What the heck is wrong with TSC????

[chicknmania]

OK, I just have to share, because....well, really. I bought a 50 lb bag of Purina Flock Raiser from our local TSC store a few days ago. It was the last bag on the shelf. On the way home, I noticed an unusual smell in the car, but didn't think much about it...thought it was maybe from outside or whatever. So I lugged this bag of Flock Raiser into our barn, opened it, and dumped it into a feed can. I was about knocked out by the smell! The feed was wet, gray, lumpy, and moldy! (and stunk!) I was furious to say the least! Now I had 50 lbs of wet, moldy food to dispose of...no easy task, since I was by myself; plus, I had no feed to give the flock! I complained to TSC and they acted shocked...said to not worry about bringing it back, but they'd give me my money back. OK, I told them...no, you come and get it, because I can't get it out of the feed can again by myself! OH, no, of course they can't do that.

So two days later I am in the store again, because the other feed store in town was closed. I couldn't find any crumbles, only pellets, and our flock prefers crumbles. I finally found a small bag of Cluck & Co, organic and expensive and looked strange, but eventually they did eat it. I was talking to the clerk about the moldy food episode, and the fact that they almost never have Purina feed in that store anymore, only their own brand. Her reply was "OH, we can't keep it on the shelf! We get six bags at a time delivered...." WHAT???? How about a skid? We live in a farm community after all...or at least it sort of still is.

Lastly, I bought a 10 pack of cute Christmas cards from them. $12.99. I was looking forward to using them. So I got them home and discovered....yeah....ten cards, and no envelopes. OK, seriously? I have never ever seen a pack of greeting cards sold with no envelopes...how are you supposed to mail them????? OMG!!!!

I will do my best to never buy from them again!!!

 

[JacinLarkwell]

OK, I told them...no, you come and get it, because I can't get it out of the feed can again by myself! OH, no, of course they can't do that.

That makes sense. They're not a delivery company. That would be like telling a pizza place to come and get a pizza that was made wrong after you went and picked it up from the restaurant.

 

[GirlsHuntToo]

Sorry you had such a bad experience with them. I personally have not had that bad of an experience. I wouldn't put to shame every Tractor Supply location, some are worse/better than others.

 

[casportpony]

I've purchased moldy feed from them and had to return it.

As for them asking to have it returned, that's not an unreasonable request. And to get it out of the can, you could do that by transferring it back to the bag one scoop at a time. Or you could have taken the whole can and the empty bag back.

 

[chicknmania]

That makes sense. They're not a delivery company. That would be like telling a pizza place to come and get a pizza that was made wrong after you went and picked it up from the restaurant.

They don't sell pizza. They sold moldy food which I'm sure they must have realized was moldy. This store has a bad reputation. If they make a mistake like that, they should make amends. It's not exactly the same thing as a "pizza made wrong".

 

[chicknmania]

I've purchased moldy feed from them and had to return it.

As for them asking to have it returned, that's not an unreasonable request. And to get it out of the can, you could do that by transferring it back to the bag one scoop at a time. Or you could have taken the whole can and the empty bag back.

Yes, no kidding, I know how to remove the feed. I just didn't have time to do that, and I have to drag the can out of the barn to remove the feed, because if it gets spilled at all, the chickens may eat it. I don't want them to eat it. TSC didn't ask for the feed back. Moldy feed is unacceptable. We've had chickens 20 years and have never gotten moldy feed from anywhere, until now.

 

[chicknmania]

Sorry you had such a bad experience with them. I personally have not had that bad of an experience. I wouldn't put to shame every Tractor Supply location, some are worse/better than others.

I'm not exactly putting the company to shame, except that they are selling Christmas cards for $13.00 with no envelopes. That is Corporate, not the store. And to have someone else say that they've purchased moldy feed from TSC, that says something about the Company. As I said, I've bought feed from our local mills and other feed stores, and never received moldy feed before. Simply a heads up that it's something to watch out for with feed from TSC . have better things to do than drag feed back to the store. I guess it says something for that store that they DIDNT ask for it to be returned.

 

[Lacy Duckwing]

I've had to return feed to a local feed store before due to a rat being packaged up in the bag. The store went very good on it and replaced the bag. (It was a bag of Organic broiler crumbles, which was very expensive.)

As far as a moldy grain bag, that wouldn't be the company's fault, but it would be someone who is handling shipments instead. (That is, unless they have a roof leak, which isn't out of the question.) Accidents happen all the time during shipping, loading and unloading, etc. At my local feed store, they often have discounted bags of grain for sale because something happened. The bag could have been gotten wet during the loading/unloading process and as someone who's familiar with mold, I know how a simple drop of moisture can cause a lot of mold. (I try to avoid filling feeders on rainy days just because of the risk!)

On a side note, did you check the package date on the bag?

 

[chicknmania]

I've had to return feed to a local feed store before due to a rat being packaged up in the bag. The store went very good on it and replaced the bag. (It was a bag of Organic broiler crumbles, which was very expensive.)

As far as a moldy grain bag, that wouldn't be the company's fault, but it would be someone who is handling shipments instead. (That is, unless they have a roof leak, which isn't out of the question.) Accidents happen all the time during shipping, loading and unloading, etc. At my local feed store, they often have discounted bags of grain for sale because something happened. The bag could have been gotten wet during the loading/unloading process and as someone who's familiar with mold, I know how a simple drop of moisture can cause a lot of mold. (I try to avoid filling feeders on rainy days just because of the risk!)

On a side note, did you check the package date on the bag?

No, I will. And I guess I've been very lucky. Have had poultry all this time and never had moldy feed ever. Just saying I'm inclined to stay away from TSC and their shipper except in an emergency. It isn't just that...they've been remiss on a lot of things besides moldy feed, and I'm not the only one complaining locally. I bet the rat was happy...for a while anyway!

 

[Stravager]

Now for sure they should not have had a rancid bag of feed on the shelf to begin with. That was their problem for not investigating the smell, storing correctly, or checking LOT numbers. However, if they said that they would refund without you bringing the bag back, that is technically good customer service at that point.
Speaking as someone who works in a feed store, if a customer complains of mold in a product we usually need the bag or the product back if it was taken out of the bag and the bag tossed. Our suppliers need the LOT number to track if there is a widespread problem with that batch, and our store policy is that the product must be returned for a refund so we can ensure it's properly disposed of. Otherwise a customer can complain of mold and then keep feeding the bad product, or just outright lie in order to get a refund. It has happened before. At no point would we ever drive out to a customer's property and retrieve a bag from them. That opens us up to liability if something happened to the employee on the drive, or if something happened on the customer's property, etc. Most stores do not have a company vehicle either, so it would be an employee's private vehicle that is not insured for business purposes going to retrieve the bag, which is another huge can of worms in terms of what does the employee get compensated for driving, etc.
That being said.
Before you dump any bag of feed into any container, you need to check it to make sure it is what you were supposed to have been feeding and that it is fresh, good food. I have had so many customers grab a bag because it looks like the one they usually buy and ignore what the bag actually says only to figure it out weeks later. And I have also had many, many customers buy a bunch of bags and just randomly dump into a bin without rotating, cleaning, or making sure that the feed did not get spoiled while sitting on their barn floor and then try to say it was the store's problem they had mold. Mistakes happen.
I have also had bags that have excellent dating, smell fresh, look great, and have had random chunks of concrete, mold, or other bits in the bag that was only discovered after scooping out a little bit of feed. Every bag that you buy should be checked before you put it into your storage containers/facilities regardless of who you buy it from. Mistakes happen.
For the rest of your experience I can make no comment. All of that said, I'm sorry, it sounds like you had a very rough and frustrating week.

TLDR: not needing the bag back to refund money was nice, them not coming to get rid of your moldy feed is smart for legal reasons, and please, please always check your feed before you store/feed it; sorry it sounds like a bad week hope it gets much better.