Leonardo da Vinci Leather Factory — Local services in Florence

I agree with one of the previous reviews, this place deserve 0 stars. If you enjoy your time in Florence then don't go inside. Here is my story.

2024-04-14 I've visited the shop. There was no jacket that I was looking for but a person called alex (probably not the real name) told me that he will prepare any jacket for 400e within TWO WEEKS. We agreed on the jacket type "double rider", we also agreed on the details like a belt at the bottom and I told him that I expect better quality and bigger size of all metal elements. He took all necessary measurements. He asked me for a cash, I've rejected to pay cash and I paid by card.

After 2 weeks I've pinged that person on whatsapp asking if the jacket is ready. The answer was no ..., since then I've started to check with alex every 5-6 days. Finally he told me that the jacket will be ready on 1st of June.

1st of June I was again in Florence. I went to the shop to check the jacket. What I've tried was not what I've ordered. Jacket didn't has a belt, all metal elements were same as in the other jackets (small, poor quality), size of the jacket was wrong... Even the jacket brand was different! It was: Vera Pelle. The guy told me that he will fixed the jacket within couple of days. I was not planning to visit Florence again so I paid 20e for delivery (again by card).

26th of June I asked alex if he sent me the jacket. He said - yes. I asked him to check with the delivery company what is the issue since I didn't receive it. After the next few days I was checking with alex what is happening with the jacket. Every day (if there was a response) there was a different excuse...

After 80 days (counting from the initial order) I asked for a full refund. My request was rejected, alex decided to keep my money for himself.

I've reported the case to European Consumer Centres Network (ECC Net). They advise me to contact my bank and start the process called chargeback. Visa/Mastercard can withdraw the card payments even after few months.

After 30+ extra days (thanks to Visa) I've finally received my money back. So there is at least a happy end...

This is a HORRIBLE store! This shop is a disgrace to Florence. Don’t go there!

If i could place 0 stars, I would do it. So the story is:

Me and my lady wanted to buy leather jackets in Florence. At first staff was friendly, then he completely left us after we tried two jackets, he said no words…just was angry, i guess.

All jackets has a price tag with hand written prices - 800€-1000€. When you ask for the price it suddenly drops for 50% (i guess we were special customers). This shop doesn’t have tax free.

The quality of the jackets is ok, but all buttons and zip are trash, looks really cheap.

Also you can buy goat skin jackets for this price in 5 minutes walk from this place and they feel much more comfortable and not stiff.

Our jackets cost us 850€ in total, 425€ for each piece. When we went to the checkout i remembered that I forgot my credit card at hotel, so i asked staff to save our pieces for today. He asked me for the deposit, so i gave him 100€. Also he told me there wil be no problem to take it back. While walking down the streets in Florence on our way to the hotel we found a bunch of shops with leather jackets with better quality and not overpriced like in this shop. So i decided to go back and take my deposit back.

When i came back to this shop and asked for my deposit back, the seller started pointing a finger and yelling at me, he said: “You re a not a man”, he said other things too.

It’s funny for me cuz if he wasn’t in Florence he couldn’t talk to me like that:) Also it’s funny for me cuz this old man trying to sell overpriced lamb skin jackets for all his life:)

So after this horrific experience I went to the Benheart and bought two beautiful jackets for me...

I visited in April 2023 with the sole purpose to get a leather jacket tailored to me. I have short arms, narrow shoulders and a larger chest so no jacket ever fits right. They were very nice in the store and convinced me that it would be better for them to just custom create a jacket rather than tailor one while I was in town. I paid for it ($800 US dollars!) and they said they would ship it to me and should be to me in the US by May. I didn’t receive it until that October after a few calls to figure out what was going on. They do not answer the phone. When it arrived it looked horrible, I was in tears what a waste of money. It looked like it was made for someone twice my size and it was all wrong. I thought maybe the measurements got mixed up. They had us mail it back and assured us they could fix it. We did and several months later got the jacket back again, and it was still so ill fitting I was discouraged. Sent it back again, and a third time received it back and it was actually worse than the first two alterations. At this point we are now over a year from our trip and I just want my money back and to return the coat. They told us they would refund us after my husband made several phone calls but have yet to tell us how to start the process. Now they keep dodging the calls and telling us the person is out of town that handles it and to call back on a different day, only to get no answer. I feel scammed and so disappointed as I had been saving up forever to make this purchase and I am left with a terrible fitting, poor quality jacket and out $800. I am writing this review in hopes they will see it and respond to us. If we can get the situation resolved I will...