Infodivamary3, that reminds me of when we were looking at one particular house. We were upstairs and I noticed a smell -- then we noticed poop tracked throughout the hall and 2 bedrooms -- then we found it on my dh's shoe. We at first assumed he had tracked it in from the back yard, but when I saw that there were no tracks on the carpeted stairs, we started checking around and found the dog pile on a small throw rug in one of the bedrooms. Our agent just calmly set to work cleaning it up. She found an old washcloth in the linen closet and then searched out some carpet cleaner -- cleaned it all up, including the original pile. Took the washcloth with her when we left, and never mentioned it to the homeowner. The incident flustered us, but it didn't faze her in the least. Five weeks later we bought that house (and ripped out all the carpet!).

It's a tough decision, and you have my sympathy. We had something similar happen and in hindsight, we should have sent it back the day of installation rather than letting them fix it. They dinged & scratched one of the french doors on our fridge. We agreed to a replacement door instead of the cash offer or replacing. My husband didn't want to risk more damage to our new bamboo floors, which they also did. The 2nd door came damaged, and after it was installed the ice maker & water only work after opening & closing a door every time you want water. We are lucky to get any ice. I demanded a new fridge after that repair, they said no, have to try to fix it again. Tomorrow the 3rd door & new ice maker get installed. If this works, we will keep it and also accept the 5 year extended service/warranty plan they offered. If not, I'm going to have to fight for a new one. No one can promise a new one won't get damaged the same way. They sent an artist to repair our floors with filler & paint to match the grain. Good luck with your decision!

The contract said to not paint because scuffs and dents could occur. I expected torn paper. I expected a ribbon of torn paper where the glue was. All we did was vacuum where the holes were and some loose material easily went into the vacuum hose. I had previously removed two completely different sections with just torn paper. If this is truly normal, I don't want to call them and ask them to make it right. If it is excessive, I don't want to go overboard. How easy is it to not chip or scratch the marble in the top pic that is right at the corner of the marble?

Some comments on trip charges. They exist in all of the trades, not just cabinet installers. Electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, carpenters, and every Pro I know has a trip charge, even if they don’t come right out and call it that. Trip charges are for when an installer has budgeted an install to take 2 days, and due to the actions of others, it takes 3 days. Or more. It affects the wait time of paying customers downstream of the job. He is losing money if he has to show up again at a job without additional compensation. And he is pushing someone else’s job off until later to do that. Real life examples: For instance, he gets paid a trip charge when the plumber cut off the pipes too short, and he has to wait a half day for him to show up and lengthen the pipes to fit through the cabinets and be reached once the sink was installed. That trip charge was a chargeback to the plumber. Or, he gets a trip charge when the kitchen designer orders gray crown molding instead of white, and no one opened the package at delivery to check for damage and color. I paid for that trip charge, as well as the right color crown. And got chewed out for not opening the package at check in. That’s what happens at dealers. Or he gets a trip charge if during the install, the customer decides that she wants a tile backsplash after all, instead of the 4” counter splash she had planned. He has to make an unbudgeted extra trip later to install the light rail molding after the tile goes up. That was charged to the homeowner. Now, if the trade just under budgeted his time, and the job takes 3 days and he had budgeted 2? That is his problem to solve and to eat. And to apologize to the downstream customers. A tight schedule can’t have extra labor fit into it without a cost being paid by someone. Sometimes the dealer eats it if they could have prevented the delay that forces the additional trip. Sometimes the GC eats it if the issue is unclear as to who should pay. It’s the GC’s job to make sure that the trades keep to the schedule, and if it takes eating that trip charge, that’s what he does. So, the customer may not even be aware that a trip charge is happening unless the delay is their issue to own and pay for.