I am not an expert but those slabs don’t look book-matched to me. It looks like there were two slabs between them that were book-matched and these are just close (e.g. the first and fourth slabs). Book-matched slabs should practically be mirror images and these are not. Over a few inches of depth the veins can drift.

Were is the seam at the front rail of the sink? One in the middle or one on each end?

Is there a builder or GC involved in the project? If there is, and they were involved in selecting this fabricator, then they need to be a part of the discussion of what went wrong.

Does your paperwork note the batch number and sequence of the stone? Such as #987654--11 and #987654--12? Bookmatching involves sequentially numbered slabs. The slabs are cut, and alternating faces are polished. !pol1!raw2!raw3!pol4!pol5!raw6!raw7!po8l!pol9. You want the odd and even numbers next to each other.

Those slabs do not appear to be consecutive slabs to me. You can't book match slabs that are not consecutive, you can only come close. So disappointing, but you could see clearly prior to any fabrication taking place that this wasn't going to work.

Best practice with bookmatched slabs is to actually pick bookmatched slabs.

That's a shame. Those were semi sequential slabs. You need the slab numbers. If you paid for book match, you didn't get it.

There isn't much that you can do about it now. The slabs have been cut. Your only option is to find two more bookmatched slabs and be there for the templating.

Are you going to have to eat the cost? Probably. The fabricator may get you some more product at cost if they value their product and reputation.

I am not an expert on this - but I do think it is possible those slabs are bookmatched and the reason they don't look that way is because of the angle of the photo and the way the slabs are positioned. I adjusted the angle and positioning of the right hand slab a little with Photoshop - see below. Even if they aren't bookmatched, the fabricator could definitely have done a much better match. There is no way I would find this acceptable.

"What "finding" might this be and why would they not find these issues before cutting?"

They moved the slab to avoid an edge they broke?

The template photo clearly shows they are not consecutive / true bookmatched (not that the line between slabs in the center of the sink is visible and things that don't match on either side of it.)

BUT...... the template shows that this seaming should have been done MUCH closer than it is. What's the point of showing and signing off on a template if they don't execute like that.

When they broke it - they needed to stop and ask you what you wanted.

I am really sorry for you about this - it's definitely not what you ordered or approved.

If they could not provide you the template which you signed off on, then it was their duty to explain the issue and what options you have going forward. BEFORE install!

They should have shown you a new template of how the two pieces would look once they were shifted.

If you saw how mismatched the island would look before hand, would you have agreed to install it?

What if they offered you a discount? Would you take it then then?

If it were my kitchen, no discount, even free, would make me accept that botched seam. It is hard to tell in the photos, but is the seam even straight? It looks a little wavy to me and the edges look like they may be chippy, like they used dull blades to cut it. The epoxy color looks like a bad match too, and it just highlights where the black vein butts up to the white veins. Total do over in my book.

What they should have done is called you and said, ”We are so sorry to tell you this, but your slabs are defective because of XYZ. To compensate you for this, you can either take them for a discount of X amount or you can choose two new slabs that are the same or higher in price.”

To that I would have said, ”What a shame (tears in eyes). I was so in love with those slabs. What else do you have that is similar?”

But with the way they handled it, knowing that they had the audacity to install a different layout then you had agreed to without even telling you first, and how you only discovered it during the install, I would tell them to take their stone and go. They have broken the contract you signed and I would demand my deposit back.

As inconvenient it would be, I would rather choose to live with plywood countertops until I could find new slabs I liked from a different fabricator.

I can only imagine how disappointed and angry you must feel! I have seen this happen so much on this forum, and it always makes me angry to see businesses try to pull a fast one on the customer and get away with it. Please, stand your ground and do not let them bully you into compromising your dream kitchen.

Now, the good thing is that many times it ends up being a happy mistake and you find something you love even better!

wow. heartbreak for someone. hope it isnot yours.

Marnie, you’re brilliant! But, gosh, this is a big problem- I really hope it works out for you.

I'd make them "eat" the entire thing. Frankly. at the point of install in the house?? I'd have told them get that off my island..........and take it back.

I can tell you that is not something I would ever get used to seeing or being able to see beyond it.

oh my word. I have read a LOT of templating/fabricating threads over the years and have never seen this, ugh so sorry!!

Nice sleuthing! Glad you figured out what happened. Good luck getting it resolved and be sure and come back and give us an update.

Wow, that is total incompetence on their part. You should get all your money back.

Beautiful counter! But wow...that is a big screw up! Glad you verified that they were indeed consecutive slabs. Will be interesting to hear how this gets resolved. Good luck!

@BeverlyFLADeziner Can you explain what you mean? "So disappointing, but you could see clearly prior to any fabrication taking place that this wasn't going to work." What did you see that made you think this wouldn't work? Just curious because I don't know much about book matching, and I think most people seeing these slabs and templates wouldn't have any worries about it not working out.

Is the finished piece symmetrical? Could it possibly be flipped over and polished on the matched side? Sorry if this is an ignorant question, as I have no idea how stone counters are installed.

The two slabs were consecutive and bookmatched. One slab was higher in the original photo. Here's showing the slabs she chose where I moved it down in PS.

This is a complete refund and they need to get it out of your kitchen. Find a different fabricator because now you know they can't even be trusted.

Thank goodness you spotted it as soon as you did.