Mannington Mills, Inc. Would not honor warranty, would not disclose "independent" investigators findings

I bought mannington adura distinctive plank luxury vinyl planks from an authorized vendor and had professional installation. A week later, gaps appears in some of the planks. Their warranty has language explicitly covering the cost to fix this should that issue occur. Their warranty also has language that specifies how an installation must be done in order for it to be covered.

To the best of my knowledge and with the best scrutiny I could perform, this flooring installation followed their guidelines precisely. They sent a 3rd party, non-employee inspector. The inspection was thorough and he was able to see every square inch. The trim had not been installed yet so you could still see the entire perimeter of the floor. The inspector sent his report directly to Mannington. He would not share the report with me. Mannington would not share the report with me either. They denied the claim simply stating there was no defect in their product and it wasn't covered under warranty.

The "ripoff" here is that they position a warranty as a means to reassure a consumer and give them confidence they are buying a top quality product from a top notch company. But when it came time to be transparent and support their product, they would not. They appeared only to want to deny the claim and avoid secondary costs.

My dealer was great. It certainly helped that our terms were 50% upfront and the remaining 50% upon completion. The dealer, at their own cost, bought additional product and replaced the gapping planks. Ultimately, the final floor is a good product and has held up superbly for over a year now despite pet traffic. I would probably buy the product again. But I still cannot help but feel deceived at the way Mannington handled the warranty claim process. The real truth remains unknown to me.