Believe what you got in the box ... unless it was somehow mislabeled!

Sample boards can be old and from completely different dye lots, and look nothing like current production runs.

I would have the flooring store check with the distributor/manufacturer and confirm the differences and compare dye lots.

If you like what you got in the box, make sure that the rest of the order will come from that same dye lot.

I blame it on the dog.

The dog in the photo looks exactly like one of my daughter's English Bulldogs (the younger one). Everything gets blamed on Kingsley!

The floor looks very different. I hate sample boards - so many people do not order a box of the flooring - and don't find out how different it looks compared to the sample board until after it's all installed.

I do like the color of the sample board much more than the boards in the box you ordered.

That can’t be the same floor. I would start researching other floors for the color you want.

Dani…..Kingsley!

I bet this blows your mind as much as it did mine. I went back to the floor center today and took the box of flooring that
I bought and laid it out on the floor and placed the sample board beside it. I have decided not to believe anything I see in the store. You just never know what the sample will look like until you get it into your own home and lighting.
As you can see the sample board looks like the box of flooring that I bought. But none of it looks like it does when it is in my home. 🤷‍♀️

"You just never know what the sample will look like until you get it into your own home and lighting."

Some things contain such great wisdom that it deserve repeating.

That is just so strange. The sample board looks like the planks you bought when you were in the store, but not in your home???? The first two pictures are in your office? The planks in the second picture don't look like the sample in the first picture either.

You are correct in not relying on samples, and seeing actual products in your own home with your own lighting.

Your picture also doesn't look like their website photo. Link. And the top veneer layer is only 2mm thick. 4 or 6mm are alternatives. Plywood core but no mention of the type of wood used in the core. It could be softwood. A 2mm top layer can dent easily . Especially if the core isn't eucalyptus or birch hardwood. What's the country of origin? You might get a better looking product if you choose select grade. If the core is hardwood plywood. I wouldn't go forward if the core is softwood plywood.

Not mind blowing at all if you have done any design/remodeling projects! Lighting at showrooms is notoriously bad, or too industrial, so never make a choice just by looking at something in the showroom/warehouse.

When slab/stone shopping I always tell people here to ask to see their favorite slabs out in the daylight, as I have found stone/slab yard warehouses to have the worst lighting.