Empire Today Reviews

The installers were great, too. They worked hard and got the job done. I'm looking at the carpet now, and it looks great. I felt bad for the installers because it was hot out and it was a long day. The first day they came to do the LTV flooring, we did not know that. We don't know how long it takes to install this stuff. They worked a very long day that day and got it done, except for the one missing threshold piece, which was not their fault. They did come back and put it in. We also didn't realize they were only doing the LTV flooring the first day, so then we had to do a second day of installation for the carpeting on the stairs. That might have seemed obvious to anyone in the carpeting business, but we didn't know.

The only thing we felt was lacking was the communication between the sales team and the installers. When the installation people arrived, they had all these questions for us. There was sort of a mystery piece there. They asked us how many inches the carpet should be on either side of the stairs, and we didn't know. We figured that out a month ago when the salesman came. We told them to put whatever the standard size is. The carpeting for the stairs was also cut in the wrong direction. The installers figured it out because they had to and they didn't want to have to come back, but they were that smart that they could figure it out.

The flooring looks great and although it was a very upsetting day, we liked both our salesman and the installers. It was just a process issue. The communication piece between the two needs some work, so that when the installers walk in the door, they know exactly what's going on. But it would not stop me from recommending Empire. We're still very satisfied with them. If someone asked if they should use Empire, I would tell them to come look. Empire did a good job.

During the installation, the guys were very skilled. They knew what they were doing. It took them about four and a half days. There's a threshold when you go from room to room where it changes flooring, and they did an excellent job on those transitions from the hardwood to the tile. It's smooth as can be. Previously, I had these little pieces of wood that would separate the transition, and it was always easy to get your foot caught on them when it hit on something.

They only made one mistake, and I don't know why they did it. It's so strange, but after the floor was in, the agreement says that they will clean it. The cleaning is suggested as vacuuming and then using Bona Hardwood Cleaner and their cleaner thing with the cloth on the end. The floors are brand new. The guy takes a dirty cloth that looked like it was used to clean a garage. It's Velcro-ed to the bottom of the mop handle. I got very upset. I said, "I have brand new wood that comes out of the factory clean, and you're using the dirty thing.” He got nervous about it and went out to his truck. He brought in a whole pack of those cleaning pads. He said, "See, see. I change them frequently." I said, "Yeah. But you used this really dirty one on my house.” He apologized.

As far as Empire, they're very professional. You know exactly what you're getting and exactly what you're paying. The installers are very knowledgeable in terms of assessing the floor underneath. They made sure that was very secure so the floor would not creak when you walked across it. So, I was happy with all that. It's just I found a few little things that they need to fix. I haven't had time, but I'm gonna call them and ask them to come out. There are two pieces of wood that has some red writing on the end. It looks like it was something that was written for inventory purposes, and I want them to remove that. Also, there are a couple places where it looks like the wood splintered just a little bit and the finish came off. So, I’m gonna ask them to touch that up.

I was told after the fact that I was going to need to pay extra because they had to put a cement that dried very hard very quickly so they can balance it. The $1,000 extra really surprised me. I wasn't too happy about that. That price should have been disclosed when the salesman was here because he would know based on the floor that it was going to have to be ripped up or they were going to put stuff on top of it. From $17,000, it went up to $18,000.

About two weeks later, that entryway floor buckled really bad so I had to call them back. They came back right away, and they were really good. They ripped everything out, and they made it good. It's been about 4 weeks and right now, I'm at the feeling stage. I'm putting my socks on ‘cause if I feel it with socks, not shoes, I could feel better. I'm afraid of that spot and I'm wondering is it gonna buckle again. I have a big extended family and little grandkids. Everybody comes into the front door. I have old people as well, and they could lose their balance right there. I'm still trying it out but I know I've got a year warranty. Other than that, the finished product looks beautiful and the price was reasonable. My daughter saw it, and I told her to get a quote from Empire Today first. She felt really good about it.

There are a couple of issues with the installation. One of them is in my living room. They had to piece the carpeting, but I could see a line all the time in my carpeting where they pieced it together. Also, I have a double wide closet in my bedroom. On the left side of the closeting, as you walk in, the doors slide back and forth fine. On the right side, I'm not able to close the doors all the way. I told the installation person not to put padding underneath the carpeting because the doors won't slide. I had the installation person out here, told him about it, and he said, "You have to ask your landlord if you cut off the bottom of your door.” I'm not cutting off the bottom of the door. It's the problem with the carpeting. It's not the problem with my door.

I don't want to see the installation person come out here again, because he already made the comment for me to cut out the door. He came out the second time, and he kept hitting the track that the door was in, and he cracked the track. Other than that, the carpeting is nice and lush. People like it. It’s very soft. I like it a lot. I'm in the process of getting my second bedroom cleared out. And soon as I get cleared out, I'll get carpeting put in that bedroom also, so I'll finish it. I'm happy with it.

He explained what could have happened with the type of flooring we had, gave us the two options, how it was laid down, and offered what he thought. We then offered what we thought. He brought in samples. He didn't bring everything in at first. That's what I liked about it. He talked to us. He figured out what we wanted, went out, got his samples, brought them in, stood there and talked to us. He explained what the differences were, and went through the prices. He showed us the best, medium, and least in price. He told us how it was laid. But where he went and checked, it was hard to tell. He did his job like he should.

Empire brought three Mexican gentlemen for the installation. At first, the tile was laid into the closet. One asked, “Could I check and see how that flooring was put down?” He spoke good English. I said, “Yes.” He went in there and brought a crowbar in, got back in the closet, raised a piece up. He laughed, and showed me the piece. Instead of glued to the sub floor, it was glued to a sub panel that they put over the sub floor, which was fiber board. It was screwed down to the sub floor. All they had do was pull that up to get the tile up and take the screws out. The only bad thing was they had to order a half-inch plywood to put down to level the floor out. The living room was one level. And the rest of the house area was half-inch lower because of the stone. The only thing that they had trouble with was they had to order the plywood.

They tore up a lot of it the first day. They had to wait a day, and come back the second day. They finished up doing different areas. One of them had started putting the other flooring down there in the living room where they could match up that other plywood to it to level everything out. They've done a good job. It came out the way I wanted it. I like the type of flooring it is. Instead of having a fiber core to it, it had the new cement siding they're coming out with. It had that type of core in it.

Study up on it before making any decision. We've had salespeople come in here, and the people didn't know their product. So, I sat down, talked to them, told them what they needed to find out, needed to make sure what they're talking about they know. Because once they get to talking, they start hesitating. They need to know their product. They start hesitating about the customer asking a question. “What's the material consist of?” And they go, “Let me look it up.” No. That hurts them when they're sales. They got to positively know what they're selling.

When the installers came out, they moved all the furniture for us, so we didn't have to move anything. The installation took about two days. They started on the bedrooms and did most of it on one day. When they left the first day, they cleaned everything up and made the bedrooms livable. So, even if the floors weren't done, we were able to sleep in those bedrooms. After that, the luxury vinyl tile in the office took one day. When they came back to do that, they again moved all the furniture and laid the flooring down. Once they're finished, they walked us through to see if we had any questions. The quality of their work is excellent and we are really happy with the floors. We had all carpet before, and now with these type of floorings, we find them very easy to keep clean. We like the appearance as well. Overall, Empire Today was really efficient and I would tell others that we had a great experience with them.

Fast forward to 2025, and our flooring started lifting, cracking, and peeling throughout our home. Trying to get Empire to help us since then has been an absolute nightmare. I have spent MONTHS calling, emailing, following up, being transferred from person to person, and waiting for callbacks that never came. Victoria initially opened my claim, but then I never heard from her again. In April, I spoke with Joey, who told me he would escalate the situation to their LA office because I had already been waiting for months.

Empire eventually sent an inspector to my home to photograph and inspect the damaged flooring. What I found especially troubling was that I was NOT given a copy of the inspection report. When I asked about the findings, the inspector told me he could not share the information with me. After the April inspection, I heard NOTHING. No results. No explanation. No meaningful follow-up.

I sent multiple emails asking for the status of my claim and still couldn't get answers. Finally, in August, I called AGAIN and spoke with Tonya. That is when I learned that the manufacturer had denied replacement of my flooring. I had to chase Empire for months just to find out my claim had been denied—and I still wasn't given the inspection report or a clear explanation of WHY it was denied. I was then transferred to the local office and spoke with Alessandro on August 6. He told me he would speak with his team, asked for 48 hours, and said he would get back to me. CRICKETS.

This has been one of the most frustrating customer service experiences I've dealt with. Empire was extremely attentive when they were selling us the flooring, the additional moisture barrier, and the extended warranty. But when our flooring began failing after only about four years, getting help or even basic communication became nearly impossible.

My biggest issue at this point is the complete lack of TRANSPARENCY. If my claim was denied, why can't I receive the inspection report and a clear written explanation of the reason for the denial? We paid EXTRA for a moisture barrier after Empire identified moisture before installation. We paid for an extended warranty. Now we have flooring lifting, cracking, and peeling throughout our home, and I have spent months fighting just to get answers. Empire was happy to take our money, but when we actually needed them to stand behind their work and help us resolve a serious problem, the experience was completely different.

Based on my experience, I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND EMPIRE FLOORING. If you're considering using them, I strongly suggest asking detailed questions about what happens if your flooring fails, what their warranties actually cover, and whether you will be given access to inspection reports if you ever have to file a claim. Four years is simply not what I expected to get out of flooring we invested this much money in—and customers should not have to fight this hard just to get answers.

Both crews took about two days to complete everything. They would show up here about 9:00 AM. They would work until 6 o'clock, and then they would wrap up their day with some cleanup. They would start back over the next day and that was it. It was very straightforward. The quality of material seems great as well. It's still so new, so time will tell. But the quality of work was great.

You're gonna find a lot of companies who can do it cheaper, but do the research on the products offered by Empire Today. Considering their installation crews, they're subcontractors, so it sounds like Empire really vets their subcontractors, which a lot of companies don't. They take care of that for you. So, if you want quality service, go with Empire. You get good quality, everything taken care of for you, great customer service, and reliable crews to come and install.

For the installation of my recent projects, I had two people come out, which was sufficient. They took on a big job and they did a great job. They did it in two full days. But I didn't care for the install manager when an issue came up about material and the type of install. We have a sunken living room, there are steps there, and we were putting laminate in. He kept hemming and hawing on how they would put it in. But he couldn't give me an example of what they've done to put steps in and he just wanted to move forward. He didn't want to really listen to what I had to say. It ended up to where they would have something that looked like a box, and it was a pretty amateur install.

So, we went back and forth on that. I almost canceled the whole thing, but their boss called me and we talked through it. I told him that since I was the customer, I expected somebody to listen and I didn't need pushback. I was the one paying, not them. If I made the wrong call, that was on me. But if they made the wrong call, I was going to be pissed. So overall, we're happy with Empire's product, but their install manager needs to go to customer service training. Also, I would not recommend engineered hardwood to anybody who has pets or heavy furniture. It's just too vulnerable and it's expensive.

The installation was amazing. The guys came in and removed the old carpet and padding. At one point, they asked if I could turn the air conditioning off for a period of time while they were installing the carpet. They explained that with the carpet being warm, they could stretch it tighter than if it was cold. When it gets cold, it would be just as tight. If not, it’ll tighten up even more as it shrinks when the cooler weather hits. That was smart. I would never have thought of that.

The two guys pulled up at a quarter after 8:00, and they were walking out of here at 4:00 that afternoon. When we inspected it, we were pleased with it. For the vinyl planks, they came in and inspected the floor and everything. They took the old carpet up and said the floor is in good shape. It was done in record time also. When they left, everything was clean. They were professional, respectful, and did a great job. Everything went like clockwork and I was happy with the whole process. I was shocked by the price because I was expecting a whole lot more. It was a good experience.

I scheduled an appointment for Friday and waited for someone to come out. No one showed up. To make matters worse, someone called me the day before my scheduled appointment, saying they were outside my home. My appointment was NOT until Friday—it was Thursday! Clearly, there was a major communication or scheduling issue.

This experience has been incredibly frustrating. I spent a significant amount of money with Empire Today expecting quality flooring and professional customer service. Two years later, my floors are separating, and now I’m having to chase the company just to get someone to address the problem. I will continue contacting customer service because I truly hope Empire Today decides to do the right thing and stand behind the work they provided. At this point, I cannot recommend this company based on the quality of the flooring and the customer service I have received.

The installation, overall, was fine. However, we had extreme heat in Michigan during that week so it took the installers longer. It was budgeted for two days. It ended up taking them three days. They didn't have it finished, and they came to me at the last minute and said, “We need to come back tomorrow or someday to do at least five hours of work.” I already had painters scheduled, so I had to change that, and they ended up being an entire day. It was more than five hours of work. Other than that, they were good. They instantly scheduled the time to come out, and a week later, they installed. The laminate flooring is easy to maintain. It looks like wood but it's much cheaper.

The communication was perfect, right from the salesman to the installers to the follow-up. The salesman called me ahead of time. The company called me ahead of time to confirm. The installers were there on time. They had the right product. On the duplex, since they had to pull carpet up, we had to fix the floor because it had some cracks. So, they had to level it out. It took two days with the duplex. But the installers did great. They interacted with me and the tenants perfectly with as little inconvenience as possible. For our house, we did the bedrooms at different times, and Empire did the same thing. They called ahead of time. Installers were on time, had the product, moved the furniture, which was a big thing, and did a great job on the installation, and then put the furniture back. I like the freshness, the openness, and the cleanliness of the carpet in the duplex. It really enhanced the value of our properties with the way it looks.

This company has been the single worst customer service experience I’ve ever dealt with. Hours wasted on the phone, managers refusing to take calls, constant dishonesty, and zero accountability. The sales rep flat‑out lied to me about needing a 50% deposit — which was NOT required — and then the company had the nerve to break my installation appointment and blame me for it.

They kept 25% of my total bill — $611.30 — for absolutely NO service, no installation, no visit to my home, nothing. They didn’t show up, didn’t honor the appointment, and then tried to hide behind a “non‑refundable” clause like it was my fault they failed to do their job. Their communication is a joke: endless spam emails, useless texts, and a ridiculous 24‑hour cancellation window that only benefits them. If the appointment time THEY choose isn’t convenient for you, too bad — they make it clear the customer doesn’t matter.

The sales rep out of Avon, MA misled me from the start. The entire company operates like a dishonest, evasive mess. They leave you on hold forever, hang up on you, and bounce you around departments like it’s a sport. I spent FOUR HOURS trying to reach Sarah **, the so‑called “manager of managers,” and she refused to speak to me at all.

Corporate? Completely useless. You can’t reach a human unless you already know a name, and even then, you get dumped into voicemail purgatory. They hide behind layers of phone menus and make it nearly impossible to contact anyone who can actually resolve an issue. They took $1,244.40 from me over three weeks ago, never installed a thing, and then kept $600.10 as punishment for not wanting to continue being treated like garbage. I lost overtime, took the day off, cleared a TEN‑HOUR window they require, and they couldn’t care less. This company is rude, evasive, unprofessional, and absolutely shameless about taking your money without providing service. Do NOT give these people a dime. Their business practices are designed to screw you over the moment you stop complying with their nonsense.

I told Supervisor, I need to cancel my order, tried to convince me to stay with them. I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH A NEGLIGENCE AND LACK OF COMMUNICATION to let me know forehand that there was no material available, therefore they defaulted in the promise to accomplish the work on my floors. IT’S A SHAME, I DON’T RECOMMEND THIS Company I previously contracted, their services has DECLINED. J.

The installers were very nice. It was a family and they were very precise and particular. The only thing I didn't care for is the guy took a pencil to the floor to mark it, but it does not show. Other than that, they were very good. However, they left a piece of carpet that was left over and it's bounded on two sides. I'd like to get it bounded on the other sides where they cut it and I would love to find out where they got the binding done so I can get that taken care of. All in all, my experience with Empire Today was good. I can't complain about anything. I would give them 5 stars.