WTH is wrong with TSC? Chick purchasing nightmare.

[KenK]

Quote:
Why should anybody, well behaved 9 year old or adult, be "allowed" to pick up the chicks just to look at them? Tractor Supply is not a petting zoo. It seems like it would be pretty stressful on the chicks for people to be coming by and playing with them every five minutes throughout the day.

Seems to me the best way to handle it would be to tell the employee how many and what kind of chicks you wanted and refuse any that you didn't like.

 

[RobinEgg]

I realize that TS new strict rules about who touches the chicks as a means to protect the chicks from small hands who may not be properly supervised. However I was a frequent customer, and did not need to touch each chick however I do expect to pick my own chicks, yes we know there are some unthrifty chicks in the lot. My local TS sales associate was rather rude when he told me "NO" I could not pick my own chicks. I do believe a little common sense could be used by the sales associates when they are asked by vetern poultry owners to be allowed to pick their own chicks. I left without chicks and probably wont return to purchase from TS again. As for signing a notebook I have never been asked to do that, nor am I sure that I would be willing to do so.

 

[Reyvaughn]

1) I am all for the gates. BUT - I am in TSC almost every day and most of the employees know me (all of the ones that work the chicken bins do). I have bought 53 of my chicks from them and all of the things my chicks need (food, waters, lights, bedding, grit and meds). I would expect a little courtesy and I would even appreciate an employee that would at least take the time to grab the couple of chicks I want in particular (I got 10, I wanted 3 in particular and got none of them). If I were to buy Silkies from them, I would make sure to get the active ones with the best colors. Not just what they want to grab. It's my money and I would like to get what I want with it.

2) When I go into TSC and see a chick getting cannibalized because an employee is to lazy to pull the poor thing out of the tub, I have an issue. It would have been better off dying alone, in one piece, of hypothermia in the shipping box.

3) I would expect the employees to care if over half of the chicks in a tub are suffering from pasty butt. Of course, it really doesn't seem like THEY see it as a live animal and if it dies, the company doesn't care. They still get paid for it. And yeah, simple care in the watering department would be nice. I witnessed a batch of ducks go over 30mins without water that I know of because one lady made it quite clear that it wasn't her job when we told her about it.

4) Knowledgeable staff would be also nice. They do advertise that their staff is knowledgeable and can help you. I'm not saying everyone needs to know everything about the chicks, but shouldn't at least one person be able to help?

5) I have no problem signing my name with my PROPER information about the birds I buy. I am sure they have a good reason and I am happy to oblige.


I am not saying TSC is a totally bad place, I just wish they realized that we, the customer, are their life blood. You do hear a lot of bad about TSC on the boards, but there are plenty of good, too. Like I said, I have bought 53 of my chicks there (2 different stores). I lost one I knew wasn't going to make it. I bought quite a few with pasty butt and fixed them up. But, all in all, I have no serious complaints about my birds. It's the employees and their attitudes.

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And....

rant/

I have 2 kids ages 7 and 9. I have a VERY low tolerance of kids, be it my own or other peoples'. I would expect a parent to obey and make their kids obey the signs TSC post right on the bins. I would expect a parent to be able to keep complete control of their child/ren in public. If not, keep them home or tie them to the post outside. If they want to act like an animal, treat them that way. Some of the parents I see today, I want to beat them and then their kids. I was raised with willow switches and belts. I wholeheartedly approve of such raising methods... Sadly, CYS doesn't.

/rant

 

[flying_babyb]

Ive never signed the book and asked about it last time I was there. They looked at me like a grew a second head, had no clue what it was. When we got our chicks, we knew which chicks we wanted and the lady (very nice lady) spent a full ten minutes chasing them around the big tub so we could get just what we wanted. She even tried to talk us out of one of our picks because it was small and sickly. We took her anyways and she turned out to be wonderful! She even let the kids "help" her by holding the take home box for her. She wa also great about spending extra time answering all the childrens chicken questions (there were alot, we were new chicken keepers at the time.) She also asks about our chickies every time we come in (and even stood around long enough for the kids to show her the pictures of them on my phone

) I guess were lucky!

 

[ChooksChick]

I LOVE our TSC and I am all for the gates because of bratty ill-mannered kids and adults with little compassion.

But, I was told the gates were because of a customer getting burned on the heat lamp and suing. Told it was corporation-wide, and that it was to prevent that liability.

 

[starlingk]

In the 3 years our local TSC has been open, we have not been pleased with their product knowledge -- ie no idea and no interest in finding out which belt was needed for a bush-hog purchased from there, that type of thing. But I have been pleasantly surprised with my visits to both the Commerce and the Winder stores during the chick event. When we purchased the first chicks, the bins were open, and we did see several children playing with the ducks with no parents in sight. Since then I've visited and phoned all the other stores in our area hoping to find Black Australorps. In each case, there has been one person in particular I needed to speak with, and sometimes a hold wait before he or she got on the line, but they have been very helpful. I went into the Winder store tonight just killing time and spent several minutes looking over the corral gates. The birds seemed in better shape without all the extra excitement. Waterers were all full and no pasty butt in sight.

Of course, there seems to be no way to leave that store empty handed - I picked up some dried meal worms as a treat for our 3 week old chicks.

 

[Chicken Junkies]

Quote:
Geeze... an adult got burned while messing with chicks, even though signs everywhere say not to touch the chicks. And they sue. Go figure. I think the gates are a good idea. We went in for feed the other day and there were kids getting into tanks and grabbing chicks and ducks. Parents just standing there watching. They all needed a good slap up side the head. It's not a petting zoo.

Those babies need a warm, quiet and restful place those first few days. What the heck is wrong with people now-a-days? I don't even like to go look at the chicks, cause I'll want to rescue them all and get them out of there. lol Don't need anymore chicks here. 4 incys full right now. At least I know what I'm getting. Just wish people would be more respectful of other living creatures. (Like the ones who tie a dog to a tree and feed it once or twice a day. Grrrr ) OK, Rant over....

 

[Tapsmom]

HI, We've had our chicks for about 5 weeks. We bought them from TSC and this is our first venture into chicken parenting. we found the staff extremely pleasant and helpful. They had someone near the chicks monitoring the area and she was quite knowledgeable and helpful. We also received the exact breeds we were expecting and they are all feathering as expected. All 6 are very healthy and growing like little weeds! At least the 2 near us in CT are vry good. I haven't been there in a few weeks so I don't know if everything is gated or not. When I was there the staff was picking up the chicks when you wanted a purchase, but they would get the specific birds you selected and I saw that all the customers were content and waited patiently. (It was REALLY busy the day we got our chicks)

 

[hippiefarmer]

Many years ago, before acquiring chicks to keep, I found a friend to donate some to, if I raised them in my basement. I ended up walking out of the store with 6 chicks and 4 ducklings - the store gave me one of the 4 ducklings for free because he was unable to stand up, was 2 inches smaller than all the others and kept getting trampled. "He's going to die anyway - just take him..." He lived... right up until he was eaten by a coyote at the friend's house... poor guy.

I was shocked when I walked in to TSC today and saw round-pen sections around the chicks. No fun, but it makes a lot of sense. Just last week, before they put gates up, there were 5 children hanging over the tanks whining about wanting to pick them up.

 

[Razadia]

Reading all this, I think I'll stick to local farms and my fave feed store. I'd hate to go through anything that would make my temper flare.