Western Ranch & Pet Supply — Local services in Vacaville

I had previously given this store a better review, however after today I can no longer shop at this business or recommend it. I know it's loved by many in the community, but today the staff showed they couldn't handle stress and still provide good customer service.

We went to go to the VIP clinic, which I understand is a service they provide for free and not associated with them as a business. And I know not everyone that comes buys stuff (though often we do and I've seen other people shop as well over the years). But still, they know this service comes monthly, sometimes weekly.

The staff were stressed out, which I do understand. Their internet was down so they had to do everything by hand. One of their front doors was banging because of the wind and weather so they had to lock it so it didn't break, but they had another door.

Where my issue comes in was how rude they were to VIP staff and me and my husband. They had many discussions with VIP, not all I could here but of the ones I could a female employee was very rude to them. She also came over to talk to me and my husband at the beginning of the line multiple times asking us questions and talking to us while side eye watching them. She was very condescending and she just looked so smug. It took everything in both me and my husband to continue to be nice to her.

I get stress. I've been under so much stress. I've worked customer service my whole life in several industries, many of them being under stress large amounts of the time. So I get it. But you can still be nice. Is this stress or her persona?

The only other store staff member I came in contact with was on the way out the door a guy was holding the door cracking jokes about if "our shot" hurt, laughing and smiling. Either he didn't know what was happening (bad staff communication) or he was being rude too.

We will gladly go elsewhere to use VIP services, and buy all our pet care...

Updating this review and giving another star: The hay prices are now comparable to the other feed stores in the county. They're high everywhere, but not higher here. I still can't get the lamb's milk replacer I need here, but there's only one place in the county I can. The staff are much nicer now. Customer service is way up and is really the reason for the additional star. The folks who load the hay are much more cheerful, friendly, and helpful than at the time of my previous review. Folks working the register are friendlier, too. They adopt out rabbits and cats. Would give 4.5 stars if possible.

Older review as some parts (the abundance of boutique dog food) are still relevant: Good in an emergency, because their hours are better than some of the other local feed stores, but they're not really much of a feedstore anymore. If you want a niche, somewhat obscure brand of dog food, this is your place. If you're looking for horse halters, they have every color. But if you need sheep supplies, they probably don't have it, and if they do, it's more expensive than all the other local places. Some of their supplies aren't price tagged or bar coded, and the staff have no knowledge about the livestock supplies. There used to be some knowledgeable people working there, but not anymore. The best lady works at Higby's in Dixon now. Customer service is down. Last time we needed emergency hay, we stood around for a while before the girl behind the register acknowledged us. There was a boy out back just standing in the shade when we drove back. He stood there with his hands on his hips until another boy came out. It took two of them to load two bales of hay. The hay was really low quality as well. Basically, it's turned into a high end pet boutique without the groomers, and with a few feed store items crammed into corners. Nothing wrong with that, if it's what you need, but it's not...

I’ve always loved coming in and shopping at western ranch but as of lately service has gone down hill , sometime in March I waited 20+ mins for someone to help load up my truck with poultry bedding , there was no one out there while I waited . I eventually called the building only to be put on hold for additional minutes & was eventually helped after waiting what felt like forever . There was another instance almost a year ago where I had came in to purchase chicks and waited in line for the cashier to finish up the previous customers transaction , and witnessed newcomers walk in and be helped right away with their purchase by another employee who was also behind the counter , completely ignoring the fact that my children and I were next in line and had been waiting minutes to be helped . And last night I came in excited to purchase some chicks and I was glad that they were quick to check me out but when it came time to receive my chicks they handed me the box and said “here” and I was confused because in all the years I’ve came here I have never boxed my own chicks , the employees have always done that . I initially thought ok I’ll probably be holding the box while they placed them in there but no , they expected me to box them up and once the employee started walking away I asked for help on identifying which chicks were which since there are up to three different breeds in one stock tank . I had to ask multiple times on help identifying them only for them to ask another employee for help because they themselves did not know the difference . I used to love coming here but the employees don’t seem to be as helpful as they have...