Prydonian
New in Town
- Messages
- 22
- Location
- United States
That's the short version.
The slightly longer version is this: I strongly advise anyone considering trying to buy a garment, bespoke or ready-made, from Saxby to reconsider. He does business as “David” now, but Google "Leslie Saxby" and you’ll see why. If you pay him, you almost certainly will not get your garment and you definitely won’t get your money back. I can’t say for sure that he’s a literal con artist, but he definitely knows what he’s doing.
Okay, now the long version, and apologies in advance for how long it is. I’ve been putting off writing it as long as possible, hoping it'd work out, but I have officially been a sucker and I want to warn anybody else who might be taken in.
I’m going to look like a gullible idiot during this story. In my defense, his routine is very convincing. He’s incredibly personable, with a charmingly befuddled demeanor and a hundred stories, and always provides reasonable explanations for why he hasn’t delivered yet. You can never be absolutely sure he’s lying, and he seems so sincere that I would always feel guilty doubting him. And he doesn’t just take the money and run; he’ll keep replying pretty much forever. He also has a knack for turning any conversation away from the topic of the order you placed, which you don’t notice until later. It’s uncanny how good he is at it. I’ve found other threads online saying the same: someone posts a warning about him and someone else will reply, “No, he’s a nice bloke.” Even now I’m not sure.
So, I was told Saxby was the best man to make a bespoke Norfolk jacket. The internet had nothing but nice things to say about his work, he specialized in Norfolks, and he apparently provided the jackets for some Hollywood productions, so I commissioned one. He took a 50% deposit of about $500 and told me it should take eight weeks. That was almost two years ago.
Trying to keep the story as short as possible, he kept delaying for the next eighteen months, always with very plausible reasons and new estimated delivery dates. Here are some notable occurrences during that time:
-He says all his work is done at a factory he has in Shenzen, China, with his supervision. This was allegedly the reason for the longest delays. He cited communication difficulties, long closures for New Year, workload, supply issues, and, most often, that he wanted to be there personally to oversee the construction of the jacket. He’d wax lyrical about the virtues of Chinese workmanship at every possible opportunity. Also Chinese karaoke and how much fun it is, Chinese rock music being the best in the world, and anything else to paint a picture of how much time he spent in China. At one point he even sent me a video of him AT Chinese karaoke, which seemed unusual at the time but now seems calculated.
-At one point after an unusually long silence, he replied to me saying his phone had been stolen (in China), taking his WhatsApp chat history with it. He asked me to re-send all my reference photos. The same thing happened again later, and when I pointed out his bad luck he clearly didn’t remember having told me it had already happened once.
-After the first time I mentioned it was taking a surprisingly long time, he suddenly started replying to texts with phone calls. Before that he’d always reply with specifics in chat, but now if I asked him a specific question he’d say to call him. A small voice in the back of my head said that was a great way to avoid a paper trail of written, legally binding commitments, which I ignored. But it was consistent after that: no meaningful information via text.
About eight months into this mess I Googled him again and kept seeing results for a tailor called “Leslie Saxby,” who had the kind of high street London shop David had told me he once did. Leslie Saxby, I know now, moved back North and started doing business as David after he and his wife spent a couple of years in prison for more than $500,000 worth of tax evasion. Like an idiot, I just figured that explained some his situation, everybody deserves a second chance, and I was happy to help support him getting back on his feet.
I finally lost patience around February of this year. I wasn’t rude and I didn’t express skepticism, because I still wasn’t able to believe he was being dishonest. But I live in the US and had a trip to the UK planned for April, so I told him I’d be there to pick up the jacket in person. He told me that would work.
A couple of days before the trip I checked in to make sure it would be ready. He said that, actually, he’d like to take some more measurements when he saw me, so he could be absolutely sure of the fit. I took a day out of my holiday and detoured from Manchester to his storage space in Sheffield. He doesn’t have an actual shop. He was very clear then how valuable it was that he was able to see me because, lo and behold, I am a slightly different size than he anticipated. Then he explained the latest delay with something about China.
I told him - politely - that this had gone on too long and we needed to wrap it up. I asked him if the jacket had been cut yet and he said no, but he’d sent the fabric to China and didn’t trust the cutters to get it right. Once again, he wanted to be there in person to supervise the cutting and assembly. When I pressed him, he agreed to allow his employees at the factory to cut and assemble the coat without him and send it directly to me, and that I’d accept any responsibility if it wasn’t perfect. He said he’d have it done at the end of May, which became early June after I returned home.
I confirmed the plan with him multiple times over the coming weeks: Chinese factory makes coat, sends it to me by June 5th. Then on June 5th, he said to call him on the 8th because “there should be a result over the weekend.” On the 8th he didn’t answer, or on the 9th. On the 10th he said, “I’m in Belgium just now… Off to China next week… More info later.” After that, he stopped replying altogether. After a few weeks I started requesting my deposit back. He never replied.
I started digging online and apparently he wasn’t in Belgium, he was in Sheffield posting photos of his stock of old suits to Instagram. He’s claiming to be making flatcaps out of repurposed vintage suits now. Someone saw a comment I left on one of those posts and contacted me; this person had been about to go in on a business venture with David. Turns out our experiences with him were very much alike, and this man thought he might be able to leverage his position as soon-to-be-investor to get me my money back. They spoke, David told him some easily disprovable untruths, but he did compel David to reach out to me. I got one text from David saying - and this is great - that he’d just gotten back to the UK, and he’d decided the commission was taking too long and that perhaps it would be better if he refunded my deposit. I said great, when? That was on August 12th and he’s been unreachable since.
He’s currently calling his business Old Hat Sheffield, and he regularly posts to his Facebook and Instagram accounts with ads for his old stock. I’ve made it a policy to post a warning to potential customers on every one, which I don’t feel great about, but seems like the best course of action.
Worth noting, I’m not sure he’s currently capable of tailoring at all. When we met, he seemed to have severe arthritis in his hands. He was unable to extend the ring and pinky fingers on either hand and appeared to have limited use of the other fingers as well. Then again, with that much experience, maybe you don't need fine control to make flatcaps.
If anyone’s interested in the very long version, I can attach screenshots of our chat logs and emails.
Also, hey, can anyone recommend a tailor who can make a Norfolk jacket?
The slightly longer version is this: I strongly advise anyone considering trying to buy a garment, bespoke or ready-made, from Saxby to reconsider. He does business as “David” now, but Google "Leslie Saxby" and you’ll see why. If you pay him, you almost certainly will not get your garment and you definitely won’t get your money back. I can’t say for sure that he’s a literal con artist, but he definitely knows what he’s doing.
Okay, now the long version, and apologies in advance for how long it is. I’ve been putting off writing it as long as possible, hoping it'd work out, but I have officially been a sucker and I want to warn anybody else who might be taken in.
I’m going to look like a gullible idiot during this story. In my defense, his routine is very convincing. He’s incredibly personable, with a charmingly befuddled demeanor and a hundred stories, and always provides reasonable explanations for why he hasn’t delivered yet. You can never be absolutely sure he’s lying, and he seems so sincere that I would always feel guilty doubting him. And he doesn’t just take the money and run; he’ll keep replying pretty much forever. He also has a knack for turning any conversation away from the topic of the order you placed, which you don’t notice until later. It’s uncanny how good he is at it. I’ve found other threads online saying the same: someone posts a warning about him and someone else will reply, “No, he’s a nice bloke.” Even now I’m not sure.
So, I was told Saxby was the best man to make a bespoke Norfolk jacket. The internet had nothing but nice things to say about his work, he specialized in Norfolks, and he apparently provided the jackets for some Hollywood productions, so I commissioned one. He took a 50% deposit of about $500 and told me it should take eight weeks. That was almost two years ago.
Trying to keep the story as short as possible, he kept delaying for the next eighteen months, always with very plausible reasons and new estimated delivery dates. Here are some notable occurrences during that time:
-He says all his work is done at a factory he has in Shenzen, China, with his supervision. This was allegedly the reason for the longest delays. He cited communication difficulties, long closures for New Year, workload, supply issues, and, most often, that he wanted to be there personally to oversee the construction of the jacket. He’d wax lyrical about the virtues of Chinese workmanship at every possible opportunity. Also Chinese karaoke and how much fun it is, Chinese rock music being the best in the world, and anything else to paint a picture of how much time he spent in China. At one point he even sent me a video of him AT Chinese karaoke, which seemed unusual at the time but now seems calculated.
-At one point after an unusually long silence, he replied to me saying his phone had been stolen (in China), taking his WhatsApp chat history with it. He asked me to re-send all my reference photos. The same thing happened again later, and when I pointed out his bad luck he clearly didn’t remember having told me it had already happened once.
-After the first time I mentioned it was taking a surprisingly long time, he suddenly started replying to texts with phone calls. Before that he’d always reply with specifics in chat, but now if I asked him a specific question he’d say to call him. A small voice in the back of my head said that was a great way to avoid a paper trail of written, legally binding commitments, which I ignored. But it was consistent after that: no meaningful information via text.
About eight months into this mess I Googled him again and kept seeing results for a tailor called “Leslie Saxby,” who had the kind of high street London shop David had told me he once did. Leslie Saxby, I know now, moved back North and started doing business as David after he and his wife spent a couple of years in prison for more than $500,000 worth of tax evasion. Like an idiot, I just figured that explained some his situation, everybody deserves a second chance, and I was happy to help support him getting back on his feet.
I finally lost patience around February of this year. I wasn’t rude and I didn’t express skepticism, because I still wasn’t able to believe he was being dishonest. But I live in the US and had a trip to the UK planned for April, so I told him I’d be there to pick up the jacket in person. He told me that would work.
A couple of days before the trip I checked in to make sure it would be ready. He said that, actually, he’d like to take some more measurements when he saw me, so he could be absolutely sure of the fit. I took a day out of my holiday and detoured from Manchester to his storage space in Sheffield. He doesn’t have an actual shop. He was very clear then how valuable it was that he was able to see me because, lo and behold, I am a slightly different size than he anticipated. Then he explained the latest delay with something about China.
I told him - politely - that this had gone on too long and we needed to wrap it up. I asked him if the jacket had been cut yet and he said no, but he’d sent the fabric to China and didn’t trust the cutters to get it right. Once again, he wanted to be there in person to supervise the cutting and assembly. When I pressed him, he agreed to allow his employees at the factory to cut and assemble the coat without him and send it directly to me, and that I’d accept any responsibility if it wasn’t perfect. He said he’d have it done at the end of May, which became early June after I returned home.
I confirmed the plan with him multiple times over the coming weeks: Chinese factory makes coat, sends it to me by June 5th. Then on June 5th, he said to call him on the 8th because “there should be a result over the weekend.” On the 8th he didn’t answer, or on the 9th. On the 10th he said, “I’m in Belgium just now… Off to China next week… More info later.” After that, he stopped replying altogether. After a few weeks I started requesting my deposit back. He never replied.
I started digging online and apparently he wasn’t in Belgium, he was in Sheffield posting photos of his stock of old suits to Instagram. He’s claiming to be making flatcaps out of repurposed vintage suits now. Someone saw a comment I left on one of those posts and contacted me; this person had been about to go in on a business venture with David. Turns out our experiences with him were very much alike, and this man thought he might be able to leverage his position as soon-to-be-investor to get me my money back. They spoke, David told him some easily disprovable untruths, but he did compel David to reach out to me. I got one text from David saying - and this is great - that he’d just gotten back to the UK, and he’d decided the commission was taking too long and that perhaps it would be better if he refunded my deposit. I said great, when? That was on August 12th and he’s been unreachable since.
He’s currently calling his business Old Hat Sheffield, and he regularly posts to his Facebook and Instagram accounts with ads for his old stock. I’ve made it a policy to post a warning to potential customers on every one, which I don’t feel great about, but seems like the best course of action.
Worth noting, I’m not sure he’s currently capable of tailoring at all. When we met, he seemed to have severe arthritis in his hands. He was unable to extend the ring and pinky fingers on either hand and appeared to have limited use of the other fingers as well. Then again, with that much experience, maybe you don't need fine control to make flatcaps.
If anyone’s interested in the very long version, I can attach screenshots of our chat logs and emails.
Also, hey, can anyone recommend a tailor who can make a Norfolk jacket?
