Joel M. Galanza , Plumber, Triple J's Plumbing Fraud in California Bay Area

Objective of this blog: Caution gullible customers who want to get construction/remodeling work done and are contacted by either Joel M. Galanza or the company he claims he owns(at the time of the blog Triple J’s Plumbing).

Area of activity: Oregon, California Bay Area (San Francisco, San Jose, Milpitas, Mountain View..rest of bay area.), Washington.
Company Name: As of Aug 18th, Triple J’s Plumbing, Erstwhile names Triple J Rooter, Joel Galanza Construction
Fraud style: Baiting customers with bargain quotes(eg. this job would be his model job so that he/his company can showcase this work to get customers), making customers pay lot of advance for construction/ remodeling work and run away with money.

How can you help or get helped?:  
- Update this blog with your story if you have been a victim
- Be aware if you believe this Joel M. Galanza or his company is working for you.
- Contact California State license board and report unlicensed activity

Known penalties  against either Joel M. Galanza or Triple J’s Plumbing:
Civil Penalties issued in year 2009

Civil Penalties issues in year 2008

Licence suspension in Oregon due to unpaid disciplinary fines



Who these people are:
Joel M. Galanza: He claims himself a civil engineer, he claims to be able to do any handyman job, smooth talker knows how to cajole customers into expanding scope of work and getting maximum amount paid upfront, claims to be from Philippines , lived in Fresno and now back and forth between California and Oregon. He does not seem to own a legitimate registered business, neither did he have valid California contractor licence. His gameplan seems to be finding gullible customers, offer them bargain deals with the caveat of lot of money has to be paid upfront, would do little jump start work picking up daily wage workers from somewhere to gain client confidence and then offer clients significant discounts if they pay all remaining balance even before work is finished, get the money and do not show up.
He seems to have another person John (#2 J) who he claims he hired from his earlier company to do the office/sales management/talking with customers. John claimed to create multiple listings on craigslist.org with different google voice numbers local to each area to trick people in thinking its a local company and also to be able to create multiple listings on craigslist in different categories.





We wanted to get our shower pan changed because it was close to 35-40 years old so we started calling various Plumbing Companies to take their quote.

It was 1st of August when Joe came to our house for the first time through "Plumbing Squad" for the shower pan replacement quote, the person who came

previous to Joe had quoted for $2500 including material or $1800 just for labor.

When Joe saw our bathroom, he said that he would charge us $3500 for renovationg the entire bathroom which would include:-
Tiling on the floor & the wall, He would cover upto $2.00 sq/ft for the cost of tiles.
Pay for the jacuzzi upto $500 & any American Standard faucet for the vanity & shower.

We thought it was a good price so we asked hime how much would he charge us if we get our windows for the entire house & the patio door replaced  , he

quoted us $3500 in which all the windows & the door were included & were to be bought by him. We thought it was a bargain to have all the windows &

patio door replaced & bathroom remodeled for $7000 ($3500 for bathroom+ $3500 for windows & door)but told him that we'll get back to him.

We called him on 6th of August to come over & have a look & asked him to include the tiling for the patio in $7000 for which the material would be

ours & he would provide the labor at no extra charge & he would install French door for the patio of which he would cover the cost upto $600. He

agreed & the terms of contract were written & signed by both parties on friday the 6th & as per the contract 50% 0f $7000 would be paid to him in

advance for the labour & material & the rest would be given after the completion of the job. It was decided to begin the work from Sunday, the 8th of

August. He came at 10.a.m as decided but we were not able to select the material(tiles etc) so it was agreed to start the work from monday.

On the same day ie 6th He also mentioned that he'll leave the current company "Plumbing Squad " & plans on starting his own business because according

to him he was the backbone of Plumbing squad, doing all the work, getting customers etc & so he didn't want to share anything with Mohammad(owner of

Plumbing Squad) as Mohammad was insisting him to pay him 50% percent for getting the customer(We called Plumbing Squad in the first place for the

shower) which Joe didn't want because he said its much more than plumbing & he was also getting the labor & material so he'll be left with nothing if

he gives Mohammad 50% of the the share.

We took entire week off from work starting from 9-13 Aug. as Joe had promised to finish the work within 5-6 days. On Monday, Joe was supposed to be at

our house by 8 in the morning but didn't show up until 11a.m. When he finally arrived he said he would like to have a check for atleast 10% of the

total cost so that He can get labor & material, there was another guy named Romeo, Joe's assistant/labor who reminded Joe on getting a check of
$3500 (50%) as per the contract. We gave him a check of $2000 for the date of 9th August & another check for $1500 which had the date of 10th August.

He took the check but came back in 10 minutes because he could not 'cash' the check. We gave him the check which was from our CU that did not have

branch in bay area. We thought he would deposit in his account. He asked if we could give him a check of some local bank so that he could encash it.

He said that he doesn't have a bank a/c to deposit the check & so he'll have to create a business a/c etc...& said that since almost half of the day

is gone, he would rather start the work from Tuesday. We needed some help in selecting material so we asked Joe to come at Lowe's as regardless he was

not going to start the work until the next day. Joe said that he'll be at Lowe's at 7 p.m on monday. we reached Lowe's at 7 & waited for Joe, he

didn't show up. At around 7.45, We called Joe to check when he is reaching Lowe's, He said he is on his way & will be there at around 8.15. At around

8:45 when we called him again to check what time he'll reach, he said he could not come coz his wife is not home & he has to baby sit his daughters.

We came home at around 10 & we were really pissed off at Joe because of his attitude of not even having the courtesy to communicate his customer(who

is waiting for him a Lowe's)that he could not make it.

He had encashed one check on monday & the other on tuesday. On Tuesday, he didn't show up until afternoon. When he came, he said that since most of

the day is gone lets start the work tomorrow early in the morning as he was still looking for labor.

Wednesday(11 Aug.):- He came at 8 a.m with 2 men Romeo & Salvador & asked them to demolish the bathroom, they strated doing that. Joe left after

giving them instructions. on wednesday, they worked till 4p.m & could just demolish the bathroom.

Thursday(12 Aug.):- They (Romeo & Salvado) came at 8:30 in the morning & started with the patio, filling with cement, they worked till afternoon then

Joe came to take them for lunch & after lunch Romeo didn't show up, only Salvado returned at 2:30 & Joe at around 4, I was furious as I felt he was

not committed to the work, my husband had taken off for the week & they're just wasting time. He said that he has left Plumbing Squad & has asked

another guy named John(employee of Plumbing Squad) to join him in his business & he was with John, convincing him & that's why it took him so long.

They worked till 6:15 & then Joe could get hold of my husband, he insisted on paying him the remaining balance & he would not charge anything for the

patio material or the delta of the French door etc. According to him he wanted the money so that he could jump start his business.  we were in a

deliemma, he had not kept his words, he had promidsed that we'll not have to remaion without shower for even a single day & vthere we were without

shower for 2 days already(This is the only bathroom we had in our house). we told him we will think about it.

Friday(13 Aug):- Salvado came at 8:30 in the morning & started working on the bathroom, nailing the cement sheets(hardibacker). At around 11:45 Joels

came with Arnold (he introduced him as his brother-in-law) & asked my husband to accompany him to get the Jacuzzi because he didn't want his labor to

waste any time. At Lowe's, Joel tricked my husband to make the payment for Jacuzzi because he didn't have money, my husband paid $950 for Jacuzzi & in

the meantime Arnold & Salvado were sitting on our patio & smoking(wasting time) because they did not have further work to do without materials.At 1.30

pm my husband was back with Joel, the whole team along with Joel left for lunch & did not return until 5.15. After 5.15, they did the Jacuzzi fitting

& some plumbing. They left at 7.30. I asked Joel  if he had placed the order for the custom windows & the Freench door & he said that he has, when I

asked him the order#, he said his manager John has placed the order & he would have it. I asked him John's # & he said its on his other mobile & he

does not remember it but would call me in 30 minutes to give his #. I did not receive any call.

Saturday (14 Aug):- Arnold came at around 8.15 & worked, Joel came at 10.30 & they both left for lunch at 11.15. We kept waiting for them throughout

the day, they came at 6.30 pm. I showed our frustration again for waiting for him entire day on a weekend with no information from him that he would

not show up. He apologized & said that they would continue the work on Monday.

Monday(16 Aug):- Salvado came at 10:45 & worked till 4 in the evening but Joe didn't show up & Salvado mentioned that Joe is working somewhere else.

Tuesday(17 Aug):- Salvado came in the morning to take his tools & letting us know that he is not working with Joe anymore because Joe did not pay him

anything, promised to pay $100/day for labor & using his truck but paid only first day & has been saying that he doen't have money.

Wednesday(18 Aug.):- Joe comes with Arnold & 2 other men at around 4:30 saying that the two men Meeuel & his friend are tilers who have been working

with him & they would do our tiling as well.

Thursday(19 Aug):-  Meeuel & his friend came at 8:15 & started working, they did not want to start the work because the plumbing was not complete,

Meeuel calls Joel as to what to do, Joe asks Meeuel to start with the plumbing & so that in the meantime Joe can buy the tiles & come at around 11:30,

Meeuel starts with the job but Joe doesn't show up. Meeuel goes for lunch at 11.30 & after returning he was restless, stating that Joel owes him $600

for the previous job & until he pays that amount meeuel was not comfortable working anymore for Joe given the fact that Meeuel had asked his friend to

join & now since Joe had not paid anything, Meeuel owes his friend. They worked from  12:15 till 2:30 that afternoon & left saying that even if Joe

pays them money they would not like to work for him because he doesnot stick to his word, not reliable.

So 18 Aug. was the last day we saw Joe & 19 Aug. last day when any work on behalf of Joel was done at our residence.

We started calling Joel, he kept on insisting that he was looking for tilers but still had not found one. Few days pass by...After couple of days

We left him a voicemail that we've been patient enough for him & using a broken bathroom for so long given the fact that we've only one bath,

we're going to get the work done by someone else & we don't have money to pay the other contractor so asked Joel to return our money or get the work

done. One Friday morning we receive a call from Joe saying that he is going to Oregon to get the French Door & all the tiles because there he will get

discount & that we should wait for him & if he is unable to get our work done, he would pay back our money. We thought maybe this time he'll do

something but that was just an illusion. That was the last time we heard from him. Since then we've been leaving voicemails for him asking him to

return our money but no reply.

We will be updating this blog with more information and facts as we pull together all the information. We wanted to get this first version out on the web as soon as we can so that we can prevent innocent people from falling pray to this man and his company.

Click here for other customers' stories of fraud victims of Joel Galanza.

Amazon AWS , beware of free AWS account catch

Below is the type of response I keep getting for my enquriy.
weare not asking to research our account for the charge. What we asking is:
- For free Trial account, any point in time any activity needs to be performed there should be clear message to user that this will incur in additional charge
-As Mr Jeff Bezos try to bring in new customers with the promotion of free AWS for a year, most of these customers will belong to a group which will migrate from other hosting, and it will take time for customers like myself to fully grasp what is what in AWS and avoid unnecessary charges, as you could see our RDS was not used. Therefore before any button is clicked which would result in additional charges, Amazon needs to get confirmation or show message.
What if our account is hacked and someone instantiates 1000 instances or whatever? Isn't there a cap or limit that can be set for account?
-We need to know who do we need to talk with in your chain of management/command to discuss these issues not only to get these charges cancelled but to make AWS as wonderful place to transact and do business as Amazon.com is.
FYI...all communication will be blogged to help prevent other naive customers from falling into trap of paying large amounts for something they just came to try AWS, they did not intend to use within AWS and were not given any message/confirmation of addtional charges. So please reply with the best of your knowledge and consultation with mangaement.

Hello,

I've researched your account and confirmed that the charges incurred on your account are correct.  Although your account is eligible for the AWS Free Usage Tier, your usage charges were based on activity that was outside the specifications of the offer.

It appears that the reason you recieved such a high bill in December is that you initiated a small instance, and only micro instances are covered in the free tier.  To avoid this in the future I would definitely recommend going over all of the services you are currently receiving and double checking that you are within the criteria for the free tier.

For future reference here are some common reasons a Free Tier customer incurs a charge:

•         Customer has created a m1.small EC2 instance and only t1.micro qualifies for the offer
•         Customer has not created an EC2 instance using Amazon Linux (e.g., they used the SUSE Linux)
•         Customers has gone over their free tier pricing break points and did not realize that this is possible.  They thought it was all free
•         Customer used services that are not part of the Free Tier Offer.  For example RDS has no free tier pricing available
•         Customer thought they were free tier because they have never used EC2 or S3, but the AWS account was created on or before October 20, 2010

We recommend customers monitor their usage periodically to avoid unnecessary charges. By logging into your Account Activity page, you can see current and past usage activity by service and region, and download Usage Reports:

http://aws.amazon.com/account-activity

Using the following link, you can find more information about the services covered by the AWS Free Usage Tier:

http://aws.amazon.com/free/faqs/

Please let us know if you have any other questions in the meantime as we would be happy to assist!
I hope this information helps. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

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