I've been to a few places. One was very easy--they'd lug out any slab you wanted, they had pricing clearly marked, and they told you straight up that there was a (always) discount to the fabricator if she was on their list.

Others were vague. Price category A,B,C, etc. "We will give your fabricator a quote.".

We went with the first one. Of course they are in San Jose and won't help you a bit, but I'm just saying there seems to be no standard way of doing it which makes the whole process annoying as heck.

And as far as being annoying as heck goes, BE annoying as heck and ask to see the darn slabs. Ask the manager if you must. Then walk out in a huff muttering loudly about YELP if they refuse.

A large part of how you're treated at a slab yard depends on not only the employee that you work with, but the fabricator you are working with. If you are working with a good fabricator who gives them a lot of business, they are far more accommodating than if you are working with someone who uses them to sell against by getting pricing there and then sending you elsewhere to actually buy something cheaper. Most places though in our region will only discuss price with the person buying the slab from them, and that's the fabricator, not the end user.

i didn't have great luck with MSI either, and I ended up with Gerrity. They were great. Moved many slabs. Templating and installation was a breeze.

My granite yard sells slabs and is also a fabricator. Two prices are on all slabs, one lower if they also do the fabrication themselves. Clear and transparent. Showed me any slabs I wanted to see. I was the buyer and they treated me very well.

Another with not much luck with MSI, hit and miss with M&G...have had good luck with Boston Granite Exchange in Haverhill.

I have purchased many slabs and had many counters made, I am not a KD, but a small high end developer (that is what everyone says I know)....I have found the best service to be from Cumar in Everett Ma, they are a manufacturer and also stock many slabs in their warehouse. Eliminates the guessing what a slab costs etc....

I used Select Stone in Billerica and worked with Pati. She was great.
I wasn't crazy about MSI either. Select Stone had the quartzite I loved and also fabricated. Cumar is a nice place also they were helpful but didn't have what I was looking for.

This post was edited by jancy on Sat, Jun 21, 14 at 10:48

I chose a slab at Boston Granite Exchange. They were nice and helpful. I did call a number of your recommendations, but not many places had what I wanted. At least I don't need to worry about it becoming trendy. ;)

It's funny how different stone yards can be. I too am from Ma and visited a couple different yards. The first one in Bridgwater I really liked but they were not big on moving slabs. They told us that each group of slabs was from the same lot so that they all look very similar. They said they would move the top one if it was our final decision and there was something imperfect in the top one like a chip. They said that sometimes moving them breaks them so they try to move them a little as possible. I liked this place because they left us alone to walk around and look without them giving us their advice. All of the slabs were big, clean and labeled with price (low,med,high), and they had the country origin labeled. The next place we went was horrible. We had an escort so I always felt a little uncomfortable. Some of the slabs were broken with chunks missing!

@fori, I am on the peninsula and am in the process of choosing granite. Could you share the SJ location you had such a good experience with? I've been pleased with All Natural Stone in Burlingame but am having trouble finding a slab big enough for my island. Thanks!