All very true. Though I'm not sure I'd call using the Corian-type surfaces cheaping out. They're just cheap in comparison to marble. True cheaping out would be something like a plastic laminate. They're sheets of material from companies like Wilsonart and Tafisa and Formica that are glued onto particle board or plywood. They're the kinds of surfaces you find in most residential builds or budget commercial builds, like apartment kitchen counters or office lunch room counters.

Plastic laminates are fine if the installers know what they're doing. Preventing air bubbles, making sure the edges are sealed to prevent delaminating from the particle board or plywood substrate, etc. They're very easy to clean thoroughly with regular household cleaners. They can look very nice, and there's a thousand colours and patterns that you'll never find in the natural world if you're looking for an artificial look. They're also very lightweight so you don't need to worry about structural complications. You can easily cut them with regular woodworking tools. Any old tablesaw or hand circular saw goes through them like butter. But it's really easy to apply laminates wrong, and it's difficult to undo mistakes in application. A lot of residential kitchen companies will save themselves time and headaches and just subcontract out countertops to local countertop manufacturers who have long experience with applying laminates properly.