This entry was posted on 7/30/2007 3:19 PM and is filed under Guardala News.
My Guardala Story
It's anniversary time.
Hello Saxophone World. I have just passed my personal 'D Day' - the day I got the first friendly email from Dave Guardala. --- July 29th, 2006 ---
It has been a hard last few days. Looking back on that fateful day, many things should have been done differently. I know I did everything I knew to do and that risk is apart of life, but in hind sight; I wish I had told Dave Guardala I was not interested.
The initial contact was by email. See below -
Dave Guardala Email - July 29th, 2006
Start Email Copy --------------------------
This is the message that followed from Dave Guardala.
I
am in Germany and I need to
talk to you immediately. Can you please call me at the following phone number:
011-49-160-9222-5855.
Just
dial the number exactly the way I wrote it, my phone is on 24 hours.
It
is really important.
Thanks
and I hope that you are doing well,
Sincerly,
Dave
Guardala
END EMAIL ----------------------------------------
This is the email that started it all!
I called the number, talked to Dave Guardala for a long time, searched online for anything that would tell me he was lieing, researched the instrument list for value and possible stolen status - then borrowed the money and sent it the next day - July 30th, 2006.
This began a long and frustrating process that ended in a 20K dollar loss and no instruments or mouthpieces ever being sent by Dave Guardala. The full story is documented on my Guardala Scam Site - www.DaveGuardala.net.
Since these events, life has been a lot harder. My debt is higher than it has ever been. Work has been lamer than ever and CD recording has been killed by the lack of funding needed to finish recording or even think about manufacturing.
The only good news is the people that have been saved this grief due to this BLOG and the Guardala Site. I have also met some very cool people thru this unfortunate event, some that are now friends. I hope to keep the flame growing and get the word out to every saxophone player and music business in the world. A large goal, but thank God for the internet!
Thousands of visitors, 10's of thousands of page views and dozens of blogs, sites and news groups have come on board and now carry information regarding Guardala and the Guardala Scam Site. My Guardala Sites are international, with hits from all over the world. The sites went up early February, and have been atop the search engines for Guardala information since the first day they were indexed.
When I got sucked into this amazing deal from Guardala, there was nothing online about him stealing from sax players. Today - You search anything Guardala and you will get a top 10 return on every major search engine in the world. GOOGLE "Guardala" - #1, Yahoo "Guardala" - #1 & #3, MSN "Guardala" - #1, #2, #3 & #4 on today's search returns.
When I GOOGLE searched " Guardala Scam" a year ago there was nothing online about Dave Guardala. Today - GOOGLE Guardala Scam - #1 thru #20 are all returns I have created or that became informed by the Guardala Scam Sites. The TOP 20 RETURNS!!
Now, if only one day I can celebrate July 29th with my friend Dave. HE made it thru the first years anniversary running and hiding and stealing, but maybe I can visit him on one of the future anniversaries - Second? Third? Forth??
He looks good in strips. And I sense bars will become very familiar too...
I came across your "Guardala Scam" site while researching saxes online to make a purchase. Now, I do not claim to have any information about Mr. Guardala or his dealings, and do not know him. But, what struck me about your story is your refusal to accept that it was actually your own greed that has led to your current problems. Yes, that All-American, get in on the ground floor, put one over on your fellow man (or musicians) GREED. You thought that you could score a number of valuable saxes for far below their market value, probably in the hopes of reselling them for a hugh profit. It's really sad, but I have to hand it to the scammer who was ingenious enough to come up with a version of the "Nigerian Widow - Help Me Get My Money Out Of The Country" scam to take advantage of musician greedheads like yourself. Despite all strong evidence to the contrary, you continued to send "Mr. Guardala" more and more money in the hopes of salvaging your deal and the saxes. Man, have you never heard of FedEx, UPS, or DHL? All are reputable shippers who will provide detailed shipment tracking information. Your first tip-off should've been when "Dave" started asking you for more money because of a hold-up in shipping, etc. I mean, Christ, "DANGER, WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!!" But your GREED and desire to score a once in a liftime deal blinded you to using your common sense and seeing the true facts, which was that you were being set up to be ripped off big-time! Don't you follow the news? Hundreds, if not thousands of people have been ripped off in similar "send money now for the BIG payoff later" scams. All that's different is that you were being sold saxophones instead of rare wine, gold, jewelry, antiques or family fortunes. I can understand your frustration leading to the creation of this website, but isn't it in fact an over the top reaction to realizing, with shame, that you've been had BIG TIME?? Your karma is really {EDITED} for the next several lifetimes. Reply to this
Dave is very persuasive. He told me when I got sucked in that I was doing a good deed. Well I guess I am very gullible!
Mind you, this is the Dave who has always been a fuzzy with the details yet has always delivered the goods. Based on my past experience he was good for his word.
I will admit that greed is what Dave Guardala preys on. But if you talk to others sucked into this, you will find out that he also makes you feel GUILTY. I'm not kidding! I recall asking him several times for photos, phone numbers, names or other proof to ease my fears. Every time he has managed to deflect my request and reminded me that he was doing me a great favor and that I should be ashamed to ask such things.
Dave Guardala may indeed be some evil a$$hole, but in the past he has come through for me with great mouthpieces and horns. I had no idea that he had become a person unworthy of trust.
8/20/2007 1:36 AM
Greg Vail wrote:
I really appreciate Crescent chiming in here. NJ Guy must have scanned the story, missing a few very important facts.
For one, Dave Guardala was someone I knew very well. The nature of this scam and all the others Guardala perpetrated, using his name, were based on history.
History of delivered products and honest business. Not always the warmest dealings, but always delivered goods. If you read the background on the MY Story site, I even tell of a story when Dave refused to take money from me before he made the mouthpiece because he didn't want to owe me anything. He wanted to make it, and then have me pay for it.
The very fact that an icon in the sax world contacted me was flattering. The fact that he remembered me as a good man, good sax player and someone he could trust with a bunch of personal and insider information might have appealed to my ego, but had nothing to do with greed.
Point 2 - Dave sold this amazing deal as an act of rescue to this poor family that needed funds the next day, and was looking at making next to nothing at the local pawn shop if they had to pawn the goods that next day.
I didn't fight him on a price or even question the amount he asked because it did was a win win. They got more than twice what they had been offered and I got a great deal on these saxes because I was able to move on it the very next morning.
I knew it was an amazing deal, and if it wasn't freaking Dave Guardala, the sax guru to the stars calling me and talking to me, very much as a friend, for over an hour from Germany, I would have run, not walked from this "great deal".
Why money kept being sent. I was sucked in and believed Dave was trying to help me out as things started going weird. Once you have money out, you will do what it takes to not loose that investment. When call came in on more saxes found as they were cleaning out this guys room, Dave told me I should get this stuff because the family wanted me to have it after all I had done for them, I deserved first crack at it. He also baited it with the huge shipping savings if everything was shipped together. Guardala sold me hard, that I was getting a great opportunity and my ability to jump in and help these people was really going to pay off in the big picture.
Then things went more and more wrong and the issue became not loosing all the money I had borrowed from my family. I did what I had to to try and close the deal and hoped for the best.
It was Dave Guardala, someone I really respected and admired living out this crazy story and I bought it.
Was it because I was greedy? To be honest with one's self, it is hard to know how much of any particular emotion fits into the picture. As far as I can see, and I have had many a soul searching moment since this event; I don't believe greed was ever a motivating factor.
I don't know if I will see it different 10 years from now, but I would guess not at this point.
The websites - They are here to stop the crime spree.
