We are wrapping up our new construction project and I wanted to share our (potentially unique) experience with Caesarstone, so that anyone considering taking the same path may think twice.

We are using 3cm (not the typical 2cm) slabs for the entire house, and while we originally were going to use a mix of marble and quartz, the 3cm marble selection was so poor we ended up trying to make our lives easier and went all Caesarstone (which claims a great 3cm selection). We would need 6 slabs a mix of jumbo and regular.

We went in to order over a month before we would need the slabs. After a phone call to the Caesarstone rep, our dealer informed us that NONE of the slabs we wanted were in stock.

...ok, thats why we came a month early.

She goes on to explain that some of the slabs don't even have an ETA on when they will be in stock again! So we only order the slabs that do have an ETA about a month out. Credit card is charged. Down to 4 slabs, two unique slab types.

From past experience getting burned on lead times, I follow up every Monday to make sure our slabs are on time. Yup. Yup. Yup. So then the date arrives. No word. I call our dealer and she says the rep is saying they expect the container "Any day now". In my limited experience building this house, I know that is code for "there is an issue".

Sure enough a few days later we learn that the entire container of one the slabs we had ordered 3 of has been sold one vendor. We won't be able to get those slabs for another 2 months! Remember: we had paid for these slabs - credit card charged in full. Our dealer says this sort of thing isn't even rare.

I scramble for alternatives, and they came surprisingly easily. I wish I had looked sooner. We ended up getting some very similar slabs from Pental Quartz (for less money I might add) and some marble (for a lot more ;). One of our Caesarstone slabs was available for pickup, but at this point, why bother having two different quartz warranties?

From 6 Caesarstone slabs to ZERO.

Stock can be limited, delays can happen, but being led on is never acceptable. Caesarstone may claim to have a large selection of 3cm and jumbo slabs, but they don't. If you don't have your slabs in your fabricator's truck, I would not rely on having them at all.