Build-A-Bear Workshop Unit 326 Almondvale Boulevard, Livingston EH54 6HR

"I had a GREAT experience here. I was taken by my sister, niece and nephew to get a bear for my birthday present. (A world touring teddy). The staff we so friendy and helpful. I would highly recommend this place to anyone with or without kids."

"Not enough staff working. Had to wait in long queues. This seems to be the case regardless of what time of day/year you visit this shop. Staff are great but just seem under pressure with the amount of customers."

"I visited this store after losing my dog yesterday. I was hoping to find a plush toy that was similar (German Shepherd) so that I could place the recording of his bark inside. Unfortunately they did not have any that were similar to him. We asked if we could purchase the recoding button to make our own at home however we were told that they could not be sold separately as they were tested. I am still a little unsure what this means however I accepted this and left the store. I then returned to ask if I could purchase a bear with the recording so that I could remove it at home. I was then told that I would now be refused sale on all build a bears which was quite upsetting as I had intended to buy another as a gift. I felt that this was almost like a ban from the store and I had been polite where the employee was overly defensive and harsh, telling me it wasn’t worth getting worth getting fired for, not that I had asked her to. I have been to other stores and the employees are lovely."

"We visited the store in Buchanan Galleries a while ago and they were so friendly and helpful. So we were looking forward to visiting the Livingston store as part of my daughter’s 1st birthday. Our first experience of the Livingston store was pretty disappointing. If I just wanted to buy a bear, I could have done so online but we visited the store because we thought it would be a lovely experience for our daughter. However, we weren’t acknowledged when we entered and we were treated like an inconvenience by team members who seemed more interested in their private conversation than anything else. We were eventually able to get the attention of a team member to tell her we had chosen a few bears but she wandered off and started sweeping the floor. Claire in particular was extremely unhelpful and abrupt, bordering on rude. The whole experience fell flat. Did it ruin my daughter’s birthday? No. Did it take the shine off a part of the day we’d really been looking forward to? Definitely. Not at all the Count the Candles experience that was advertised. I’ll avoid the Livingston store next time."

"If your looking for a pleasant, happy birthday experience for your child.. Then avoid this particular store!! In fact best ask your staff they read up on what the build a bear count your candles "experience" entails it would be so much easier to purchase a bear online the whole reason people take their children to the store is for the special experience of building their own. Arriving in the store which was empty apart from 2 other customers 3 members of staff standing chatting behind the til completely ignoring us for a good 10 mins despite catching their eyes multiple times. As this is our first time my partner spoke to a girl at the til and said we were interested in buying the birthday bear for our daughter's 1st birthday. The girl briefly acknowledged my daughter and then walked away and started sweeping the floor my partner then returned to me and we stood for another 5 mins still not being served all the while watching 3 staff members continuing their personal conversation. He returned to the desk spoke to a woman called Claire asked if we could be served we picked 2 bears and again said we were here for my daughters birthday we'd seen online the count your candles shop experience included a birthday bear, photoprop and ring birthday bell we were feeling a little disheartened with service so far... abruptly with her arms folded she snapped back her colleague was putting stuffing in the machine for us and had acknowledged us said with a smirk on her face as if we were interrupting her day! As we were not told what was happening or where to go or basically given any kind of service at all as u can imagine we found the whole thing extremely off putting and would of left without purchase if it wasn't my daughter's birthday present. As I've only seen great reviews from this store I'm wondering where those staff members were today as they certainly weren't in on this occasion I'd advise you train your staff on basic customer service at very the least and try not to ruin another 1yr old first build a bear experience!!"