South Bay Materials - San Jose, California

Rod G.

Everything went well from ordering to delivery. Sal, the truck driver, was great to work with - he was able to work with me on picking an appropriate spot to dump the crushed rock. He was able to place the delivery in a precise spot on a driveway on a side street. Sal exhibited sound customer service and was very knowledgeable. Thanks!

Ed R.

We were buying some small boulders and asked for help. The person working at the counter was very friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, the individual who was supposed to assist us outside was very rude. He was sweeping the grounds, and his first words, delivered in a rude tone, were: "Here's the deal, I can load the boulders into your car, but if you can't lift them out, then what good would that be?" He repeated this multiple times. It goes without saying, but it seemed like he didn't want us to buy the boulders and was trying to get us to leave. His attitude made it seem like we owed him something for helping us. We support local businesses but this is not how you treat customers.

After we carried and grouped all the boulders we wanted, we called him again. This time, he told us to drive our car next to the boulders to load them, saying, "Unless YOU want to carry the boulders to your car." Very rude! At this point, I said, "Never mind. You need to work on your customer service," and we left.

It's a shame--the boulders were nice, and the price was fair. We were ready to buy them, but the person working the grounds definitely needs more training in customer service.

Shahla K.

If there was any below one star I would have given that!

I went to South Bay material on June 4th to buy the smallest bark they have. The sales person gave me a bag and asked me to bring a sample of what I want. I walked to their big yard of rocks, stones etc... And found the bark area with different sizes. I got the sample of the smallest bark and brought it to the sales person.
As she didn't know what the size of bark called, she gave me estimate for my whole back yard and called it small bark
I asked them I would like to buy 2 bags of these and take home, they gave me 2 big bags, went back to the site area and filled the 2 bags with exact same bark. I came back and I showed the cashier who was next to sale person the sample of what I got and paid for it. I told the sale person I am calling her (since she knows what I want) tomorrow after measuring the amount needed to order and pay. I gave specific instructions where the bark to be dropped. I told her we have very nice pavers on our driveway please if they don't have plastic to cover them, empty the barks on the street
She said they be sure they follow the instructions. None of them happened!
I called next day and asked for her and she recognized me. I gave her the measurement and asked her please be sure everything is done as I requested.
When I came home the wrong bark was emptied at our driveway without any plastic sheets under as I requested. I called immediately and told her this is the wrong bark ( not what I ordered)and truck driver didn't follow the instructions. She said I am very sorry for all the mistakes.
I requested for them to pick it up and replace it with what I ordered. I could hear someone (manager) was instructing her not to admit to the mistakes and he got on the phone extremely rude told me " we are not picking it up and that is the end of it" then he started to raise his voice try to intimidate me and telling me that you ordered small bark and we are not taking it back. I told him will put stop on payment until he gets the bark out of drive way and he said do what you want and we are not doing anything ( pretty much he told me you are stuck with what we gave you and there is nothing you can do about it!
The most narcissistic behavior I have ever seen or heard!

Fatima R.

I recommend South Bay Materials. Both the staff in the store and in the yard were really helpful and friendly. I was shopping for small quantities of bulk compost and mulch. They provide 1 cu. ft sacks, a funnel and a shovel and I was able to drive to the piles to grab what I needed then pay for it inside. They have a good selection of materials so I was able to get exactly what I needed.

Christopher H.

The staff is friendly and very helpful. I had a small area that needed to come up about 3 inches. I went online to see what they had available, chose a product, and got confirmation that the product I chose was correct by the staff and another customer. I used the self serve bags(which they provide a shovel and a funnel to fill with) filled them, their man in the yard offered to help me load them, and I was in and out inside of 40 minutes. Thank you South Bay Materials. 02/15/2025 still great customer service, enough said.

JR M.

Wow what an amazing place, everything you could dream of for landscaping. From sand to dirt to mulch to different kinds of rocks, pavers and much more they've got it all. This is a very well run, friendly, fairly priced operation to buy anything you would find at a rockery. We built a cobblestone River that flowed into a pond and everything we needed we found at South Bay materials, love this place. Highly recommend you check it out.

Celine D.

Situation: I needed a delivery of playground mulch on a specific day or sooner because the crew I had gathered would not be available if it was at a later date. The office folks were very accommodating, friendly, patient and kind as I asked all the questions and requested all the assurance that it would go as planned because there was no wiggle room for error.

And then this: South Bay Materials made the delivery but on the wrong day, the day my son was in surgery, and I would not be available to receive a delivery. AND it was MY FAULT for misreading the invoice. Turns out they too made a mistake by misdelivering. We are all human and we all make mistakes. They could have scolded me and made it really difficult. They could have charged me for not being on-site for the delivery. They could have done nothing which would leave me with a big problem. They had lots of choices and they went over and above to make it right.

So now: I am grateful. The delivery showed up on the day I had thought it was scheduled for. They communicated well and asked me to be available. The delivery went off without a hitch.

Summary: The office folks ( I don't know their names, one has the last name Gallis, and the other guy was holding a cup of coffee) were very professional, kind, and understanding of a situation that had gone sideways. They looked at me with soothing, calm faces along with disbelief in the &*it show I was handing over to them to fix. They were polite and factual assuring me that they would call me back. I hope they know they are an asset to their company. I hope they were not hard on the driver who misdelivered. I hope everybody knows what a great job they all do. I'm gonna give a quick plug here for them: please consider a raise or bump or bonus for these folks. You cannot "buy" good employees like these.

I highly recommend South Bay Materials. I have been here many times to get small truck loads of stuff for my home and this was my first time getting materials for our preschool. If you have other options, this is the place to pick. Solid company, solid people.

Andrew S.

I've been in the landscaping business 30+ years. I stopped by South Bay Materials to order several 1-2 ton boulders for a customer's project. I was impressed with the selection variety, stone quality, and speed of delivery. Overall, a very professional staff. I know where I'll be going for my next order!