American Soil & Stone

This is my LEAST FAVORITE privately owned business to shop at. It is impossible to get pricing. It is impossible to find out where your order disappeared to. The salesman here hate the customers. Most times they don’t even bother to look up from their paperwork. The counter help will provide no help. The whole attitude of everyone who works there sucks. I hate shopping here.
I go to Alcapulco, and they are so friendly and helpful… if they don’t have what I need, oh hell, deep breath, I have to go to American…
Yeah great products and great selection… good luck trying to buy something…
And if you’re going to talk shit about your customers in spanish, make sure they don’t speak it too…
Hate this place.

Great service here. Friendly help outside and very efficient with deliveries. I had to order base rock twice and both experiences were excellent. Arrived on time and hey called first. Overall great products and although they didn’t have the original stone we were hoping to get they made several suggestions and went out of their way to help us. I would use them whenever possible.

This morning my son and I went to American Soil to purchase flagstones and gravel for our backyard.
John helped us calculate every step of the way the quantities we needed. The dreaded ordeal, because we felt on unknown territory, felt good and easy. Thank you John.
Great selection, helpful staff, fun place to shop. We’ll be back for more.

I bought a ton of soil amendment decades ago when American Soil was in Berkeley. Fabulous selection of soil and rock here in Richmond. Spoke to the guys working the tent outdoors to assist customers. They were very helpful. Free samples were very helpful too.
Easy parking. The place to go for soil and rock. Huge selection. Lots of fabricated stone fountains and the like too.

I AM SO DISAPPOINTED in the Wondergrow Soil Amendment, which is advertised as organic. Two workers recommended it for my clay soil. After I had four cubic yards of this dumped in my driveway, I discovered it has ground up GLASS and bits of PLASTIC GARBAGE mixed throughout the product. Appalled, I checked my receipt, which said no returns after the product has been delivered. So much for organic. Now I will spend the rest of my years picking tiny bits of glass and plastic out of my garden.

Good products — very poor service. Would not take a delivery over the phone, even though I had ordered from them before and could describe exactly what I wanted.

Though their material selection is great, the customer service leaves much to be desired. I was told by one of the managers there that they would match the 10% veterans discount that Home Depot happily gives vets. Unfortunately no managers were around when I went in on a Sunday to purchase 6 yards of soil for delivery. The sales associate told me that even though he didn’t have the power to give me the discount, I would be able to contact Donna and that she would be able to help me out. I even left a photocopy of my veterans ID with the paperwork so that we would be able to handle everything remotely. I emailed her direct and after a week of not receiving a reply, I called the store and left a message for her to contact me. Another couple days went by and I tried again. In all, I’ve left 4 messages (twice, the associate that answered the call got attitude with me because I only wanted to speak with Donna. Granted they wanted to try to help, but when I told them there wasn’t anything they could do– they got attitude and all but hung up on me) for Donna to contact me and still have not heard anything from her. After reading through the reviews on here it doesn’t surprise me, as there seems to be a pattern of not replying. This is completely disrespectful and not at all the way one should be running ones business. While reading through the other reviews I’ve also come across many of the same things others have. Employees not willing to help out — I was there once, and the same manager who initially told me about matching the HD discount helped me figure out how much soil I needed to buy, as well as making informed decisions on what would work best for me. Every other employee I’ve spoken to has referred me to Google or a contractor, basically saying that all they are there to do is to give you what you ask for. I understand that all employees won’t have the same wealth of knowledge, but at the very least there should always be someone that the other employees can direct a customer to for the answers– and not direct them to Google.
Oh– and they got my delivery time wrong and didn’t call before arriving (of course I wasn’t home), as well as crushed some pavers in my front yard with their truck.
My hopes are that the owners of American Soil or someone in management starts reading these reviews and realizes that training is needed, and follows through with it. Just because you have great product doesn’t mean that you will automatically have customers. If you continuously mistreat your customers, they will go away. Everyone that I talk to in the area says the same thing– American Soil– excellent product, but you better know exactly what you need, because customer service needs a lot of work.

The only thing that keeps this place afloat is their product line. Quite a selection, but they cannot figure out how to answer their phone. Customer service is lacking. My only hope is that good competition moves in.

This was an awful experience of poor customer service and has effected me financially and added layers of stress to my landscaping project. I ordered soil to be delivered and specified with the customer service representative that I needed to show them where to place the delivery day of. They delivered 4 days early in a downpour. The soil and mulch was placed on my street rather than on mybproperty and neighbors are still threatening to call the city. I have had to hire someone to help me move the extremely wet material to the yard and have spent money time and back breaking work to correct their mistake. I have called the store and manager multiple times and they have not responded to my messages. Save yourself money and stress by going somewhere else!

Been coming here for many years for a reason — the stone selection is hard to match in the east bay, and they have a good selection of cut stone as well.
I’ve found it’s best to stop by more than once to confirm what you are looking for will work for you and make sure to get a sample to take home. Don’t expect the sales folks to be super helpful — they are not designers — but if you’ve done your homework on measurements including depth of material (if appropriate) they will tell you how much to get.
My latest project was putting down some fine gravel and securing it with a pathway stabilizer so it won’t run off during the rainy season. Of course I measured and purchased the exact amount of gravel I needed plus a couple of extra bags just in case.
I will say that when I asked questions about the pathway stabilizer the sales guy didn’t have a clue. I’ll best most of this product is purchased by pros so they don’t typically get questions from retail customers, but I think they should be able to at least find someone to answer questions for anything they sell.
Some reviewers say this place is expensive but the quality is there and they will do stuff like bag gravel materials for you so you don’t have to have them delivered at a higher cost.

They have beautiful supplies that I can’t find elsewhere.
I can’t believe how difficult it is to get answers from the desk help. This is their business, yet they don’t seem to know how much to cover certain square feet, can’t help me calculate it, finally guess, then don’t know if that’s the equivalent of the bulk ton or not, transfer me without telling me, and then the next person knows right off the bat. Why wouldn’t she just help get me to the right person? Stop dragging me out on the line waiting for me to hang up in frustration! I kept pestering with trying to get answers before she finally transferred me, asking the same questions as she said «I don’t know.»
When I called two days before, I had to ask if there was someone there who could help me, she was willing to just say «I don’t know» and hang up. I was transferred to voicemail and was never called back.
I guess they don’t want my contracting business. Acapulco is way friendlier, they just don’t always have what I need.

Having trouble believing the neg reviews. Have been shopping here since they were in Berkeley. Love the selection and the excellent service. Just spent over $ 4k for our recent project. I did my homework and checked 4 other places. Hands down, with shipping charges, American Soils had the best prices. Delivery guys are always very helpful. Selection is amazing and I have never had anyone pressure me.

I love this store. It would be very easy to get carried away and buy all sorts of stone items to decorate the lawn. Fortunately for my bank account I have a small lawn so there is only so much I can do. A pity on one level because they have so many beautiful things to spiffy up your lawn.
THey have a great selection of rocks and paving stones as well as fountain supplies. The folks are very friendly and they deliver. What more can you ask for?

Have been searching for Horticultural Pumice to amend soil for new succulents. This is only place I found that carries it. They have a great display area even small plastic bags for samples to take home. Very good experience. They sell by bag and it was easy to pay in office and swing around to the pick-​up area. I’ll be back! I live near Walnut Creek. They gave me a delivery estimate of $ 115.00 to deliver any size load of material to that area.

Wonderful experiences for me as well. This place has been my go-​to for everything from stones to mulches to amazing soils for years and I’ve had nothing but good interactions with everyone I’ve been in contact with. I’m not a professional but I am an avid gardener and I honestly wouldn’t think of going anywhere else for my materials… I use their Local Hero for my veggies and now they have something called Ultra Potting Mix which is working beautifully for my potted plants. Their products are top-​notch. I just got a delivery of their Country Garden Mulch and the driver was very sweet and efficient.
I don’t understand the nasty reviews because personally I’ve had nothing but excellent service here.
5-​stars for a Bay Area institution!

I work w/​a large contractor buy most of my bulk material direct. There are occasions when I have to buy small quantities from rock yards. American Soil was on my list for this area. I have a problem reaching a salesman lately for quotes. This has happened multiple times this month; and again today. I just called Acapulco, and got my price straight away.
Still have not heard back from American. I’m not holding my breath. I’ve not had these difficulties with the San Rafael location.

Wanna buy something from these guys? Get ready to be ripped off. Here are the specifics: I go in there and I’m looking for granite. «Oh hey, I can give you a great deal on this stuff here», says the sales guy. «If you don’t like it, no worries, just call me back, for a 25% fee we’ll take it back.» I bought over $ 2,000 worth of granite and what happens when I actually need to return it? Total run around and shutdown. I had the granite still sitting on pallets. I was going to have it delivered on MY DIME for them to make 25%, then sell it to the next sucker. «Oh no wait… We don’t know what condition it’s in». It’s granite you idiot.
There are so many other places… But no, you just HAVE to give them money right? Ok fine. Go to their yard, pick something, have them quote you, then look it up on eBay. Then you’ll see they are trying to eff you. Then, when they try and make you feel stupid (they love doing this), go to anywhere else and the quote will be beaten.
Consider yourself warned.

Lots of selection for stone and gravel. Most of the yard staff very helpful. Office staff and fabrication staff lacking customer service skills and the General Manager is too busy or not interested in taking care of customers concerns. It is obvious that the bad service is starting at the top.

Great service on site at the yard — I’ve always ended up with what I ordered (check your receipt before you leave). They are focusing on natural rock now — so no more concrete pavers (I got the last from a pallet for a spot for my motorcycle next to a driveway). Their «Local Hero» is a great mix — and Walt Whitman compost makes awesome happy tomato plants if you rototill/​dig it into the garden before you put the plants in.

One of the best features of American Soil & Stone is that it’s down the street from Acapulco Rock and Soil. This makes for easy comparison since in terms of stones, they carry different types. American has more variety in finished stones and a variety of rocks with natural color and texture variations. I found help here easy to find under the outdoor small rock structure. I didn’t make a purchase, but Donna guided me around when I asked to see certain things («I want to see a rock that would comfortably fit two and a half of my butts»).
It’s still a place primarily for contractors and people in the know, but help is not hard to attain. Customers are usually left alone unless they seek help, I find this a plus since I don’t like to be hovered-​upon when making creative decisions (or if I’m just checking out rocks, pretending to be in an outer space colony [or Colorado]).