT’s have been made current as well as its association with CLIA.) The very next day, October 24^th, it was reported that InterContinental Hotels Group filed a federal lawsuit against Joystar for claiming more than $163,000 in improper commissions.

And some think YTB has problems?

Actually, that’s what a small group would like you to believe as they obsess over anything they can drum up to cast fear and doubt because they’re convinced the YTB “model” is flawed…doomed to collapse. (Yet the “model” started to take shape over a century ago, and still standing tall.) Part of drumming up anything these poor folks can think of is this notion that after more than a year of inactivity, suppliers will again take up the cause of these Agents and Associations and start terminating relationships with Agencies critics simply don’t agree with moving into 2009.

One of the favorite ploys of critics is not implicating YTB directly, but word posts and threads in a way that gives them an out if egg is then thrown back in their face. Naughty for sure after reading comments, as there appears to be no question just who they hope the Agency is. Just one of the dozens of posts I sent to Santa this year for the “Naughty List”. As they wait to see if the rumor is true with gleeful anticipation, Santa more than likely coaled the entire lot of them for lack of good cheer.

I never like this type of speculation and rumor. It’s far too easy for hearsay like this to come back and bite you when documentation squashes the rumor you’re attempting to spread. Especially when you find out that the rumor started in an attempt to point the finger at one host, was initially about an entirely different host.

It appears the glass slipper that some are attempting to slip on YTB belongs to Joystar.

Agents are using the Joystar community board to voice their complaints. One posting dated Dec. 17 claimed Carnival Cruise Lines was prepared to cease doing business with Joystar if the agency did not make good to agents. When queried about the posting, Carnival declined to comment.

To be fair, there is nothing to substantiate ANY rumor that Carnival or any other supplier for that matter will be terminating anyone. Instead, I would look at the last year and ask just how many suppliers terminated its relationship with any Agency in 2008.

Of course that answer is Zip…Zilch…Nada…not one.

Yet there are some who still want to hang onto this small glimmer of hope that suppliers might come around. If the rumor is true about Carnival terminating its relationship with Joystar, can you blame them? (That would be “No”.) It’s been documented that Carnival believes these Agents, no matter what host they’re associated with are the life blood of their sales force.

But how much would you want to wager, that if Carnival does terminate Joystar because its failed to pay the commissions owed its Agents, the speculation will be that YTB is next in line? It’s what some will do I’m sure in order to restore this whole fiasco about suppliers “getting it” to surface yet one more time. I know that sounds irrational, but you have to understand the anger and resentment that creates such illogical thinking. Just accept that this is another small thread critics reach for in their attempt to pin someone else’s misfortune to YTB.

With the news out Tuesday about Joystar being down to just 5 employees and the thousands of dollars in commissions owed its Agents, I have to wonder if Peter Stilphen, (a pompous and overzealous Joystar critic who’s been plastering both Bill Alverson and Joystar for years) will be having a Merry Christmas this year?

I don’t know if there will be anyone really posting about this over the Holiday’s or into next week for that matter. I guess I’ll have to check and update you when I get back first of next week.

In the meantime, I’d like to enjoy my time with family and finalize some goals I have moving into 2009 while I have some time away from the internet and all it’s trappings.

It will be interesting to see what 2009 will bring, and while there are some who claim to know what’s going to happen, take some time to do what a couple of my favorite mentors have taught me over the years.

“Don’t believe a word you hear, unless you can verify it on your own to be true.”

Which I suppose is one of the reasons why people like this blog so much. Instead of spreading rumors and hearsay about what they’ve heard about or read about somewhere else, without a single shred of documentation to back it up, they come here for documentation and truth.

That’s why I’m on Santa’s “Nice List”.

PS - If you're involved with YTB, sign up for our FREE Newsletter. As a Website Owner or Website Seller, we'll keep you up to date with all the latest news, acquisitions, and developments with YTB.

PPS - Subscribe to the Just Picture It Now RSS feed, (including e-mail) for all the latest posts and updates found right here!

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