Maybe you should read this:
http://www.aftermarketsuppliers.org/Councils/Filter-Manufacturers-Council/TSBs-2/English/88-3R2.pdf
As someone who worked for a filter manufacturer, and for a time was involved in warranty, i've seen collapsed center tubes before. Not just automotive but for large diesel engines.
Someone sent me this thread via email, so i popped in to see what's up.
Any filter manufacturer won't want to "lose" a filter. Everything is logged in for legal purposes. From when the filter is received, until the complaint is answered. And the returned filter is kept in storage for X number of days. ( Varies by manufacturer)
You may not like the answer you receive. And if you don't, you have the right to get the filter back and use independent testing and go the legal route yourself if you're so inclined.
The basics are simple. Every filter manufacturer manufactures their filter to be free from defects. So it would be up to the filter manufacturer to analyze the claimed defect in the filter.
As this is a collapsed center tube, were the component parts incorrect for the specific filter part number or not assembled correctly. If they were the correct parts and assembled correctly, then something else caused the collapse beyond the collapse "specification". In which case you'll be told it was not a design or manufacturing defect and therefore not the filters fault.
Never cut open a filter before returning it, as testing can't be done and you will have to prove the parts you sent back were from the specific defective filter. Believe it or not there have been cases where someone sends back component parts from two brands of filters and claims they were all part of the same filter. Either to deceive or because they had multiple cut open filters and didn't know what was from what.