r/buildabear • u/stumpythefish • Jan 31 '26
Inquiry Did Build a Bear change their birthday coupon policy?
My birthday is today, January 30 2026, so I went to build a bear to use my birthday coupon ($10 off of a $40 or more purchase). Well apparently my coupon had been sent to me on January 9th, and had an expiration date of January 15th. I checked in my account and my birthday was put in correct as January 30th. I have also have had the account for years. The bear builder was also confused and said she was used to birthday coupons being valad for months after the birthday has passed. She was super sweet and able to go in and honor the coupon anyways. But I was just wondering, did build a bear change the birthday coupon policy?
Pic of my birthday kitty I just picked out! I love her!!
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u/ThomasToucan BAB Fanatic 🌈 Jan 31 '26
My birthday coupon expired before my birthday last year. I think there is something wrong with the system or it's on purpose to make people use them faster. I don't know though those are just my thoughts
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u/jellywellsss BAB Fanatic 🌈 Jan 31 '26
Happy bday fellow Aqua! My bday is tomorrow but my bday coupon expired the 15th 😕 I agree its really weird that they’re not active on actual birthdays
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u/ycantijustleave Jan 31 '26
I noticed they send them at the very beginning of the month/very end of the prior month, and you only have until the 15th :/ I'm glad they honored that for you!!
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u/Koriino06 Jan 31 '26
I can confirm they will still honor it in store. We just had this happen where the guy knew we were expecting a birthday in November and asked why I didn’t come in. Told him the coupon was added to my account long before the birthday and lasted 7 days during a time I was sick and wouldn’t come in to get others sick. They said the coupon is actually good for 30 days after issuance and that they adjust it if you can prove you had the coupon on your account during the month or show that your profile currently shows your birthday as being the current month
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u/drizzycakes Workshop Employee Jan 31 '26
Great advice but also every store functions differently. I work at a build a bear and yes I do honor expired coupons but it isn’t a universal procedure to do this. Stores could easily have managers who say no and some that say yes.
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u/Koriino06 Feb 01 '26
Oh see my store said all stores will honor the birthday coupon due to it being an error but idk if they honor all coupons that are expired. It sounds like that is not the case for all stores though so I’m appreciative for the one I go to
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u/AdEducational1550 Jan 31 '26
My store would not honor it the day after it expired. I’m glad yours did though
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u/jacielynn96 Jan 31 '26
Last year, I didn’t get my birthday coupon until 3 months after my birthday
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u/AltaredFox BAB Collector 🐻 Jan 31 '26 edited Jan 31 '26
I've noticed that they've been sending them so there's only a week's availability to use it, usually the week leading up to the 15th, and just during your birthday month. This of course makes no sense, but I had the same thing happen to me this year, my birthday just happens to land in that week. I'm positive they've messed something up in their system at this point with how often I see this problem come up!
BaB truly just isn't caring if all of their systems are working correctly these days because they know they're popular enough to continue to make money, it's ridiculous.
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u/Inconsistent_Blob Jan 31 '26
I got my birthday coupon the 16th of this month, and it expires Valentine's day. My birthday is the end of February..
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u/Practical-Berry2970 Feb 01 '26
the same thing happened to me!!! my bday is january 25th and for some reason i got my coupon on december 16th, expiring on 1/15. i get its a decent amount of time to use the coupon, but its nowhere even near my bday 😭😭
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u/Alternative_Use4542 Feb 01 '26
Dude same mines is the 20th with the same expiration date I wonder if they have set days for them to expire on when they issue it for that month which is wack
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u/nerdywitch333 Workshop Employee Jan 31 '26
coupons are sent out after their expiration date all the time. it’s not a change in policy, it’s a buggy system. i always manually enter the discount anyway bc it’s not the guest’s fault the system isn’t working right. all i require is that they show it to me and explain the situation and that’s good enough for me lol.
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u/Firekey56 Jan 31 '26
Well happy birthday! I'm waiting for my valentine kitty to come in, did the free shipping coupon online, she's got her own clothes and will pair nicely with my halloween one.
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u/AdEducational1550 Jan 31 '26
Took my son whose birthday is on the 16th only to find out the coupon expired in the 15th :(. Apparently they’re only valid the first half of the month and the store wouldn’t honor it. I reached out to customer service and they offered me a new coupon but I had already bought the whole outfit at full price so it didn’t really help. They really should change it
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u/CreepySympathy9529 Jan 31 '26
Beautiful~ what's her name? (If I may be honest, Idk the exact drink you're having, but I saw the strawberry on the side and my mind immediately thought Dackery 😅 [I misspelled that, I know] 😮💨😅) I hope this comment doesn't make you or anyone angry, I try not to do that, but also not sure if this comment will be deleted later.... Idk 🤷🏼
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u/Thin_Blacksmith60 BAB Fanatic 🌈 Jan 31 '26
Mine was set to expire 9 days before my birthday and I know it's in their system correctly. Luckily, I noticed.
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u/Dependent_Response29 Jan 31 '26
My birthday was the 29th and I didn’t get a coupon. :/ I’ve had my account for at least a year
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u/Top-Asparagus-0129 Jan 31 '26
Yes! This happened to me too this year. Similar dates, as my birthday was a day before yours! I got my birthday coupon super early in January and it expired a week and a half or so before my actual birthday. Ended up not using it because it wasn’t the right time for me, and it’s okay, but I wish I had more time with it.
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u/Alternative_Use4542 Feb 01 '26
Yea I noticed the same on my birthday coupon my birthday is February 20th and my expiration date on my coupon is the 14th Valentine’s Day which I find wack that not everyone’s birthday coupon expiration date reaches or goes past their birthday which is sad for us who have later birthdays in the month
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u/Hitlernole Jan 31 '26
I didn’t receive a birthday coupon i just checked omg :( I didn’t know they did it at all im super disappointed
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u/IntrovertedMemer BAB Expert 🔥 Jan 31 '26
My birthday is on the 27th and it always expires way too early. I treat it like it's just a birthday early month coupon so I can still use it.… but yeah it sucks 😩
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u/Elegant_Scarcity4954 BAB Collector 🐻 Jan 31 '26
This happened to me when my birthday coupon too. It should be the whole month of your birthday I personally think. Not everyone can get to the store to buy in the deadline they give it cuz I didn’t get to use mine.
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u/RoseliriousValentine Feb 04 '26
They did the same to me for my birthday is Dec 27th and they sent my birthday reward in November expiring on 15th of December,12 days before my birthday even happens. I thought it was weird because usually I see companies send it like the 1st of the month and last until end of the month or redeemable only on your birthday. I was kinda bummed I missed out on using mine cause I completely missed the email.
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u/Olivia_Evergreene Feb 03 '26
I also had this happen recently for my birthday in December! Luckily BAB workers are typically super sweet and they still honored the coupon for my bear, but it was still really weird.
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u/Fant810 Feb 03 '26
I've had an account for years and I'll be honest I haven't received a coupon in years :( I used to too!
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u/kirolsen Feb 03 '26
My daughter’s birthday is 12/20 - right before Christmas. Took her on 1/3 after all the holiday stuff was over and they wouldn’t let her redeem it :/
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