Help Me Hank: Online Football Battle

Patriots regular season opening day, the "Brady Bunch" takes the field with ever-hopeful fans cheering them on and no one cheering harder than the devoted John Walsh.

First he partied in the parking lot with pals…

John Walsh, Patriots Fan
"I was so happy to be there."

Then in his seats in time for kickoff…

John Walsh
"Eighteen rows off the field, I can see the whole stadium, all the plays, no obstructed views. They're dynamite."

Anyway, John knew the game was just the first of a season of football fun, after all, he owns the coveted shiny silver-coated season tickets.

John Walsh
"All in all a great day."

And that's why John thought it was nothing but bizarre when soon after he got this letter from the Foxboro front office, it said his tickets were revoked, because he had sold his opening day seats in an online auction.

Time out!

Hank
"Had you sold your tickets online?"

John Walsh
"Absolutely not."

Now instant replay here, here's his used ticket stubs, he and his pals were in their seats!

John Walsh
"Bottom line, I went to the game."

So John went into hurry-up defense -- he called the Patriots.

John Walsh
"I told them I did not do this and it was a gross, gross mistake."

He even called his local police in Easton and there, the Patriots plot thickens. The police contacted the auction and discovered it was not John’s seats that were sold! A detective even wrote this letter to the team saying so. It didn’t help.

John Walsh
"They didn’t believe that I actually went to the game."

The Patriots had also said if John tried to use his tickets, they'll be confiscated! It looked like it was game over, that’s when he called "Help Me Hank".

John Walsh
"I was sure you could help me out, because I did nothing wrong."

The team office reminded us it was against Patriots policy to resell tickets, we said we knew that, but John hadn't done it and we said, the police confirmed it. And soon after, we received a voicemail from Foxboro. His tickets were reinstated without missing a game.

And now, shiny tickets in hand, John just wants to tell the Patriots powers-that-be, he has no hard feelings.

John Walsh
"I just want them to have continued success for the rest of the season."

We did wonder how the team monitors online auctions, but the Foxboro officials told us, they just weren’t going to discuss that.

Fighting a consumer battle? Maybe I can help.