I live in ABQ, NM. I bought roughly 1000 sq ft of Morningstar Tianchi bamboo ("MS HS Tianchi bamboo 1/2 x 5" clic str") at LL.
AFTER getting it in house and ENDS ONLY opened to begin acclimating(6 weeks recommended by salesman), I read reviews/acclimating tips.ive read multiple different issues that make me think I am better off returning or exchanging it now.
it sounds like 1)my climate is too dry for bamboo,2)poor quality product,3)the chemical smell may never go away (although it does seem much better already ...while in box).
Complete return will result in about $800-900 restock fee per policy. I'm willing to eat that loss if necessary but would prefer to find something else at LL to avoid it of course. I paid $3.79/sf for it.
I wanted click lock type for floating install since I've done this before, but may be able to tackle a different type of install. we liked the look of their hand scraped options but no clicking options. so return it? exchange it? keep it? picked it up 2 days ago so well within return deadline. thanks!

I recently got a similar call from someone who had LL deliver the flooring and cut open the ends to acclimate. WRONG! This will distort the planks, ends dry out and center does not. Worst thing you could possible do besides not acclimate out of box and get a humidifier.

If they delivered it and opened the boxes you should ask for total refund since they are complete idiots. Well, you should do it anyway even if they told you too.

I hear your getting tons of rain recently and the desert floor is a green carpet of grass and flowers. Taos area is my fav.

First of all they (LL) should have forewarned you about the conditions of this flooring. I can almost guarantee it that you will have problems. I myself bought LL Morning Star bamboo flooring and had it installed as a floating floor. I live on the East coast and when the winter months hit and I have the heat on, my floor gaps like crazy! It gaps to the point of embarrassment and I will tell you right now you will get no help from them. I bought a huge humidifier and it did nothing to help with the gapping! If you're doing the installing that is even worse because they will definitely blame it on you. Floormeintuscon is absolutely right about the acclimation of this product. The product is very moist and opening just the ends will cause the ends to dry out leaving the center moist. I also had problems with the boards being different widths at one end of the board which after installing 20 or more boards will also give you gaps.
The formaldehyde has also given me and my husband problems. I have had asthma all my life and haven't had a bout with it in years ....that is not until this flooring was installed!
Sorry to hear you purchased from LL in the first place because once they have your money your dead in the water! The most you will get from LL .....(and even this is very rare) is a store credit to purchase more aggravation!

thanks for the replies! sounds like I'm in worse shape than I realized. I thought worst case scenario was exchanging it. I didn't think I would have trouble GIVING them the restocking fee and returning or exchanging. it sounds like I may be stuck with this stuff. I will definitely try to return or exchange. I think we'd be better off with a non-bamboo option (since in dry climate) from LL if full return not an option.
if I absolutely can't return/exchange, I assume I'll need to open the boxes completely and remove each piece for best possible acclimation, correct? LL told me to remove plastic and open the ends for 6 weeks to acclimate. if I remove completely from boxes, would 6 weeks be more than enough time? I wanna give myself the best possible chance at an acceptable end result.
thanks again for the responses!
if this is handled the way I suspect it will be after my research/responses, I may have a new hobby of spreading the word

You better get a stand alone humidifier when acclimating out of the box and have it at 30% rh minimum for the rest of your life! A couple months would suffice.

FYI, any hardwood inspector will tell you that simply opening the ends is not proper acclimation. You could get a report from one and hand it to them asking for your money back since they gave you improper information. Thats going to cost you less than the restocking fee.

Update: my local LL did accept my return. Although I did have to pay $742 restocking fee, they didn't give me any more trouble. It was an expensive lesson , but I'm glad it's over. Thanks again for the info. Just thought I'd share in case others were in a similar situation.

What a burn, just to load it back in the warehouse and write up a return?

What if the big box stores did that on any item, you think they would still be in business? I hope people whom are contemplating buying flooring from Lumber Liquidators reads this.

Eduardo, read this thread.