Sweet Thistle Farms — Attraction in Sanger

I hate writing negative reviews, but I'm so appalled by how we were treated this weekend that it warrants one. I want to clarify that I still think the farm is fantastic and the animals are very happy and healthy. Unfortunately, I can't leave a review for one person's behavior, so I need to leave it here. The owner is so incredibly rude that I still can't believe how we were treated. I've relayed the story to friends who are as equally disgusted. We had a great experience last year and I've been excited to go again. We went on opening day (October 8th) so I had a jump on getting decorative pumpkins. We arrived at 10am when the farm opens and I went right to the pumpkins. I noticed there wasn't a price list anywhere and I knew there'd been one last year. We decided to walk through the pumpkin patch itself because it's cute. We went back to the decorative pumpkin area about 10-15 minutes later hoping the price list would be out. It wasn't. By then, we noticed a woman and two young girls at a table. The table didn't have any signs, so we weren't sure who they were, and last year the same area had outdoor vendors. My mom asked, very politely, "Excuse me, do you work here?" The woman looked at us with an intense coldness and gave us an incredibly short response confirming she did. It was an immediate red flag. My mom asked if there was a price list anywhere for the pumpkins. This woman couldn't have been more bothered if she tried. Her condescending response of, "Today is opening day and there are still things to do so the price list isn't out yet" was so jarring it left me stunned. Like we should be ashamed we'd even ask how much the pumpkins cost. She asked what size pumpkins we wanted. My mom was a little thrown off but explained that I was interested in the pumpkins in general. The woman looked at me and I said I wasn't sure what pumpkins I wanted. I needed to know the prices to help me decide. The woman rudely asked what my budget was. I told her I didn't have a set budget. She continued talking to us like we were children and told us some version of, "The pumpkins range in price from $1-$25 with the jumbo ones being xyz." Even the girls next to her looked uncomfortable. There are all sizes and types of decorative pumpkins. There is literally no way to know what they cost with the explanation of $1-$25. Then she has the audacity to briskly add that we can go over to the pumpkins, lift them up one at a time, and shout to her for a pricing and she'll shout back. Are you kidding me? I have osteoarthritis in my fingers and my mom has osteoporosis. I only lift up the pumpkins I want and I put them directly into the cart. I certainly don't heft them into the air and shout from 100-200 feet away for a price, repeatedly. I decided I wouldn't be giving them more of my money. We went down the road to another pumpkin patch I like where they were not only open early, but had prices listed in two ways, and were incredibly friendly. I later found out the woman we spoke with is the OWNER because I went to the website to see if there were any photos of staff. It is YOUR job to put out price lists. Prices are one of the most important things to provide. If a list isn't out by opening day (a day YOU picked and knew of at least a month in advance) then it's your job to explain it politely. A simple, "I'm so sorry, but we're late getting out the prices, and they should be out in about 30 minutes if you don't mind waiting" would have sufficed. I'd have been more than happy to hang out with the animals while we waited. Instead, you decided to treat friendly supporters of your business like absolute trash. I realize losing out on my money won't even remotely impact this business, but I won't give another penny to benefit someone who lacks the capacity to be respectful. It's SO easy to be kind. If you don't like interacting with people, give yourself a task that doesn't require you to talk to anyone. Do better, be better, and eat some humble pie. (Also, asking friends/family to leave 5-star reviews to negate your behavior is...

Owner is extremely rude. Will NOT be going back. This is the second year my daughter and I have visited this farm. Last year wasn't so bad. This year, very negative experience. We purchased our ticket a week ago, for today's first day of the season. This business has been advertising their opening day since 09/04/2022, more than one month prior to opening. We arrived at our scheduled time of 10:00 am. We began to walk around the pumpkin patch and other areas where all sorts of pumpkins were already picked and showcased. Nowhere were there any prices listed. Being that the pumpkins were of all variable sizes and types, we wanted to know what their price list was. At around 10:15 we began to look for someone that worked there to get prices. We came upon a table with three people who were setting things on the table and assumed they worked at the farm. I approached a woman and asked her, very nicely, if she worked there. She stated she did, and let me tell you, right off the bat she was extremely unfriendly. I explained we were looking at the pumpkins and asked if there was a price list anywhere. Her response was that today is opening day and they have a lot to do and the list isn't ready. Her tone was so rude I felt like I was intruding and shouldn't have approached her. She then asked me what size pumpkin I was looking for. I pointed to my daughter who informed the owner (and I know it was the owner by seeing her pic on her website when I got home) that she wasn't sure yet as she wanted to walk around and if she saw anything that called out to her, she'd know if she wanted to pay the price for it or not. The owner then asked my daughter what her budget was. My daughter replied stating she didn't really have a budget, and she'd know more when she had a price list. Then the owner stated prices could be anywhere from $1 to $50 with larger pumpkins being more. She then told my daughter to hold up pumpkins to show her, the owner, and she'd give us a price. Like we were really going to go walking around the pumpkin patch, pick up possibly 20 to 50 lb pumpkins over our head, and yell out for a price from 100 feet away. During the entire conversation the owner was so rude and acted so bothered. We walked away deciding they weren't going to get anymore of our money. We went down the street to another pumpkin patch who was not only very friendly and welcoming, but also had prices listed on a blackboard and had sample pumpkins in all different sizes and types with prices listed on each pumpkin. THAT'S how to run a business. This place, Sweet Thistle Farms, one month in advance of opening couldn't even get a price list printed for customers and acted as though we did something wrong by...

Was shocked when they charged $25 just to get onto the property. Never had to do that anywhere. The last 8 years we have gone to local pumpkin patches from Mariposa to Fresno and have never paid so much for so little as this place. Everything over priced from $7 lemonaid (mostly ice) to $75 children dress in one of their vendors. Other places had real petting zoos, bounce houses, pony rides, better corn maze etc. Kid driving the tractor ride (a bouncy, dusty ride around an acre) was irritated when he wasn't getting tips in his plastic bag tapped to the tractor. Like other places I expected to pay a lot for pumpkins because of the experience (65.00 for 4 medium pumpkins) but they had so much more to offer without gouging...