Build-A-Bear Workshop — Local services in Town of Guilderland

Brought my daughter here for her 2nd birthday with other family members. Her and her cousin (5) took a few minutes to pick the bears they wanted. One staff member that was at the stuffing machine got up and walked past us telling us to go wait by the computers so other people could come in, exit the store, and choose their bears. My 2 year old was still picking her bear and of course I'm going to stand next to her. This same staff member ended up assisting us through the rest of the process. Asked if we wanted a sound and told me two different times how to use the touch screen computer because I wasn't going fast enough. When we declined the sounds she then said "okay then come on" and led us to the stuffing machine. I knelt down with my toddler and said "watch!" The staff member then said "its not watch-a-bear, it's build-a-bear" and laughed. She continued to be extremely rude to me by saying "can someone tell her where she is right now?" Because I didn't know the process of stuffing the bear and adding the heart. While she was stitching the bear, my toddler started to walk towards her and the machine and she just yelled "no, don't come near that! It's very dangerous!" As she put her hand up at my child. When we were done, she looks at another associate that walked over and said "do you want to help them with the rest?" At which point we got up and led ourselves over to the clothes. She told us there was a good photo spot by the front window of the store with the blue wall, which I later realized is a lie because there are two walls specifically for photos with bear backgrounds. I don't know her name, but it was a younger, blonde, boyish looking girl who was extremely rude to us through our entire experience here. We were so excited to bring our daughter here for her birthday gift, and of course she still had a great time, but this was not a good family experience as her parents were treated very poorly and felt extremely rushed. If this wasn't the only location around here, I'd very much suggest going somewhere else and the staff is not fit to be working in...

Today I took both my children to get their birthday bears (pay your age bears). It was great until the employee Madeline helped us. She was very overwhelming, loud, and scared my 2 yr old daughter. She was offering things to my children that cost money without asking me such as sounds ($5.50 each) and scents ($3.50each). I had to tell her to not give my children options because they will say yes to everything. I didn’t want to be the mean mom who said no after my children already had the items in hand, so of course I paid for them. At one point she mentioned something about if the bear didn’t have a heart it would be dead. Once again she was talking to my 2yr old daughter. She was talking to my 8 yr old about how they have the bumper on the metal pipe that fills the bears because a child could “bash their head and have blood go everywhere” and they’d get sued if a child got hurt. Completely inappropriate. After that I had to ask her to leave us alone when we no longer needed her assistance. When we were ringing up, the manager had told my kids to pick out a backpack($6), once again without asking me first. I had to be the mean mom and tell them no. Then she offered me a cardboard box for a dollar each. At this point I was annoyed so I told her we’d be carrying our bears out. Then she told me I qualified for two $10 gift cards, but I had to pay $10 to get them. Obviously not doing that. The certificate machine wasn’t working either so they couldn’t get certificates. All in all it cost me $60 for two pay your age bears with one outfit each. It’s a ripoff. Will not be...

I’ve never in my life experienced such horrible service!! Worst customer service experience in Albany- Crossgates mall store location. I was in the store to purchase a few gift cards and bear accessories. After waiting at the register for about 15 minutes, I approached the associate, who ended up being the store manager (Amanda), to ask for assistance. She looked at me and continued to speak to the employee working with her. The fact that she didn’t even acknowledge customers is appalling and unprofessional. I felt very uncomfortable as did other customers as we all looked around asking each other what is going on. Her body language and facial expressions made me feel as though I was bothering her by asking for help. The only thing she asked me is if that’s all I wanted and didn’t even apologize for her behavior while making it an awkward environment/situation for all of us customers standing in line. Shame on her and a company that allows such vile behaviors in the workplace and it was definitely hostile. I will never ever shop at that location if the company employs and supports such behaviors. I am passionate about a positive client experience and have been in a client facing role my entire life, and was completely disgusted with my experience. A mandatory customer service training or better yet, change in management in this store needs immediate attention and action! What a great way to represent your company as you destroy your reputation. Clearly not an advocate or brand ambassador. So...