Hobbs is am amazing company. If you think you have defective batting just send a 6" squarish piece of the batting to Hobbs at 200 S. Commerce ,Waco, Texas 76710. Make it to the attention of Bill Neal. As with any manufacturing process, sometimes there is a glitch. If there is a defect, they will gladly replace your batting.
Preshrinking batting is a tricky business. Most batting states that it must be quilted every so many inches. This is because it needs to be stabilized with stitching this close to preserve the integrity of the batting. So... a very gently soaking and a gently air fluff or air dry is the safest- never agitate an unquilted batt. Even if the batting stays in tact you will loose some of the fiber in the dryer just like when drying clothes. It seems a waste to pull fibers out of your batt before it even makes it into the quilt :-) When I don't want any puckering, I don't prewash my fabrics and let the fabric and batt shrink together. I do use a color catcher just in case any of the fabric bleeds a little. I apologize for the length of this reply but I hope it helps someone just a little. If you have any questions please just give me a shout!