Ordered the runner and paired it with an 1/8" thick, felt, rubber backed rug pad. Looks awesome, lays flat, is not overly scratchy (which some reviews state), and is indeed slightly darker and a little more gray than ivory (which is great if you can't actually be trusted with a white rug like I can't be).  It IS a flatweave wool rug, so I have a feeling there reviews that complain of scratchy texture maybe just didn't fully know what to expect.  It's not soft, but not painfully scratchy either.  Ours is in a high traffic area, so I think it'll do quite well.  

Also, I think you need to use a rug pad (in fact I'm a believer that pretty much all rugs going on a hard floor need a rug at bare min to prevent slipping).  If you don't use a rug pad, of course it's going to slip and not lay flat.  

TLDR; looks great - more gray/darker than pictured, feels like a wool flatweave rug should, use a rug pad.