I think that would bug me also, but I'm a bit anal. I think that as long as you told them where they should be, you have evidence of that, and you have the flat fee, you should have them changed. I agree that having them all be horizontal is more important than having them line up. The different backsplashes and distance apart should hide the height discrepancy. I think I'd just have the orientation changed and call it good.

Since it bugs you now, it's only going to get worse if you don't have them fix it.

I would want the outlets all the same orientation. I think Breezygirl's got a good idea on how to deal with it. I would find that solution
acceptable.

You have to ask yourself, is it going to continue to eat at you when it's all said and done?

I think you ought to mention something. I can tell you, I feel like I'm a pest because I'm always bringing up questions, etc. I'm willing to have my mind changed by my GC, but if I don't ask I have no one to blame but myself if it gets missed or I'm unhappy with the end result.

I think we are kind of at the same place on this renovation, and we had similar kitchens. Do you have any progress pictures?

I would have them turned and moved to the correct height. How do they know you don't have a backsplash design that they've just ruined? That is sloppy.

This reminds me of pointing to the location for the switch for the overhead lights and saying it should be at the same height as the other switches. I never checked and didn't notice until way too late. Its 4 inches higher - as are my spice shelves now.

If looks could kill... I'm mostly happy they can't.

I agree with johnliu. They didn't follow the explicitly agreed-upon installation. Have them re-do it and let them know your displeasure at their sloppy work.

If they were really professional, they'd offer to swallow the associated costs to remedy their mistake. Not the biggest crime ever, but they should know better, and they should know this makes you nervous about what other contractual instructions they might be disregarding.

If by "different height" you meant really low to the counter, maybe reconsider. They get blocked by stuff on the counter and are closer to getting splashed, etc. You may come to value the higher outlets on the other wall for convenience sake. The vertical orientation will look better with the vertical beadboard. If it were my kitchen I would have moved the pipes.
Casey

Since there is a different bs and a door in between, I don't think it will be horrible if they are different. I'd probably let them make it up to me elsewhere with a free upgrade or reduction in price.
If they were on the same run of counter, even around a corner, or within the same tiles, it would bother me.

Pix may change my advice (and may change others' as well).

Thanks all. The pipe on the sink wall couldn't move short of pretty major structural work, unfortunately---it's the vent pipe and it's running up a load-bearing wall that is not open, so opening it would have triggered another level of permits (right now our building permit is just for non-structural modifications and walls)---so those outlets had to stay put. I'm actually fine with that, though, they'll be three inches off the counter, which seems fine---actually a bit higher than where the vertical outlets were in the old kitchen, since they had the same constraint.

The new outlets they put in are, I think, 42 inches to center---the sink wall outlets are 40 inches to center. So we could probably get close by just putting them horizontally at the bottom of the existing opening. This wall has no sink or stove, though, so it's unfortunately the one spot where there's no splashing or other danger to low outlets....ah, well. They will be for the toaster oven, mixer, and other tall things, though, so they'll likely be pretty hidden regardless.

The main reason to leave them alone, from DH's perspective, is just that he wants the work finished already. (We are playing GC for this ourselves, so one of us has to work at home whenever contractors are here---thus it would be nice to be done so we can move on to the next contractor!)

@hydrangea_luvr, wish I had some progress pictures (or some progress!!) I took a few the day of demo, but am hoping to take another round next week if the electrician really can wrap this up so we can have our rough inspections. (He'd better, since then the plaster crew comes in to patch the plaster so we can paint the room over Thanksgiving weekend.) I have a feeling it will suddenly start to come together once the plaster goes up and it feels like a room again.