customer service representative

team member

inventory analyst

order picker

customer service associate / cashier

Tractor Supply

I'm writing this review about a month after having left the company, hoping to share both the good and the bad of my experience with it.

First, a little about my background: I was raised in the rural portions of Michigan, so I have experience with a lot of farm-adjacent subjects. I'm also a huge nerd, and so have a lot of technical experience. Both of these together proved extremely helpful to me.

I was hired in as a Receiving Manager (or more officially, just Receiver). This is unusual, as Receiver's are generally a position that you are promoted to, or move laterally from a Team/Shift Lead position. However, even though I was most likely a desperate hire, I was able to pick up on the skills needed quickly enough to secure a spot with the other managers.

Why do I say a desperate hire? I'll get to that in a bit. First, I want to lay down the things I enjoyed about working for Tractor.

First, your mileage will vary. I had a very people-oriented manager who was more than willing to sling feed bags with everybody else and try to abide by your availability as much as possible. However, I have heard lots of stories of bad managers who drove employees out in waves. Like anywhere, your boss makes or breaks your experience with the company.

Second, if you have a store with a good working culture, you'll probably love working with your co-workers more than you hate working retail. The company really emphasizes customer service. They have a whole system, GURA, that tracks how your store is doing and helps guide you through the process, which is good as it means that your ability to be personable to customers is just as important as your ability to endure moving half a ton of feed 1 bag at a time. This is a feed store after all, you will be moving bags.

My training was, frankly, a disaster. TSC uses a computerized training system that is constantly on the fritz, in combination with a local store designated as your District Learning Center for training new managers. I loved my time in the other store, but my ability to retain information that I've been shown, not done myself, is less than ideal (though this is a common problem). To my knowledge though, that program had seen improvements just in my time of being there, hopefully with much more to come.

Training notwithstanding though, it didn't matter much because I needed to learn it one way or another. Between calling the company Help Desk and other Receivers (as well as our previous receiver, turned part timer) I managed well enough to get the basics under my belt, and good thing too. Something you'll learn quickly in this role is that you are the only one in the store who really knows how to do your job. Assistant Managers and Store Managers may be your boss, but few if any ever have to pass through your position to get there. There's cursory knowledge sure, but unless they've been there for a while and have taken interest, you're often on your own to get your work done.

Which wouldn't be a problem, if it weren't for the bad parts of my experience. It's a good thing that I was quick on the uptake here, because it was out of the frying pan, and into the fire pretty quickly. Something you'll be told early on is that Receivers are always supposed to have another keyholding manager in the building, *and* that they are never supposed to handle money (other than occasionally running the register to help with coverage). You'll learn quickly though that if you could be in two places at once, you'd be running the whole dang store, and pretty well too.

One of the advantages of being a receiver is also one of the biggest disadvantages. You'll learn everything, and I do mean everything, that there is to running a store. Your official responsibility is largely that of operating the forklift, checking in shipments, inventory correction, a little ordering, layaway and raincheck maintenance, etc. You'll also have a few odds-and-ends that are on your plate, like maintaining the cleanliness and merchandising of the outside of the store, cleaning the floors, rotating perishable product, etc.

Now if that already sounds like a lot (it's enough to fill a 40 hour work-week if you do it right), that's because it is. But there's more. Because you're a manager, you'll also wind up getting roped into opening the store, manning the floor, dealing with customer issues, heck, I even closed a couple times and worked a double shift because we were in a tough spot. You'll get stuck with all the unpleasant tasks nobody wants to go and do because the company priorities time spend in front of the customer and you're the only one who isn't required to do that all the time.

*However*, that is also a double-edged sword. As a receiver, you're directly promotable to Store Manager. However, because of your lack of customer service responsibilities, you probably won't be, and especially won't be before every team lead in the area gets promoted first. So while you don't have to go and "people" quite as much, it also means that you lose out on opportunity that other positions have.

And this, is why the position is so hard to keep filled, and then to fill when it's empty. Receiving Managers have an unusually high turnover rate, so much so that the company organizes a regional conference call to take in feedback about it. Some of this is acted on, but the most common factor (the laughable pay for the amount of workload and stress that every receiver experiences) is never acted on more-so than the same raises you get at your yearly review.

So TL;DR, this place will teach you a lot about retail, give you some really fantastic customer service experience, but they'll pay adults like children still living at home. Stay in the customer-service oriented positions if you want to advance in the company, and know how to self-advocate to avoid burnout.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part would be the pay and shift differential pay.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
This company only focuses on the company and not the employees that keep workflow processes. Mostly focused on production numbers and do not worry if you're hurting or a little exhausted from being worked so hard. They just claim, oh well that's the job and that's what you signed up for. There's banners in the warehouse, just like any other, that say "Accountability", "Initiative", etc, but do not take the time out with the ones who actually work hard and prove themselves capable of more than their job. Strictly about following an in-transfer policy of 6 months. Which means if you start there and quickly realize you're better at something else, they will not allow you to move or cross-train in any other departments inside the warehouse. After 6 months, it's still no guarantee due to other employees that might be ahead of you in the transfer process. No strive here to see employees succeed or take any initiative at all. Also the OT is insane!! Constantly on MOT(mandatory overtime), clearly means someone isn't doing their job properly if they always have MOT. Definitely have their favorites. Same people are always assigned for housekeeping, which is cleaning up around the warehouse and doesn't give anyone else a break from the constant shove of production flow, which is extreme! Headsets hardly ever work. I feel as if their outlook on WM (warehouse management) is very twisted. Not to mention they allow you to clock in 15min early but you do not get paid until the exact time your shift starts. You have a 5 min grace period but even within those 5 min, even if you clock in 1 min too late, it counts against you as a "chat". What exactly is the point of a grace period of it counts against you anyway. Little backwards huh!? There's really too many stressful things about working for this warehouse. I could probably go on for days about the things they should consider changing or at least improving.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environment is fast-paced like most warehouses but when they say "accountability", they mean to say everything is on you or your fault no matter what! For instance, one occasion our shift had to stop picking for a couple of hours because the ship dock was completely full. LDPA (Let-down-put-away) got behind and receive dock was behind(notice the workflow process there). Well pickers got faulted the next shift for our efficiency numbers falling behind and were told it was not acceptable. But yet we were told to stop picking due to overflow of ship dock. How was that the fault of the pickers. Make it make sense!! Basically it's never what a great job or encouragement, it's always do better type environment. Stressful and discouraging, especially ones who are dedicated and work hard. Not family oriented nor do they care if you're sick. You get asked to go clean as opposed to going home. And yes, you will get a "chat" even if you're sick and have to leave. If VTO is not approved, which it very rarely is, you're going to get a chat! They give chats for everything!!! If you mess up, you better do it in training because once that first 10 or 12hr shift starts, good luck! No room for errors. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Typical day is clocking in 15min early, just to not get paid for it, just to get my headset and get everything ready to work for this company for the shift. Then have our shift meeting to hear goals, production, any news, stretch, etc,. Get the riding Jack, go load up 2 empty pallets and begin choosing a region to pick in. Once you've completed 1 task by picking that order, you take your pallet(s) to the ship dock. Then the cycle repeats all night long until end-of-shift. Very repetitive. If the region you're picking in runs out of tasks then you move on to another region. If there's isn't any tasks and they haven't moved on to the next wave, then you'll have to fill out this stupid white paper, like they don't know there's no more work, so you don't get any down time and get in trouble and you go clean. That's just for orderfill (pickers).

TS is a very busy place to work.  It is understaffed due to hours and too few employees allowed to be scheduled.  Instead of driving in for an 8 hour shift, it's 4 hours on average, unless it is freight day and you are on the freight team.  
The district manager is focused on how many private label TS credit card sign ups we get, how many neighbor club memberships, and not only should we achieve our sales goal, we must be the highest sales district at all times.  He was condescending and out right insulting in the voice messages he left.  
I liked the work of cashiering and assisting customers but having him carp into the communication device while I am interacting with customers is nonproductive.  It's a daily event.  You can "listen later" but you know it's coming and it comes always during a busy part of the day because frankly, it's always busy when there are too few people allowed to be scheduled.  
I am all about the customer and the customers told me to my face that the worst part of coming to the store was being asked to sign up for the neighbors club and credit card. Most customers are weekly or more frequently, and they tire of the repeated requests.  
People have a choice and come to TS because we are super friendly and caring, despite the prices being higher.  I was complimented on my genuine care and service but I was grumbled at daily for the above mentioned things and questioned about why there wasn't anyone to see to their need for a load out or a propane fill or help in the yard.  Online shopping just increased the need to log out at the cash register to take merchandise into the parking lot, only to return and see a customer waiting at the register that then asks, "don't you have more people working in the store?"
The work environment is stressful because you have to do every job, which isn't difficult, but it's like being on a treadmill set to high speed and it's constantly on tilt to stimulate hills.   The store cannot hang onto competent employees because the employees cannot work enough hours and the pay sure isn't enough to compensate for the harassment by the district manager and there always seems to be at least one too few employees on the floor.  With the cost of living in Sheridan County and the price of fuel, it did not pay to work there.  
I will say that the assistant "manager(s)" were absolutely the best and brightest but were run ragged as well.   I believe our store lacked a "manager" by title and the assistant and team leader filled the position's duties.  
I also worked at stocking freight which required handheld devices to scan items and locate the proper place for it to be.  The scanners were all in various states of BROKEN, most wouldn't hold a charge or had to be rebooted frequently or scan feature did not work at all and every UPC or SKU had to be entered manually.  Corporate sent new ones but they were not for those of us on the floor doing the stocking.  There were not enough scanners for the stocking team, even using the malfunctioning ones.  
TS is a good concept and is a fun place to SHOP at, but it is stressful to work at due to mid and upper level cost cutting, micromanaging and what appears to be a bonus motivated mid level management set up that causes great stress to those actually in the store making sure the customers are happy, which is exactly what makes the company money.  
When I quit working there, I was sent a letter regarding my paid for benefits and that I could continue via COBRA effective the day after I quit.  My last pay check was paid 10 days later and the premiums were taken out for the middle of the next month.  HR says they cannot refund them, but confirmed that I can't use the benefit I paid for, and that I would have to pay again via COBRA.   
I am not longer an employee or a customer.  

Management was horrible. I won't say anything about the first level supervisors cause they are often put in precarious situations, but for the ones above I don't have anything for. I have ample experience in the field, and was astounded to see the company's lack of base standards. I observed numerous employees not show effort, or any promise of being productive additions to the business. The company obviously doesn't know what the probationary period (90 days) is supposed to be used for. Either that or they just don't factor it in when making an official hiring decision. The company would see improved annual financial reports even if all they changed was instead of keeping unproductive associates, and attempting to remedy  it by moving them to another department, terminate there employment. Most of the better workers pointed out because they were over tasked  with duties. It's easier to make one guy do the job, instead of making sure everyone is though, and once started.. They engaged in gaslighting. They tried it with me, but I've worked at some facilities that were really rough, and TSC doesn't hold a candle to them. Insubordination will get you fired faster than anything else in a warehouse except for used up allocated attendence points given to each employee at the start of there employment. Hours were cut to remain inside company budget goals. Rarely could you opt in for overtime without there already being issued mandatory overtime. If your in an office all night instead of on the floor where I'm working then I don't really care to hear your employee review. You might as well give me top marks across the board. There system used to track individual employee productivity is a joke. My numbers never accurately represented my output. They factored in my training day percentages too for when I began in another department as part of my full evaluation to determine whether or not I'd receive a raise. The low numbers prevented me from receiving one. I didn't work in that department for a full three months out of the gathered 9. Afterwards I was repeatedly recognized by other associates, leads, and supervisors, and voted for to receive the company's country mile award recognizing associates who went above and beyond. The supervisor detailing to me my review stated that he knew the posted numbers did not represent my output. Well this is my livelihood so would you mind at least mentioning this to someone up above? Oh well what's another years wait for a raise likely to remain somewhere under the amount of a full dollar.. 
Each individual will have there own experiences. I'm honest, and so is this review. Not a disgruntled, previous employee venting.

You'll learn a lot, if you're willing to pay attention and ask questions.

This place doesn't care how much you need to make to support your family. If it's convenient to cut your hours, they will.

The pay is very low for the area. Even for management. 

Some of your management will be great, and will fight for you. But mostly, people who know that they are good workers do not stay to work for peanuts long term. If they do, they're near retirement age.

On a related note, managers might be the best workers in the store, but they were promoted because they were the best workers, and not necessarily because they're actually good at management. Or dealing with other humans. Having a work-pool of ten people to promote from limits options. Hiring from outside limits this store to people who are willing to work for peanuts--i.e., couldn't get a job anywhere else. If you get a manager who is good at delegation, tactful, and able to deal with interpersonnel struggles-- he or she is probably about to quit.

Bluntness is a valued trait. Most of your coworkers and customers will be very willing to "tell it like it is." This can be a positive or a negative, depending on how self-aware the speaker actually is.

At least in our store, cashiers had very little support. Management was at the help desk and free-moving; stockers were free-moving, and cashiers were mostly forgotten at the front. Unless there's a good manager who comes over to check on you, if you want something, you'd better ask for it. 

Business doubled during covid. For some reason, the people in charge didn't think to double hours (for quite a while) Our store looked like a hurricane had gone through, and there were lines halfway to the back of the store. And there would be two workers. One management, one cashier. Frequently. On Saturday mornings. In a store that pumps propane--otherwise known as a time-consuming process that needs constant supervision. I did not get lunch breaks. Predictably, more of the good people quit. Our district/corporate (whoever handled assigning how many hours were allowed) finally authorised more hours, but by then, nearly all of the good people had left. 

Between an extremely passive-aggressive team lead (complete with mood swings and random outbursts), a highly non-confrontational assistant manager (well, could you go yell at her for me?), and lazy coworkers (I don't fold clothes.) I left. I'm happy I did. 

That should've been a sign when I was being interviewed and I was told how the assistant store manager, a team manager, and a few other people had recently walked out but I needed the job. I am a quick learner and figured I could easily make it work. I was a cashier, which is mind numbing so I was always cleaning and organizing when I could. Unfortunately, this short chubby woman felt as though it was her store and she was always complaining I did this or that. I was told I was to straighten up the clothes during down time, which is fine, but then I would get in trouble for not being at the register when a customer walked up. If I had 3 people in my lane, which is fine and I was quick, then another person walked up I would get yelled at for 4 people being in my lane and not having called for back up even though I hadn't even been given the chance to call yet. Even if I did call 99% of the time no one would come. I could see a lot of the store and if every associate in the store is within eyesight of me with a customer then it's pointless to waste time calling when I can apologize to the customers and gesture as I explained that everyone was busy. I never once had a complaint or even an upset customer! I finally quit when I had a lady write a check that was rejected & was trying to find another credit card. A man needed something 10ft away and she said it was ok to help him. While she was trying to find her card more customers walked up and a team lead was nearby and knew that it was getting backed up. Well, this woman who thought she was the store owner came up to me and said that they have to fix all my screw ups all because the register got backed up instead of asking me what happened. The woman was at my register for 15 minutes. The store manager wanna be told me the line got backed up because I walked 10ft away to assist a customer. The other team lead saw the lady at my register the entire time and never once stuck up for me. I walked out and called and told her to fix that screw up. I later called the district manager who was extremely rude and then I told them the cameras were on me the entire time. I wanted an apology for this lady's attitude towards me. How convenient that the cameras weren't on! What kind of store doesn't keep their security cameras on. I even contacted their corporate office to file a complaint but I do not know where that ever went. I hope I made life easier on the rest of the crew though! I really did like them a lot and appreciated their help and knowledge! Too bad the other two weren't real team players. I wouldn't even shop in that store if it weren't the only place that sells my dog food!

What is the best part of working at the company?
Many of the customers were regulars. They came in weekly and were enjoyable to interact with. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
It was a revolving door of inexperienced workers. It was impossible to keep good help with the low wages and physical demand of the job. The supply chain was terrible. The trucks would never arrive when scheduled. It was extremely difficult to inspire a team of people who came in on time to work just to be sent home because a truck was going to be delayed for any variety of reasons / excuses. The company gave zero communication as to when the issues would be resolved or what was causing the problems. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The culture was do more with less. Similar to many retail environments, but worse. When they implemented online orders and curb side pick up and didn’t give anymore to very little labor to keep up with the demand, in store service levels suffered. Corporate seemed baffled as to why customers weren’t happy. Late trucks, empty shelves, price increases and in store customers competing with the demand of online orders and curbside pickup made the ability to make customers happy extremely difficult. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day was stressing out about when my DC truck would arrive vs the time it was actually scheduled. Then trying to adjust and rewrite schedules to get employees to come in at different times other than when they were scheduled to work was exhausting. This was a weekly occurrence. Shielding complaints around products being out of stock and why prices were increasing was typical. The company offered zero solutions to get the products into the stores on time to allow associates the ability to take care of customers. In addition to the nuances of a retail environment, dealing with shoplifters was a daily occurrence. People would walk into the store, select what they wanted and walk right out without paying for it. TSC has what they call chick days. This was a miserable time of year. You were given zero extra labor dollars to clean chick tanks and care for sick / dying birds that  would come in multiple times a week. Dealing with chickens and explaining to the customers that a chicken wasn’t dead, it was sleeping got old. The main problem with this company is that they didn’t pay a fair wage for anyone to want to make it a career.

I worked at 2 locations for over 3 years and overall, it was a fun environment to work for (if you get lucky). Both stores I worked for were pretty fun to work at. Everyday is different. Some days you may do a pick list for dog & cat food while helping customers along the way, while other days you may be unloading the weekly truck(s) and putting away the products that come on pallets which can consist of bigger items or smaller miscellaneous items in tote boxes. The biggest make or break for this company is the store condition and the managers/team leads. Your managers/team leads will either make your job easier and more enjoyable or it will be 10x worse than how the job is supposed to go. Examples of a positive work environment would include the following:
-Store Manager/Assistant Manager actively working on the floor alongside Team Members and resolving any customer complaints/problems when they occur
-They give you work to do while also working themselves to keep the store clean/clutter free and up to date on the latest tasks handed down by higher ups
-You also connect with your coworkers/customers in this environment to create friendships

Examples of a negative work environment would include the following: 
-Team Members, Team Leads, Assistant Manager, Store Manager sitting around and chattering for long periods of time (can last anywhere from 10 minutes to multiple hours) while no work gets done resulting in more work for tomorrows crew which you may be apart of
-A lot of time work is not fulfilled by the assigned Team Member or Team Lead 
-Constant incorrect inventory counts which can result in unhappy customers more times than not (more than what it should be)
-Prices are wrong a lot of the time because no one ever wants to do the price changes
 -Going above an beyond goes unrecognized
-Dirty and unkept store conditions like floors that were not swept for weeks or even months, expired animal/human food, bird/rodent feces on products
-Doesn't seem to be a point system for showing up late or calling in which obviously results in more work load for YOU
-Constant drama throughout the store and with hire ups in the company 

I have heard both these positives and negatives at multiple locations throughout the company and seen in at the stores that I was employed at with nothing seeming to change with the negative aspect.

Worked there 5yrs. I worked hard there, was promoted several times, they fully paid relocation 4hrs away for me, I did great for them. However, they started changing their culture about 3yrs ago.  When the original executives that build this company up, started retiring, they began pulling in ex-Walmart / Dollar General executives and managers. Took the "Fun" of a Farm/Ranch store out of the job. Forced to pay terrible wages to the team members who worked very hard, so the turn over was huge and raises were out of the question if you had a good worker. Never had enough payroll for staffing, so your customer's were not getting helped properly.  If you are salary, you WILL live there!  They have this attitude that you should feel honored to work for low wages and give up all your personal life because they are this "Awesome place to work for" "A growing company with tons of advancement". The brainwashing worked on me for a few years. They are good at it. You can move up to any position you desire.  But beware! When you have issues with their H.R. dept, you will get burnt quickly! And there is an H.R. issue around every corner there. They encourage tattling so extreme, that you cannot manage an effective store for them. They feel they are the best place to work and people are dying to get onboard with them. If you are a manager and you try to discipline a team member, watch your back, cause they will not take the manager's side, they will fire you faster than a subordinate.  Your bosses will turn their back on you quickly.  However, you are held responsible when the team member messes up. Double edged sword here folks.. Its sad, cause it was a great place at one time. Now they have grown away from taking care of their employees and customers.  The customers come in there dirty straight off the farm, they don't care about a dusty shelf!  But they will have you cleaning them all day. They want a good price, good service  and good products.  These new Walmart / Dollar General executives and managers, do not have a clue about farming / ranching and only expect you to make them a huge profit bonus! They will break you off a little piece, but not enough to compensate for the blood,sweat and tears you will give to them.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I think it would have been a wonderful opportunity if the pressure and the training was better and not pushed so hard on you. Plus trying to learn the job I thought I was applying for instead I was being trained to do everything in a few days which made the situation a little too stressful. Basically the training procedures at the store wasn't right the way they did. Even for someone who had more experience would have been pretty upset. It was very upsetting because I was excited to get on with tractor supply but between scheduling and training it was a too much.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The training was definitely the worst part. Had you jumping through hoops trying to learn everything all at one time in a short time. Never really getting a chance to learn one thing good without taking you and putting you somewhere else one minute and then switching you up to doing three other things It was hard to get proper training in my opinion. Very upsetting enough to make me miserable turned it from an exciting job opportunity to a nightmare.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Nothing against the people I work with personally but I will say while trying to learn the job or I should say jobs that I needed to learn It made it where I hated even asking someone if I had a question because they acted like I was bothering them not a good way to learn a job if no one wants to help you learn the job but I can understand everyone being busy already not wanting to train someone but I feel like there should have been somebody there better to train people on a level where you can learn things and not be just pushed it all on you at one time. Don't know about other people who have been hired there maybe that was just my experience with them.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Not knowing from one minute to the other on what I would be doing or if I could even finish the job I was doing before they sent me somewhere else and not having anyone explain what my schedule was actually going to be and changing everything without letting me know ahead of time.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Customer service representative 3 salaries reported	$17.43 per hour
Team member 3 salaries reported	$13.50 per hour
Inventory analyst 4 salaries reported	$70,250 per year
Order picker 3 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Customer service associate / cashier 1 salary reported	$23.39 per hour

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