Atlanta man says moving company held his belongings hostage, kept demanding money

ATLANTA — An Atlanta man says local movers he hired through a popular online marketplace that vets contractors held his belongings hostage, demanding extra cash.

“They said if you can’t pay us $1,000, we’re leaving with your property,” Denny Burditt said.

It took Denny Burditt a year after his husband Graham’s death to be ready to move their things out of a Dunwoody storage unit and into a new home.

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He used Angi, formerly known as Angi’s list, to find Star moving services for the short move down Georgia 400 to Buckhead.

“They said they were going to stop for water. They disappeared for three hours. (I) called every number I had. Text. No response. Nothing,” Burditt said.

Burditt says when the movers finally showed up, they immediately demanded he send them $1,000 through Zelle.

But even after he paid the money, they demanded more cash.

“I went to the ATM twice and they demanded money no less than eight times. Every 15 to 20 minutes they were stopping, asking for money,” he said.

It added up to more than $1,600 for an 8-mile move that was quoted at $700.

“He knew his bill was going to be that,” claimed Star Moving Services LLC owner Milton Blakley Junior on a phone call with Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray.

The contract Star Moving Services claims Burditt signed has all the dollar amounts filled in.

But Burditt took a picture of what it looked like when he actually signed.

He was told he was declining insurance.

And his photo shows all those lines with dollar totals are blank.

“I took a picture of the blank paper that I signed, turning down the insurance. Now he’s saying that that’s the contract. That’s not what I agreed to,” Burditt said.

We went to the address listed for Star Moving Services on the invoice.

It was the management office of a Dekalb Apartment complex where staff say they have never heard of the company.

Channel 2 Action News also checked the Georgia Department of Public Safety’s online list of licensed Georgia movers and Star Moving Services LLC is not there.

On the Secretary of State’s website, the company was listed as non-compliant and issued a notice of intent to administratively dissolve the letter for nonpayment of annual registration.

Blakley provided Gray a screenshot showing the company is now in compliance with the Secretary of State.

We checked.

They paid their overdue registration fee 6 minutes after we provided Blakeley with the evidence of non-compliance.

“People know that we do good work,” Blakely told Gray.

He promised to provide evidence of an active Georgia license but did not and agreed to a Zoom interview.

He was a no-show.

Angi has agreed to refund the full amount of the move to Denny Burditt which he paid Star.

He wanted to share his story to protect others.

“I didn’t care about the money. I cared about my property and all my memories with Graham. And they were just trying to take it,” Burditt said about Star.

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In a statement, an Angi spokesperson told us “We are always disheartened to hear when a homeowner has an issue with a pro, however, this is an extremely rare situation that we work hard to avoid. This pro is no longer in the network, and we are working with Denny Burditt to make it right.”

Angi says that in order for a business to be matched to a homeowner on Angi, it must pass a certification process.

This certification takes place when they initially join the Angi network and includes certifying that they attest that they are properly licensed, complete a standard background check, and maintain at least a 3-star rating on their reviews.

But, “If the business falls below the eligible rating criteria or if their background/licensure is questioned, which is what happened in this instance, we will investigate and take appropriate action of removing them from the platform if they do not meet the requirements.”

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