My company, The Crest Batting Cages, in Riverside California has filed a criminal complaint of fraud against Gala Pitching Machines and its owner Valdo Galaviz. They did not deliver $21,000 in commercial batting machine equipment and now will not take phone calls from me.
In March my wife and I flew to San Antonio and met Valdo and his wife Rosa. We were in the beginning stages of building a commercial batting cage complex and were shopping for machines. I had located the company via the internet, spoke with Valdo a number of times and wanted to see his operation before giving him any money. After the meeting, I gave him a $10,000 deposit on 8 pitching machines, an elevator and distribution system, 60 dozen balls, tokens, token receivers, and the associated operating systems. He said that the order would take about 8 weeks to assemble and deliver.
I ran into hurdles in my building process and phoned Valdo in July. He said that the machines were done and the order ready to ship, however he would keep everything there until I was ready for delivery.
In November I called Valdo and asked him to arrange shipping for mid December and send me a final invoice. He never got back to me. I called him in Mid December and said I was ready and wanted to open my operation by the end of January. He said that everything was ready and he was looking for the best price for shipping. I called him the first week of January and he said that he was still looking for a trucking company.in February I received a call from Gala saying they were ready to ship and they needed final payment. They emailed me an invoice for $11,566. I promptly paid the invoice and asked for the shipping details.
This is where things went wrong. Usually when I called the company, noone would answer the phone. I did get through a few times and was always told, "the trucking company is scheduled to pick up your order tomorrow, you should see it next week".
By this time our Little League season was underway and my cages were ready for machinery. I was losing money everyday.
They finally told me that they had used parts from my machines to fill another order and they were waiting on their suppliers to get more parts. Then they said that they would be coming to California to build a commercial cage in nearby Covina. Valdo said that due to their problems with my order, they would bring my order along and install the machinery for me.
The Covina deal fell through temporarily and they again promised that my shipment was on the way. A week later, Covina was back on, so they were scheduling time to install my equipment.
In April I finally received a shipment from Gala which contained 5 pitching machines. I called and they said that the remainder of my order was in Covina where Valdo was installing a system. Covina is about 40 minutes away from Riverside. I wanted to pick up my equipment but they refused to tell me where in Covina they were.
Three weeks later I finally got a call through to Valdo's cell phone. He said that they were leaving Covina the next day and would deliver my shipment on their way out of town. He said that they would spend the day installing enough equipment so that I could figure out the remainder.
Late the next day, which was a Saturday, they arrived. They unloaded a pile of machinery. Valdo pointed out how a few things were installed, then said that they had to leave. I asked for written instructions. He said "I'll send them, but it is easy, you'll figure it out".
I did not know at this time that Valdo had made an unauthorized $10,000 charge on the owner of the Covina cages credit card and believed that the police were after him.
After they left I found that I had no installation instructions, I was missing the entire hopper aggitator system, 3 ball feeder motors, 3 ball counters, 3 machine control boxes, the top hub for the elevator system. What they left was completely unoperational.
I was able to get a hold of Valdo who promised that all the missing parts would be shipped overnight delivery. I called several times a day after this and they were not answering. The following week, I dialed #67 to block my number and they answered. I used a false name to get Valdo on the phone. He promptly gave me to an employee who said that my shipment went out that morning and gave me a UPS shipping number. Another week later, I received final shipment.
I was still missing instructions, the entire aggitator system, the feeder motors, and the ball counters.
I had another contact with the company named Rex. Rex had wanted to buy the company, but when he figured out the shady business practices, he backed out. Rex was a subcontractor who had designed the electronics in the systems.
Rex answered his cell phone after I was unable to get anyone at the company to talk to me. Rex said that he was ordered by Valdo to not take any calls from me. Rex felt bad that he had unknowingly been part of what Valdo had done to me, so he agreed to fly out to California and help me complete my installation.
We spend 4 days buying and machining the missing parts. The complexity of the installation was amazing and there is no way that I would have "figured it out".
Gala refuses to talk to me, let alone make things right.
I have filed criminal charges against Gala Pitching Machines, Valdo Galaviz, and his other companies Alamo Pitching Machines which is in his wife Rosa's name (all the money goes through this one). The money has since been moved to Ace Pitching Machines which is in his son Valdito's name.
I have met with the owners of the cages in Covina (they are actually in Azusa) They said that my shipment sat in their ware house for 3 weeks while their installation was being done. They urged Valdo to deliver my order, but he refused.
They have filed charges against Valdo for the credit card theft and are suing Gala for the cost of completing what he left unfinished at their cage. Valdo is also being charged for contracting without a license in California. I saw his electrical work and it was dangerous.
Rex's consult and travel cost me $2500, the missing machinery cost me over $3000, and my lost revenue is over $50,000. I am filing a lawsuit.
I finally was able to open my business the first week of June. I still am battling the sub par machinery. The first week I had 4 of my 8 machines break and needed major repair including welding. Still no one at Gala will answer my calls.
Rex still helps when I call him. He is suing Gala for in excess of $20,000 for stolen electric motors and what is owed for his services.
Do not do business with Gala, Alamo, Ace, Valdo, Rosa, Valdito or anyone else attached to this operation. They are criminals. I am positive the law will catch up with them.
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