The patterns do not match so definitely not the same slab. I'm going to take a guess they sold your slab to someone else and gave you the back up so don't be surprised if your slab is not at the yard. Show them the pic and make them prove it.

Does not appear to be the same slab. Have them show you where the counter could be on you slab picture. And under no circumstances allow them to have your photo!

Definitely not the same slab.

No match on the pattern. You have to watch all these places carefully and get lot/slab number. Make sure fabricator pick up the right one and be there for templating.

Geeze, why do they think they can get away with stuff like this?

Not the same.

Thank you all so much for confirming for me!

I'm hoping they admit the mistake when I go in person with my photos. (Even better if my slab is still sitting there for proof. But I agree with a previous poster, maybe they accidentally swapped the slabs during cutting and someone else got ours. They have the showroom with samples and the big yard right out back with all the slabs, so it's a one stop shop.)

We actually used this place twice before for bigger jobs (old house kitchen and current house kitchen) and were super happy. So we are repeat customers, maybe that will help. This job was just a tiny mudroom cabinet, not that expensive but still, I want the one I want!

Not the same at all.

For future reference, and for others reading this thread, always always be at the templating layout. Sometimes fabricators resist this. In that case, immediately choose another fabricator. A good fabricator will be happy to have you present and make your choices for the slab's layout. It would also be the time to spot a wrong slab even if it was accidental rather than an intentional switcheroo.

Friedajune I agree! I wish I would have known to ask! Never occurred to me that it was even an option.

If it's any consolation, I really like the counter!

Haha I like it too Sue, just don't like it in this room with white cabinet. Even if my original slab is there and they admit the mistake, I'm not sure they can be swapped. Would it damage the brand new cabinet to remove the granite? We might be stuck with it.

This job was just a tiny mudroom cabinet ... maybe they decided to give you a remnant, rather than using part of a complete slab--hoping that you wouldn't know the difference.

I like it, too!

I actually prefer the one you got! I really like it! To me, it would be a happy mistake. But, if you paid for the entire slab (as opposed to only paying for the amount you actually used), then I would want a refund if you didn't get the rest of the slab or they switched it out for a remnant...

BTW...chances are it was not an "accident". We've heard so many stories here where a stoneyard sold someone's slab to someone else for whatever reason. (Including that it was easier to get to when the other customer's fabricator picked up the slab or the other customer paid more or other reasons.)

I do hope you can sort this out. You should have the slab installed that you paid for.

OT: what is the grey paint color on your wall?

Yep raises hand. The slab yard sold off my fully paid slab to someone else despite charging me storage fees because I was in the hospital.

Thanks Buehl for raising my paranoia. My slab was just delivered this week to the finisher. I'm going to over there on Monday between doctor's appointments to make sure that the right slab was picked up before they start the leathering process.

Until you reminded me, I fell back in the trust mode again. You're the best.

Thanks mamagoose and buehl. If we end up keeping it, it's nice to know people like it. And luckily we only paid for what we used, not an entire slab. (Then again, I guess the fact we only paid for that amount lends support to the idea of them giving us a remnant piece instead of cutting into a slab.)

Pippabean it's Sherwin Williams Cityscape. I love it because it doesn't go too blue or too tan - it's a nice neutral gray. In the powder room next to mudroom I used Passive, it's on same color strip but 4 shades lighter. I recommend!

"This job was just a tiny mudroom cabinet, not that expensive..."

Bingo. You got a remnant. They tried to keep that slab whole. Negotiate your way out of this one.

I like it better, too. I would keep it and ask for a discount.

I agree...not the one you picked...but soooooooooooooo beautiful! and it's a remnant. I bet they use the one you picked for your kitchen....?

They used a remnant and if they charged you the same price to use it as a full slab they owe you a big discount.

I actually prefer the one you got as it's more interesting.

Thanks everyone! I went to the lot this morning and my slab is still there. I went to the owner to question what happened and she said "Of course your slab is still here, and it will stay here. We cut from the other store. These stay here for sample slabs." As if that was common knowledge and normal practice. (Not true because we got the exact slab we chose for the kitchen last time.) She said they had 6-7 slabs of the same "lot" and we got a piece from same lot but not exact slab. Ugh. I would have been find choosing from remnant, I know it was a small job. I just wish they would have given us exact remnant pieces to choose from. I suppose we won't do business there again, and next time we do countertop (master bathroom vanity?) we will go to templating!

Please share the name of the company here so that it will come up on a search. If someone wants to do business with them, they should be alerted to this sort of behavior.:)

(Looks good from here though!)

I understand your frustration and disappointment. An honest salesperson would have discussed your options up front and directed you to their stock of remnants. However, honesty doesn't pad today's commission checks, and the payoff is long term for business owners and likely never for employees. You did not receive what you were told was being purchased and you should receive an appropriate discount. I would chase this one a bit further and try to negotiate a discount. I'm not suggesting you will be successful but it is worth a try.

I prefer the slab you received; however, I think your chosen slab better matches your wall color. Hope you can negotiate a fair resolution.

It's fine that your internet friends like the stone your counter people installed, rather than the one you chose. But, do you like it, really like it? As much as the other one, the one you chose, "your" slab? We all know what it's like to make peace with things when they go not according to plan and I'm sure you can do that with this counter. But, it is NOT the one you chose and were led to believe would end up in your home. It would not sit well with me that I was given something else without so much as an "excuse me, but we have a slight situation here." I could probably come to love the counter, but I would expect to be compensated for my disappointment and feeling of being duped.

WOW, that's really deceiving.. it should have been discussed and all parties understood what was really going on. i would really be angry b/c they deceived me!!

Good Luck in getting this resolved.

Linelle you're right. I can make peace with it. It's beautiful granite. BUT I chose a slab that I felt better matched the room colors (like mdln said, my original matches walls) and I'm trying to decide if this will bother me for the next 10 years. I pressed about being unhappy with the service and the owner said we can go choose an exact piece from their other store (an hour away) and they'll remove the old one. But I'm worried about going through the extra hassle, taking off work to go there, taking off work for templating, and then possibly damaging cabinets during removal. Side note: my husband loves it. He thinks it's fine. (He didn't know it wasn't the same piece we picked until I showed him.) So if we replace and anything happens to cabs he will say "We should have left it alone!"

Sigh. They weren't straight with you and now expect you to travel an hour (each way), take time off work, etc. to get another slab that still won't be the one they sold you and led you to believe is "yours." More inconvenience (time, money) for you.

I'd want to be done with these people. If your husband loves the counter, that's something, right? Maybe you will come to love it too. I'm pretty sure you will come to not notice it--or care so much--like you do now.

My comment to her "explanation"

Liar Liar Pants on Fire!

That's absurd. You pick the exact Slab you want and pay for said Slab period. They screwed up and she is trying to make it seem like you were the one that made the mistake. Don't put up with that kind of dishonesty!

Good luck

I'm with Joseph, negotiate. I had a shower door that was repeatedly flawed. I was paying for the very clear glass too. On the 3rd set, I got the whole thing for free! Over 2K worth of shower glass. The manufacturing had terrible quality control, the local glass installers were stellar. The glass still isn't perfectly clear when steamed up, and I see a grid pattern, but heck it was free. The first 2 sets had hand prints all over the glass when steamed up, that were, I guess, tempered into the glass. It looked like a party in the shower, LOL.

When you have resolution, write online reviews about your experience everywhere you can! Do you have a contract of any kind?

Huh, "bait and switch" without disclosing the switch?

So, you go, look at a slab, which you think you pick and pay for, but you get one installed that "sorta looks like it?"

(Unlike almost everybody else, I much prefer the one you thought you picked.)

This just would not sit well with me at all. I personally like the slab you thought you were getting so much better not that my personal opinion in this matter is important.

You will be looking at this for many years to come and the inconvience of removing it and replacing it is worth the time and trouble, unless of course you love it and won't regret not replacing it.

I would not except this at all nor would I pay for something that looks completely different than what you picked out. Bait and switch at its finest. If it were me I would have it removed, find a slab someplace else and never do business with this company again unless they will give you a piece of that slab that you originally picked out.

I really like what you got and think the dark pattern in it is more balanced. But it is very different than any part of the original slab. They should have at least used a similar piece. I think professional installers can easily remove and replace it. If you can find a remnant that is similar to the original slab, I would make them replace it. If not and you can live with it, try for a discount. And go elsewhere for the next job.

I would not want to be the owner of a slab yard or fabrication/install company. Seems like there are an infinite number of ways to make expensive mistakes even with the high markups priced into these products.

I do not hate what you got, but I also like the softer look of the original slab more. Is there ANY written notification anywhere that those were "sample" slabs and not the product you would receive? What you were told after questioning what you got seems fraudulent to me if it was not disclosed before contracting.

In my part of the country, you would have had to purchase the whole slab AND the fabricator would have kept the remaining stone to sell again. Taking a small piece from a full slab for the top you show would have cost much more than using a remnant. Were you charged the whole slab price or just the price of a remnant? That is another angle I would explore before deciding what action to take.

No contract. We worked with them twice before (with great results) so I honestly didn't think for a second I would get anything other the exact piece we chose. We paid for what we got (not the entire slab) so we didn't get overcharged in that sense. Owner's argument was that even if they had used my exact slab, every piece of the slab is different (i.e. top left vs. middle vs. bottom right all have different amounts of gray/swirl pattern) and I understand that, obviously granite isn't uniform. But the piece I got doesn't look like any portion of the original. My 24" x 54" counter has more black swirls in it than the entire original slab has. I understand them not wanting to move a huge slab to other store for cutting a small piece--but just say that upfront! They could have taken 90 seconds to snap photos of the other 6 slabs from this same lot and let me choose!

Samantha Simon: Exactly! They should make this as "right" as they can with you and if they do not, you have options like removal with no cabinet damage and complete refund or small claims court if need be.

I'm going to go against most other people and say that the slab you picked out looks better. The piece that was installed look like cheesy engineered quartz to me and I'm not a fan of that look. I'd be willing to bet that the piece they installed isn't even from the same lot of slabs and would be pretty upset about this.

My granite counters go in tomorrow but the installer uses an all digital layout and shows how each piece will be cut from the slab and how the layout will look installed.

Wow. Preview and digital layout sounds fantastic.

It's not a matter of whether any of us like the installed piece better or worse than the original slab. The OP chose the slab she did based on elements she felt were better for her space - the more gray background color that will go better with the planned cabinets and surfaces vs the whiter background of the installed piece, etc.

The problem is she didn't get what she understood she was paying for. She's gone back and tried to resolve it and been fed a BS line about normal practice.

Samantha, if you have any energy left for this, you could try one last thing. "I'm very unhappy. I feel you misled me. I want you to ____." Do not respond to the various excuses/accusations, just repeat the above. If it doesn't work, just be sure to post online reviews warning their next customers. You're right, they're wrong, but it may not matter. You will make peace with what they delivered, but they're still wrong.