I'm told we need a new kitchen countertop. :-)

Apart from the Granite vs. eStone question, picking a fabricator/installer
looks like a real minefield. I was leaning towards granite, but there's a
wide range of qualities from the little I've read. I was under the
impression that you could kick the tires on the Granite (pick your lot), but
the one website I looked at had a long list of conditions (arranging to have
your existing CT removed for measurement, having your sinks/tap onsite
before measurement, then they would order your selection). This seems like
bad news, since the selection I pick could be far different than what gets
installed.

So is engineered stone less of a crapshoot than Granite? What to look for in
an installer other than references? It sounds like a full service kitchen
place would be less hassle than a countertop installer, but we don't want
new cabinets, so why pay for the overhead.