A Morgan Wallen fan says he and hundreds of others were collectively bilked out of hundreds of thousands of dollars after paying for tickets to this weekend’s highly anticipated concerts at Michigan Stadium.
Wallen, one of country music’s biggest draws, is performing at the Ann Arbor stadium both Friday and Saturday nights. As of Wednesday night, tickets are still on sale, ranging from around $100 to more than $2,600 for highly coveted seats.
Bill Karpovich, 34, of Durand in Shiawassee County paid $290 for tickets to Saturday’s show at the Big House through HailGate, an entity known for hosting huge, game-day tailgate events outside the stadium, as well as selling game tickets and other merchandise.
When Karpovich didn’t receive his tickets, he reached out to John Klein, the man who runs HailGate. Instead of sending him tickets or refunding the purchase price, Karpovich said Klein ignored his message, then blocked him.
“Later on that night I was going through my news feed and saw another lady on HailGate was complaining, calling him out as a fraud,” Karpovich said. “I did some research, and within an hour 10 more people popped saying this (fraudulent activity) was going on.”
Klein blames the missing tickets on a cease-and-desist letter he recently received from Wallen’s camp, barring him selling any resale tickets to the country star’s concerts.
“I don’t want to cross Morgan Wallen, but I don’t want to let people down,” Klein said. “I’m kind of between a rock and hard place here.”
Karpovich and his girlfriend are helping run a Facebook page where more than 600 people have joined to share information about the alleged HailGate scams. Among them was a 70-year-old grandmother who paid Klein more than $3,000 for Wallen tickets, a backstage pass and a signed guitar — none of which she’s received.
With the story now making headlines, a few people have told Karpovich that Klein has given them refunds.
“He’s trying to save face,” said Karpovich, who was never reimbursed for his tickets.
Klein said he’s trying to refund customers who paid hundreds, or in some cases thousands of dollars to see Wallen perform. But because his HailGate page has more than 10,000 members, it’s not easy to keep track of every transaction.
“You’ve got this group demanding refunds instead of listening to me,” he said.
He encouraged anyone who has not received tickets or a refund to email him at customerservice@hailgatea2.com.
Karpovich isn’t optimistic.
“He suckered hundreds of people,” he said. “There’s no way this guy’s going to pay all this money back.”
Karpovich’s girlfriend had worked with Klein in the past, as a bartender at one of his HailGate events outside of Michigan Stadium.
“He never paid her a dime,” he said.
Karpovich will still be attending Saturday’s concert after buying legitimate tickets on StubHub. But he knows many other fans won’t get the chance to see Wallen, even after forking over their money.
Asked whether he had a message for Klein, Karpovich put it simply:
“Pay everybody’s money back,” he said. “Immediately.”
Karpovich said he and several other victims have filed reports with Michigan State Police. MSP didn’t immediately return a message seeking confirmation and comment.
Meanwhile, Klein said he would cooperate with any law enforcement investigation.
“But I’m not stupid, I’d have an attorney present,” he said.
mreinhart@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Morgan Wallen ticket scam has fans blaming ‘shady’ UM tailgate organizer
Reporting by Max Reinhart, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Max Reinhart, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
