Universal Stone, Inc. — Local services in Shakopee

I hate to do this. The product itself is beautiful. I get that our job was small (60" bathroom vanity top), but we spent $1500 and are planning a full kitchen project this spring that we were hoping to use them for.

When we arrived for our appointment, the salesperson met us, asked us what our project was, and then sent us out into the shop to look at the slabs. He didn't explain anything to us (there are different types of stone and different price points). He simply told us to look around and then disappeared. We noticed the other 2 couples had sales people walking around with them, asking them questions, and giving them suggestions.

He checked on us after we were nearly all the way through but didn't hang around. When we were done, we waited in the showroom for a while before he came out of his office.

He didn't explain sinks, edges, etc. but fortunately we are adept enough to figure those things out on our own in the time we waited for him. We gave him the 3 options we wanted estimates for, I explained our timeline (the contractor wasn't able to start for at least a month or more) and he sent us on our way without a "thanks for coming in".

The estimate came through and we made our decision. I emailed our sales person and he said to sign the contract, send it back to him, and pay the deposit. When he called for my credit card information, he had me on speaker phone. Who asks for credit card information over speaker phone? Plus it was hard to hear him. I reminded him of our timeline again and that was fine with him.

That same morning, I receive another call from him, asking for the wrong name. I corrected him and he said he was calling to schedule our template, as if he'd not just spoken to me earlier. I reminded him of our previous conversation and I didn't have a day yet, as our contractor hadn't begun the job. We decided that I would just call him when we knew more.

A couple weeks later, I got another call from him, asking if we were ready. I reiterated that it was going to be another couple weeks and that I would connect with him when it was time.

When it was finally time for the template to be made, I contacted our sales person and left a voice mail. When he called me back, he asked for the wrong name, again. He also told me I need to pay the deposit, which I'd already paid for when we signed the contract.

At this point, I was leery about going further with this job with this sales person. I was worried that if he couldn't get my name right twice, remember our timeline, or the fact that I'd already paid the deposit, that maybe the job wouldn't go very smoothly. I'm not generally a complainer, but I mustered up the courage to call and let them know that we weren't confident in our sales person and we really wanted to nip it in the bud before the install. We wanted to be happy with choosing Universal Stone.

We were given a new sales person, apparently just temporarily enough for us to pay the final balance due, I guess. After that, communication came from our original sales person again, which was super awkward.

The installers did a great job, except one of them arrived without a mask (Covid). When he saw I was putting one on (to protect them), he muttered something about forgetting his in the truck and went back and got it. They were friendly and efficient.

I received no further communication from them - no "Thanks for your business" or "How to care for your new granite".

I will reiterate that the countertop is beautiful, the install was flawless and the turnaround time from template to install was quick. I would have liked to have a sales person that all these other reviewers had. Our experience would have been...

Easy experience from walking in, with a great selection of stone and all the edges and corners and picky details with examples in their showroom. We went through a sheet and just filled in what we wanted. Once we were finished, we paid a deposit and got a measure date and install date. Good communication, always knew when someone was coming by with a heads up text, and they were even able to get our install date moved up! The day of the install was quick and quiet, they were in and out very fast and left some great looking countertops. The seams were incredibly hard to find and were done very well.

The reason for the mid-review is the faucet issue we had. After installation our plumber was unable to install the faucet we planned on because the hole was drilled too far back. The hot side of the handle couldn't go all the way back. When we called, they did have someone come out same day, but they wanted the plumber to rotate the faucet so the handle would go back and forth but not be straight. They wanted us to flip the faucet so the hot/cold were backwards and said that would fix it. When we insisted that a backwards fsucet wasn't a fix, they reamed the hole out so we can just turn the hot water on and said that's all they can do as the faucet just needs to turn on, nothing more. Since they measured with the faucet, and had the faucet specs before hand, it's disappointing that they just wanted us to get a different faucet or to rotate the faucet we had chosen so it wasn't straight. The entire experience was great, except for this last detail which was important as the farmhouse sink and special faucet were the highlights of the remodel.

We'd recommend them for a basic kitchen remodel, but anything with details we'd be very cautious about and have to pass. Amazing communicators and straightforward for everything, but very poor conflict resolution, very unprofessional with the "fix" solutions and complaining when they sent...

We used universal 10 years ago and again recently at our condo. Their quality is on point and consistent with each project and every piece within our projects. I was not clear on part of our project which resulted in the need to re-cut and re-polish. Without hesitation, they did so with no charge. We were on their schedule most recently for the measure within two weeks and the following week they installed. Total of three weeks. They were prompt and even early each time they came. They removed the old tops that were still in place and hauled away without any trouble. They measured perfectly to the point of adding to the backsplash height so as to cover the paint/caulk line from the old backsplash. There was no need to repaint from either of our homes. In addition, after I removed tile from behind our fireplace mantle, they were meticulous in their affords to slide the stone back underneath the mantle so there was no need to dismantle or re-build any part of it. We have been very happy with their work and their pricing is more than competitive. Their selection is as broad as anyone and if they don’t have what you want they can find it.

Corey was our most recent salesman and we found him to be attentive was accurate with measuring/pricing. As with all trades, if you don’t receive a call back to your one phone call, I would suggest calling again. The only way these manufacturers are able to offer such good pricing is to accommodate and service as many customers as possible. They are busy, call again. You will be...