Well, after the ones mentioned above who saw the botched job said it would be the right thing to do to allow this plumber an opportunity to fix the problem first before taking this any further, I called him the next day hoping he would come by on Friday to look at it. He was almost belligerent in repeating several times "If I'm coming over, I'm going to fix it; I'm not wasting my time to look at it" He said Friday the 31 instead, showed up promptly at 8:30 AM and spent time on it - a lot of loud noise was going on at one point - I was very much afraid to ask about anything, not wanting them to get annoyed with me as he was obviously not pleased to be here. He seemed very involved, but mainly I spent time in a nearby room. (in prior posts I said his assistant did much of the work - I meant initially) When done he was in a hurry to leave and I felt rushed to look at the job - was shocked that they had cut out significant hunks of all the studs along the side wall of the tub, but I didn't say anything as the plumber said they had to and that was no problem, and the entire fix was the best he could do. I focused on the gap between the tub and surround and the panels did align much better although the gap at the back was still pretty large, but better. I thanked him, and as he was rushing out I remembered to ask for a receipt as I HAD PAID IN CASH that Monday the 20th and FORGOT TO ASK FOR A RECEIPT. (all he had said was the cash was better, but never made any attempt to provide proper documentation!) (my memory issues stem from a concussion) He promised he would mail one. (I didn't think to ask him to write one on any old piece of paper as I would have, pre-rear ended). After he left I noticed the surround was extremely crooked, but was late for an appointment, came home hours later and stepped into a flood of water from the hot water heater in the basement, I guess a terrible co-incidence. DD came over and for hours helped w/clean up. She was horrified by the shower, noting after checking that the walls are plumb but the surround is nearly 3/4" off plumb and that it will likely be near impossible for the carpenter to do finish work that won't look like a_ _. Inotherwards, he mostly fixed one problem, but made it all MUCH worse. Meanwhile, the tub water once turned on would not shut off and kept gushing...remember the plumber squashed my idea of integral stops, and the old fashioned shut off underneath in the basement was only able to close it down with tremendous effort. If it let go, nothing would stop the water from gushing into the tub....called the plumber's service and left a detailed message about valve not shutting off and the problem shut off in the basement. He has not yet called; it is one full week today. Surprise: I have not received the receipt. A neighbor of my DD arranged for today a different plumbing team to come in with a not big box hot water heater, install it and gate valve shutoffs for the HWH and 2 in the access panel for the tub/shower - all the basement shutoffs were noted to be "completely shot". . The guy was clearly uncomfortable talking about the "shoddy job", but said it could not be fixed as the tub was set in mortar but not level, and any attempt to straighten it will break the tub. I've put a call in to the carpenter to get his opinion, and don't know what else to do but to report this to the licensing board. I'm an older woman who lives alone, and i tend since the concussion to become paralyzed by these things which feel overwhelming. Don't know how to get the receipt. Should I send a certified letter tomorrow morning? Any other ideas? Help.

And. Is it not possible that perfectly level and plumb cabs can have the install screwed up anyway? I'm still not fully in the camp that these guys didn't mess up the install and it isn't the cabs (DH) issue OR that a little bit of appropriate shimming under the counter BEFORE they stuck the backsplash to the wall might have mitigated any cab level issue. They never checked the level of anything that we remember and if they did there was no mention about a problem to us. Do counter installers not check for level before they install or do they just go forward assuming everything is level? The thing that really sticks in my craw about the installers abilities/ethics is how they left the counter to the right of the sink unsupported for 3 feet and it's just suspended in air over the sink flange with a glob of caulk to close the gap, no shims at all anywhere even. If they are willing to do that there knowing it is wrong what else did they do just to get the job done? I mean you can't have 3 feet of solid surface counter cantilevered over nothing, right? Doesn't that void warranty or lend itself to breaking or whatnot? I guess I have a lot more faith in DH's abilities (him having done a wonderful job on 90% of the DIY here)than in the ability of almost all the people we've hired for this house remodel and I'm not fully ready to lay this on the door step of his cab install. I've just seen too much slipshod work done that he's had to fix, I guess. But, I also know and he admits that he dislikes finish type stuff and has a tendency to get impatient and rush through things once it gets past the 2x4 stage, so that is also possible here. If it is the cabs then I feel bad for him but again, I'm not there yet. The jury is out til Monday morning and then we'll see. I hope you are right Trebruchet that the counter can come out without damaging the splash. We had a thin coat of plaster on the drywall behind all the splash. I hope that helps and doesn't hurt possible removal. What was that saying? "If everyone on your block throws their problems out in the street, you'll probably run to grab your problems back". Guess I'll take this one over other possibilities, right? :) Whatever needs to be done we'll do that and maybe there is a lesson in this mess, too.

Thank you everyone! It is very confusing as to what to do. The issue is that they did a standard 1 1/2" overhang even though the cabinets are very close to the wall. Seems like it would be a mess to fix in place - they'd be shaving off about an 1", which doesn't seem like it would be all that easy. Taking it off and doing it in the workshop 45min away doesn't seem that easy either. I think, perhaps, that once we have "moved back in" to the kitchen, it might not be as apparent. It is very similar to mama_goose's picture (which I thank you for, by the way!). There will be things to distract your eye from it, maybe. So, I guess we'll live with it and see what happens. I may call the granite fabricator and just see what they could do, should we decide to have them rectify the situation. Thanks again - your ideas and thoughts were helpful! Glad to hear that, while it isn't totally right, it isn't the worst thing!

Sealing the grout will do nothing to help the tile adhesion. Or are you asking if you should just complete the job? I also suggest you contact the product manufacturers and see what they suggest. Get their recommendations in writing. I see that the tech sheet says not to use tile adhesive over a waterproof membrane. It seems to have dried well underneath. What product do they recommend instead of a tile adhesive? Not sure how well something dries is a gauge for long term performance.