TSC employees here are just no help....

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I know TSC's employees don't know ANYTHING!!!!Once when they had baby chicks there was a lady that was suppost to take CARE of the baby chicks, but she didn't know the anything about chickens!!!! There were dead baby chicks in the tank that had been there for a while and there was a white silkie chick that was DIEING AND MY MOM HAD TO SAY: Um, there is a baby chick that is dieing in there and you might wonna get it OUT!!!!!!!!!!! And another thing, the heat lamps weren't even on the CHICKS!! They were all huddled over in the corner and some of the chicks were getting SMOOSHED! So I'm not too inpressed with TSC's employees.

 

[jerrys59]

My Two Nearby Tsc Stores Have Pretty Good Employees, Also Got A E-mail Today That Chick Days Are Coming. There Was Alink For Ordering Chicks Trough Them.

 

[Shannon's Chix]

I have 3 in my area I go to occasionally and not one has even decent customer service!

The employees seem to go out of their way to keep away from customers and if you do corner one, they simply do not know the answers to many questions.

I think another poster hit the nail on the head, it has to be the training (or lack thereof) they receive.

 

[Tala]

We have some good employees and some bad ones. There is a cashier that I always talk to, and this one guy that is kinda new at our TSC but he told me that he has 40+ rabbits he seems to at least have a clue about raising animals.
Then there are the "tweedle dee and tweedle dum" ones....they don't seem like they know a thing and nodboy bothered to train them either. I guess with TSC you get about the same as your average WalMart employee. The only thing they know is what they came to the store already knowing

I generally load my own feed, but I have NO qualms about straight up asking the cashier "can I get someone to help me with this stuff" and standing at the register in everybody's way until they get there to carry the heavy stuff. The squeaky wheel......

 

[baltimoreharps]

I just don't bother with TSC anymore. I either get blank looks or the same "I don't know" even when I asked about PDZ last week compared to Stall-Dri from the "expert" at the local store.

I'll just stick with my local feed store that has freindly farm people who know what they're talking about, excellent scratch feed that is about 20% corn from local farmers and have both a cat and and an awesome Aussie shepard that live in the store. And these folks LOVE to talk chickens!

I'm even getting a special chick order from Ideal with them, and they aren't charging a dime extra for that, now that is customer service!!

 

[twentynine]

TSC employees?

Why does every one that visits a TSC expect every employee to know everything about every product? Really it ain't going to happen, not at TSC, not at Autozone, not at Advanced Auto, not at Lowe's, not at Home Depot, not even at your local mom and pop's. So where in the world are you going to go, where the employees are so very courteous, polite and knowledgable?

You do need to self educate yourself before you go. This is what I do.

1. google up general info on product
2. check out TSC online catalog lots of info their
3. speak to a friend or two that I know are using said products
4. check out forums like BYC or BYH

Then I go to TSC and lay my eyes on the actual product, read the packaging, look at the display, read any available fliers. Most of the time the TSC employees that are either untrained or uneducated will generally ignore me. The one or two guys in the store that have knowledge will approach and we will then have a Q&A on the subject.

After a number of visits to the TSC, the employees now recognise me by face and name, it is easy to get good info now. They also know I am a buyer, I don't go in their to suck info out of them and then give a lame excuse, and not buy. If they expain the product, and I explain my requirements and the two go together, I am walking out with the product. Another thing a customer needs to remember is, it is very much easier to get treated well if you are cheerfull, polite and courteous. Like Momma used to say--- You catch more flies with honey than you will with vinegar.

Truth be told, yes, my local TSC does have a few "lame" employees, but they also have a couple of good ones.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

If you're looking for chicks you'll almost certainly do better to check out the other area feed stores than what you'll be abel to find with TSC. I'm here in the Gainesville area and the feed stores started getting chicks in a month ago. Mine are already in the brooder. Many of the stores have rotating schedules of what they'll get in when so it pays to call around and ask what they've got this week and if they'll get the breeds you're looking for later if they don't have what you want right now. In a few more weeks chick season will largely come to an end.

I like TSC for some things, particulary a few things I cannot easily find anywhere else. But when it comes to chicks I found their attitude (in two different stores) very perfunctory about what they ordered and when they'd have it in and whether or not they'd be getting anything different in later. I went by a store here in the Gainesville area last weekend and they hadn't yet gotten any chicks in whereas the other feed stores in the area had gotten theirs in three weeks before.

.....Alan.

 

[ConchRepublic]

A.T. Hagan :

If you're looking for chicks you'll almost certainly do better to check out the other area feed stores than what you'll be abel to find with TSC. I'm here in the Gainesville area and the feed stores started getting chicks in a month ago. Mine are already in the brooder. Many of the stores have rotating schedules of what they'll get in when so it pays to call around and ask what they've got this week and if they'll get the breeds you're looking for later if they don't have what you want right now. In a few more weeks chick season will largely come to an end.

I like TSC for some things, particulary a few things I cannot easily find anywhere else. But when it comes to chicks I found their attitude (in two different stores) very perfunctory about what they ordered and when they'd have it in and whether or not they'd be getting anything different in later. I went by a store here in the Gainesville area last weekend and they hadn't yet gotten any chicks in whereas the other feed stores in the area had gotten theirs in three weeks before.

.....Alan.

We've been looking around, most feed stores don't have any yet, and the only local ones that we know are not choices for us. One only has naked necks and they look like poor quality, and the other has some breeds, but asking ridiculous prices for Ideal birds. We're checking the one feed store that we haven't looked at today.​

 

[rileysgranny]

We have 2 TSC stores within a short driving distance from us. The closest one, which is in the more rural area, has the best employees and they take care of their chicks and seem to know enough to help with any questions. If one doesn't know the answer, another one will. Most of the employees that I've spoken with there have experience with animals of one kind or another and seem to care about the rabbits and chicks that come in to their store. And they care that we get what we are looking for or offer to order it if they don't have it in stock.

The employees at the TSC "in town" are another story. Last year they had their chicks way overcrowded in the bins and there were a number of dead chicks at the bottom of nearly every one. One pen didn't have a drop of water or food and the poor little babies were all huddled in the corner together trying to keep warm. When I pointed out the dead babies and the lack of water and heat the employees just shrugged their shoulders and looked at me like I was nuts. I very loudly stated that I would NEVER purchase anything from a store whose employees had no training or cared less about their stock, and I've stuck to it and I'm not usually one to make a scene. The poor little kids that were checking out the chicks were so distressed about the dead ones that a couple of them were crying.

The other problem we have is the lack of stock that they keep and/or the incorrect information about what they actually do have that is listed in their computer system. Before we quit going to the "in town" store, we tried to get 3 rolls of 6 ft. chicken wire. Their computer showed they had 9 rolls, so they rung up the sale and took my money. When they went to load the wire there was actually only 1 roll in the store. Then they acted like I was the one with the problem when I asked for a refund.

But it's not just TSC that has a problem with untrained or under trained employees and those who treat their customers as if it's a bother to help them. Customer service just doesn't seem to exist much any more. I've almost quit going to shop anywhere but a very few stores where I feel like my patronage is important and we rarely eat out because there seems to be such a lack of consistency with the quality of the food that is served, even from one location to another of the same chain.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Quote:
These folks have a store in Ocala

http://www.midwestfeedandfarm.com/

The chicks I presently have in the brooder came from their Archer store. It's not Dunellon, but they're reasonably close

There are lots of feed stores around here. Let your fingers do the walking in your phone book. The chicks are out there.

These folks have a store up the road from you in Williston.

http://www.sparrbuilding.com/

I was just in there last week and they had chicks - Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, and Easter Eggs as I recall.

I'm not as familiar with Ocala/Dunellon as I am with the greater Gainesville area, but we're all close enough to share similar kinds of stores.

.....Alan.