They installed it incorrectly/poorly, I just did it and got to do it twice since I was not paying attention and had the same problem. Bring it back.

 

I had similar experience. I have been getting incremental upgrades for each thing I did.
The shifter leans towards the driver about 10-20 degrees.

First, I did the 997 shifter and it improved my shifting. Second, I replaced the 997 shifter with the Ben's short shifter and it also improved my shifting. I still had some slop, so I pulled it out and added some washers between the shift mechanism, and that improved the feel of the stick tremendously.
I then changing my tranny fluid, which also improved the shifting some.
One of my biggest improvements came from changing my rear motor mounts. My motor mounts were absolutely shot, almost surprised my engine didnt fall out. That tightened up the shift, and it felt a lot more aligned.

Next on my to-do list is the Tranny mount.
I also have new shifter cables I am debating if I should install or not.

 

see, my shifter leans AWAY from me

i've already done the trans fluid and the 997 trans mount is going in next week with TS motor mounts

my biggest concern at the moment is the leaning shifter. does it indicate that something is off? does the 996 alignment tool need to be used even though it is a 997 shifter?

 

I just rechecked mine, and it is dead center. I think the last time I did it, I managed to get it right eyeballing it. The alignment tool didn't work for mine. I think the alignment tool was trying to get it to lean to one side but I decided to put it in center. After I fixed the alignment the last time, it massively improved my shifting.

 

hmm. good to know. thank you!

 

When I had my Numeric installed, my shifter was canted towards me when I got it back. I went back and talked to my mechanic, he said the cables were actually a little too long (vs what he removed and the length that was required). He called Numeric and they told him that the made them that length so that they would work with a shifter riser as well as without one. He then set about distributing the extra slack so that the cables were the “happiest” and the shifting was the best. He told me he would be happy to adjust the shifter straight up and down but that it might not shift as perfectly. I had him do it, it may have set it back by a degree but the improvement was still off the charts good. Couldn’t believe what a difference the mod made.