Carlson Building Materials Company

Carlson has a great selection of stone. It’s always a bit difficult to find someone to help, because the sales employees sit WAY in the back of the building. However, once you grab someone, they are helpful and congenial. Not sure what people expect from a building materials company. If you want a salesman bugging you the second you walk in the door, then go to Thompson in Camarillo, but their stuff isn’t as good. I recently bought 3 tons of stone from Carlson, the price was good, it was delivered within 24 hours, and the truck driver even gave me a free T-​shirt.

They have lots of rock and stone to suit your fancy but don’t expect any respect or common courtesy there.
It seems to me they are geared to handle their group of contractors and are bothered by anyone else. It was my turn today to receive such crappy service.
I will not be back, plenty of other locations to shop and wish I had checked out the Unilocal reviews prior.

Material prices changed every time I asked for a quote. Staff and crew seemed extremely arrogant dealing with customers. I would never recommend these people to anyone. Sure they have a big yard and a lot of material but they’re a bunch of assholes

Don’t expect that they will honor good faith business practices. Mark completely ignored my polite request for a contractor rate. I told him I’m only coming to him because I was told to by my good friend and their supplier. My supplier friend has withheld product from them multiple times due to the way they treat customers he refers to them. Screw these guys go elsewhere. Overpriced, no customer services, and no good faith practices.
GO TO HOME DEPOT.

I was doing a backyard project that required quite a bit of concrete/​stone/​cinderblocks/​etc… The staff at Carlson was very helpful in making sure I got the correct materials. I’d definitely shop there again, and I’d definitely recommend Carlson to anyone looking for building materials.

The one younger woman we dealt with was nice and helpful but BOY were their prices outrageous! We’re looking for somewhere else to buy flagstone et. al…

My first visit to this huge rock, gravel and paver yard.
They have everything.
They had what I needed for my cistern project.
They were nice to me.
I’ll be back.

Thank you everyone for all the warnings. Went to check it out and the reviews are 100% right. Not sure how they stay in business. I will not be back.

I would have to agree with all the other reviewers about arrogant rudeness! I returned there recently to purchase 4 more large pavers, not a big deal, when the man started to put them in my trunk, I noticed they were clearly not what I asked for. He gave me the most disgusted look and a harrumph went I told him this. He stormed off and returned a very long time later with the right 4. While he was putting in trunk I smiled and made a joke «too bad I have to unload them myself on the other end» he looks at me in disgust and replied” I had to do it twice already! «. Geesh I was shocked!
I am a small woman.

We really prefer supporting local businesses, but we will not go back to Carlson.
We were sold far too much materials for our project, and when I asked about returning the excess, even without a refund, they told me that they do not do returns, and that I should dig a hole and bury it, or put the stuff into the trash, a little at a time. This might work for a few pounds of materials, but we have over a thousand pounds of excess rock!
I designed an 80-​square-​foot walkway across our front yard, and went to Carlson to get ideas and buy materials. They looked at my plans and told me how much I needed, We got the base, sand, and a ton of paving stones. We built the walkway, and had well over half the stone left over. I’d have preferred to get a refund, but even just getting the rock out my driveway would have been enough.
I didn’t find their response to my inquiry at all satisfying.
We were referred to Carlson by a nursery in the area. I’ll be visiting the nursery to tell them of my experience, and to suggest that they stop making that referral.

They have everything we need there for our backyard project. However don’t expect any customer service there. They are top of the pile when it comes to «Bad» «Rude» customer service. I have had three trips that resulted in steam coming from my ears… they even had the nerve to try and charge me a restocking fee on something that was their mistake.

Love to help out the smaller local businesses but the employees are so rude, that my husband and I are forced to shop at Home Depot. Whomever owns this business needs to clean house and take a few classes on customer service

HORRIBLE! RUDE! NOT WORTH IT!!! Despite being warned by several contractors to avoid this place because they are rude & overpriced, I called Carlson to check on availability & price for an item. Their price quoted was the same as another supplier in the San Fernando valley so I figured I’d save myself some time by getting it locally. However when I arrived the older guy at the counter was extremely rude and condescending & then tried to charge me 20% more than the price quoted when I had called. I simply walked out… Not because of the price but because I couldn’t give my business to someone who was so incredibly arrogant & rude. They didn’t deserve my business so I drove out to the valley and gave it to people who treated me with dignity & respect. Good customer service goes a long way in this world.

I’ve been remodeling my primary residence and doing some necessary repair and renovation to an income property in Westlake Village and Thousand Oaks — so I’ve been buying from Carlson, the Big Box «Depot» and Medium sized Do It store, plus a super supplier in Simi Valley… and I am certain the least cordial and least desireable place for supplies is regretfully Carlson. For those of us who are closest physically to Carlson… they are the most convenient. This is true for me. However, my construction guys warned me that Carlson was probably the least desirable place to buy from. And it was true in my experience.
EG –their behavior honestly on half the occasions was a bit arrogant and aloof. On another occasion I bought a few bricks with a bull nose edge and was charged double by the older fellow at the counter. He actually seemed smug about it when I commented on the price being double now compared to the day before for a similar number of bricks. I was mildly miffed thinking — so what if it is really just a couple of dollars. I have millions in assets under management and this Carlson fellow is just being smug over a couple of dollars? How small minded can one be?
Anyways — I thought I’d just forget about it at Carlson and stage my larger purchases from everyone else for building supplies. I thought I might still go back when I had to for a few things when I had to. And really this means I am not planning on going back again. Money has really little to do with it. It has more to do with courtesy and what seems to pass for arrogance and inconsideration on their part.
I am sorry to have to reveal this and speak of it as such. However, my opinion is truthful and their low rating is earned over several visits in comparison to the other major building suppliers in T.O., Simi Valley, Camarillo and Agoura. If you consider that you have a choice — and if you compare then you might save a little cash … and you might get normal or better service from well meaning folks as opposed to what I ave seen at Carlson.
I know I did indeed save thousands and I consistently enjoyed better courtesy and service from the other suppliers… with no exceptions?! Sigh.

I’ve been using Carlson on and off for several years. They have a great rock selection and have always been very helpful.

The staff who take the orders over the phone can either barely speak English or are so incredibly rude it is ridiculous. You never get a sense that they care about having your business and obviously don’t feel an obligation to provide any level of customer service. I’m assuming it is because they feel they pretty much have the market cornered here in the Conjeo Valley, but if you can find your building supplies elsewhere, do it! Home improvements are stressful enough and dealing with this business is definitely not worth the aggravation!