I thought cambria was standard pricing set by their fabricators? In any case I would see if the fabricator your company uses will come down. I was able to get the fabricator I wanted to use down in price by shopping around and providing them with the lower quote in writing. They wanted my business and so they came down about $500. I found that prices varied wildly too, up to about $1000 difference between highest and lowest for the same product and options.

If they won't come down I would go with the other one who you have a recommendation for. $3k is a LOT of money.

Are you saying Cambria from another fabricator is $3000 less? Cambria chooses their fabricators and they're selective about who they approve. Something isn't right if it's the same material.

Yes, the one is $3k less. I even called Cambria to make sure they were legit and she knew the fabricator immediately and said they buy a lot from them.

Part of the difference is my cabinet guys have a mark up (but they say it's minimal), additional square feet calculated (I think it has to do with using full slab) and they are charging for edge profiles and cutouts.

If your friends were happy (and you have seen the work) I would certainly take the risk to save 3k on countertop! I guess it's worth asking the other folks to come down, but seems hard to believe they would lower by that much. We made some choices that were not our GC's recommended people - it turned out to be a pain in the butt every time (took longer, more annoying to work with, etc) but did save us a lot of money and outcome is fine. He completely understood the saving thousands of dollars bit and was nice about it (although I'm sure very annoyed!).

If Cambria has trained and approved this fabricator plus you have referrals, too, I would go with them. You know more about your friends' fabricator than whoever your cabinet store uses. $3000 is a huge markup, so your loyalty would seem to be misplaced.

I would visit their place of business.

Get the lower priced fabricator to agree to do the job for no (or very little) money down. If they screw up, tell them to come get their stuff and hire the higher priced guys.

By the way, Cambria may use and approve top notch fabricators, but they only use them until they can establish their own fabrication shop in a given area. Cambria is striving for vertical integration. They want every penny, from digging the quartz from the dirt to cashing the lady's countertop check.

Update: I was able to determine that the plans I gave the cheaper fabricator didn't account for needing countertop under the cabinets that touch the counters or 20 square feet. (This wasn't his fault it was the way my KD had sent me a picture of where counters would be needed and didn't take this part into account). When I factored in needing more square footage, the difference was about $1800 and I thought I could live with that for ease of scheduling and then my cabinet guys are on the hook for making sure it's right.

SO... I contacted the cheaper fabricator to let him know I wasn't going to use him. He asked if he could sharpen his pencils and I agreed. He said because I've sent 2 people there (because of their prices), he said he would keep the SAME price for the additional square footage. We are talking $6800 for 133 sq feet compared to $9800 for same. Honestly I don't know how they can do it that low.

My cabinet guy said it's like "you can always buy a chevy for $40K less than a mercedes" but I don't think that's a good analogy. I'm talking about the exact same product. Apples to apples. $3K less.

Long story why, but cheaper fabricator has a $2500 (fully refundable) deposit. I was thinking I could tell him that I wouldn't pay any more until the job is completed because I'm nervous about quality. It's hard to walk away from $3K!

Also note that I called Cambria to inquire if they were legit, the rep knew exactly who they were and said "they order a lot of product from us"....

Hoping someone has any more thoughts for me... :)

How many people do you know personally who had a good experience with the cheaper fabricator? It sounds as if more than one friend recommended them, and then you sent two more over to that fabricator. Were all of those people happy with the results of all of their counter installs by this cheaper fabricator?

If so, I'd go with the cheaper fabricator. They make customers happy and have good rates -- who could ask for more? No-brainer.

If you are getting a patterned slab, not a solid, have you read the complaints about resin pooling? Cambria does not consider a large or odd colored blotch to be a defect in material, so you are stuck with them. I would be afraid to choose that material to begin with.

My GC recommended a fabricator that they've worked with a lot and they came in at $1000 more. I told my GC and he was perplexed. But he completely understood. I wonder if your GC gets a percentage of the money by providing this fabricator with business. There is no reason for one tradesperson to talk bad about another without personal experience of a bad result, unless they feel threatened and something seems fishy here. I think you made the right call.

if cambria certifies this guy and you have recs for his work, stop worrying!

My GC (aka cabinet guy) does have margin on the counters but he said it's so minimal and that's why he doesn't care if I use someone else. He said they used to use the cheaper fabricator and fired him because the quality of their work was poor (~5 years ago). He said they had some sinks fall out and had to get Cambria involved. He said their edge profiles are not done as well (I'm just getting a simple eased edge) and they aren't polished.

I need to go see my friends counter and look in more detail - from quick glance when I saw it, they looked great.

I just have a hard time passing up $3K. But like mentioned above, I will not make final payment until I'm 100% satisfied. And my deposit is on our Amex and they are great for dealing with consumers and issues like this!