"see examples of their work" Excellent point. There seems to be a lot of problems lately with people being disappointed in their granite fabrication. I have to really hold back in posting things like "did you see examples of their seams? did you discuss the edge? Did you see this or that? Did you pick out the slab, the layout? Did you bring samples home to test and to see how it looked in your house" etc. You should ask for references and actually go see installed granite in a home. I actually asked our salesperson (yard and fabricator, all in one shop) if we took the longest and was the most PITAs. She laughed and said No of course. I visited the shop 4 or 5 times. I had numerous samples I kept for months. I saw granite in their showroom on each visit. I saw granite installed in a home. It was actually a friend of mine who had used the place but if I had not seen hers I would have asked for a reference and asked to see the installed granite. I called repeatedly and asked lots of questions, even speaking to the owner. Reviewed the contract in detail. I spoke at length with the templater and then the installers. Watched every move. BTW I visited and got estimates from eight different shops before choosing the one we used. Maybe this was done before....but a thread on how to purchase granite might be in order. Starting at the beginning....how to find a fabricator, what to ask for, what to expect, etc. How we handled the granite decision is how we handle EVERY decision. I know most people (not all) that I know IRL say they just don't have the time or patience to spend the time we do on these things. But they are the ones who call us when they need advise.

Thanks all, very very helpful info. Boxerpups, special thanks for these great photos, would never guess where the seams are in your counters. If things would work out so well for us, I would prefer they use caution with my handpicked slab and add a seam. You make a very good point about my confidence in the fabricator also. I think that must be the true source of my uneasiness. I do feel they are competent because they give all the right answers to questions (that I learned to ask from this forum), and they are well established in this area, but I just didn't click with the salesman and I only overlooked that because our contractor, who is wonderful, overall likes them. The owner also is great. So every time the salesman tells me something, I don't trust him. So I think what I will do is ask about their ability to hide seams and show them your photos if you don't mind--to give them an idea what our expectations are. Then I can put this to rest and move on. Thanks so much again everyone! And please stay tuned for backsplash questions, that is the next step!!

Seam update: The fabricator sent their troubleshooter up today and he worked on the seam for about 2 hours. He did a fantastic job. It's now almost totally smooth, much less noticeable when you run your hand across it. He also polished out a pencil mark the other guys had left when they center-lined the sink. I'd told the company I could live with these things and I wasn't insisting they make someone drive all this way (I said maybe next time someone has a job in Maine they could stop and look at it) but they sent this guy the next week. I am very impressed and totally pleased with the service and my whole experience with them (Gerrity Stone in Massachusetts). LOVE LOVE LOVE my counters!

I'm wondering if this is Chinese Black Galaxy that has been dyed. It looks white on the cut edge and the scratches appear to show white, so it stands to reason polishing the scratches would expose more white. See this thread. The advice here is don't buy it if it's Chinese. http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2589187/black-galaxy-granite-opinions