Build-A-Bear Workshop Reviews 

Store wouldn’t honour the birthday build a bear special. They claimed there is fine print that stated you had to sign up on the first of the month. That’s “convenient” when they force you to pay the full price and continue the following year.
To build-a-bear, if you read this, I’d like to make you aware that you’ve lost what would have been an annual tradition on my daughter’s birthday. Secondly, my other sons will cease their tradition and I will not support the store after the lack of compassion. Very disappointed in the way this was handled.

The emo axolotl promotion was a cruel prank because many including my family were not able to see the promotion early enough as it was only for one day. Members of my family were looking forward to getting one and are extremely disappointed in this company. I'm sure I can speak for everyone saying we hope you bring this little axolotl back so more people can have a chance to get one.

Thank you for my olde dog my plates solf toy I love him so much good item and brilliant shipping to me

My build a bear was a gift from my husband that passed on in December.
Ive recently noticed that the battery may no longer be working as I can no longer hear the message that was left for me.
Called build a bear at the Gateway branch and spoke to someone that was unable to offer me a direct answer about whether they would be able to replace the battery and if I would be able to get the voice recording working again.
Long story short was that they are afraid that the recording device may break if they fit a new battery or I can come in and record a new voice. Not very empathetic as I need my husbands voice message that was left. I still do not have the answer to my initial enquiry

Ordered on Sunday and arrived Monday. WoW superb service 👏 Great product. Well made.

Got my 2021 graduating teddy bear, in the mall. Lovely staff and company. Most recently, got ome in the UK, last july. Great experience, good service.

I took 2 of my grandkids to build a bear OKC for a birthday experience. We drive 2 1-2 hours and spent almost $200.00 for no experience at all. They didn’t do the heart ceremony, help with printing the birth certificates or anything else! I’ve went here for years and have never had more unmotivated staff than we did that day!

We travelled nearly two hours to build a bear in Highcross Leicester with only 2weeks and 2 days until our daughter’s birthday and we didn’t realise it had to be the birthday month. I had explained to the staff member (the older woman)
we traveled so far was there any chance we could do it today she bluntly said no.

I ordered allot of Build A Bears online and happy with the service and just recently I ordered Otterly Adorable Otter unstuffed undresses and I have been having problems with this order. It took about a week just to get a update and now I got it has shipped but only label created when I track it and was told today which is 2/25/25 that FedEx does not operate on weekends so when did Monday become a weekend which was yesterday. I don’t think anyone that works for customer service knows what they are doing lack of training for sure. I will never order another Build A Bear online ever again. Not to mention I also ordered another one with this one to be picked up at store and I had to call the store up to see if it was ready because customer service did not want to. I called the store and told them the order number and they said they never got it and I told them the order number and they said it should be ready in ten minutes and when I picked that one up and complained about Build A Bear.com they said Build A Bear online customer service is awful.

So I'm 12 and me and my BFF thought it would be fun if we made bears for each other. Everyone was really nice and helped us pick a bear. But then we got to the clothes! None of them have prices on so we didn't know how much we were spending. We both ended up spending £50 and I now have no money. It's a trap to get you to spend more money! Overall it was fun but not worth the price!

I ordered a bear for a gift on Saturday 15th Feb with the delivery date being by the 21st Feb, only received tracking info today which says they have received my order information but no parcel very bad service indeed, spoken to guests service only to be told I could not have a refund which I requested as the bear had been shipped, I could get a refund by sending it back once I received it, really poor build a bear will not be ordering off you again!

Leicester Highcross Buildabear- one lady was exceptionally lovely and another when something went wrong had appalling customer service and was extremely rude, was buying a gift and you aren’t allowed to add a message from a tv show and this lady told me in an extremely passive aggressive way, i purchased the item and returned the same day becuse it wasn’t perfect and she served me in a tone that was just horrid. will never return to a buildabear shop again.

Placed an order. 3 days ago now, and the still says "Pending". All items in stock and available. Spoke with "Live Agent", "Bruce R.", in chat and the response was, "I can see your order has been prepared and is waiting for fedex to pick it up". I asked when is Fedex coming, a reasonable question since Fedex usually comes around the same time to companies that use them often. Bruce R.'s response was "we will just need to wait for them to pick it up from our warehouse."

So a company with $539M market cap does not have a way for customer circus to communicate with the warehouse for simple questions?!? If I could give ZERO stars I would.

Nicole L was helping us and she was so kind! The experience was fun and the bear is cute and good quality. I am definitely going again! 💖

Something goes severely wrong whenever I place an order from discount codes not being applied (despite showing as such) and being overcharged to not getting reward vouchers. I've not been able to place an order online within the past 6 months without having to involve customer service in some way.

The quality of everything continues to plumet and the prices keep rising, I wish there was something to love about this company but it keeps getting worse.

Just purchased an E-voucher for a friends little boy for his birthday as he is in build a bear now. Had to call customer services up as no email voucher sent.
After talking to the adviser they informed it can take up to 24-48 hours to generate an e-voucher! Needless to say I have cancelled the order and will keep an check on my bank statements to ensure no payment is made. What is the point of an e-voucher if it takes so long to process??

I love build a bear but expensive I put an order through and it was paid and ordered online but didn't come but checked my bank statement saying it was paid but then later money wasn't taken or must refunded me and on top of that I lost vouchers through it and when I rung help line they weren't helpful but I be more careful when ordering on line I also wish you can order certain smells or sounds as you may not able to get in shop or online as I had certain bear bab one witch I found in a second hand shop witch you were still selling in your shops still but couldn't get the smell I wanted as it was only available on line but you needed to buy the bear witch I already had but like I say I just wanted the smell for it

This review is strictly for Corporate offices and online shopping experience.

28 days of a nightmare with this company.

BaB meant for giving friendship and love to people, but guest services did nothing but make this experience horrendous and made me feel horrible. I had placed this order in the middle of November for the Doctor Who bear and requested it be dressed. I received it undressed, shoved in a small box, and clothes wrinkled. Additionally, I paid for the Tardis Gift Box in addition to the bear. However, I did not receive the Tardis Gift Box in this delivery.

For weeks, guest services via email and phone had barely been updating or replying to me, and kept telling me they would send me the box but never did. All of this went on directly up to Christmas.

I have emailed for weeks and have been hung up on, on the phone with Build-A-Bear Workshop guest services, and ignored for days when this is a highly time sensitive issue. I never once yelled or got snippy over the phone. I was told they would send me the gift box and then they never updated me with a tracking number. By the time I finally received an email with the tracking number, I found out they sent it to the completely wrong state. By then, it was only a few days before Christmas. The lack of care to make this happen when it is well within BaB’s ability to overnight or second day air an item especially this late into this back and forth issue is appalling. The fact that the box could have been here on time after all this is beyond upsetting because they messed up again. There is absolutely NO excuse for this to have taken this long and not once did they accept any responsibility for their continuous errors.

I was then told via email guest services that since I was refunded the $5 gift box via their guest services on the phone, that I will not be receiving it at all. This is after I was told on the phone that I WOULD be sent the box in addition to the refund which was compensation for this issue. Also, please note that the tax was not included in this refund so now the company is stealing from me. I even left a message with the corporate customer experience manager, to no reply.

I am baffled, stressed and have cried over this experience. I cannot begin to explain how much BaB made me feel like this is just a joke. I am an autistic adult, who bought this bear for my dad who has given me the best life possible. I wanted to give some magic on Christmas Day. But now, because of the company’s continuous failures and unacceptable service, this was not possible.

At the end of the day, it’s just the box…I am not someone who takes matters to social media or reviews. However, I do when I have had an atrocious and unbelievably rude and inconsiderate experience and hopefully make others aware about this.

If I could leave no stars I would!
This has been by far the worst customer experience I've ever had. Not only did I never receive my items, but the courier service Aramex was appalling—rude, unprofessional, and unreliable, with contradictory information at every turn.
I will never order from this company again, and I will make sure to warn others about this frustrating and stressful experience.
Build a bear sent my item to a the wrong address after providing them with the correct address, neither they nor Aramex took responsibility, I never received the item and the company has not refunded my money.. in fact there is no communication with them, they will not respond.
Please do not buy from this fraudulent company… you will be sorry!

Absolute rubbish. Bought online and chose from the outfits recommended for my ‘friend’. Despite asking for it to be dressed, the outfits were just thrown in the box and are sooooo small, they don’t even fit. Their response was poor and they don’t take any responsibility. Too embarrassed to give it to my grandson for Christmas despite how much it has cost. Wish I could upload a photo of what they’ve sent me……