I think the word you are looking for is messy, unprofessional and possibly dangerous, but not normal.

You need to know what those plates are attached to. If they aren't attached to anything (which they might not be given how sloppy of a job that is) then they don't do anything.

I would not show that house to anyone with that the way it is installed as that is dangerous. Whatever good that steel may have done (and it might be wirth zero depending on the attachment method) with compressable wood shims there (or shims in general) it is worthless. Period. Stop...............

I would be pretty alarmed that the cabinets were that out of level to need that much shimming. And at the countertop support. And at the shims. There is plenty to boggle the mind here. But, I think the biggest question would be where you found your GC for this job??? Because both the cabinet guy and the stone guy here are pretty bottom level. If a bottom level price was paid.....that is another issue that goes beyond just the cabinet and counter install.

Isn't there supposed to be a whole sheet (or two) of plywood under that stone? It looks like there are just scraps of wood supporting the edges and metal strips. Yikes!

Those support bars are meant to be set directly on top of the cabinets in routed out spaces like this. Some do routed out spaces on both sides vs screwing into the frame like these. Drop a heavy piece of granite/quartz on top of that and all is well:

If, instead, one end of the bar is set atop a pile of shims, what's to keep that very heavy piece of granite from teeter-tottering or shifting the first time someone leans or sits on it? It looks like maybe the owners put new granite over old cabinets which are seriously out of level. A reputable fabricator wouldn't install over cabinets in that condition. I'd be concerned about liability if I were you.

Thanks for the feedback. It was a small value-oriented project (for resale) and the entire project (except demo and floors) was contracted with a regionally known kitchen design co. with several offices on the E. Coast and they have many excellent reviews on Houzz (Over 50 with a 4.5 overall rating). We have worked with this location before and they've always been great. This counter is not on top of cabinets. It's a bar countertop that is sitting on a pony wall. It's the bar top shown below (sorry for the poor quality of this photo).

I appreciate the feedback. I thought it looked bad, but not being an expert, I didn't want to be presumptuous.

Cheepchinesecrapola garbage work from start to finish. Remodels for resale are a giant turn off. No one ever puts enough money into them to get a good quality result. Better reassess that asking price.

So it looks like they cut the splash too high & tried to set the bar right on top of it using shims to higher the pony wall. Scary...

In which case the supports should look like this underneath. Notice lots of screws into sturdy supporting wood.

or

Um why wasn't the wall level before the stone was put on? I can't believe they would do and leave work like that! Not pro for sure!

The fact that this is a bartop is even worse. I cant imagine anything of structural value connecting that slab to the wall. 2 or 3 people leaning on it could cause a failure.

It looks like they shimmed the bartop after realizing that the back splash was cut too tall. The gap where the shims are looks fairly consistent so if they come back and fix the backslash this might be salvageable.

I am a fabricator. It's horrible and quite likely unsafe. Have top top removed, do the necessary leveling on the pony wall with tapering strips cut to fit, install the brackets properly, and reset the top. 2 experienced installers 1/2 a day max. Properly done and painted you'd have to look real close to know the shims were there.