Anybody know how to locate the reported owner - Sam Bazzi? Some acquaintances of mine who were employed there have had their final pay checks bounced.
Looking for Owner of Mezzmerize Mediterranean Grill
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Good luck. From what I've heard, he owes vendors a hell of a lot more than those paychecks.
Is there an Indian burial ground under that building?
posted by thetoledowire_com on Jan 24, 2009 at 09:31:43 am #
He's from the Detroit area. That's all I know.
When you Google the name, there is information about a Sam Bazzi in Dearborn who deals with real estate. However, I have no idea if its the same guy. There could be other Sam Bazzis in suburban Detroit?
I'm told that the surname Bazzi is akin to Smith, especially in the Dearborn area, however I think your information is solid mom2. I appreciate it.
Too bad - I had a great meal there on New Years Eve...
The 8 of us spent an easy $300 + tip...
A responsible party for the restaurant has been reached. The probability of the employees receiving their pay is close to 0. Pretty sad for all and devastating to some of them.
They could always hire guido to get their money for them
posted by lfrost2125 on Jan 24, 2009 at 04:10:11 pm #
When the little guy gets stiffed it's always tough. Civil recourse through small claims court is always an option, but you get a piece of paper that says he owes you and you still have to find a way to collect. Finding assets and/or nonwage garnishement is for the pros. By the time the individual has paid all the filing fees or attorney fees he/she could easily spend more than they have lost already with no guarantee they will get any money.
You could try criminal prosecution for passing bad checks, but recently I had a prosecutor tell me that if the check writer did not "intend" to bounce a check it's not criminal! I suspect that's a thinly disguised ploy to reduce this prosecutor's case load. How on earth would these employees prove intent?
That makes "Guido" look like a rational, sensible course of action. Is there a "Guido" web site?
Not to toot my own horn as a paragon of virtue, but when my business went belly up, my employees were the very first people I paid. Since I still live in Toledo, the last thing I wanted to have to deal with was a hundred former employees pissed about getting stiffed on their last checks, and having to run into them at Kroger's or the gas station.
Me: "Hey, how's it going, Joe?"
Ex-employee: "F..k off, you cheap bastard."
That sort of thing.
Besides, I think that screwing over former employees is just flat-out bad karma. Better to leave a Coca-Cola or other corporate mega-vendors out in the cold than to stiff your employees or the small business vendors, like your lawn guy or the guy who serviced your A/C system. The multinationals routinely write off bad debt, while your employees and small vendors would suffer serious harm with missing even one check.
While my former employees might not all have loved me (and the ones I fired over the years probably have some grudges), I know I can walk around town with a clean conscience. And better still: I gave a bunch of key employees significant raises and promotions right before the end. I figured they might wind up victims of the coming corporate reshuffling (their new boss was a mutli-billion dollar corporation), and the salary and wage bumps might translate into better severance/unemployment packages if they later got the shaft. If not, just consider it a going-away bonus.
Call me devious, but I have always had a soft heart for those who slug it out in the metaphorical trenches.
posted by historymike on Jan 24, 2009 at 07:23:51 pm #
^Nice post Mike.
What you say is true, but you never know. Maybe this guy just has absolutely no money left. Alof of owners think if they keep sticking things out it will turn and vendors will keep delivering on promises, etc. I don't think anybody starts a business (and from everything I have heard this was a great restauarant)wanting to fail like this. Granted, my tune may be different if I was stiffed, but this guy could just be that broke. Who knows?
Mike,
It is the right thing to do when you have a business to make sure your employees get paid first. Sadly many business owners don't think this way and say screw everyone else I'm worrying about myself and that is it.
I always make sure my guys get paid before anything else is taken care of. Sometimes after everything is paid for that leaves little money for me which sucks but that is just part of owning your own business
posted by lfrost2125 on Jan 24, 2009 at 07:31:08 pm #
Ryan,
More than likely you would look at it very differently if you were the one getting stiffed. One customer stiffed me for over 20,000 once, trust me I tried everything, but couldn't collect and I couldn't waste anymore time or money to try to collect it.
What really pissed me off is that I ran into him a few months later and he was driving a new BMW,but he couldn't pay his bill with me.
posted by lfrost2125 on Jan 24, 2009 at 07:35:38 pm #
A quick search of the Wayne County Register of Deeds web site produced a "Sam Bazzi" as very active in buying and selling real estate, with the name appearing on at least 12 deeds. There is no way of determining (for free) if this is the same Sam Bazzi. It's a $5.00 lookup fee to see each deed and what would be the point anyway. It won't get these people paid.
I would gently point out to Ryan that it's not nice to issue the checks, and then have them bounce. That causes all kind of problems down stream as the hapless employees deal with their own accounts going in the negative and all the NSF fees they incur. I find it hard to swallow that the check writer didn't know the checks wouldn't clear.
Historymike, if only every business man was as honorable as you.
What really pissed me off is that I ran into him a few months later and he was driving a new BMW,but he couldn't pay his bill with me.
You oughta go into medicine.....the only business where people are happy when 60% of your customers pay.
Well, this is going off topic, but what the heck. I've got dental insurance. Good dental insurance. I needed a crown. I was at the counter paying for it at the same time someone else was making pmt. arrangements for theirs. Full price $980.00. Aetna insurance negotiated price $520. My share $260.00. The poor slob standing next to me? No insurance and the price was $980.00, cash or equivilant in full up front.
Thanks for the kind remarks. One thing about the restaurant business is that it is cash and credit-card based. Even when times are tough there is still cash flow going, and the most I ever made employees suffer was to delay passing out checks on Friday until 5:00, so they wouldn't hit the bank until Monday.
For anyone who was inconvenienced, I cashed the check for them out of the till that night.
When I left my business, I had a measly $3K in cash to my name, I was driving used cars, and the only meaningful asset I had was about $20K in home equity. When the dookie hit the business fan, I took out a second mortgage, cashed in my 401-Ks, and even liquidated my coin and bullion holdings (about $20K at the time) to try and keep the business afloat. I was a true believer who kept waiting for market and cost conditions to turn around, and I ended up going Chapter 7 a decade ago to get out from under the current and potential liabilities from that I personally guaranteed (leases, equipment loans, business loans, and some accounts payable).
So I know full well the feeling of the weight of the world being on you, as $1.2 million in paper liabilities went bye-bye in the federal courts (about $400 K was in leases, and about $700K to the franchisor, who got the four remaining stores). But I never had a serious urge to pocket $100K in cash and receivables and boogie - I was either going to survive the crash or go out broke - no wimping out with hedging my bets, you know?
So to Sam Bazzi: good luck, mister, but you would have slept a lot better if you took care of your people.
As for lfrost 2125: it must really be an insult to see someone who stiffed you living large in a Beemer. We had some accounts that went belly up on us, but the accounts I had to eat over the years were always $100 to $500 in size, nothing of major substance in a business with $2.5 mil in annual revenues. It did get me pissed, though, to run into someone who owed me a bunch of money on bad checks.
Oh yeah, those bad check and bounced check creeps? THAT was a major problem for me in the 1990s. With multiple units we averaged about $1,000 a month in bad checks, and we only recovered about 25%. I'll bet I easily lost $100K in bad checks in a decade of selling pizzas in this city.
The worst ones were the crooks who opened an account and burned you for $100-$200 in orders before the system caught up with them. These days the window is much smaller with the check verification systems that immediately access bank data, but of course the scammers now spend more time getting bogus credit cards.
posted by historymike on Jan 24, 2009 at 08:45:05 pm #
"...few months later and he was driving a new BMW,..."
I'd assume he probably had a fairly large insurance deductible on his car.
It's amazing how efficient brake fluid is at removing paint from a car when it's sprayed or flung sparingly.
It's also amazing how much $$ someone can spend on that deductible when the brake fluid thing happens time after time, after time, after....
posted by GraphicsGuy on Jan 24, 2009 at 09:21:16 pm #
I was just stating that he may have thought things would clear and they didn;t. Running a business is not like balancing your personal check book. There is alot of in and out and hopes. Not sticking up for him, just saying we never know the whole story.
Bad checks are still a problem, even with the expedited clearing time. There is little effective recourse. Bad check writers ignore civil litigation and judgements. Prosecutors find evey possible excuse not to prosecute hence repeat bad check writers soon learn they can game the system.
Well, lets give the check writer the benefit of the doubt and assume he had funds to cover the checks at the time he wrote them. Then you have to assume, that for some unknown reason, those funds suddenly disappeared. Then you also have to assume that there are no personal liquid assets from which to pay these checks. That's a lot of assumes, bro, especially given the size of the operation that Mezzmerize was.
"...few months later and he was driving a new BMW,..."
Q)What's the difference between a BMW and a porcupine?
A)With a porcupine, the pricks are on the outside!
Historymike: congrats on your character and progress on your doctorate.
GraphicsGuy. Thanks for the tip, i never knew brake fluid was so diverse! (hehehehe can't wait to try it!)
HOLLAND!!!
BAZZI, SAM 449 SANDALWOOD RD. CANTON, MI 48188
I am a former employee. I had Criminal charges filed againist him for Insurance fraud (Petty theft). All his information is available on Maumee court website. There is a warrant out for him as well. Unfortunately these criminal charges dont guarentee restituion...so as for my claims, that is a civil issue.
Any info you would like on this guy, let me know...
Holy Cow! I guess the notion of the employees' getting their pay is pretty much hopeless. This guy will just hide in Detroit. I do appreciate the information.
Can I ask if you were a Mezzmerize restaurant employee? I've heard that he's a licensed realtor in Michigan. If that's true, then a criminal conviction could possibly jeopardize his license. A lot of people seem to know him, but pinning him down hasn't been that easy. The restaurant property is not in his name, leaving that asset out of reach of a judgement. I've also heard that he has another restaurant in the Canton MI area somwhere in the vicinity of the airport. Wouldn't it be neat if the employees he stiffed head up there for dinner and instead of paying plunked down copies of their bounced payroll checks.
Can you explain here the circumstances of the reason for a warrant? That's somewhat unusual. Prosecutors don't present a case to the judge and get a warrant unless it's a slam dunk. How can I reach you?
Mezzmerize building owners:
Amin & Aida Beshara
8905 Wilshire
Livonia, MI 48150Perhaps they can be persuaded to point you in the direction of Sam Bazzi.
posted by historymike on Jan 28, 2009 at 11:22:24 pm #
An interview I did with WTOL on Friday. Let's make it known Bazzi is a Scam Artist!
You know what's funny...
When I asked where I was going to get the money he said, "Well maybe...you could talk to your dentist about having them put back in" I WAS TICKED!!!
I'm not going to let this go. Sam Bazzi is a crook and people need to know so he does not hurt anyone else...
I feel so bad for all the poor employees who never got their final paycheck… Not to mention the poor landlord who got screwed as well. What happened to you is awful Jordan :( I watched the interview and it's good that you spoke up. On another note, If rumor has it that every business on that corner has failed, I wonder what type of business would actually prosper? The building is absolutely gorgeous and it would be such a shame to tear it down, so it would only make sense to keep it a restaurant. The question is, what type of restaurant would the people of Toledo like to see there? I personally love Mediterranean food, but most of my friends would beg to differ. Some people say a night club would be a hit. Just curious to hear your thoughts...
posted by Bartender_Babe on Feb 04, 2009 at 01:18:02 am #
I was the bar manager at Mezzmerize. I quit 2 days before the restaurant was closed. Over the eight month period I was employed there, I got to know Sam Bazzi pretty well. I believe that he is a good man that got a little over his head with running an upscale restaurant. He had a big vision for his restaurant and so did his management staff, but there were so many mistruths and lying, by the end I didn't know what to believe. Like Jordan Haynes, I was also the victim of unpaid health insurance. Not only that, but hours were being skimmed off not only my check, but every other employee.
As a manager you would think I would be privy to a lot of information, I was very restricted. I did not have keys to the office, the building, and I did not have an alarm code. All of the computers in the office were password protected and I was not given then password. I was, however, given the duty of call screener. Every time someone called and asked for Sam by name, I was instructed to tell them he was in a meeting and to take a message. I also witnessed him physically dodge bill collectors when they came to the building.
4 or 5 months into my employment, I got sick of this routine. I started putting my resume out and got a job offer with Wine Trends Distribution. I told Sam, and he convinced me to stay saying that he was going to open many more restaurants starting with one in Michigan in less than 3 months. He offered me an executive position and a partnership. I turned down the Wine Trends job and continued my employment with Mezzmerize. The months past and it was quite clear this new restaurant was not going to happen and the Mezzmerize was on the verge of collapse. I started putting my resume out and got a job managing the bar at Pizza Papalis in downtown Toledo. I started recruiting people and Sam was furious. He told me that I blew a grand opportunity and that I stabbed him in the back. He was still trying to convince me to stay as well as all the employees I recruited. I declined, though some of them decided to stay. Mezzmerize closed two days later.
The list of people and business that, for lack of a better word, got screwed by Mezzmerize and Sam Bazzi goes on. The ones I know for a fact are: Toledo Edison, 5th/3rd Bank, Kolb�s Lawn Care, The City of Maumee, The Toledo School for the Performing Arts, Sysco, US Foods, some meat market in Dearborn, his advertising and printing company, Cintas, and all of his employees.
This last part is for Sam.
Sam,
If you are reading this, you need to do what is right by your employees. We had many discussions and you always talked about how the average guy needs a break. You need to practice what you preach and pay your employees. I know you and I know that you�re not a bad person. You need to do what is right.
Good luck at Pizza Papalis. I was there yesterday and it was great. I was on the clock though, so could not have a drink. But was glad to see you have an actual bar and not just beer and a few wines.
Sadly, these guys have powerful attorneys who know how to protect them from the little guy. Happens all the time.
Yikes
posted by toledolen on Jan 24, 2009 at 12:31:31 am #