Avalanche of complaints may snowball into lawsuit

Fed up with an apparent lack of service and little explanation six days after the first major snowstorm of the season hit the Montreal area, some West Islanders are mulling a class-action lawsuit against new snow removal company Avalanche.

"They still didn't do the job. We've been told many times to wait, nobody showed up" said Pierrefonds resident Pat Anthopoulos Monday morning, waiting with a handful of other customers in front of the company's locked gates on Labrosse Avenue in Pointe Claire. Anthopoulos also took down some of the other customers' personal information in order to see if there is enough interest for a lawsuit.

He estimated there are around 400 people displeased with the company's actions.

Whereas Avalanche has issued an official fax number where people may send their contracts in for a refund, it appears to be malfunctioning.

"Nobody answers the phone," said Dollard des Ormeaux resident Lyn Lhang. "The fax number (they gave out) doesn't work," she added.

Many residents were attracted to Avalanche after receiving a flyer from them earlier in the fall advertising a lower-than-average $200 price tag for the winter season. "They told me they had the best deal," said Kirkland resident Gilles Masson, who also went in person to the company's location this morning to find out what was going on.

For another Kirkland resident, Andrea Katz, getting out of her driveway Thursday morning may have proven insurmountable if a driver from a competing snow removal company, Duraguard, had not cleared it for her out of sympathy.

"I pulled out my (Avalanche) markers," Katz said, adding she is opting out of her contract with the new business.

When she drove down to Avalanche's offices herself last Thursday morning, she estimated up to 15 customers who appeared equally unsatisfied were asking for an explanation. By today, however, the company was not receiving anyone, leaving them outside the locked gates instead.

Avalanche's office is directly adjacent to that of competitor Syljack, a well-established company with a street address on Tecumseh right on the corner of Labrosse. The parking lots of the two companies are only separated by a fence.

And, at least on paper, the connection between the two is stronger.

According to the Registraire des Entreprises Système CIDREQ (Centre informatique du registre des entreprises du Québec), a publicly available online registry of companies in Quebec run by the provincial Ministry of Revenue, the two companies share a president, Jacques Tozzi.

Tozzi is listed under Déneigement Avalanche's entry as administrator, president and stockholder. Under the Syljack entry, he is named as administrator, president, secretary and majority stockholder.

However, when reached for comment, Tozzi was adamant he has nothing to do with Avalanche.

"Talk to me about Syljack, I'm Syljack," he insisted. "I cannot answer about something I don't know," he said when asked about Avalanche. "I was the owner," he said about one company, but did not specify which.

Tozzi said anyone signed up with Syljack for the winter received great service after Wednesday's snowfall. "My people were out there, I was out there," he said.

He added Syljack has been around for 18 years and has always put their customers first. "I always said we have a moral responsibility to clean the customers," he added.

According to him, Syljack has 268 drivers, and charges $230 to $260, plus taxes, per residence on the West Island.

Tozzi conceded he had 800 fewer customers during the 2008-09 season than he did during 2007-08. At that time, Syljack had asked a $40 surcharge to its customers on top of the regular amount already paid to due to more snowfall than expected.

He admitted the surcharge did not appear on standard Syljack contracts, but said they do mention the company may charge more "at its discretion" if winter brings more snow than originally foreseen.

Tozzi said 800 on a total of about 12,000 customers were surprised and chose not to make good on that payment.

"You know what I did the following season? I just didn't renew them," Tozzi said.

"If you want to know something else about another company," Tozzi said of Avalanche last Thursday, "call the company, or drive or by walk by or ask them the question."

The Chronicle tried just that last Friday morning, arriving as a harried receptionist tried to tell a handful of customers Avalanche was doing its best to clear up any problems. "We have brand-new equipment," he told one customer.

He told another that some drivers had quit on the company.

"They're new drivers," he also said, trying to learn their routes on the job.

He did not give The Chronicle any answers. "We're not interested in talking to media," he said, not giving out his name either.

Asked who the company was run by, he had no reply. "I don't know who the owners are," he said, adding only some snow plow drivers were in the building.

A phone call Monday did not produce any results either. "I only talk to big people," said a person whom The Chronicle was transferred to. "You're small fish in a big pond," he added.

Asked to identify himself, he refused to do so. "I don't have a name," he said.

According to Revenue Quebec spokesperson Danny Lapointe, the registry kept on its website is updated on a daily basis. "It's up to the companies themselves to submit us any information that's modified," Lapointe said, adding provincial law requires companies to do so within 15 days of any changes.

"If (Tozzi) made any demands for any modifications," Lapointe added, "it is possible there was a bit of a delay."