So sorry for you. Hope they find the missing slab for you. What does your contract say? When we picked our slabs our name went on them and I also took pics. Mine didn't go missing so hope someone will give you some advice as to what your recourse is. Don't let them intimidate you into accepting something you are not happy about. I'll bet they sold that slab to someone else who thought it was perfect like you did. Hope things work out for you.

Chris, Thanks for your thoughts...and next time I'm taking a Sharpie with me. I didn't do that. I'm going to ask for my money back...and tell them that if they find something else we can start over, but until then, I want my money back! I am shocked, but see that this has happened to others here. What a nightmare! And I'm 5 weeks so far w/o my kitchen and it's waiting for the granite to continue! I may drive up the road to Charlotte, NC. Does anyone have any experience with granite places in Charlotte, NC?

Each of the slabs we picked (at the granite place) had serial numbers, and the numbers were on the contract. The fabrication shop sent us JPEGs (photo scans) of the slabs to confirm once they were delivered. They actually did the layout on a CAD/CAM system and sent us photo scans (with the layouts outlined in red) for approval.

I think some places understand how important this is to their customers and adjust for it. Other places just want to move the slabs. You deserve your money back if they don't have what you bought. It's not like a washing machine - each slab is unique. We picked one of our two slabs specifically for our island. Good luck.

Vate, I did not see serial numbers. I thought the photos would be enough and they are enough to id that they've removed my favorite piece of the three. The receipt only says the name of the granite the color and the depth (3cm). I even did a mock layout with the 3 and sent it to the salesman. He sent me the CAD today and that's when I noticed something was wrong. I pulled out my photos and their CAD's especially the ones showing the cuts on the individual slabs...they did two layouts used the same TWO slabs in both. It took me awhile but when I saw it, I could not believe that my favorite slab was gone...so we'll see if the saleman can find the missing slab tomorrow. Since it was the nicest of the 3, I'm thinking it's gone. I hope they will give me my money back or do something!!! My Kitchen Designer took me there and has used them for 30 years, so I forwarded all to her but I think she's out of town. I'm glad that you had a good experience! I'm doing great with the contractor and carpenters and plumbers and electrician so I count my blessings there. Thanks for your words of advice...to get a serial number on the contract. And I asked them when they last got a shipment and they said March, so there's nothing new out there since I went in May.

I learned a lot about how they sell your slabs out from underneath you on this board too. I can't believe that they would be brazen enough to do it to you since you already paid 65% and took pictures. I hope they can find it...sending good vibes your way.

I think those that do that do not value their customers. and that's what I'd tell them.

Terilee, same thing happened to me. I had pictures to prove it and the woman told me another lady liked my slab and in another sentence later said when I was on vacation.... None of it made any sense. I had picked out White Delicatus, two great slabs that I liked alot. The markings were so pretty. The imposter granite slab was not. So I got my money back and left. They acted surprised but I think it was because when I took the check they gave me for my money back they were short. I think phone calls were made because the bank kept me there for 50 minutes and the check cleared. He said she had just made the deposit. Two months later I still think about what they did. I found a granite very much like the Delicatus called Vintage. I am happy with it. More cream less brown that is in Delicatus plus it has a few places where the markings are a pale, pale blue color. I like to think what goes around comes around. I will always mark slabs, take pictures and be very assertive after that experience. It was just so disappointing.

Same thing happened to us. Our fabricator worked with the granite yard to find the slab that went missing. Took them two weeks to locate it, but we did get the slabs that we had chosen (and had written the serial numbers down for).

Please post the name of this business to let others know of your problems. And tell the business that you're doing this - word of mouth on this forum is powerful!

How did you pay your deposit? If by credit card, call the CC company and explain the situation. If by check, call the bank to put stop payment on it.

Good Luck!

I am really beginning to think that a thread needs to be started on how to go about securing your granite slabs and drawing up a contract with your fabricator that covers all the bases. I am so sorry for your dilema. It seems every week there is another posting on this site regarding sleazy granite fabricators. I do believe it is industry wide and I hope someone will start a thread and put all of the ideas together so our friends on this site will not become victims like we have.
It seems obvious that all contracts need to specify certain slabs and not just a name of the granite. My contract just said Yellow River so I am guessing that if the fabricator had substituted another slab of Yellow River I would have not had any recourse. I am curious as to what other's contracts had said as to specific slabs.

Michellemarie,

That is a great suggesstion. If more of us knew to write
down the vin or serial number on the side of the slab
that would help heal many broken hearts. I had no idea.

I wonder if Buehl or someone can add that to the granite
check list. I do not see it on there. This link is old but
maybe it is on the new updated check list.

And Terilee,

I am so very sorry this happened to you. It just irks
me that they STOLE your slab. I think you should name
the Slab shop. Let others on our site know about their
unethical pracitce.
If they have the reputation of never holding your granite
even with a deposit they will learn very quickly that
customers will find a new place to buy their granite.

Truly sorry this happened to you. Wishing, (Oh this is mean)
that someone at that slab shop drops a piece of
granite on their toe. Okay maybe just stub their toe.
~boxer

Here is a link that might be useful: Stone Check List

Thanks for all of the support. I called the salesman this morning and he still has not called me back. He did call my Kitchen Designer back and told her that they found the slab. The error was that the guy who preps the template chose another slab. Not sure what to believe at this point. I have not seen new templates. I did go to another granite supplier and found one thing but it's not as perfect a match to the cabs. They're going to give me a price. They did not have much on the lot to choose from but said I could go to Charlotte and look. I need to ask them where. My head is just spinning. The contractor and kitchen designer are worried at how this will hold the project up as they're ready for the granite. I want to go to Charlotte next week and look! Again, thank you so much for the advice about taking the photos. That has been total life saver. Here's a photo of the the granite I put a deposit on (L in my hand) next to the piece at the new supplier. It's just not quite right. My cabs are taupe and black with a tiny bit of red. Let me know what you think?

boxerpups...you're right, it should be added to the checklist! I think it's time to consolidate & update the advice that's spread throughout that thread. I'll see if I an find time to do so over then next week or so.

I like the one on the left better (the one you're not holding). But, I think you're right that the one on the right that you're holding will go better with the taupe.

Do you have a pic of each of them next to a door sample so we can see how they look?

Terilee,
The KD and Contractor should not be rushing you.
They need to take responsibility, they chose this stone
yard. The error or time is their mistake. When a KD or
contractor uses a company in conjunction with a client
they take responsibility. Don't let them push this off on
you. Bark back at them if you need to. (boxer dog style)

Take a deep breath. You will find a beautiful granite and
this will be healed. You can do this. You have gotten
this far and I bet it is looking lovely.

I like the left side stone too but the right can work. It
would be great to see your actual cab door next to it.
But no worries. This is all going to come together.
GW friends are here to send cyber wishes your way.
~boxerpups

Buehl,
Thanks, I know this will help everyone.
~boxer

Ditto to what Boxerpups said! They should have been the ones tearing up the yard looking for your slab (at least verbally).

One warning on the serial numbers: Those help when the problem is idiocy where they move your slab and don't know where they put it. They're no help against the ones who don't mind selling your slabs out from under you to keep in good with a designer or contractor who also wants your slab. Those kind of people don't mind cheating in other ways. They'll just remove the label and stick your serial number on another slab.

Taking the pictures as well is very helpful, especially with identifying spots and veins that are unique to the particular slab. So is noting the numbers and that photos have been taken on the receipt, and using a wax pencil to write your name all over your slabs.

Here's the dealio on the "dissappearing slab" issue - CA$H

IF YOU paid someone to secure THE SLABS that you originally fell in love with
and those slabs got "lost" after you wrote the check - then something ELSE is
stinking like a red herring in Denmark........

Terilee: IF you paid your contractor a deposit to "secure" the slabs - and then
the slabs were "lost" - your contractor is at fault and should do things to "fix"
the issue - like pulling your slabs out of his ARSE to make you happy....

The problem here is that contractors get paid the deposit, then they don't apply
those same funds to securing the slabs in question - they use your deposit
money for something else. So then.......... the slabs that YOU fell in love with
are still "available" (even though YOU put down a deposit to "lock the up for you") anyone else can aquire YOUR chosen slabs........ Your contractor usually
has five days - from the time YOU sign on the dotted line - (affriming that yes
in deed - THESE are the SLABS FOR ME)
until he has to EITHER issue a Purchase Order to the distributor to have
YOUR slabs shipped to his shop, or pay COD to hold the slabs or have them
delivered to his shop - in accordance with the time line on your project.

IF NO MONEY IS PAID to the distributor - he's NOT going to hold any slabs
for anyone - no matter how much in love you are with your Delicatus....
THAT's the way this business works. They will NOT hold a slab with out
some money being thrown into the mix.

No tikki - no washi!!!!

This could have been the case here..... maybe - maybe not -the fact of the matter
is now - you have to FIND your slabs all over again, and this time - MAKE
SURE that the slabs you pick are the the slabs you get.

I'd stay away from using the grease pencil all over tha face of the slab
as some stones will absorb the grease pencil and it'll be hard to remove all
of that residue - kind of defeats the purpose - you'll get your slab, but
it'll take an hour or so to get all of the grease pencil off the face - I would
write it all on the BACK of the slab instead - as it's a really good idea, just
not (IMHO) on the polished face of the stone..... does that make sense?

Anyways - hth - Like a great Urologist told me a long time ago:

This too shall pass........

hth

kevin

Kevin,
(Sorry to Hijack but I think my question can help all)

When I was searching for slabs, my installer told me
to write down the number from the side of the slab.
The short side. It was a mix of numbers and letters
including the name of the stone.

And again at Granite Exchange they told me to use
these numbers to identify my favorite slabs so when I
did choose they could make sure to hold the specific
ones.

It was a permanent sort of paint or pencil but you could
not rub it off. Not a paper tag at all.

Does everyone do this? Have numbers on the side of the
slab? Id or serial numbers? Just curious as to if this
happens all over the country.

I also ask because they even said that sometimes there are
truck loads of Pearl Gray but one truck load has more
blue to it and they can identify this by the number and lot
on the side of the slab. While another batch from a
different
quarry or part of the world might have a slightly more
gray cast to the lot. They may have been lying to me but
they seemed so honest I just wanted to find out if this
is the case for everywhere.

I am fortunate as I got what I paid for. Everyone was
great. I did not go through Boston Granite Exchange, I
ended up going with Granite Depot. They were great too.

Thanks for answering my confusion.
~boxer

I used a company in Houston (now under new management and, I suspect, doing poorly). My slabs were written on, tagged, and paid for, and sold out from under me. Oh, we can't find them, Oh, they were moved to our warehouse, Oh, you really wouldn't have wanted those because one had a fissure (that we had determined wasn't in a spot that was going to be used), etc. Many, many of us have had this experience. I believe that if one has very specific slab requirements, one ought to have one's fabricator store the slabs. In my case, the vendor and fabricator were one and the same, so even that alternative would not have worked, though. Live and learn. I was fairly TKO when our place was built, but not nearly as TKO as I would have been had I known about GardenWeb at the time. Maybe that's a good thing. Our granite went from being our main focal point to being part of our background, so it all worked out in the final analysis.

Boxerpups,

It sounds like you were dealing with really great people. I've been to at least a dozen yards. The serial numbers I remember seeing were on paper labels, and I think maybe one with the serial number in paint. It's entirely possible that they all did, and I didn't see them, though. The paper labels were necessary because they also had barcodes, and perhaps even RFID.

The place I had sell a slab out from under me years ago was an off discount stone-warehouse place. There had been some confusion with the fabricators over picking it up in good time over the holidays, and some interesting weasel words on the receipt saying that if it wasn't picked up by a certain date they owned it again. So they weren't really "at fault", though some grace period over the holidays would have been good. They made good on it and gave me a discount since there wasn't another slab from that cut. I ended up with a stone that I had really wanted but they hadn't had in stock, so I turned out the winner in the long run on that one.

The place that I bought my soapstone from only sells on behalf of the fabricator, not directly to you even though they run the transaction, and they get your slab out of there and to the fabricator's yard, pronto. They're one of the top distributors and I think they just want your stuff out of there! And not to even consider having the lost slab problems. I don't know if the label was made by the fabricator or the yard, but it had both my name and my GC's name on it.

I really do think that most places want to be honest. Some are just better at it than others.

Good News! My slab has resurfaced, but I am not sure that it would have shown back up if I didn't have photos and raise a little #%@* ! I thought I would share the somewhat condescending and smokescreen email I received from the salesman. I am biting my tongue until this is over with and I can tell him what I really think of him! This is a copy of his comments...try not to laugh....and after the granite is installed I will share the company name with you all!
Notes from salesman:
"We will completely disregard Slab A as you've stated several times that this is your least favorite. (Note: from TeriLee...this was the slab I was only supposed to use 1/2 of and I kept telling him I didn't like it as well as the other 2.)

In reference to Slab A (Note again: my least favorite slab and we were only supposed to use 1/2 of it) surfacing in the first rendition... I'll say this is why we wait to review the layout after the template is created and closer to fabrication... Months ago these were marked with tape, unfortunately the extreme heat and humidity paired with the rain sometimes renders these markings unrecognizable. This refresher helps to avoid a possible mistake during fabrication.

The person who prepared the template originally took the slabs that were most pleasing for follow as well as size to create Options 1 & 2, but has now completed an layout based on Slab B & Slab C (aka Slab 3) in Options 3 & 4. All options rendered cover the counters completely with only 2 slabs."

The end for now...but I wouldn't admit that as a salesperson that "the extreme heat and humidity paired with the rain sometimes renders these markings unrecognizable." You know what? If this is the case he should "refresh" his markings. Also, the guy who chose the ugly slab, could have chosen it as it was the smallest of the three and the ugliest, but I based my purchase on the MISSING SLAB!

Thanks everyone. I really hope this helps out others....I know I learned a lot during this process. Other than this nightmare...my renovation is going extremely well with the contractor, plumber, electrician, carpenters and Kitchen Designer. They are all good, straight up folk!

And, for the record, I paid the salesman directly...65% up front in May....with a CHECK!!!