Empire Today Reviews

I called Cary the salesman and he said he was busy and would get back to me later. I called the main office and spoke with a manager who said it was exactly what I ordered. I stated, “This is called bait and switch and I don't want this or any carpet from Empire installed in my home.” They did send me my deposit back but I had the house torn apart and now had to go find a new carpet store. Did not receive any other contact from the company or salesperson but did hear from local friends of the same issues with Empire.

I called Empire and complained; they were not very helpful. They gave me a # for the office in Raleigh. I left voice mail for Mr. **, then called back and they said he would return my call at his "convenience." That's not good to hear. Anyway, I got his email and sent in writing my complaint because that same day, it was installed already and edges were coming up. The area looks so tight it's bubbled up. The molding was not finished, adhesive was on floor ... So, I sent an email again with pictures to him and headquarters. He sent his installers back, with 5 boxes to replace and fix.

Installers took pictures; I told them the installation was poor, unfinished. They had been in a hurry to see another client and they explained what happened with their job. They started telling me that once they started removing flooring, the way it's made, all of it would have to be replaced, the whole floor, that they didn't bring enough for that. I called the boss. He couldn't come at that time. The installers told me that, in reality, nothing was wrong with the installation, that it was the material, cheap, low quality, that several jobs have had floor replaced 3-4 times.

Well, that really made me very upset ... They left to get the boss to approve more supplies and I have not heard from them. They came on a Tuesday. On Saturday, I sent Mr. ** an email stating that based on problem with floor/installation, I had decided I did not want it in my house any longer, to take it up and refund my $3500. He came back with "no refund", that we needed to discuss fixing what I thought was wrong with it via phone. I emailed him that I wanted to discuss in writing and email would be okay. I explained to him that all I wanted was my monies' worth, a good quality product that if floor is sticking up now, imagine what it will be a month down road. He seemed to not believe it's true, and wanted me to approve an independent inspector to look at it and make a decision. His inspector? I don't know what to do.

He had to have a $199.00 down payment. I wrote him a check and it went through our bank on the 15th of April. The check was written on the 4th of April and was cancelled on the 7th, and it looks like it was cashed after it was cancelled. I have called them 4 times for our money back, and we don’t have it yet. Maybe I should charge them interest? We are in our 80s and we don’t have money to throw away. We still have to get tiles and the money would help.

I received my first payment notice in Jan 09 and to my surprise, there was an additional $822.37 added to my bill for interest. I offered to pay the amount off then and there if they would take the interest off. But they said Empire Today had to make that decision, and Empire Today Carpet says it’s up to GE Money Bank who is financing me and now out of their hands. Very frustrating. GE Money Bank is rude and puts you on the defensive immediately. Consequence: My carpet I purchased at an advertised low rate is not a deal as an additional amount of money was added unaware to me not reading the small print.

Issue 2. My salesman did not offer me the same discounts, he as a friend of mine the same day I had my in home estimate done 8/1/08, he didnt explain the difference between the carpets because like he told me its apples for apples. I later decided to talk to my friends salesman Paul S. and asked what the difference was between our two carpets that we choose and he told me just the names. My friend had her living room done (same size as my bedroom) stairs, linen closet, hall, and a few more stairs and she was quoted 1650 and was given disounts for having multiple installers coming same day, and having it installed with in 4 days. I too had mutiple installers come out and had my kitchen floor & carpet installed and with in 4 days and did not receive the same discounts.

When I called Rons manager, Bill B. he told me well I see here Ron did give you a $150 discount for a coupon you didn't have, he just didn't tell you. Who does that? Does that really make a difference to me if your not gona tell me, sure you can tell me but I don't see it on my contract anywhere. I feel these are very much improper selling practices. And the prices are way off! Bill B. and Ron N. both told me they were going to see what kind of compensation they could offer me for this hassel and when they saw I got my carpet for less then my friends I have not been offered anything. I explained to Ron that I am very unhappy, this is unexceptable and he said he agreed. But he never once called me to see if things were finished or how things were going, I always had to call him. He got his commission thats all they care about.

Now I am stuck with a half finished carpet! So when I explained to Ron the salesman that if they don't finish this carpet by a certain day they can take it back he told me "to go for it". Tuesday they final installed carpet but I am still trying to resolve the issue with the installation of the carpet. took them three days to get back out to finish. When they finished we had 4 seams in a 4 by 4 piece of carpet in a 14x15 sq. room. Could see all the seams, gaps, had a bald patch in one section. It was like patch work. We called and they sent an installation coordinator out to inspect. He agreed it was not acceptable and suggested they redo in one piece section with one seam.

Sam M. called me and explained they would redo but they would have to redo whole room because of color differences. So we set up day and I requested different installers to come to fix. When they finished there is one seam now, and you can see the seam running from one wall to the other. And the 4x4 piece is dark and the rest of the room is light. They installed in opposite directions. They ask you to look at when they are done. What do I have to do, watch them do their job while Empire charges me $1050 for the installation?

I immediately called Helen B., (she has been aware of situation from start) and she said she would make some calls. Now I have to wait for another inspector to come out to inspect this job. And then wait again for them to fix it. This is 2nd time and 2nd set of installers and 2weeks to do one bedroom. This is unacceptable! In the meantime, I cant put anything back in my bedroom, and I had to waste my whole week vacation waiting for them to finish this SIMPLE JOB that still isnt corrected and they can't tell me when it will be corrected. This is unacceptable. What is the problem here, I could have done this my self.

They sent another inspector out on August 15 for a second time and that inspector/installer confirmed that it was a "horrible" job because the 14X4 section did not match the other section of carpet direction which in turn did not hide the seam. (which basically means it is was laid the wrong way) As professionals that seam should be invisible to me as the consumer. A job for one room has taking two weeks as of today, and this will be 3 times to hopefully get it right. That is absolutely ridiculous. We are not satisfied. We have had to be inconvienced, annoyed, ignored when we were told people would call back and they don't, waited on hold, the salesman just wanted your sale, and then could care less what happend to you after, and waited for installers to show who never did.

I am sorry that we didn't go with another company. We planned on having much more work done, but after this experience we have reconsidered. And then after all this and two weeks of their mistakes and many, many phone calls they want to compensate us with $150 credit. We spent $3150 total! After all there mistakes, and having to deal with hassle and stress, and time lost because they couldn't do their job right the first time, they compensated us with a $150 credit. That was probably that $150 dollars that Ron never told me about from day one I guess I finally got it. What a slap in the face, how insulting. Thats how minimizing they feel this situation was.

So basically they can screw up many, many times and just get away with it. Empire says they strive for customer satisfaction, this is one unsatisfied customer. Many people will know and have already been made aware of this company and how they do business. This is not the way you compensate a customer especially when they screwed up not once but 3 times! I am now left with $3100 dollar bill for a job that was a just a horrible experience, and we were left with no care instruction packet like our kitchen floor. I have worked in customer service and was trained that the customer is ALWAYS right and in this situation they made me feel as if I was just another number, just another carpet going in. No quality control! I was very insulted to be offered a credit of $150 for the hassle they "May Have Caused Me".

I have noted everything that has happened during this ordeal. We have been nothing but stressed, upset, and we made that very clear when we called each and every single time. And Empire allowed a full week to pass before someone called to see if the carpet was finally finished with quality and correctly the third time considering the situation. They just made us feel they just didn't care. And that was clear when that carpet went in and no one called, not even the installation manager like I said after all our issues. We work hard for our money $3100 is a lot when you are trying to save for a wedding, and you just bought a house that your trying to fix up. We try to make better and then we get slapped with oh here how about $150.

Upon arrival at our home, we noticed the crew which was sent consisted of what appeared to be a family. Only one male spoke English, 2 of the crew appeared to be minors. I telephoned Steven Colonna and stopped the work until I could verify the age of the workers and why such a small group had been sent when he promised to send his best crew and complete the job in one day.

I had great apprehension with allowing minors into my home to work, ie.. lawsuit if one were to be injured on the job.

Only 4 or 5 people were on site, they had to move all my furniture, lay carpet and padding and replace the furniture in one day. Mr. Colonna accused me of "Having a problem with women working". I took great offense with his statement and told him so. He went on to argue with me. I was given his word that the crew was :His BEST CREW" and no one was underage, and the job would be done in a day. I asked for 2 days, due to the heat and the amount of work. But was assured one day was enough. I did contact Empire Today and notify them at there corporate office of Mr. Colonna's accusations and was then contacted by Mr. Zavondny. He came to our home and apologized and in a good faith effort took $1,000.00 off the $7,000.00 purchase price.

Since the day the carpet was laid until today May 1, 2008, the carpet has shed.

We have purchased a $700.00 Oreck vacum in addition to the Oreck we already own due to having it in for repair. It continues to become clogged and the belt burns up from so much carpet shedding from each time we clean the upstairs carpet. We have tile downstairs.

We have contacted Empire Today with this problem at 1-800-588-2300, we have emailed and telephoned Mr. Zavondny numerous times. We have allowed Service Master to come and clean our carpet in good faith on our part, because we were told that would cease the shedding. It did not.

Per Empire's Notice of Cancellation I signed the Notice within 3 business days on February 7, 2006. I called and instructed Empire Today to come and remove the product from my house. For a period of two weeks 4 separate subcontractors came to my house and tried to fix the issues with the carpet, the problems with my wallpaper, baseboards and cable wires were never addressed. The fourth set of subcontractors said that there was nothing they could do to fix the problem and that the job that was done looked like an abortion.?

I put a stop payment on my American Express card immediately following this and called Empire again on February 13, 2007 and instructed them to remove the carpeting from my house pursuant to the Notice of Cancellation. I was told that they did not want to do that and they would not come out and get the carpet. American Express tried to contact Empire for 6 months with no response about the stop payment. Eventually, American Express stopped trying and dropped the charge from my bill.

Within the last 2 weeks I have received letters from Empire's Collections Department (Michelle Ramos-Jenkins) outlining that Empire will be putting a mechanics lien on my house for failure to pay. I have received two letters outlining that I am also going to be sent to creditors.

I have followed all appropriate protocol, signed the correct documents and made Empire's product available for them to retrieve within the 20 day guideline prescribed by the Notice of Cancellation. I do not know why Empire is resulting to harassing and bullying when I, the consumer have done nothing wrong.

My phone line was cut, so the phones did not work. I had to wait over a week for the phone company to come and repair it.

Some major scratches on some furniture, gouge on chair. They did not take all of the old carpet, and took a leftover piece in which I wanted in case of anything happened in the future. They also propped the storm door open and it was not secured properly so it broke, that had to be fixed and replaced.

They unplugged the fish tank whick they did not plug it back in, all my fish died but one. It wasn't in the way it was on the hearth. I have not recieved a free gift either, we are expecting some sort of compensation.

After leaving the President Steve Silvers x3010 several messages, Troy Pringle then calls me back, however since I have had this type of window treatment, it has only been a hassle. I have been offered compensation but have not received anything yet. This company is falsely advertising, and it is not fair to the consumer. Their products is suppose to have a lifetime warranty. Please if there is assistance that you can give me it would be greatly appreciated.

When empire contacted me they told me they do not guarantee seamless carpeting. It took weeks of calling and complaining before someone would call me back and follow up. If they expert seam sealer does not do the job to my satifaction I will take them to court. They have also left something under the carpet which has caused a hump in my floor.

Numerous calls later, two Empire supervisors viewed problems, agreed with my complaint, but said their word is not accepted and an outside independent inspection would be made since it was likely a "mill" problem. Inspection was done the morning of 12/9 by a Susan Krisha of Inspect Solutions of Zion, IL. On 12/16 I rec'd a letter (& copy of the report) denying my claim; stating the carpet and installation met industry standards with a person to contact w/questions. I tried reaching John Bell twice but spoke to a Dee Glatney instead who told me to do what I felt was necessary, but as far as they are concerned, the matter is closed and there is nothing further they can do.

The inspection report states there is peaking in the seams and color variance, but when doors are closed shutting off natural light from windows and skylight and artificial light is turned on - no color variance is visible making this an "acceptable" product and installation. Their claim is that the carpet is from the same roll/die lot - I completely disagree.

Please help me.

I paid with a credit card and did not want to pay until the job was finished. The installers insisted I pay upfront or they would not begin work, so I agreed. They worked until 11:00 p.m. when they stopped, and informed me they had ran out of carpet and could not finish the stairway. They were to order more carpet and would call when they could come back. The only call I received was to my home answering machine the following day saying they were at my door and where was I.

I work and so does my husband. The instructions were very clear. Someone was to call me to reschedule. I called the main number and was told they had not ordered the carpet yet and it would take a week. My first question was why was Mr. Jenkins crew at my door the next day if they did not have the needed carpet. Putting that aside, I scheduled for the next Saturday so we I did not have to take anymore time off work for carpet installation. They were to arrive in the morning.

Dan Banks installation crew arrived at 2:20 p.m. They put carpet on the stair steps but did not have enough to do the stringers (something we had told the salesman and Charles Jenkins when they were here that was needed). So now it is the third day of installation, it is 10:30 a.m., and I just received a call that they will be here in an hour to finish the job. This is the third day I have sat around waiting for carpet installers on a job that was supposed to be a fast, easy job. I had requested an 8:00 a.m. installation today so as not to waste my entire Saturday waiting around and was promised we would be first. As it turns out, first means around 11:30 a.m.

I see several problems with Empire Todays handling of my situation. I called the local installers office three times after the second crew ran out of carpet asking for a manager to call me. I called the main Empire Today line and asked that Resolutions call me. I have never talked to a manager of any kind, although I have requested it several times.

There is also a huge problem when two different carpet experts measure and cannot get the measurements correct for such a small area. I would be more understanding if we were talking new construction and installing carpet in a large house. I had carpet installed in one bedroom, one very small upstairs hallway and one staircase.

There is no communications between the people answering the telephones and the installers and the managers (assuming they have a manager of any kind at either location the main office or the local installers office). I paid my $1,900 upfront on August 10, 2005 and here it is September 24, 2005, and I am still waiting for the job to be finished. I am still waiting for someone to call and talk to me regarding this situation.

The installers convinced me that it was and they would explain to the company what I wanted and everything would be in laminate. So I set up an appointment for the following weekend becaouse I work and the only time I was available to do this was a weekend. Nobody showed up the following weekend. Not even a call. I lost my entire day waiting for them. I had much more important things to do, but I still decided to wait beacouse I wanted the job done. Seeing that nobody showed up I called and we set up an other installation date. This time it would be during the week, after 4:30 pm so I could be home. I waited all evening. Nobody came. I called Empire again!! We set up an other appointment and again nobody showed up.

Not even a call to say they weren't coming. One day somebody did show up at 8 pm to do the installation and they ripped out the old carpet and when they went to install the new one I found out they had the wrong color. So they left me with a bare floor with nails sticking out were you can easaly get hurt. Till this day I am still arguing with the company and have been getting no results. I have been ignored and they have played a round with my personal time.