I just had my floor sanded and 3 applications of finish recently. When I entered the house I saw drips, lines everywhere (from what I read online it is from a drum sander), a few spots that didn't get coated, spots with debris, beads of finish in the gaps between some of the boards, shiny perimeter (looks like fake or vinyl flooring) all along the baseboards (which now needs to be painted because there is floor finish all along them!). Also, the entire floor has an orange peel appearance.

These guys already been back once, fixed some of it, but also created new defects like waves on the finish everywhere (maybe the drum sander again?). But everything is the same except for the debris and drips which are gone.
They're coming back again to do another buff and coat. But I have zero confidence in these guys. I don't know why I'm posting here, I know what to do - fire them! But I guess I'm already committed to them to do it right.

It's difficult for me to vacate the house for the week if I tell them to start over. Difficult because of pets, my work, where to go, etc...

They said the orange peel is because of the poly they use which is standard stuff. They said that the other poly is too expensive?? I was never given the option which to use. The shiny edges was because they couldn't get the tool that close to the walls?? The poly all along my baseboards were in the contract (the fine print) as a possibility of occurring, and so on..

They are at least being sincere about getting it right. But I really don't think they can after looking at their workmanship. They're coming back next week to buff and coat again.
What should I do?? Does this sound like it needs to be sanded and started all over again?

All symptoms of a mediocre crew dong a mediocre job. Unfortunately, there's only a small portion of excellent contractors out there and not many people are willing to pay us for the level of work we do.

If they're getting orange peel already, it seems like the finish is not adhering properly. So that makes it risky for anyone else to try fixing it by just coating over what's already there.

I've fixed floors that were badly sanded, and had no finish yet. I just fine-sanded out the mistakes and started coating. And I've fixed floors where I started over and took it to bare wood. I've never been asked to try coating over someone else's problems.

It seems like you're going to have to hire someone else to re-sand it. But...there might be someone who can identify the problem with their finish, and feels confident that they can fix it with just a properly prepped topcoat. I don't know whether the topcoat could fix your "shiny edge" problem, because I don't know what caused that.

You need to talk to some other companies, because I don't think these guys are going to make this work well enough that you'll be happy with the job.