Valley residents have filed so many complaints against a Chandler moving company that the Arizona Department of Weights and Measures routinely calls in local law enforcement and stands by homes to oversee unloading.

Authorities say there are no criminal charges against Allstar Moving & Storage. But a growing number of civil lawsuits and small claims seeking compensation for damaged possessions, missing items and overcharges are being filed against the company, and at least a dozen disgruntled customers who have taken action in justice courts say they are frustrated more isn't being done to stop the practices.

"They tore up my beautiful furniture, broke my fine china and won't give me the name of their insurance company," said Georgia Tuminello, 59, who moved from Gilbert to Chandler earlier this year and sued Allstar in justice court. The company did not respond to the lawsuit and she is preparing to seek a default judgment. Allstar charged her $1,800 to move six miles, demanded $50 cash tips for employees before they unloaded her furniture and caused $3,500 in damage, Tuminello said.

Shawn Marquez, director of compliance programs for the Department of Weights and Measures, said Tuminello's story is all too familiar and moving company problems are pervasive in Arizona. Allstar is considered one of the worst, he said, and little help is available for customers. (The company has no connection to Allstar Metro Movers of Glendale, which has a top rating.)

An employee at the Chandler company's business office said owner Mohamed Elsayed, the only name listed on Arizona Corporation Commission records, is out of the country and unavailable. Messages left for a response from local company representatives were not returned.

San Marcos Justice of the Peace Keith Frankel has issued civil arrest warrants for Elsayed's arrest because the owner has failed to respond to court appearance orders. But Constable Kevin Jones has been unable to find him.

Jones said Allstar has been the subject of complaints and judgments in the San Marcos court for more than a decade; state records show the business was incorporated in 1996.

Meanwhile, the Better Business Bureau has rated Allstar an "F," the lowest possible, with 134 complaints over the past 36 months.

Several Allstar Moving clients say they filed consumer fraud complaints with the Arizona Attorney General's Office, but that agency is taking no legal action against the company,said spokeswoman Anne Hilby. Privacy rules preclude the office from saying why, said communications director Steve Wilson. He also said investigations into consumer complaints that don't result in charges, as well as ongoing investigations, are confidential.

Hilby advises anyone who hires a moving company to get a copy of the price quote in writing, check the company's insurance coverage beforehand and check the Better Business Bureau and other references.

Similar scenarios

Marquez said the stories that reach his agency are similar: charges for the service skyrocket after furniture is loaded onto trucks, possessions are held pending payment in cash, items are lost or damaged and the company will not provide customers with the name of an insurance carrier.

That scene played out last week when Audra Smith, 36, carried hundreds of dollars in cash through a dark industrial parking lot to meet Allstar's demands for payment before they delivered her furniture.

"We have no beds to sleep in tonight," she said. A move from Gilbert to Queen Creek that she arranged with a $49.99-an-hour coupon from a direct mail advertisement escalated to $1,000 after crews spent three hours loading the truck, Smith said.

A company representative had told her she must pay $750 in cash before 6 p.m. or they would hold her belongings. That's when she called Weights and Measures, which documented her plight in one of dozens of similar reported complaints against Allstar, which also goes by the name Allways Moving.

Smith and Chandler police officer Shawn Hansen went in the office with a man identified as Amru Mohamed Hamdy Abdalla. Weights and Measures investigator J.J. Stroh drove to Smith's home address to stand by for the unloading. When it was over, Smith had negotiated a $550 payment to have her possessions delivered that night.

Unable to collect

Many customers won small claims judgments by default after the company didn't respond. But most have been unable to collect, records show. Jones said a few years ago he was able to collect judgments by threatening to seize the company's trucks or other assets. But lately the company has been using rental trucks and recently moved the business from 870 E. Chandler Boulevard to leased space in an industrial building at 550 E. Elliot Road, he said. The court cannot seize items that aren't owned free and clear by the business, Jones said.

Tempe resident William Nowack, 75, said he got a $300 estimate from Allstar to move his daughter's furniture and was presented with a bill for more than $1,200. He won a $713 small claims judgment in October but hasn't been able to collect.

Foreclosure forced Dave Sanderman, 52, to move from one Phoenix home to another. He said his wife selected Allstar from a direct mail flyer that advertised they were "licensed, bonded and insured . . . that made her feel safe." Sanderman said he was forced to pay them a higher price than he was originally quoted before they would unload. After he paid he heard a loud crash. His new stainless steel refrigerator had been dropped off the moving truck and broken. He took photos of his other possessions crammed at odd angles in the back of the truck.

Sanderman won a $2,342 default judgment against Allstar in justice court but the company has ignored certified letters and has refused to name their insurance company, he said. "We already had a lot of stress with the move; our house had been foreclosed on. Now we have to deal with compensation for a refrigerator they destroyed, and the company has stopped taking our calls," Sanderman said. "I can't believe that company is still open."

Earlier this month, Weights and Measures were called in to investigate allegations that Allstar doubled the quoted charges for a 90-year-old Mary Coleman of Surprise for her move into a Peoria assisted living facility. The agency report said Allstar held some of her belongings until she paid the full amount. Peoria police and Stroh negotiated return of her possessions and payment for the quoted price.

The direct mail advertisement for Allstar said they are insured, and when asked for the name of the carrier, an employee said it is LeBaron and Carroll. Agent David Brinson, who said he is handling the Allstar account, said an application for a policy covering the contents of the moving trucks was made in November through a different company, But he said there is no record it has been issued. LeBaron and Carroll has insured Allstar's trucks and offices since November and Brinson has no knowledge of insurance before that time.

A "black eye"

Chandler police spokesman Sgt. Joe Favazzo said it is illegal for a moving company to hold clients' possessions but that becomes a civil matter outside the purview of police action once the customer pays and possessions are released. A recent report indicates an Allstar client called Chandler police to report her personal items were stolen by the company in October. However, Abdalla told officers the client had given him some of the items and he agreed to return others. No charges were filed.

Some customers have said they were confused when they checked out the BBB record of a similarly named firm, Allstar Metro Movers of Glendale, which as an A rating. Doug Whitson, owner of that company, said the similar names bring continuing calls to his office from distressed customers of the Chandler firm. "It's a nightmare of a story and unfortunately gives the moving industry a black eye," he said.