Lily Robotics, who preyed drone Lily, announced the end of her business despite the $ 34 million increase in pre-sales and $ 15 million in private funding. The reason? He was dismissed by the San Francisco prosecutor's office for false and misleading advertising.
The San Francisco Attorney's Office has conducted a "multi-month investigation" into the Lily Drone and came to the following conclusion: The very expensive professional camera that brought the drone to company's promotional video it was not actually a Lily, but a DJI Inspire, something the creators failed to report. As a result, drone's fantastic aerial video ad was misleading prospective customers to make prepayment and ordering.
In addition, the company had promised the delivery of the drone in February of 2016, which never happened. The prosecutor's office claims that the company's customers due to the delay requested their money back, but Lily had used that money to cover the $ 4 million bank loan.
The company had not used well-known websites to advertise the product and its pre-orders, such as Kickstarter, but had developed an independent "pre-order" on its site. Having no third party to control the product, it was too late to be manufactured, resulting in a refund requirement from potential buyers. One of his rules FTC Mail Order requires that if a pre-ordered product is delayed significantly, the company will have to refund the amount unless the customers declare they are not bothered by the wait.
This is the second Lily Robotics crime that has forced the prosecutor's office to file a temporary binding order to block Lily's assets.
Lily has promised to return the money but also has to pay civil penalties: $ 2.500 for each of the offenses described above for each case. Depending on how the judge will interpret the facts and how lawyers will present their views, the fine could be from a few thousand dollars up to $ 300 million.
