It was one of those cold spring mornings. I was watching the news and thought I heard the announcer say that summer has been cancelled.

I started laughing to myself when my phone rang. "Mr. Stone Detective?" the harsh voice asked, "I'm a fabricator and just installed a blue pearl granite countertop. I am having some problems with my customer." He went on to tell me that the customer claims he used two different types of granite and insisted on having them replaced.

I asked him how many slabs they used for this kitchen and he said, "We only used two slabs: one for the island and the other for the Lshape."

I asked, "Where was their complaint?"

He replied, "The L-shape was in two sections with a seam on the right side of the kitchen." He said the section to the right was a different color and he swore it was out of the same slab.I told him I would come over and take a look at it and see if I could help.

I hung up the phone, finished watching the news, grabbed my overcoat and headed out the door. On my way over to the job site, I made a quick stop at the local hardware store to pick up a droplight. You will see why I needed the light in a minute.

I arrived at a huge mansion sitting on top of a hill. It had one of those wrought iron gates and an intercom you had to use to gain entry. I pressed the button and this guy with a heavy English accent said, "May I help you, chap?"

I told him my name and he said nothing, then the gate opened. I made my way up the driveway to find the fabricator's pick-up truck parked out front. There was a man sitting in the driver's seat smoking one of those small cigars with the plastic tip on the end. He saw me pull up and ran over to my car, tossing his cigar on the ground.

He didn't even say good morning, hello or anything; he just began going on and on about how these people were unreasonable and all they did was complain during the entire installation. He told me they owed him over $5,000 for this job and he wanted his money now. I just sat and listened to him blow off steam. Finally, he wound down and said, "Let's go inside and take a look."

We both walked to the door and knocked. Two elderly people answered. They were both wearing matching sweatshirts that said, "Sue their pants off if you don't get what you want!" Oh boy, this was not going to be pretty, I thought.

They took us into the kitchen and the old man pointed to the kitchen countertop and said, "There ya go, sonny. There's nothing you can say to convince me that countertop came from the same slab." I smiled and calmly asked if I could take a look.

He said, "Look all ya want." I have seen this problem many times before and was about to show "Mr. Doubter" that he was wrong. I was carrying my droplight and plugged it into the outlet above the countertop. I took the light and held it over the countertop about 18 inches and it confirmed what I already knew.

I asked the fabricator and the old couple to come over to the countertop and told them the following. "Blue Pearl is a granite that contains elongated crystals." I pointed to the crystals. "For this reason, when light reflects off these crystals they radiate in various colors." I moved the light across the granite and, to their amazement, the granite appeared to be a different color. I next moved the light over the island, which was all one piece and showed them how the light made part of the granite a different color also.

They both sat there with their mouths open and didn't know what else to say. I looked at them and said, "There is a very easy fix. All you have to do is install the proper lighting under the cabinet to make the granite reflect the same color."

They both looked at me and said thank you, then proceeded to show me and the fabricator to the door. I don't know if they tried to sue the fabricator or not, but I was satisfied that I was able to help a fellow stone colleague who was only trying to please his customer. The lesson to be learned here is to properly educate your customers to try and avoid situations like this.

The Stone Detective is a fictional character created by Fred Hueston, written to be entertaining and educational. Frederick M. Hueston is the founder of Stone Forensics (stoneforensics.com), a nationally known stone consulting company, and also the technical director for Stoneandtilepros.com.

He has written over 33 books on stone and tile installations, fabrication and restoration. He also serves as a expert for many legal cases across the world. Email comments to him at fhueston@stoneforensics.com

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