Bored a bear (Build a Bear)

Member Name: Happyjaw

Product:	Build a Bear
Date:	05/10/08 (110 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: More personalised than your average bear

Disadvantages: More enthusiasm can be found amongst trainspotters watching paint dry

I like the idea of this store more than the reality.
You can go in, choose a bear or other animal skin, devoid of stuffing and see how it could look once stuffed and then begin the process of :
Stuffing the bear on a giant stuffing machine, assisted by staff and with a choice of how firm you'd like your bear.
You also choose a heart, make a wish, give it a kiss and a number of other things, depending on how silly you're willing to get.
The heart goes in and the bear is stitched up. The you can go and register your bear and get a birth certificate, the registration also means your bear is unique and any Build a Bear teddy lost can be reunited via this registration.
You can choose form a range of clothing and accessories and basically treat your bear like a doll.
The varieties of bears are wide, there's even a current Pudsey bear which I assume helps raise money for charity.
The clothing can be funny, I noticed a batman costume instore today amongst various dresses, pyjamas, trouser outfits and almost any other item of clothing plus shows and other accessories from around £2 - £12.

However, the staff stuffing bears looked bored senseless and although it must be terribly boring pressing a pedal to deposit fluff in a pre made creature, most of the customers experiences are entirely different and they are excited and amused. These dead drones of staff are no fun.

I went in today, planning on booking a party for my twins, having looked around I was a little disenchanted but decided to ask the staff.
I found two stood chatting and approached them but it took them a a minute or so to stop chatting and pay attention, despite my 'excuse me'.
The first didn't even speak to me but immediately spoke to another member of staff and said 'You better do this one.'
The second staff member took us over to the bear carcasses and told us that 'the price starts at £8 per bear and then you get to stuff it and you get what you pay for. We do party games too and it's a lot of fun. It lasts 1 - 1.5 hours depending how many kids you have. You just get what you pay for really.'
What?
Is that it?
No further details despite the websites much more enthusiastic marketing. No examples of the fun which could be had, no enthusiasm.
Just 3 sentences.
Frankly, if that's how my staff sold a party to someone who was likely to be spending a large amount of money, I'd be pretty disgusted.
I said I was less than impressed and I'd find something more interesting for them to do instead, then we left the store.
We hovered outside for a moment or two discussing the alternatives and went back in for a moment to watch another party taking place but when we saw another bored looking member of staff leading a troupe of less than excited kids, we decided we'd seen everything to help us make a decision.

If you are making a purchase you may fare better than we did but certainly in terms of parties it sounds like an expensive mistake to me.

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Summary: The staff appear to be bored of bears, no matter how cute they are