Thank you for your feedback.

If you have suggestions on how to move forward that would be great. These are engineered but think so can be refinished. We also have not taken delivery so can return with large fees. I was wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and been able to find a resolution.

" These are engineered but think so can be refinished "

I would not refinish brand ew floors. Depending on the thickness of the wear layer you may only get one refinish out of the floor and I would certainly not waste it when brand new. Try telling the company you purchased from how different it is from the sample. Maybe they work with you on the return charges. I would probably lean towards a light brown floor were it me. Hope fully you purchased the current floors from a lcoal shop where you can see and pickup a carton of another floor to actually see what you are getting. These are all part of the reason why shopping at a brick and mortar store make sense sometimes inspite of being more expensive.

Accept what is. What you received is better than what you wanted.

So, which of the 4 different local stores did you order from?

We ordered from the local store that could get the floor in. The other two local stores could not get the flooring until January. They are sending a board off for color testing.

We did not check with the 4th store as one could get in so ordered from them.

Sounds like they had some of an old dye lot that they wanted to unload. Especially since the other stores couldn't get new material until January.

What is the color of the stain on your island? Does it have a gray tone to it?

I understand that samples might be old - but who's responsibility is it to inform the homeowner that he/she/they may receive flooring that does not look like the sample boards?

Most homeowners would not know that this is a possibility - unless they've had this issue happen previously.

I would assume that if I am provided a sample board - that it would be the same color as the boards I receive.

I know that this has happened to people re: cabinet door samples not matching the actual cabinets that are received/installed. Why does that receive a different response than when it's flooring? I am asking this question because I am truly curious - and would like to understand the difference.

I appreciate your attempting to see this through the lens of a consumer. I am a schoolteacher not a flooring person. I spoke to multiple sales people at multiple stores- no one mentioned this. While I obviously don’t fault the stores that didn’t make the sale- I spoke to the salesman at the local store where I purchased and we looked at that sample forever analyzing undertones etc and after all the color talk not once did they say- don’t put too much stock though in the sample- it may not look like this. Someone mentioned buying a box and opening it at home/ but isn’t that something an experienced salesperson should suggest since the client is very concerned with color. I wanted something lighter than our island.
Anyways enough rant- just wanted to say thank you for listening with an open mind. There is variance in anything- so if it’s going to be substantial whose job is it to inform the consumer?

And by someone mentioned buying a box- I mean someone in this thread NOt anyone in the store.

Yes this stinks. As a consumer you expect the sample to generally represent the floor sold to you. Unfortunately we’ve learned that samples often do not reflect the final floor. It doesn’t make sense (I actually understand some of it with wood oxidizing, dye lots, etc) I would suggest NOT doing a floor with any grey, a light European oak would work much better with the cabinets. Both of your selections look like you tried to match the cabinets but failed.

I marvel at the way people evaluate the information from salespeople. They are your adversaries in the buying process. This isn't Miracle on 34th Street. It will always be to your benefit to educate yourself about a product of such significance. The second mistake you're making is to rely on local supply sources when they cannot supply product to meet your timeframe. Provided it's reasonable.

Not really following your second part but thank you for your feedback.

All wood product will color change once it is out of the box - including sample panels. The sample panels were probably sitting in sunlight in the showroom. So the finish has faded and became lighter from when it was new. Expect the flooring to do the same over time. If, you want to avoid color change, purchase LVP.