I think you should find another distributor AND PICK YOUR SLAB! Do not let them tell you they all look alike. Read some of the threads here written by people who didn't pick their slab (or did pick them and then had them switched by the distributor). When you pick them, take photos and get serial numbers if possible.

Most places will move the slabs around so you can pick what you like. It is not an unreasonable request.

Yes, I agree with numbersjunkie, the slabs that do look alike are ones that were processed one after the other. As if was explained to us it is sort of like slicing bread. Each "slice" in this loaf will be similar. But, it you go back next time a whole new lot might be in and even though it is River Gold is might not look like the one you first selected. When we picked our granite, they gave us a sharpie and we marked our name on the slab. Even the color variation can be way different.

My best granite fabricator's lead time is 4-6 weeks after template. He's pretty busy. I have another (solid surface) whose lead time is only 3 weeks. Due to the lessing popularity of Corian, he's not doing as much business as the first, as you can imagine. I had a fabricator start up in this town a couple of years ago with 7 day turnaround. He didn't last. Couldn't float the overhead of such a commitment long term. It's NOT "BS" that only full truckloads are shipped. If you start shipping partials, the price goes up and the business suffers. One tankload of diesel per slab is a pretty poor overhead expense unless the customer is willing to accept an upcharge for expediting the job. Longer lead times are more "normal" than shorter ones in the industry as some of the fly by nights are getting weeded out.

Overall though, jobs have picked up. More people are renovating and staying put than moving these days.

But, you should still be able to pick your slabs. They should allow you to do this as they already have time and effort spent on the job. And that's the same reason you should stick with them. They've already spent time with you and they have your money. They're not giving you an unreasonable scenario here, other than not being able to pick the slabs. Demand that, and everything else should hopefully be OK.

As long as the slabs are from the same lot and in sequence, you'll be OK. Better that bookmarked slabs are used for seams than if individual slabs are handpicked. If you have reservations, ask the fabricator to see how the templates will be laid out on the slabs sent to them.

My fabricator is busy and runs a tight schedule-granite gets installed 2 wks to the day after templating. I suspect a cracked slab would have set the installation back a full two weeks. If you only have a week delay, you're doing good. In this economy, most companies are working with minimal staff and don't have the help to make extra deliveries or accomodate change in fabrication schedule. You certainly don't want the fabricator rushing, squeezing your job in between two others, just so you can have your counters a few days earlier.

riverspots - you are pretty much confirming what our fabricator told us. We were pretty agreeable (and could understand) the "same lot" concept.
But - the cracked slab wasn't our fault. What seemed to be irritating was that they just figure you will wait until whenever for them to get a new slab (turns out it is from a different lot anyway) and get it done instead of trying to find it sooner from a different supplier. The owner told us one thing (new slab would be in w/i 3 days and we'd be delivered w/i a week) when in actuality the new slab didn't get delivered until this past Friday (a week later) and they weren't going to install it until this Thursday. And that was with DH complaining about the time frame. It would have been longer.
I was afraid if he actually pulled back our deposit we would have been weeks without a countertop. So they really do have you by the ....
I'm sure it will all be worth it.