Give it time. The grout will mellow out.

schreibdave - tile is about as "natural" as drywall... you like your drywall to be random too? What about tiles on the floor being uneven? Sharp protruding tile edges aren't gentle on bare feet! In addition the style (herringbone pattern, etc) of the OP's bathroom doesn't lend itself for the "random look" you advocate. On the contrary. Plus, why should the cost of this tear out be the OP's? If the tile setter is indeed a professional, there are rules and acceptable tolerances that a professional tile setter has to adhere to, in order not to make him/herself liable for damages. By the way, yes, grout helps to hide minor irregularities. No grout in the world will mask such severe lippage and shoddy work. jwamelink - I highly suggest you go over to the "Tile Forum" and post your pictures and questions to the tile pros there. There ARE rules and guidelines regarding accepted procedures and tolerances in tiling. Real professionals adhere to these. Anyone who is selling this shoddy job as acceptable and standard, and making you feel "unreasonably picky" is essentially a con man or just utterly clueless. I surely wouldn't trust him to have properly waterproofed behind the tile. It takes more than just using concrete board. Did he tape and thinset the gaps and corners using the correct tape? How did he construct the mudbed, etc, etc? I'd post your pictures on the "Tile Forum" and ask the helpful pros over there to guide you on how to solve this. A couple of years ago, DH and I tiled our hall bath (with the help of the pros on the above mentioned Tile Forum). Despite being total newbies, we managed to get even grout lines and clean cuts throughout, no uneven tiles (lippage), and surely had no tiles "pop off". Best of all, we get to sleep well at night knowing the bath/shower area has been properly water proofed behind the tiles. Here a couple of pics from this "newbie tile project":

Hi all - does this grout look too low? It’s tough on my feet in both of my newly renovated bathrooms. Seems like tiles are uneven in some spots. Grout is level with one tile then low on the one next to it. Any recommendations on how to fix?

The tile has a 'hand finished' look = uneven edges. There was no way to get the tiles closer at time of installation. They are nicely installed. The grout was probably CLOSER in colour to the tiles BUT the age of them (probably sanded grout which was never sealed) has discoloured to the point of 'muddy water' colour (cause that's the colour of the mop water by the time the mopping was done). As millworkman points out, you can add grout colourants (aka grout paint) to get it to look brighter....but you will probably end up with a grout line that turns back to the 'muddy water' colour you have right now. For me, if I'm going to spend money on making these 'pretty', I would look at the cost of redoing the grout with a sturdier grout that is stain/colour resistant. That's going to be pretty costly. Or you can have a pro cleaning company come in an deep clean the grout (get it back to the original colour) and then SEAL the grout (stops it from gaining colour like what it is doing right now). For me the deep clean+sealant is one of the best 'bangs for your buck' when looking to perk up older tiles/stained grout. Now, if you have the time and the skills you can do this yourself...so long as you have a tile and grout 'bleach' and wide open windows (that bleach smell is enough to put asthmatics in hospital!). You then get down on hands and knees and SCRUB the b'jeesus out of the grout lines. Once the whole thing is clean, you can then purchase a grout sealant kit to DIY yourself. I would say you will be working 8+ hours per day for an entire weekend if you DIY....but it is the CHEAPEST option. In other words you do ALL the work the pro-cleaners would do. I'm super lazy...so I'll but out SOME money for this type of project (cleaning pros) but I wouldn't spend big money (regrout) in a project such as this. I know I would eventually get rid of these tiles when I redo the entire kitchen....at a later date.