A former Pizza Pizza franchise owner is suing the company claiming $1.85 million in damages for taking possession of his store after he alleges it offered him poor business advice.
“Who can protect people like us?†45-year-old Barsoum Habib said, sitting in the living room of his south-end home Tuesday. “I have been fighting now for a year and a half.â€
Habib says the circumstances that led to the loss of his Pizza Pizza store, at the Stone Road Mall, in March 2008, has meant he now owes Revenue Canada more than $17,000 and $7,000 in outstanding property taxes on his home.
He said he has also spent about $22,000 in legal fees pursuing his case against the pizza company.
None of the elements of the litigation have been proven in court and no date is set for a trial in the case.
Pizza Pizza has filed a statement of defence and counter claim, seeking about $77,000 in damages and denying the allegations made in the statement of claim.
Habib said his troubles began in November 2007, when a Pizza Pizza official requested the business hire more drivers and cooks to deal with several complaints from Guelph university students. The complaints arose when the pizza delivery staff arrived at residences and the students didn’t come down from their rooms in time and missed drivers, Habib said. More.