Pittsburgh-based robotics toy company did not fulfill over $2M in orders, AG says

PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit against a robotics toy company which they say did not fulfill over $2 million in orders to thousands of customers.

When you Google “Digital Dream Labs,” it pulls up an address on Broad Street in East Liberty. The space is empty. Channel 11′s Alyssa Raymond called the leasing agent who said the toy company has been gone for at least a year.

Digital Dream Lab’s website touts developing the world’s best Ai Companion Robotics. If you click to purchase the Vector 2.0, it says the $400 dollar robot is “sold out.” It’s one of several Digital Dream Lab robots listed in a recent lawsuit filed by the State Attorney General’s Office.

“It became clear that this was a very large issue that impacted thousands of consumers, and we realized we needed to take action on it,” said Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General Jaimie George.

Channel 11 found dozens of complaints on Google. One person wrote, “Just like all of the others. Took the order 2 years ago, have never seen the robot.”

And customer wrote, “This company refuses to refund a pre order that will never be finished.”

The AG’s office says about 14,000 orders for the robots were placed between November 2020 and January 2024, most of which were not fulfilled.

“If we’re doing a preliminary estimation, we think it could be nearly $2 million of unfulfilled orders,” said George.

The CEO of the company, Harold Jacob Hanchar, is being sued too. He previously owned Klavon’s in the Strip District, but a 2022 Pittsburgh Business Times article said he decided to sell the ice cream shop to focus on Digital Dream Labs. Two days ago, an announcement about a new CEO was posted on Linked In.

“The first thing I looked for was if they filed for bankruptcy,” said National Association of Consumer Advocates Executive Director Ira Rheingold. “While they haven’t filed for bankruptcy but that may mean they don’t have any assets. Does this look like a righteous case that the Attorney General is bringing,” “Absolutely. Does it mean there’s a recovery from that company? Not if they don’t have any money or have any assets. The fact that the AG’s office sued the individual involved in this case, maybe there’s some assets and income there that they might be able to recover.”

“We’re going to take every effort that we can to find every harmed individual,” said George.

Channel 11′s Alyssa Raymond left messages for the owner but did not immediately hear back.

Impacted consumers paid between $147 and $655 for each robot, with combined sales equaling more than $4 million.

“All of the orders were preorders,” said George. “And so at the time, the orders were placed, the individuals had some notice that the products didn’t exist yet, and I think that is a big red flag. I think if you’re going to buy something, and it’s a preorder for a piece of merchandise, you are taking a big risk at that point, and you should really hold off. I know it’s appealing because they always say that there’s special pricing and a limited quantity sometimes. But you are taking a bigger gamble when you preorder a piece of merchandise.”

“The fact that they required full payment including full shipping and everything ahead of time that would raise a red flag because that to me is a company that is low on cash and needs that money upfront,” said Rheingold. “The other thing I think people should think about to pay for these things is to pay by credit card and not by debit card.”

Any consumers who believe they may be a victim of these practices should file a complaint with the Bureau of Consumer Protection at www.attorneygeneral.gov, call 800-441-2555, or email scams@attorneygeneral.gov.

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