Suzy Hutchinson / 22 December 2024 / Categories: City, Services, Shops, Clothing

Designer Exchange Birmingham

I like to shop secondhand, I like to recycle and swap my luxury items, so I have been a customer of the Designer Exchange for a few years.

I’ve bought a few bags online and have sold a couple of things too and always had a good experience.

I went to Birmingham from Sheffield last week to look at a bag I was interested in for Christmas and take five items, a Louis Vuitton bag brand new I’d never used, a bag I bought from Designer Exchange and a couple of Hermes cuffs.

The way it works is you take your stuff for appraisal, then they give you two prices, one to swap in store and one for cash, obviously the cash offer is always lower than the store credit offer.

I was interested in the store credit as I’d got my eye on a new bag for Christmas, the reason I made the drive.

However what happened in store when I came back to do the deal put me off completely.

The lady in front of me being served got exceptional service. The staff couldn’t do enough for her, I assumed she’d spent a fortune and I just waited patiently, about 10 minutes until she said her goodbyes. Turned out she hadn’t spent a fortune, £400 they were just enjoying a chin wag.

When it was my turn the assistant who had been so lovely to the lady before couldn’t even make eye contact with me.

She definitely made me feel like the poor relation, so much so my reaction, I decided to take the goods I’d decided to swap for the bag back and not do the deal.

When I said I’d changed my mind and asked for my things back she didn’t say a word, she didn’t ask why, she just gave me my stuff back and I left.

I have shopped with the Designer Exchange three or four times in the past and I do like seeing what they have particularly in Bicester Village so this experience won’t put me off supporting them completely. Even though the shop is located in the most beautiful restored Victorian arcade which was worth seeing it’s a project not 100% complete yet, 50% of the shops are vacant so I probably will pass on the Birmingham store in future.

No customer wants to see some customers being treated better than them. I think being consistent and treating everyone the same is way better.