The Exeter Trading Hub — Local services in Exeter

Absolutely disgusting treatment by the owner will never step foot in there ever again. Clearly he has no understanding for people that are neurodivergent & have sen issues. To talk to a 2 year old the way he did was absolutely appalling. My son was not harming or damaging any items. He likes to line things up in order& put things into containers & take them out put them in again. The owner or shop assistant clearly was watching the moment we stepped foot in there as he was at the desk so how he saw my son putting the items in the container was clear he was monitoring us on CCTV. The way he stormed over snatching the items from my 2 year olds hands & then gave him a telling off "saying it's not a toy shop these items are expensive it may look like one but it isn't" my son didn't understand what was going on & clearly upset that the items were snatched from him he couldn't process it. Visibly upset I tried to calm my son & explain to him as he couldn't understand what was happening when I was saying it's okay to him it's all right to calm him this person's response was "no it's not okay these aren't to be played with it's not a toy shop" think that was emphasised a few times..

1. the items are not high value in the slightest that he was looking/playing with 2)the items are overpriced,a tshirt from Primark marked at £10 might as well buy it new. £2 for a car that had 3 wheels, £5 for hot wheels you can get in b&m for £1.69.
2. toys are meant to be played with not sat on a shelf gathering dust! It may not be a toy shop but I'm buying for my son to play with the items how does he know he likes it without touching, playing,checking it's all working etc so you just buy shoes that look good to sit on a shelf & not bother trying on before hand, walking around in them? You're a secondhand store if you don't want people /children touching stuff either lock them in cabinets, put them up higher or put a sign on the door stating no children allowed.

The shop assistant/manager whoever then decided to "follow" us around the place & glared at us the entire time coming over to look at what we were doing like we are some kind of criminals. I've never felt so intimated, uncomfortable & utterly disgusted in a place then we did here. The way we were spoken to & literally monitored from the moment we set foot in the door was just absolutely disgusting.

So don't take any children here as they aren't welcomed & you will be watched the whole time, don't expect politeness or understanding if you have additional needs & definitely don't play with the toys there to look at! The manager/assistant definitely need training on how to deal with people especially with addition needs & toddlers. Seriously an absolutely vile human being.

Go to the attic it's a million times better in every single sense the lady in there is extremely lovely, super friendly & doesn't watch you like a hawk if you have kids. She understands that kids want to play with the toys & said let kids be kids that's what toys are for, someone that clearly has kids & empathy. Plus the items are not overpriced in the slightest.

Thinking about it I don't even know why we bothered going to the hub in the first place! Biggest mistake ever made, lesson...

Extremely disappointed in the owner. Only just moved to Exeter and decided to take my mother to the hub. We walked in and our disability dog had a little accident ( which I cleaned up) this is very unlike her, but can't really do much as she's an emotional support dog. She then had a very small wee on the pavement and at that point the owner came racing over and grabbed my mums arm saying we need to get out ( We already decided to leave anyway ). Why he thought he had the right to grab my mums arm and attempt to pull her out towards the exit is beyond me. Disgusting behaviour from the owner considering her disability and wants to thank himself lucky we didn't take it further. He's completely ruined it for us now and we will never...

This was a nice place. I was not intending to visit, but I was having my car serviced nearby. It was raining and looked like a place I could spend some time in the dry. I was right. Lots of interesting things to see. Lots of variety, with lots of store holders. The staff and other traders I spoke to were nice. The cafe was busy but lots of goodies to choose from. If I was in the area again, I would visit. Or take...