We considered (and got samples) of both the red (VERY expensive!) and green slate from Vermont. I would have loved to have felt comfortable with slate, but the scratching (from anything, wine bottle to mug, moved across it) in the sample made me conclude I would NOT like a maze of scratches like that in a countertop. You can remove the "whiteness" of the scratch but you still have a scratch you can see in some lighting. I would suggest testing LOTS of samples and giving them regular, everyday use as a test. I WISH we had found one that would hold up to everyday use ... but we didn't.

Help! I had honed AB installed yesterday. There is etching in one area, the place where they put tape on either side of the seam to keep the glue from harming the countertop has now left marks where the tape was and I can't rub it off (not residue from the tape, the area where the tape was is now two darker black strips running down either side of the seam!), there are stains already on the granite when they brought the pieces in that they said it was just moisture and it would go away (it hasn't after 24 hours) and the silicone they used to caulk the backsplash is so shiny that it looks almost white against the honed black. It looks awful. Any suggestions, please? I started to seal it, but stopped thinking I might be making it worse. Thank you for reading!

If you're having problems "with ring marks and other stuff coming through", are you sure you have true AB and not a dyed/doctored stone made to look like AB? I would test it b/f you do anything else. If you hone it and it's dyed/doctored, I don't know what you'll end up with. Have you checked to see if a sealer was inappropriately applied? If so, it can cause all kinds of problems b/c it's sitting on the surface and was never absorbed like it's supposed to be. If so, you need to remove the sealer...then see how things are. True AB should be impervious to rings, etc. I think you should first test your granite b/f you do anything else. You don't want to make things worse. (I also have AB polished and have no problems with rings, etc.) Here is a link that might be useful: Thread: Stone Information and Advice (& Checklists)

So should I request a new piece of stone or a different one? You don't know yet whether you don't have AB or not. Read the link I posted above called "How to tell if your granite is dyed". Follow the instructions on how to tell. Acetone can be purchased at HD. And, if you find out it's not real AB, it doesn't mean you have to switch it out. It means you have to care for it differently than AB. Read the article I posted above called "What to do if your granite is dyed". Should this be the stoneyard's responsibility? Again, read the articles I linked above. One mentions that often the stoneyard and/or fabricator have no idea that the stone is not AB. Your timeline doesn't make sense. "the marks were there after they used acetone". Why did they apply acetone to newly-installed counters? Are you sure it wasn't the first application of sealant, then perhaps they applied a second application of sealant? (I am guessing here) Again, I repeat, AB does not etch, and it does not need sealant because it is so dense. It is too dense for sealant to penetrate. The marks in the pics look like wipe marks, i.e. sealant was wiped on, and then it dried sitting on top of the surface, creating the haze in a wiping pattern. Again, as Littlesmokie and I said previously, this is easily solved by removing the sealant with acetone.