Cutting granite to size?

[Nat C.]

I am hell bent on having granite bench tops. It's really expensive to buy new but I'm finding a lot of people selling it on craigslist.

My kitchen is fairly small and people are selling large granite pieces as they are remodeling.

I wanted to buy the second hand bench tops and cut them to fit mine. My contractor said it can't be done because granite is very temperamental and it can't be cut in certain places and will crack etc.

I'm wondering if my contractor is saying this as he simply doesn't want to do it. Has anyone ever bought second hand granite and installed it?