Is Coastal Synergy a legitimate business.

This has been asked several times on this site, all of the research online,
Is very negative about them, including Better Business Bureau ratings.

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/home-b...oastal+Synergy

Why do all the questions about coastal get deleted? Is it our moderators or the OP deleting them? I posted several links to articles to beware of this company but I can't find them when searching for them

Hello

If you do a search for coastal vacations, yes you will see some negative posts, but they are on specific directors in Coastal, and really only a handful of names pop up over and over again. Rarely are the complaints on the product itself.

If however you take into account that the coastal business has been around over 12 years, the number of complaints are relatively few. As with everything doing your homework on the director you wish to join under is so necessary, after all choosing the right director is the key to your success.

I have been with coastal full time for nearly 6 years. Honestly if there was a better business out there I would be doing it.

Hope this helps
Maria Porter
Level 3 director

There have been a lot of complaints about this company, basically some directors have been working for themselves, charging new "employees or agents" a start up fee and then not following up on the sales they make, basically creating a pyramid scheme. The company claims this is unusual but their business model is flawed and makes this easy to occur.

Unfortunately this has been a very common problem, as said above, Google the company. I wouldn't recommend joining until they can prove this has completely stopped. Since you don't report to the company directly its up to you to decide if you trust the director that's trying to hire you.

It is important to differentiate, the part of the company that sells the vacations to the clients seems to have no problems, the part of the company that hires new agents has several complaints against it and has an "unsatisfactory" record with the Better Business Bureau.

You can go to BBB: Search and search for Coastal Synergy Group, it will show the 2 divisions, if you check Coastal Vacations it just gives you all the agent's offices that you can check individually.

Coastal Vacation Scams Equal Bad Vacations

Lowtax4eva,

Coastal does not hire new agents. You could not be further from the truth. That is not what we are about. As I said in a previous post that was deleted, as pointed out by Jani, you are stating mis information. If the purpose of this forum is for questions to be answered by experts in the field, why don't you leave it to the experts who are in the business? You may have a negative opinion and you have every right to express it and I welcome the challenge. But please, get your facts straight. What you are saying is flat out wrong.

Brooke929, you are simply using a straw man argument, you are not reading the point of my posts and are disputing only part of my main argument.

The danger with your business is that the directors are autonamous (sp?) and can basically do whatever they want so if you join coastal through a director you have no way of knowing 100% if the director is operating the business the way he is supposed to.

Again, I realize that Coastal itself is not the problem, it s fine company BUT certain bad apples are going around scamming people (selling vacation packages that never come, asking for a training fee for new recruits and then not giving them a cut when they make sales.

I see what you are saying.. and I actually agree. There are directors out there who do NOT have good ethics. THEY are the ones that are on the scam reports and SHOULD be there. On the other hand, you CAN find out if the director is reputable or not via several methods...

First, Google their name with the word scam, ask them about any results. They should speak openly- and not have any at all, preferably. I know of some very good directors, however that do have "unsatisfactory" BBB reports- keep in mind that the BBB is a for-profit organization and often mis-interprets and mis-reports information. If I were a prospect, I would analyze it carefully- and take it as a yellow flag until I had very good reason to think it a red flag- like a wishy washy or fishy answer. Then I would promply go out and find myself a good director!

Second, speak to REAL LIVE people they work with. I, for one- am NOT anonymous. My full contact info is on my website, as well as my picture- and also there are REAL testimonials from people that I actually work with on the site and THEY can be contacted directly for 3rd party verification. Not every director posts information that directly- for good reason-- I went out and hired an expert html coding web designer so people didn't get a bunch of spam mail. BUT- your director in question should be willing and able to refer you to people to talk to when asked.

Third- join a group with high ethical standards- that director, to be a member, must abide by them. Again, I know of a handful of upstanding directors who are independent. Get references!

As for "not giving a cut to new members" I don't really understand that comment at all. The business model REQUIRES that the new associates first 2 sales be passed up to their director, for training them in the business. The training I give my new people is quite extensive. I don't see that as unethical, it's the business guidelines and I adhere to the board of directors guidelines as SHOULD everyone else. After that, they are released directors and their clients pay THEM directly. They keep 100% of their profits on sales they make at their level. So.. it doesn't make sense to me that directors are not giving them a "cut" when they make sales... when you have your directorship, that should never be the scenario.

But yes.. you are right. There ARE in fact less then ideal persons out there in this business- as in any other one I can think of to be honest. I can even think of one director who is on the FBA's blacklist. That individual should be hung, In my opinion. So.. its very IMPORTANT for people to be in forums like this one, asking questions and getting answers. I also recommend they then go and question the answers they get, cross check information and listen to their gut.

It's a real business. Coastal Vacations has been around for years. The Coastal Synergy group has an exceptional reputation within the business, as a whole. But just like when choosing a doctor, car dealership or babysitter- DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

Cheers

Jani Teeter
L3 Director, CSG

G`day Jani,
ITs been 7 months Today I have been with CSG, I Looked at the Package Side only , as we do travel south a lot, just though of the savings I would have using the Package ,
I mainly do Retail Selling of CSG , I use the travel Vacations side to promote my other business,
THe Aussie in Ontario Canada
Have A Better then Great Weekend
Peter McIntyre
Level 1 Director .CSG

Right on! Nice to meet you Peter! I'm glad to see that you also get to make use of the discounts in your package! If you need anything anytime, just let me know!

I was from Ontario until last month! I will be with the CSG for one year on Sept 14- and thanks to my business, I am now living on my dream horse farm in Quebec!!

I'd love to chat with you about retail sometime.. I'm waiting for my daughter to be in school though! She just turned 2 on Monday, so it will be a few years yet! In the meantime, I'm glad to be earning a healthy income as a stay at home single mom and I have truly wonderful people on my team that I love working with! I'm proud to be CSG!

I wasted a lot of good money on an education though before I found this! Oh well, part of the journey, and I believe in learning for learnings sake! I'm richer for it in mind and spirit, if not in pocketbook!

Cheers

Jani Teeter
L3 Director, CSG

(I'm just a plain 'ole boring Canuck! )

Great! So we are all in agreement now that Coastal is a fine organization but there are unethical directors out there. Agreed. Perfect. Because now that we have that out of the way, we can get in to what Coastal is really all about. And offer insights from some ethical directors.

I don't know what a straw man argument is, but what I do know is that Coastal does not hire agents. I was just pointing out that fact for those trying to find out about Coastal Vacations. We offer 3 levels of lifetime vacation membership packages. These packages are quite extensive and will more than pay for themselves after just one or two vacations. Some of the vacations are unlimited and can be shared with family and friends. Some can be given to churches or charity for raffles and silent auctions. You never run out. That is the underlying product in a nutshell.

We also offer a business model for those looking for a legitimate home business opportunity. There is more than one legitimate group within the Coastal family. Each has their own attractive features. My group offers the services of call center who will take calls, follow up, take payments and send memberships packages out. A nice option for those just starting and who may still work full time. Or for those who do not care for phone sales. Again, many options and research is critical.

Personally, I researched this for quite some time. I interviewed a number of directors before making my decision. It was the call center that cinched it for me, but that is not to say it is for everyone. Research, research, research. Ask questions. Make an informed decision.

Noreen

Hi Noreen!

Nice to see you again!

I agree with all save one point.. the people starting coastal most everywhere do it with full time jobs! Full time in this business, as folks like Jay will point out is 20 hours a week. I require 10 hours a week from my associates.. and we don't make "phone sales" either!

I'm really glad to hear that you and your husband are having success with the call centre though.. same can't be said for some on my team now. Different things work for different people.. with the call centre, its more expensive to start up and marketing has to be the focus to get folks to call in. That too, can be a very difficult, time consuming and expensive proposition to do well. With the other groups like the CSG- more learning has to be done in the first few weeks before taking their business live BUT after someone requests information, we do call them and answer their questions ourselves not a telemarketer. Our system does the telling and explaining for us.. as does yours- for the most part on both ends.

But you are right.. research, research, research... find your ideal director, then look at the group and system. When both match, get in business and get going!

Cheers

Jani Teeter
L3 Director, CSG

I can agree to that also but feel it's fair to warn people that ask about Coastal of the dangers, just because the is a certain way it's supposed to work doesn't mean it will always work this way.

The unfortunate part of the company seems to be the independence of the directors and no amount of research will be able to tell you if the director your working with is ethical, only if he has been caught yet.

Straw man - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I am sorry, but I DO have to dis-agree with that. Its rather like saying, no amount of research can tell you if your new appliance will die before it runs out of warranty!

Thing is.. results DO show.. so.. I think while in life you can't ever be 100% assured of anything... you can get a pretty accurate picture of the person you are interested in by doing your homework. I've suggested ways that I came to choose my own director- and I am very glad I did what I did. I have experienced the success I was looking for, and am able to pass on that skillset to others.

Its pretty rude, I think.. to say that a director may be unethical because s/he has not been "caught" yet. Those of us familiar with and experienced in this business know and have seen the rotton directors exposed, and pretty gosh lightening quickly. Thing is this.. coastal is ALL OVER the internet. Someone that gets a bum deal, well- chances are they go to the internet- and find out- gee.. this person I'm working with is NOT following the rules, I'm going to say something about it. Then there are people out here (self included) that offer to help them.

I've just had another poster comment to me that the support in this business is AMAZING- he is considering working with another director- and already 2 of us have chimed in to help him get questions answered and quality information- though we know there is no personal gain to us save the satisfaction of doing the right thing.

At any rate.. I know for a fact there is over 5000 people in the CSG.. and I also know it is VERY VERY hard to find anything negative said about any of us. I think that speaks volumes for the group I have chosen to put my name behind. The group was formed more then a few years ago, as well.

Again, smart people will do their homework and ask questions. Never take anyone else's word for it. DO YOUR OWN HOMEWORK, and find out what is best for YOU- not the next guy!

Cheers

Jani Teeter
L3 Director, CSG

Oh.. I also have to let you know that we are not a "company" but an association of entrepreneurs, travel industry providers, and consumers...

It's the fact that we are all independent business owners that those of us involved see as a plus and the beauty of it. Its partly why our overhead is low, and why we are able to provide our valued products at the pricepoint we do. Its not like a franchise where you have to do it exactly their way or take the highway. Sadly, some individuals in Coastal Vacations (which is not exactly the same thing as the Coastal Synergy Group) have abused that independence.

Again, I will state.. look into it- most of the crummy directors out there are acting as independants! Now, not to say all independants are crummy- but having a group to stand behind does add credibility, as there is a second monitor of ethical activity.

Cheers

Jani Teeter
L3 Director, CSG

Old thread that has run its course. No need to revive.

Thread is now CLOSED.