'Hailgate' organizer accused of scamming Michigan fans, victims say
Michigan fans alleging organizer scammed them on tickets and merch
It's called ‘Hailgate’ and a lot of people attend for a good time before Michigan football games. But now there's controversy surrounding the host behind it. Nearly 400 people have joined the Facebook group "Hailgate Victims," sharing their stories. One of them is Florida man Brett Laskey with season tickets who purchased Michigan memorabilia.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (FOX 2) - The organizer of a popular pregame tailgate party for Michigan Wolverines fans is under fire after many people came forward claiming they've been scammed after paying for events or Michigan memorabilia and receiving nothing in return.
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It's called ‘Hailgate’ and a lot of people attend for a good time before Michigan football games. But now there's controversy surrounding the host behind it. Nearly 400 people have joined the Facebook group "Hailgate Victims," sharing their stories.
One of them is Florida man Brett Laskey with season tickets who purchased Michigan memorabilia.
"He was saying he could get team-signed helmets with Bryce on it, so I sent him the money. I ended up sending him $700 for a team-signed helmet and one of the footballs with the Michigan logo," said Laskey. "I reached out to him. I go, 'Hey, how'd it go? When are you going to send my helmet?' And he comes back with, 'Oh, they aren't signing the way I wanted them to sign. They were only doing initials.' He's compromised. You don't know what you're going to get now. I would never buy from him again, any Michigan-related anything."
Just on Monday, more than a year after paying for the helmet, Laskey was able to get his money back after taking legal action.
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FOX 2 also spoke with another woman who attended the Morgan Wallen concert this week. She bought what she believed were meet-and-greet tickets through Hailgate. But it turns out there were no meet-and-greets.
"Looking back, I should've known better because I know Morgan Wallen doesn't do meet and greets, but I just thought he had some crazy connection, and he was like friends of friends kind of thing. So it wasn't like your grandma's scammer. I was just like, he knows someone through U-of-M or through Morgan Wallen or whatever," said Anderson. "I didn't get scammed for that much. Mine was $125, but I know there's people that have lost thousands of dollars."
She's still going to the concert and still plans to have a good time just without the meet-and-greet.
Ann Arbor police are urging people to only purchase tickets through verified platforms and to contact them if they believe they've been the victim of a scam.