To my amateur eye, the difference in wood is not apparent. The difference in stain color is glaring, and should be fixable. Am I correct that the lighter colored floor is the new one?

How do you know that the old is white oak and the new red oak and not just different cuts? Was there packaging and or markings?

" Flooring place said they will remove and redo. I am concerned they will damage cabinets or it will look like hack job, especially around refrigerator. Thoughts?! "

That will involve uninstalling the cabinets and appliances, unless the flooring did not go under, which should not be the case with solid wood.

The floor is already stained in the pictures.

I have no problem with red oak per se, but they said they are unable to achieve a similar color to existing white oak floors because the natural red oak is showing through. I don’t know why the new floor looks lighter, but it certainly has a pink-ish cast to it (before and after staining).

Are you confusing type of wood with stain? Like I said, I can't tell if the old floor is red oak or white oak, but what I do know is that any time you have new flooring feathered in with or adjoining an existing wood floor, you have to have the WHOLE SHEBANG refinished. It is impossible to have new flooring match old flooring color-wise, even if the exact same wood species is used. You gotta get old refinished along with the new installed. I bet if you do that your problem will be solved, or at least lessened to such a great degree that the difference in wood will hardly be perceptible (if the difference indeed exists).

Red oak is cheaper. It will age differently and I doubt they will be able to get it to look the same unless you are okay with the white oak going much darker.

Your white oak is beautiful.

Have them PAY a cabinet installer (preferably the one that you already used) to uninstall the cabinets - and hold them accountable for any damage.

The different floor would not be acceptable to me.

(Nor would the lying about it - so DOCUMENT and CONTRACT everything regarding the fix)

That’s infuriating and you should not accept it. Is the counter, backsplash, and crown molding in?

I love red oak -- prefer it over white oak, as it's warmer, but I do not love the change in tone here.

What do you want from the company? You're more likely to get a partial refund than you are a re-do. Are you ready to go to small claims court, if necessary?

I'd restain my way out of this one. They cure is worse than the disease.

Golden oak stain will get it close.