Empire Today Reviews

After arguing with customer service for a half hour they finally agreed to send out an inspector to look over my complaints. The inspector came over Monday 12/1 and looked over everything and took pictures. Empire customer contacted me today a said it would cost me $1000 for them to fix the floor. They also said I never told them about the stairs and transition strip. That is a flat out lie. They will not honor anything their salespeople tell the consumer. Please make sure all potential Empire customers know what they are getting into. Very expensive flooring (compared to their ads), false guarantee claims, and rude customer service employees.

But I have all new beautiful carpet and they couldn't have been more helpful. The installers were great too. Fast and efficient. Gave me their contact info, said of there was any issue to call. I guess the help you get depends on the region you are in, but I am a happy customer. Thanks, Mark.

Original Review: Nov. 29, 2014

For those of you who are not one of the thousands that have had a bad initial experience with Empire, don't think you are out of the woods yet. I have an Empire carpet that is 6 years into a 10 year warranty. It is all crushed and matted. The salesman who sold me the carpet never mentioned the warranty. He didn't give me any information on the warranty or what I needed to do to maintain it. After 5 years I noticed how worn the carpet looked and downloaded the warranty information. It talks about general care but no specific 'must do' instructions. I contacted Empire and they asked me to have it professionally cleaned. Cost me $200. Looked the same. They asked for pictures and then told me the manufacturer would not honor the warranty because I had only had the carpet professionally cleaned once. Where does it say that in the warranty? Nowhere. That was the end of the story as far as Empire was concerned. DO NOT BUY EMPIRE PRODUCTS. Even if all goes well, they won't honor the warranty for the life of your product.

Updated on 01/10/2015:

I wrote a review here on Consumer Affairs and was contacted by Empire. They said to call so I did. Worked with Mark ** here in NY and he was great. I received all new carpet. I did have to pay for installation which didn't bother me and I chose an upgraded carpet, much better than what I had before so I chose to pay a little more for that. But I have all new beautiful carpet and they couldn't have been more helpful. The installers were great too. Fast and efficient. Gave me their contact info, said if there was any issue to call. I guess the help you get depends on the region you are in, but I am a happy customer. Thanks, Mark.

Oh... and while putting moved items back after an "incomplete installation," I discovered paintings were thrown into my bathtub, resulting in one of my paintings being shattered. I had to file a claim and "someone will contact you later to resolve this." Customer service stated that they would send my concerns to "the president" who would look into this and "call me" next business day with a resolution. We shall see!! Very frustrated!!!

So, with the date of October 31st given to us, we set up our move in date of November 1st. It is now November 12th and we have yet to hear from the company. Each time my husband calls Empire, he is told that the supervisor will give him a call back. Up to this day, we have never received a call back. We are now moved into our lovely home with paper stuck on the windows for privacy. We have not heard from anyone at all. We gave them $15,000 cash of the $21,000 and we have NOTHING!!! I am so upset with his company and their lack of business etiquette.

After a bad experience with the other company, I made my decision. I liked how professional Scott was and I didn't feel pressured at all. I called him that night, and we set up an appointment for Sunday to sign the contract. Again he was right on time. There were no hidden charges, and we scheduled the installation for Tuesday. Installers called at 7am to tell me that they would be here before 9am. Showed up early, got right to work and installed the carpeting beautifully. I told them I didn't want my walls banged or scuffed since I just had my house painted. They cleaned everything up, vacuumed etc. and I couldn't be more pleased. They were here for 7 hours and didn't even break for lunch. I would recommend Empire to anyone that asks. And yes... the installers were Hispanic. One woman and two men. And yes occasionally they were speaking Spanish to each other... but they never stopped working and got the job done as ordered.

I read all the negative reviews here before I signed the contract, and I voiced my concerns to Scott. But I see now that only the negative people write reviews, I'm sure there a thousands of happy customers out there that just don't want to take the time to write one. So I hope this helps someone trying to make a decision. They wouldn't still be in business if it was all bad.

After a few weeks I finally called again and spoke to Michelle again and explained that I just wanted the same carpet, she scheduled the reinstall for me a few days later. I asked her at that time to check was the install for all the carpet since if it was all on the same roll it would all be defective. Michelle put me on hold and came back with the answer, "Yes, the entire upstairs."

Today the carpet installers arrived with only replacement for a portion of the upstairs because that is all that was approved on the work order. The installers told me that they were told to only come and replace a small spot and they refused and said no it's a high traffic area and needs to be replaced and they didn't want the reputation of a bad job. The company then approved the install for the living room and dining room. I called Empire Today and spoke with Jim ** and was told that's all I get that is all the mill approved. I asked him if he paid $9000 for carpet that was defective and only got a 1/3 of it replaced would he be upset. He was very rude and said "Yep it would be fine."

I asked for his supervisor and he gave me Paul **'s name at ext ** who conveniently was not in. I will call him on Monday. I told Jim that there are more spots in the bedroom and I was afraid that this would happen after the warranty expired that I wanted it all replaced. He was not helpful and very disrespectful. That is when I realized he had no authority to help me nor did he want to. Great employee for your customer service department! I will be happy to keep you posted to what happens on Monday.

Problem with the cats became so bad, we moved out of the home, but are still having to pay on the flooring. Contacted Empire Today and requested some financial relief due to problems caused by incorrect floor layout done and cat issues, in the amount of $1,500 or $1,000 to help us. Empire Today offered us $100.00 for all the headaches and problems we have encountered. They have refused to offer us any further financial relief, and we have moved out of the home, but still receive bills from Empire Today!

He is issuing a full refund and he also offered to take $600 off If I still wanted to get my carpet. He also said it was good for the next time if I purchased from Empire and he gave me his direct number. He apologized multiple times for my "ordeal". I am satisfied with the refund and apologies but once you get bitten you hate to put your hand out again.

Until they get a handle on their installers and sales people, I will not be ordering from them. I was able to get a great deal from another company and they will do the same job for $600 less so I am pleased. I figure everything happens for a reason. Lord knows I need to save every penny.

Original Review: Oct. 29, 2014

Salesman came for estimate. We picked the tan color. I was told that the delivery men would move all the furniture, install the padding and carpet and put it back in 2 rooms. I paid over $2100. When the men get there they refuse to move any furniture and they say that they don't get paid for that and that the salesman will say anything to sell the carpet. However it is in writing. Not only that but they brought the wrong color carpet. The salesman was supposed to devote his attention on us but instead he took many calls in between and got the color mixed up on the contract. This is totally unacceptable. I am livid. I live in NY and my parents are over 80 and I am their power of atty and only help. Empire needs to screen who they hire to install their products. I called to complain and I am waiting for a call back FROM THE MANAGER but now I have to rearrange my other delivery for my parent's new bed because now there is no carpet. I will never do business with them again. They LIE!!!!!

In the 4 months since its installation, there are several more scratches that have appeared even though we sweep every day and make sure to not drag anything across it. The dogs nails stay trimmed and even when they "launch" across the floor, they don't leave marks. There are sections of the floor that are also coming up. Empire Today's solution to all of this? "We will split the cost of replacing the damages sections with you." Call me crazy but why aren't they willing to fix it and make it right without charging us? Especially the boards that are coming up! Over all I'm VERY dissatisfied and will NOT used them again - not recommend them to anyone.

After back and forth emails, they came in to correct it yesterday - the "correction" is full of gaps, the floor shifted and once the new molding was installed it opened up gaps between the floor and the wall, as I predicted but was assured that they can handle it. There is no support for the expansion strips and the floor is now sagging under the weight of the furniture. There is no continuum of flow between the rooms as previously and now the whole floor separated and is bouncing when you walk on it. It's a nightmare!!!

Original Review: Oct. 20, 2014

We purchased hardwood floors through Empire Today. The salesperson (Janet) was nice but did not know and/or provide key details (e.g. we should definitely get cork). We received contradictory advice from her and her manager (Tory) who repeatedly lied to me. They failed to get the materials and we had to delay the installation. When the sub-contractor came, the job started ok but ended sloppy.

All I wanted from him was an estimate that I could use to compare with others and then make a final decision. They don't do that he said. They only hold the prices for that day. And If I wanted a written estimate I needed to provide them with a $200 deposit, sign a contract and as our salesman said "Take a risk". A risk? I don't think so. This all again because they assume you will be using them. He even insulted me a bit. He made the "Phone Call" back to the office to get me the best price and told the person on the phone that I don't care about quality and only want the cheapest and I will pick cheap over quality. Basically calling me cheap. No thank you.

The song and dance they put you through is worse than buying a car. Although, I should have seen this coming when he pulled out the leather binder with dozens of Empire printouts telling me how great they are. I should have paid attention to the reviews I read here and other places. Do yourself a favor, know what you are getting into. You will probably get an amazing price from them, probably too good to be true is all I can say. My advice, don't bother. It is a waste of your time.

Long story short hearing from a group of people with and without flooring experience, the original floor should have been picked up before they laid the laminate floor and the underlay they used was not cushioned enough so it caused moisture between the 2 floors and that is what caused the bulking. When I asked the manager why they did they not pick the original floor up he responded "How would we know that the floor would cause a problem?" He then said Empire would do the repair and not charge me for 23 boxes but only 10, then they would pick up the original floor and lay down the laminate at a cost of $1700.00, I don't think so. This should have been installed properly and I would not have had this ongoing problem for 2 years. If I knew then what I know now, Empire would have never been my choice. To the consumers I hope you investigate other options before using Empire Today.

During all of this, he asked me why I was moving to this area (Lancaster, CA) as if one would be insane to do so. What an insult. Also, none of his business. He then asked me when I was moving in. Again, none of his business. He was completely over-familiar and somewhat menacing at the same time. I initially placed an order with him at the lower price, but he was so creep and sneaky that once I got home I promptly cancelled my order. I will NEVER use or recommend Empire Carpet to anyone. Thank goodness for the cancellation option.

Even though they COULD have voided the deposit check and transaction because it was late Friday and we cancelled first thing Monday morning they said it was company policy to process all paper work and deposits. It would take two weeks to process a refund. Well here it is three weeks later and no refund check so I called. Now they said checks in the mail, it was sent two weeks ago, give it another 7-10 days. Seriously?!?! Just a lot of run around nonsense. Don't use them unless you have money to throw away. I would give them negative stars if that was an option.

The day they arrived I had most of the furniture out for them. They sent 2 men who spoke NOT one word of English. They had the carpet up and new down in 1 hour and 8 minutes, WHAT??? Nobody works that fast. When they put the furniture back they had bent my wireless mouse. I called, she told me to go buy new one and submit bill - did it, received phone call to tell me they going to remove from my loan. WOW 16.00 off my loan. They did not treat the floor. It’s 6 months later and the carpet stinks!!!!! The dog that had accidents is dead and I keep the door shut now for other dog. CANNOT get anyone to call me back and when I call I am put on hold for at 15 to 20 minutes, I end up hanging up!!!!! I would NEVER recommend Empire Today for anything. I will probably end up tearing up new carpet myself. There goes 489.00 in the trash **.

As we are filling out the application and getting our checkbooks ready, there's your man on the phone. "Oops, I made a little mistake", and out the front door he goes to tell his "manager" all about it. Ah, here he comes, with a "realistic" price of...6,440.00. Yeah, a "little" 1,500.00 mistake. I've been in sales before, and even if I hadn't, I am smarter than Forrest Gump, and I get what's going on here. The phone call he took outside? I'm willing to bet it went a little something like this: "Yeah, I got these two chicks hooked, they were super excited when I told them the installation can be tomorrow, I don't think we have to come down at all! " I've been here before, most people have, they quote you a price that you want, and then turn around and say..."oh, wait..."

You should have heard this guy RE-explaining why the new price is right, as if that shouldn't have already been a consideration. Then, when I am calling his little scam out, he is telling me how he has been doing this for years, and it's not a scam, it was an innocent mistake. Ah, I see, and how often in all of these years do you make a 1,500.00 mistake? I said, "OK, well if it's YOUR mistake, YOU should absorb it." "Oh, no, I would get fired or something." Really? For an "honest" mistake? You lost a 5,000.00 sale over it, and THAT won't get you fired? 1,500.00 or 5,000.00 loss. What am I, STUPID? I'm supposed to think that losing a 5,000.00 sale is preferable to eating the 1,500.00 and giving me the original price you quoted? "I could maybe take 400.00 off." Great, now we're down to a 1,000.00 mistake, wow, THANKS!! What a favor.

I asked to talk to the MANAGER, the guy in charge. "Oh, he is just heading into a meeting", at 10:12 in the morning. No meeting starts at 10:12 in the morning. And if I am the manager, I can let the meeting start 5 minutes late to speak to a customer who was just about to hand over 5,000.00 dollars to my company. Nope, screw you customer, "there's nothing more we can do for you." It's the lying, the cheating, the scamming that, of course, pisses me off. But it's also the fact that your company does this to people who don't know any better. It's how you, obviously, conduct business. We read on Yelp! too late, that this goes on all the time.

As I questioned him on exactly what the mistake was..."the numbers". Oh, yeah DUH!!!! What exactly in the numbers, I'm a smart cookie, I'll get it. Around and around he went, and I was keeping up with him all the way. He must have felt like he rode a rodeo bull afterwards because after I lapped him, he stood there with a helpless look in his yes. I stared him down, waiting to see what he would pull out of his hat next until it was clear he was played out. I say, "OK, we're done." I tore the application in half, grabbed the "worksheet" where he had put his scam in writing. And let him pack up and leave. I have a wide reaching media footprint, and plenty of ways to articulate this kind of cheap, dishonest lack of ethics.

You must be doing great to have let a customer down so egregiously, and to let a sale walk out the door, knowing that you are going to get your company name and reputation exposed for what it really is. You are obviously very good at this since you have had "over 50 years" of "quality" service. Trust me, I will be relentless in my advertising, posting, spreading the word.

Then I showed her an estimate that I got the day before that was for 1045$ From US Wood Flooring here in South FL. I asked if she will match or beat that price. She put me on the phone with one of her bosses. He basically was trying to get me worried not to go with that product from that company. I've done plenty of home remodels and renovations in my life and the product from the cheaper price was better. Bottom line is that Empire Today overcharges people that don't know any better about cost of flooring.

At almost 1240 he started stalling me more checking out what stuff I had in my house. He was on the phone at least 45 mins during the whole time he was there at my house. At 12:40 I lost my cool and asked him to leave. He slowly started picking up his stuff (samples, files, laminates etc). I picked up his stuff and kept it outside my door for him so that he can pick it up leave. Then he did exactly what I had read earlier on previous reviews. He asked if he could use our restroom. I showed him the restroom. He was in the restroom for more than 25 mins although I had told him that I had a 12:45 appointment. He stayed in the restroom till almost 1:00 PM and then came out. By then the bathroom stunk to high heavens and he dirtied the bathroom too. He peed allover the bathroom and there was tissue and water all over. Bottom line very unprofessional and worst company.

They showed up next week and did the cleanup and they too were surprised at the massive amount of lint but they did their job and left. I was happy assuming that the problem was fixed now that it's been washed, but to my surprise the lint continues to come out again. I got upset and called them again. They sent yet another rep to take some pictures to make a case for the supplier. Weeks passed no reply. I called them again. They said there will be another 3rd party inspection. Holy crap! How many inspections???? Each time we have to take a day off just for these people to show up and then say it's not their call it's someone else's. How unprofessional!

After almost close to 200 days they came to a conclusion that the carpet has no defect. I had to call in to find this out; they never cared to bother calling me and informing me about this. Today I called them and asked for the refund so the lady said, "I will transfer you to the specialist." I waited for 15 darn minutes and nobody took my call. It is clear to me now that these people are a big rip off . I am going to get my refund no matter what. I am going to take legal action if they refuse and I will reach out to every website possible to spread the awareness about Empire scams until I get my full refund. My humble request to everyone out there, buy your carpet from any place you like, just don't give your business to Empire.

The salesman came to my house yesterday, 9/11/14 to get me to sign a paper that I still owe $3,500. I could not believe it. He had his clothes packed in his car. I paid $648 on my Discovery the day the deal was made. This man kept calling office talking with his boss to rip off this senior citizen. To top this off, I paid for tile floor which was place at 10pm at night and the men did not leave my house until 12 midnight. I paid again on my Capital One card $498, that is not including the carpeting. My house is not over 1200sz ft. Just the dishonesty of people. They are stating I still owe $3,500 just for the carpet. I told GE they want get paid. My attorney has my credit card and he is shock. GE Empire=Right.

I ordered vinyl tile from our regular Salesman George ** for our office. Tile was selected, installation details worked out and job paid for. Pretty simple process as always. The day of installation, the installer goes over the instructions and reviews the tile selection and I noticed that was not the tile I selected. I immediately called George. I then get the explanation that there are variances in color from batch to batch. I inquired if there was a possibility that the sample board he used was labeled incorrectly. He assured me over and over again that was not the case. After insisting this was the tile I selected we proceeded. Once the job was complete, it was revealed a couple of days later that the sample board WAS incorrectly labeled and they did install the wrong tile. (Strike # 1)

The second phase of the installation was scheduled and I requested the same installer since he was familiar with the project and I really liked his work. Once again, I was assured that he would be there at 5 AM as planned. The day of installation comes, I'm at the office at 4:45 AM... and the installers did not show.

When I called "Customer Service" line I was reminded that the time of installation is just a request and they couldn't guarantee the time - despite George calling his manager and assuring me that it would be done at 5 AM. Customer Service then proceeds to tell me that another installer will be there between 9 AM and 11 AM. I told them not to bother because this is a place of business and I can't have the noise and demolition going on during business hours - why couldn't they understand that.

I get transferred to the National Scheduling Manager (Ray) and we discuss (again) the reason for my request. He states he will come by the office to look at the job and determine the best way to proceed. Till this day he has yet to stop by. Instead he sends Robert the local manager who has no idea what is going on as he is returning from vacation and the only information he is given is that I am a “**” and am very upset. All this time, the salesman is nowhere to be found. (Strike # 2)

Robert and I go over the job and installation details again and we come up with a plan to have the installers start at 5 pm (the first time this was given as an option of evening hours) and work through the evening over 2 days. Little did I know that I would be at the office with the installers until 1 am each day but the second phase was complete and they did a great job.

Now we move on to the third phase - carpet installation in our Board Room. Based on the previous reviews, the "deal" they gave me for the inconvenience was no deal at all. I had to reschedule a couple of times because I had to time it with the meetings scheduled in the room all the while keeping the full communication with the call center so the installers would not make a trip in vain - a courtesy they couldn't give me.

I am finally able to schedule the installation and confirm once again the start time (5PM) and the same installers as before. Once again, I am assured that it is all set and my regular installer will be there. How they love to say "Yes" when you are on the phone but had difficulty delivering.

The day of installation, after an hour of waiting, I call the "Customer Service" line again - now I am informed that Jesus (not my regular installer is running behind on a job and should be there shortly). When I keep inquiring as to why my regular installer is not coming as requested and promised, the response I received was "What do you want me to do?" I replied, "Deliver what you promise." I was then transferred to the Supervisor - Marcy who explains that they are just the call center and they have no control over the scheduling. I then ask her to transfer me to the person who does have control over the situation. She replied, that would be Ray the National Manager. I said don't bother because he was a no show that last time we had an issue. She then gave me the option of Robert at the local office. I asked for the office number and she was unable to give it to me. I would need to call the call center again and ask for his extension. I then asked for her full name because people are going to held accountable. She refused. I replied how convenient because when I call tomorrow and tell the manager what happened there won't be an employee by the name of Marcy.

After that conversation ended, I left a message to the salesman - George letting him know that he has lost a long standing customer and I will be finding another vendor to not only finish our office but handle our 15 other offices since Empire doesn't seem to want our business. When the installers finally did arrive, I sent them home.

I now understand why customers no longer show loyalty to companies because businesses show no loyalty to us. If I pay full price I expect full service. "I Apologize for the Inconvenience" does me no good as this simple project is now going on 2.5 months and still not complete. How upset would Empire Today be if I promised them full payment and then gave them sub-standard payment followed by excuses like "I don't have control over the situation", "It's not my fault", "I Apologize for the Inconvenience." Then why should I settle for sub-standard service? This is why they have lost yet another customer.

The next day I was still annoyed by the whole situation so I called Empire to cancel my order. When I spoke to the man on the phone he asked why I wanted to cancel and I basically said that I have no idea if I got the best price and I didn't trust the sales person. He said that he may be able to better on the price. He put me on hold and when he came back on the phone he said they could install the carpet for $1500.00. I figured I'd take it one step further and just blurt out the price I wanted to pay, $1200.00.... he said yes! What the hell!? Why can't this company just give you this price to begin with!? I ended up paying $1200.00 for 600 sq ft of carpet plus stairs and they hauled away the old carpet. I felt this was a good price. The next day the installers came by on time and installed my new carpet in under 4 hours. They were at my house for less time than the salesman was and they were more professional. They did a great job and all seems well. I would never buy anything from Empire again solely on the grounds of shady sales tactics.

Empire Today answered my complaint by telling me they cannot install carpet the way they agreed. Oops, sorry we made sure to tell the salesman not to offer that to others. Amy who spoke to me tried to make me feel it was my fault that this was done, "it is what you wanted". I was offered ugly brown or silver metal strips and said this is how they could fix the problem. This is exactly what we did not want and would not have ordered the carpet if that was our only choice. I told them to fix it as per our contract or remove it. I am still waiting for a repair with no response from the company.

I asked about the buy one get one room free deal and was told that's only "select styles". That's just another way of saying "the crappy stuff". I only needed the upstairs carpeted (less than 500 feet...we live in a small row home). The salesman went upstairs and proceeded to tell me "you can have carpet on Monday (it was Saturday when he was there) and they can do it in 3-4 hours. Now I know I have a small home but how can they pull all the old carpet, move furniture, and lay new carpet in 3 hours? It's impossible. But he insisted it could be done. I insisted it couldn't. I also wouldn't want them to rush the installation and make mistakes. He said they only get really good installers. And by his own admission...most don't speak English but have passed rigorous testing and requirements. I asked, if they don't speak English how are they passing any tests? He replied, "they're not tested on vocabulary but on ability."

He took his measurements (410 sq ft) but added an extra 20% for a total of 492 sq ft. Comes downstairs and takes about a half hour to do a drawing and scribble some other things down. He hands me the quote and the first number, their "list price" was so outrageous I had to laugh. It was almost $6,000!! For under 500 sq ft. Of course then he subtracts all these BS discounts like First time homeowner, civil service discount, etc. This gives the appearance that one is getting all these discounts but they are not. Empire merely inflates the initial price.

When I said I had other bids to consider he became very defensive and said I needed to sign a contract to "lock in the price". I said I wasn't signing anything. He finally left after nearly 3 hours. For the last three days I have receiving calls from Empire saying I am eligible for ADDITIONAL DISCOUNTS. That is an insult to me. If I was eligible for a lower price it should have been disclosed to me at the time of the quote. This company is a total scam!! Do not buy from Empire Carpets.

Nobody called on us so we called again, and then got another crew out, not the first. The original sales person, Karen, finally did call back and I wanted to directly speak to the original two-man crew that installed the floor. I was told that they "no longer worked for the company", but that they "had been good installers". I very much doubted that. I began to think that the problems followed this crew that Empire Today sent to our home. The other crew came in June (2014) and acknowledged the problem. They took pictures, but we didn't hear from Empire Today again, so I called again, and Customer Service acknowledge the June service call, and they put another call to the local rep here in Toledo, and again, no call, no message on voice mail or message machine at home, no text, no email. It is now August 18th, and I am calling again. I may have to call my attorney and/or bring this company to Small Claims court or higher if the near $6000.00 we spent for this little flooring we got doesn't get results. I would like a full refund for the floor. We don't want to go there, but there are other companies that do better than this.

He came over the next night (Thursday) and I signed the paperwork. He then told me that Friday would no longer work for installation. I said then I would have to wait for a few weeks then due to our schedules. He said they would do it Saturday/Sunday instead. I said that was fine. Saturday morning at 8:00 am, the phone rings. It was Empire calling to let me know that the carpet I chose was not in stock. Strike 1. I told them that I was going to go ahead and exercise my right to cancel the contract (I had 3 business days). She told me they would give me a different carpet (the next level upgrade and a moisture barrier pad). I said fine, chose a carpet and they arrived about 10:00 am that morning to install (We had already cleared one room of furniture ourselves to help the installers and to try to move things on a bit quicker).

When the installers arrived, they called the office to process our payment. The office tried 3 times but could not get the payment processed off our debit card. I then gave them a check from the same account and it went through fine. To me, this was Strike 2. The installers told us that our home was going to be a 2-day job, and that they did not work Sundays and that they would have to finish on Monday. Strike 3. I immediately called the installation center and told them what I was told and that my salesperson had told me originally Fri/Sat and then changed in to Sat/Sun. I told them they needed to figure it out or we would be sending these guys away (even though furniture was already moved). I told them it was not acceptable to have the job finished on Monday and if they had to do that that Empire would compensate us for having to miss a day of work.

After an hour and a half, they assured me that someone would be out Sunday morning to finish the job. While on the phone with customer service, I asked the price of the carpet that we were changed to and the sales rep told me that it would cost $4989 for that carpet in my home which was LESS than what I was paying. I asked for the cost of the original carpet I ordered and it was $5300 which was $1,200 less than the original price he quoted me BEFORE he matched my other offer -- so... He quoted me more than it would have even cost if I went with his original offer! AND The upgraded padding I was told I would get DID NOT GET (Strike 4)!!!!! The installers also told us that they were told this was an empty house and that there was no furniture to be moved, and they didn't have enough workers to help move. Therefore, NO ONE helped with the furniture moving. We did it all ourselves. When I told customer service this, they said they would compensate us $125 for moving the furniture (2 days and 6 rooms' worth of furniture because the Sunday installers did not help either!).

When Sunday morning rolled around, no one had called or shown up so I called the installation manager to find out when someone could be expected. She called back and said the original guys she had told to come out were not answering so she had to call another crew. By noon they finally got there. They finished at 5:00 pm. Then my husband and I were left to move all the furniture back.

This was the most horrific experience ever!! To be WAY overcharged ($1200), to not have the carpet in stock that we ordered and find out the day of installation, to have them not know how to process a payment, to have the installers show up (to what they were told was an empty house) not expecting to move furniture, and telling us that they would not be back until Monday, to not getting the upgraded pad, the Sunday installers not showing up until noon, to having to move everything ourselves. Please re-think your options! Everything they promise is not what you are going to get. You will eventually get nice carpet but not without hassle and many headaches!

The second carpet installation crew did awful work. Not only that, but they damaged a portion of the baseboard and the wall above it. They "repaired" it. The so-called repair job consisted of using a totally different paint (shiny) over the bent and lumpy "repair". Note that the first installers also installed new baseboard throughout the entire house, so this was not old baseboard at all. The crew did not inform us of their damage. We saw it as we were walking around when they were finishing up and asked what happened.

Another issue is that when scheduling the replacement carpet, we specifically requested the first crew. Obviously, this did not happen. When we were scheduling a repair of the baseboard today, August 8, we again requested our first crew. No problem, we were told. Well, the same second crew showed up this morning, didn't seem to "remember" their damages, kept blaming their damage on the age of our house and crooked walls. Note that the first crew did a beautiful job. It will be a continuing saga as we now will wait for a phone call from Empire. Do not use this company.

Right after that, I took the quote to home depot and showed it to the carpet guy and he almost pissed himself laughing at me. Told me based on the square footage empire gave me, they could sell me a better carpet (higher oz weight - empire was selling 40oz and home depot had 65 oz and 50oz, they didn't even carry the cheaper one) for $3000 based on the higher end carpet and about $2500 for the lower end with installation included (he also doubted that the measurement was accurate based on what I told him). So I asked them to come in and give me a quote and then I called Empire to cancel the order. The guy I spoke to wanted to give me a deal, match home depot or anything to get me to stay but I don't want to play their games anymore.

Buy one room and get the rest free is total crap. The sales person measured our house and gave us an estimate over 30% more than our entire home was including our garage! We were only carpeting the upstairs and the stairs as the whole downstairs is tile and hardwood floors. I asked the person to remeasure and or check their math and they assured me that they were correct. I've been in construction my whole life and never have I ever ran across such a blatant liar. It was downright creepy having this person and this company in our home. They tried the pressure tactics on trying to get us to sign, called repeatedly over the next few days, and we were so freaked out we were afraid that their sales person was going to come back and do something to us because we didn't sign their contract.

Empire is a complete and extreme con all the way. Lowe's came out and measured our house and it was spot on exactly as I had measured the upstairs and stairway. We got 10 times better carpet, pad, complete hallway of the old carpet, and installation of the new carpet (took 6 hours) for 40% LESS than the Empire quote. Empire Carpet and Flooring are predators and con artists. BEWARE!!!!

Original Review: Aug. 1, 2014

Bought carpet from these folks in January 2013. Recently, the carpet began to tear down the middle. Called the customer support number this week for help. Got lots of questions such as: how many kids do you have, and other questions designed so that they don't have to honor the warranty on the carpet. Finally, got someone to come out today.

A guy named Matt ** from the Eagan, Minnesota office came today. This guy is a CROOK! I told him I was recording his visit to protect myself, and he said that's fine, he records ALL of his calls. He refused to give me a business card when I asked. Started taking pictures of the damage. Said, yeah, it is by a couch. He asked for my cleaning records, said the guarantee would not be honored unless it had been professionally cleaned. Well, my wife and I have cleaned the carpet, and besides, that is not the reason it fell apart. The carpet fell apart because it is CHEAP JUNK, even though our salesman (who was another sleaze bag) promised it was good quality.

After this interaction, I told him it would be replaced by them or I would sue them. I mentioned the fact that 1000s of complaints exist against this company, but he didn't think that was a big deal. Really, 1000s of complaints is not a big deal? Since he refused to give me a business card, I decided to take a picture of the paperwork he laid on my table. When I did that, he said this was over and grabbed the paperwork and headed towards the door. Apparently, he didn't like my attitude, because he then proceeded to tell me that he was ex-military and that if I came to his came he would 'show me his medals.' I think that I was supposed to interpret that as a threat? At that point, I told him he had 30 seconds to get off my property before police were called.

To sum up, I am clearly incredibly unhappy. I don't like being sold junk product, I don't like it when scam companies don't stand behind their product, and I very much don't like being threatened in my home. I will be filing suit against this company next week to recover the damages that they have inflicted on me. Additionally, I will be filing complaints with ALL federal and state consumer protection agencies, and I will be creating a website about my experience with this company where I will post the video of this person's visit to my home. At a bare minimum, this Matt ** should be immediately fired. He is clearly not able to interact well with customers. I don't really give a damn if he's ex-military or not, you don't walk into someone's house with a bad attitude and treat them poorly in front of their children. Obviously, I was rude to him as well, but I'm the only one who got screwed here. I'm out the money that I paid for their junk carpet, I'm out the time that I wasted dealing with their useless staff, and I will be out the additional time that it will take for legal action against this company.

I honestly don't think these folks should be allowed to stay in business. Clearly, they think a certain level of very angry customers is acceptable and the cost of doing business. Like Mr. ** said, 1000+ complaints is really not that many. I noticed that the State of California sued them and got a judgment, perhaps other states should do the same.

AVOID THIS COMPANY AT ALL COSTS!!! THEY WILL SCAM YOU!!! READ THE REVIEWS... THEY HAVE SCAMMED MANY, MANY PEOPLE!!!

He packed all his stuff and called his office. They never spoke to me even though I called too. Evidently they told him to do the job. He started asking when my son was home, when I was home, what hours we worked. I told him that was not his business. Then I look out the window and they had laid the carpet out on the street, the street mind you and then rolled it and brought it in. Is that common to put your new carpet out on the roadway that was just recently tarred? Management never got back to me and they got the money. I never signed anything saying I was happy or unhappy. He got my check and that was it for them. Do not use these people.

Original Review: July 30, 2014

We had Empire install Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors...1000 sq. feet... almost our entire downstairs. Had major cleaning up, damaged walls, etc. that we had to fix. After a couple months, noticed white spots on about 25 boards - very ugly. Reported to them. They came, inspected and then said the manufacturer will replace entire floor rather than each board. So once again, we had to pack up the entire lower floor of the house, move piano, etc. and what was to be a 3-day job turned into 2 weeks - torn up house, dust everywhere... not a good thing with asthmatics in the house and 3 dogs!!

They brought the wood and it was so bad they couldn't lay it... The installer who contracts with them refused to lay it - it was crappy wood!! Empire refused to use another manufacturer to get us good wood. We asked for a refund so we could find quality wood with another company... they refused!! So they found more of their manufacturer's wood in California and we are up in Washington... said they would expedite it up... Took 6 days. Really??!! All the while, we are living in a total mess. The second batch of wood arrives and found 3-4 boards in each box that were bad.

The installer had to check very closely each board before installing which took more time. We had to change vacation plans. We were wheezing for two weeks, having to eat out since kitchen was part of this... It was total chaos. Asked for some compensation for all the losses we had... deep cleaning, piano re-tuned, packing, unpacking, etc., etc. We paid $18,000 for the floors and we asked for $3,000 back in compensation and they would only pay $1,000 and only then if we signed this contract saying we give up all rights or claims against Empire, no bad reviews, no "telling" everyone what a crappy company they are but we could still have our 1-year warranty on the floor and then as I am talking to the customer service manager, she goes online and says, "Oh this type of wood can get white spots. It's part of the wood".

Then WHY, if it was normal, no one told us that and why would the manufacturer completely replace the floor... Those boards should not have been in there. The manufacturer didn't "grade" them properly... Well obviously we didn't sign it... We now have a sub-quality floor and watching to see when the defective boards will start showing up, no compensation for our losses/time. It's obvious they could care less about customer satisfaction... I'm only writing this to warn people to beware of them.. We have never had anything like this and wish I had seen these complaints before we bought our floors through them. My bad, but hopefully someone will be spared what we've been going through.

My plush carpet lasted 18 years, damn. It's plain cheap ** carpet and they won't do a damn thing about replacing it. They know it's bad. They sent me a 22 page document about limited warranty. I am not taking the time to read that long document, just so they can cover their ** warranty. I will never buy anything from them again. They don't honor their customer service or carpeting or reputation. They just sell cheap carpeting.

After they left I walked into each room and found piles of debris and in some cases there were screws on the ground. My bathroom was left extremely dirty. I also didn't like the fact that they went into my bedroom to find weights to be used to hold down some of the molding. I called and have someone coming to fix the nail holes. They didn't care at all about the lack of clean up. I even took pictures. In fact, I was taking out the trash later that day and found old carpet padding in my bushes!!

We endured numerous repair appointments, with each one consuming an entire day, only to be left with the same problem (or worse), plus damages and a huge mess. With each appointment, we spent a considerable amount of time preparing for, moving furniture ahead of time, waiting for installers, and cleaning up after each one. We ended up making concessions and settling for less than what we were promised each time, just to have this over with. And even then, although it has been a full 6 months and the repairs are still incomplete.

We have used other Empire locations in the past with good results but apparently this location has lower standards and does not stand up to their advertising. IF, after reading this, a person decides to use Empire Today anyway, pay by any credit card other than theirs, that way when you are left disappointed, you will be able to put the entire transaction in dispute and your credit card company will withhold payment to Empire until everything is settled to your satisfaction. BUYER BEWARE!

After requesting that he just give me a bid on the carpet and setting something up so my wife could see the styles and colors with me he went to work. 1st thing I didn't like was the fact I had my 4 year old son with me and he knows to keep your hands and things of the wall that I just had painted at the cost of $4000.00. Ms Empire man didn't seem to get the training. Leaning the flooring samples against the wall was good practice in his line of work. 2nd after knocking carpet samples into door casing, he didn't seem to navigate the kitchen well tripping over the plumbing sticking out of the wall in the kitchen. Keep in mind that there are no cabinets and the house is being remodeled 3rd. Finally after a few mins of what turned out to be either a 3rd grade mathematics session or down right trickery, he revealed his pricing for my carpet. $949 SF at $3.75 per SF installed.

Now keep in mind that this is a pretty good deal as far as a bid goes, BUT let's not forget about my flooring history... The three bedrooms of carpet is not $950 SF it's really $720 SF that changes the quote quite a bit price wise. Now I will admit that at first I didn't catch the error he had made. I did call him on the phone about an hour later after I confirmed that he was wrong in his measurements and when I got him on the phone and explained my finding, he all of the sudden could not hear or understand me and he would call me back when he wasn't driving anymore. Well I guess he is still on the road because I haven't heard back. ANYONE THAT IS IN THE BUSINESS OF SELL FLOORING SHOULD BE ABLE TO MEASURE THE FIRST DAY OF THE JOB. I AM GOING TO WRITE THIS OFF AS A MISTAKE AND NO WHAT I REALLY THINK IS A DISHONEST ATTEMPT TO MAKE MONEY..... AREA = LENGTH X WIDTH, PAUL OR WHATEVER YOUR NAME WAS.

I recently called to schedule another repair and was told they no longer carry the American Dream Flooring. It's no wonder, as I have come to call it the American Nightmare Flooring. The customer service rep. didn't even offer to tell me where I may be able to purchase the existing flooring, so I could possibly get it repaired locally. Although she was more than happy to have another type of flooring be installed, at guess who's expense. I suggest to do your home work on flooring way in advance and stay away from Empire Today.

To top it off, when you call to complain, the employees and contractors blame each other. I did finally receive help from one of their CSR named Judy who was great and this was the only reason that this nightmare was finally completed... Empire did not even give us a post installation consultation to confirm that the job was complete and billed us anyway. Empire's communication to their customers needs great improvement and they should stand behind what they advertise. I would not recommend this company to anyone.

The tiles we choose was ceramic - thinking that they were porcelain tiles, the salesman did not say a word and packed up and left knowing that what we chose was ceramic. The guys arrived at our home on April 29, 2014 and installed the Oak flooring. Then the next week the guys arrived to install the porcelain tiles. They proceeded to tear up the ceramic tiles that were on the floor. After all the tiles were up, they were preparing to install the tile when I noticed how thin the tile was, and I asked the question: Is that Porcelain? The worker said yes, but it didn't look like porcelain so I walked over to the box and looked for myself and the box said Ceramic. I then asked them to leave and not install ceramic on my floors because I specifically asked for porcelain. I cannot tell you how much I stressed porcelain floors to the salesman.

I called Empire and told them what happened. The salesman Kurt ** then called me and said "I have shown you all that we offer, so I suggest you find someone else to install your floors." Empire was shocked to hear that Kurt told a customer to find someone else to do the job. Empire then sent a different salesman to my home and he showed us nothing but porcelain and we chose one. On May 7, 2014 Empire sent another crew out to install the porcelain. The crew arrived and had the same ceramic tile as before, because Empire did not enter the correct porcelain tiles in their computer system. So this crew left to go to the warehouse to pick up the right porcelain tiles. They came back and started the job.

I took pictures every step of the way because Empire has already shown me signs of being deceitful and not trustworthy - when the salesman did not say a word when he knew the tile we chose was ceramic knowing good and well we wanted porcelain. The tile men did not install the Ditra system and that is the only reason I chose to let Empire install my tile floors because I was told they only used the Ditra system. I asked the installer why he is not using the Ditra system and he said that it would make the floors too high. It probably would have made the floors too high because they only removed the tiles and not the cement that was installed with the last tile floors. If they had removed everything and started from scratch, and done the floors the correct way, the floors would have been the same. I asked the salesman about leveling the floors before the work began and he assured me they would not install floors unless the floors were even.

The floors are uneven in various spots - some tiles are higher than others and they call themselves professionals. It looks like a job I could have done myself. Empire does not follow through to make sure everything was done correctly and the customer is satisfied. The guys who done the wood flooring completed all except on Two sides of the house where you step down in the living room and kitchen because they could not complete it until the tile guys finished the tiles.

But again, there is no communication with this company - no one knows anything. Empire assumes the work is complete when they send the workers to your home. WEEKS WENT BY AND NO CONTACT FROM EMPIRE REGARDING THE COMPLETION OF MY JOB. IF I WOULD HAVE NEVER CALLED TO ASK WHEN ARE YOU ALL RETURNING TO FINISH MY JOB, IT WOULD HAVE NEVER BEEN FINISHED. Because what I was told when I called was, "I thought your job was completed because in our system, it says your job has been completed." I feel like I am paying you for a service so I should not have to call you to complete my job.

Empire should have been calling me to finish my job. When you call on the telephone, no one knows anything. They say let me try to find out. I asked these questions: How much does the wood cost? How much does the Ditra cost? How much does the labor cost? How did you arrive at the price you are charging me? I need to know all these questions, so I can do my own calculations to ensure I am not being cheated or ripped off. Oh forgive me, two people attempted to answer. One person said they charged me $185 per box everything included. Still how did you arrive at that price because another person said $175 per box everything included, so which one is it?

Every time you call, you speak to a different person and receive a different answer. I even asked are you all on the same page? I do not trust Empire because they have been beating around the bush too much and they don’t have any answers and they always passing the buck to the next person. If I go to Home Depot or Lowe’s, they have a price for everything with no hesitation. They provide you with the wood price per sq ft, the Ditra per sq ft, the labor price, everything. You don't have to question their prices or worry about did they make them up because I do not know a company who doesn't have prices. How do I really know if this is a $6,000 job? I know damn well my tile job is not even worth $400, which should be free; someone from Empire should come out and inspect the work.

I thought Empire was actually completing the work; I did not know you were contracting out? Do you know who you are contracting out too? Do you have references from these contractors? Have you seen their work? Do you know if they actually do quality work? Because someone needs to look at my tile - it is terrible. And to top it all off, you would think Empire would have offered a discount for all of the unprofessionalism, being incompetent, and unfinished work they have done. It is called customer service. I think the salesman don’t care because they are out for their commission money. This job started in April and it is now June and the job is still not complete. This is unacceptable. Also, you did not notify billing that the job was not completed, and I received a bill in the mail. How are you going to bill for uncompleted work? I am seriously considering contacting my Attorney after reading all the reviews on your page about Empire and how they rip off people.

Getting back, the salesperson took the measure, and said the price was $2500 for 500 sq. ft. The carpet at the small store was $3.10 installed. I said their price was too high, and offered to call their sales mgr. I do not remember doing this 6 years, so I may have been a sucker and paid full or almost full price. She called the mgr. and they talked for 5-7 minutes, just like buying a car, haggling over price. She kept saying I was ready to buy (just like a car) and they would lower the price, to about what the small reputable store was quoting.

I said I needed to consult my spouse and get another quote. The salesperson then said, that if she doesn't write up the contract right then, she can't guarantee the price. I said, "That is okay, I will wait a day and you can come back tomorrow or two days later." She said she is very busy, and if she doesn't do it "right now", then she said she may not come back. I hate buying a car, and now always use a buying service though AAA, Costco, or USAA. I know Costco sell no-haggle carpet, but it's always top-end.

Two hours later the rep had only taken measurements of our house - nothing more. The rest of the time was spent talking with us or him out in his car talking on his cell phone. Then he gave us the bomb: for the 1,524 sq ft measurement the regular price would be over $22,000! But his sales manager was going to give us a discount that would drop that price to a little over $17,000. WHAT!?!? Who in their right mind would pay that for laminate for only 1,500 sq ft? I didn't even want to pay $12k for bamboo! And this guy was trying to get me to pay more for his laminate! He told us that that price included the padding and the small amount of vinyl we wanted to put in our guest bathroom but not the subfloor that had to be replaced in the house. (For that price, the subfloor should have been included.)

We asked about the carpeting in the two bedrooms we had requested and he completely forget about the carpeting and said he'd have to reconfigure the price (it would bring the price down). We asked what thickness the laminate was. He said it was probably 3/4" thick. We asked what millimeter? He couldn't answer the question. We asked about the thickness of the padding. He couldn't answer that question either. It seemed he had to call his sales manager for every answer. So I advised him to tell his sales manager to envision HIM going out with HIS wife looking for flooring and receiving a quote for $17k for only 1,500 sq ft and ask him what HIS response to that would be and then come back with a more realistic figure for us because they just insulted us.

When our sales rep returned the price dropped to: $7,800 for laminate (including padding - the best padding they had but it was only 1/8" thick), $1,500 for carpeting (including padding - our choice of ANY carpeting from expensive to cheap), and $300 for vinyl. We still had to pay extra for the subfloor because we didn't know how much was damaged and would need to be replaced.

At this point, he is only offering us ONE type of laminate (the 8mm thickness; they have nothing thicker and nothing thinner). We really want 10mm thickness with as thick a pad as possible underneath because we're laying the flooring in a modular home and it gets cold during winter. But they don't sell 10mm laminate. And they don't offer different thicknesses in padding. However, we CAN choose whatever color we want... as long as it's one of 8 colors. We get a choice of 10 vinyls. And the best variety was in the carpets.

Needless to say, we thanked him and said goodbye... FOUR AND A HALF HOURS LATER! I'm so disappointed. I really thought I'd be placing an order today. We have samples from Home Depot and Lumber Liquidators and the price quotes I have from both of them blew Empire Today right out of the water. And I remember walking out of Home Depot thinking their prices were high. Boy was I wrong!!!!

Again since there was a Berber in that room previously and owned a dog at that time, I felt it was due to the quality of the carpet that it didn't even last a year. My choice was to pay extra to upgrade my selection; however, I thought I bought the highest quality carpet or receive a voucher to have my carpet cleaned. I chose to have the carpet cleaned. It looked ok for a month and I am in the same boat. I cringe every time I look at the carpet. SAVE YOUR $$$. Don't buy anything from Empire.

Received several emails confirming Saturday but I didn't care because if they happen to show on Saturday we would be fine. No show on Saturday, so I expected them to show on Sunday. I got up Sunday and broke the bed down as they asked and moved it out of the room. 10 am comes around and so I call Empire myself and they tell me they are not installing because they did not receive the carpet. They claim they tried to call but there are no missed calls. I am not happy with the service. Trust me when I tell you not to let them in your home. Home Depot or Lowes can do a better job.

Original Review: May 16, 2014

We had laminate flooring put in our living room, the worst job you ever seen. Took a month to get the job done and still to this day it's not complete. The whole floor was put in backwards by admission of the manager, they busted a custom made door to my closet and the floor has waves and was scratched by the employees. I called the headquarters multiple times and what I got is a $250.00 refund on a job that cost over $2000.00.

I would NOT recommend Empire Today to anyone who wants a professional job done. The worker who originally put the floor in spent more time talking on his cell phone about how bad his boss and his company was that I was concerned immediately and when he started the floor he didn't have enough product to finish the floor (transitions). Every worker that came in after the floor was put in, their immediate reaction was to shake their heads and asked who did such an awful job.

I've called. We play telephone tag or just never get a call back from the area manager. I have left 3 messages since her last attempt to call me. I haven't had the money to replace the carpet and Empire doesn't seem to care about anything more than initial sale. Now I have cancer and I've been on chemo - compromised immune system with an unhealthy carpet and still no phone call. I understand they are contractors and not always honest but Empire should stand behind their customers in these situations and not a dishonest and greedy contractor, especially when another contractor stated wrong pad for this type of floor. Just want my money back so I can get a new carpet. I'd love a resolution that would make me follow up with a positive comment.

Long story short, after a bunch of phone calls Empire manned-up and told the installer to do the job right and they (Empire) would absorb the extra costs, whatever they were. Although it was aggravating, at least Empire worked with us to get it right and then absorbed the price of the extra work that had not been quoted to us. For these reasons, as well as the fine quality and competitive prices of their products, I would use Empire again without hesitation and I am happy that I took the time to write this on their behalf.

I told him, along with my dad, that we would have to think about it first and we would like to call him back. His entire demeanor changed from professional, to angry. He was very defensive and aggressive and said, "What is there to think about?" I explained very nicely, it is my dad's decision and he would like to either pay it all off if he has the finances to do so, or do a payment plan. Clearly, he would like to pay it all off if possible.

And he was still very aggressive about the pricing, saying that if we were to call him back another day he would be wasting his time at our home when he could be making a sale elsewhere. I understand needing to make money, but there is a way to do it, and being unprofessional and rude is never that. I've seen other reviews where people have only had the rep come by, and have had similar experiences where they were incredibly aggressive and rude if you did not make the decision to use their company THAT DAY. Needless to say, I am glad I experienced this so that we did not end up using their company because even the reviews on their installations are not good.

Do not bother getting an estimation, because they will try to pressure you and give you all types of guilt if you do not use them. That's ridiculous. At the end of the day, I am the customer whether I use you or not. It is about what I want, not what you want. You need to be respectful of my decisions, even if it is not what you want to hear. It left such a bad taste in my mouth that I felt the need to write a review, which I never do. But I don't want anyone to experience the lack of professionalism that we did, or experience such rudeness that is totally uncalled for. Seriously, don't waste your time. Now I have to sage the house to rid the negative energy he left in our home.

Now I have these issues and have been trying to get satisfaction. After 3 missed appointments out of 5 for inspection and repair, they sent someone after I wrote to the BBB, yet I am still experiencing issues with the metal plate they supposedly fixed. It's coming loose again. However, they have not responded to my phone call. I would not recommend anyone use this company or their products!

On installation day, Owner entered home at noon to find the local installer for Empire had poured Concrete material (Sakrete) around and over the drain, making the drain inoperable forever. ** protested immediately about the complete drain closure and the fact the floor is still quite unlevel; and the installer said he could get jackhammer and try to remove. After repeated calls to Empire customer service personnel, a Tim ** only offered to come to pour more concrete material in hopes to try to level floor. ** said, no and requested other means to recover damages. ** said, home has never flooded by natural cause, thus he saw no problem. The owner was very CLEAR about the drain accessibility and the company and installer seemed to disregard the request and the complaint. Obviously, some confusion in the organization’s communication from owner, to office, to their local installer. We now have inoperable drain, which was a great feature of the home if needed, and also an uneven floor.

After he left, I inspected what he had installed and there were several cracks in the wood were he had nailed, deep gouges in a few pieces and plenty of dents and chips. I called him right away and he said that I was looking at an unfinished floor and that after he puttied and the floor was finished it would look much better. The next day, (which I wasn't planning on spending having flooring installed) I spoke with him again concerning my unhappiness with the floor. He said that he was having several issues due to the type of product that I had chosen. I told him if the salesman had been forthright about the product he was selling and mentioned that this product had these types of issues, I would have chosen a different product or gone with another company.

Long story short, after the floor was almost finished being installed (it has never been completed) I found myself extremely unhappy with it and called the General Manager. She sent a representative out to inspect my floor who took pictures and asked me if I was open to another product. I told her yes. I have been waiting for almost two weeks to hear what my options are concerning my flooring and they have still not communicated with me. I am upset and hope I hear something soon so I can get on with my other home improvement projects that have had to be postponed until this issue is resolved.

I call the company and got a nasty attitude from a supervisor who transfer me to the local branch who all I got was a voice mail. No call back yet. I will never use this company again or recommend them to no one. Save your money and go to Lowe's or Home Depot as this company don't care and all they want is your money and do a crappy job. I am so piss that words can't say how I am feeling as this is the worst job I have ever seen done and the customer service sucks, the worst I seen. Stay away from this company.

Arrived at 11 a.m. Time window was 9 to 11. Proceeded to unroll the carpet on the driveway to cut it. The drive was still covered in and salt from winter. Of course when they rolled it up to bring it indoors the sand and salt were rolled onto the top of the carpet. When moving the sofa on the lower level, they left a scrape of 4 feet down a wall. Bad seams in this room. 3 HOLES left in master bedroom walls. These walls were done in a custom faux finish. Denied they did it. Finished the job at 9 p.m. Calls to service for damage to home netted me an appointment that was not kept. After hours of waiting and numerous calls to the Service Dept, I was connected directly with an INSTALLER that said he had been called that day to come out. Said he will as not sure why because he installs carpet and has no clue what to do about holes in the wall.

To finalize the trauma I got an estimate for the same carpet and could have saved $2000 if I had shopped around and waited for the installation. I am not certain that the product I purchased is what they installed. Quality???? Moral - get other estimates and use a charge card that will allow you some recourse.

Today, 3 weeks later I have tried to call twice to find out about the blind and was told by the same Cathy rep that she was out sick for over a week. That still leaves over a week where anyone could have followed up with me. This company obviously spends most of its budget on marketing and advertising and very little if any at all on customer satisfaction and quality training purposes. I have paid damn near $3000 for ONE blind and couldn't get the courtesy of one that works with no headaches or a follow-up as to what's going on with it. Mind you each time I have had to have my pregnant sister drive 2 hours to let them in as I work out of the country, and as one reviewer said about warranty - if I let it expire, it would be on me. As the youngens say SMMFH@U Empire!!!

The same week I received my blind in Dec. I had my next door neighbor over for dinner and she almost immediately ordered 9 of the same exact blinds from a design store in Livingston, NJ upon my recommendation! Till this day not only are ALL of her HD Silhouette blinds still working, they are on her window and NOT in some warehouse somewhere obviously being ignored!!! But with that said, I also know it isn't a Hunter Douglas issue! ALL READERS PLS BEWARE!!! Another thing to note that all the reviews say "resolution in progress" but that's actually not true in my case, and I am sure in many others!!! But in the cases where they just might be why do customers have to get resolutions ONLY AFTER it has come to this point of aggravation?

Original Review: April 9, 2014

Great marketing. Devious sales person. All salespersons lie, this one was king. Lifetime warranty against product defects. Whose life? 12 months "free" service calls. Minimum $95 after that for evaluation/repair. Installation required cash up front from people who don't speak English. Linoleum is the worst ever. Not my first. The worst. Cracking, tearing, breaking, etc. Only my printer paper is thinner. They disgust me. Oh, and I didn't pick them. My wife got caught up the daily advertisements, and never asked me. They are shysters.

2nd scheduled appointment, Empire called and said the installer had death in his or her family, could not install that day. STILL HAVE NOT HEARD FROM SALESMAN. Empire called me on Monday April 7, 2014 to confirm an installation for Thursday April 10. No such agreement was made or even discussed first I heard this date. I now have an appointment for Saturday April 12th. I will let you know what happens. It’s been 3 1/2 weeks trying to get this work done.

On 3/27/2014 I received a call from Empire informing me that they would not be able to complete the project as scheduled because they did not have the transition moldings that were needed to complete the project. I was assured that it would arrive that night at their warehouse and they would come out the next day to complete the project. I now had to take off another unscheduled day from work because they failed to order the correct materials. On 3/28/2014 again I received another call from Empire with the same excuse I received the day before that they did not have the transition moldings that were needed to complete the project. So after placing my order twenty days before they still did not have the proper materials needed to complete the project. I contact the corporate office and spoke with the Resolution Specialist for the area who informed me that she would work with the local office to get this resolved. I also contacted the Manager for the Orlando area who informed me that he was unaware of the matter and would look into it and call me back with a resolution.

The Manager called me back as well as the Resolution Specialist and they both assured me that they have order the materials and it would arrive in the morning and the installation would be completed the following day. On 3/29/2014 the installers arrived at my house and began installing the flooring. Upon examination I noticed that there was a big gap between the flooring and the transition molding that was being installed on the steps, with little children in the home this posed as an extreme safety hazard. The molding is supposed to be flushed with the flooring. I immediately ask them to stop installing because they were not installing the correct material. At this point the job is not complete and I have heard several broken promises that they would order the correct material. I cannot continue taking days off from work to wait for Empire to order the correct material that needs to be installed, nor have I received an update as to when this project will get completed.

3/29/2014 - Installer arrived and began installing wrong material. Job stopped and remains incomplete

As of 4/3/2014 the job remains incomplete. We have been walking on the dusty sub-floor for the past nine days, to date they still have not received the materials to complete the project. Flooring is your business, how can you not have the materials to complete the jobs that they were paid for. This is worst experience I have had with remodeling a home. I will NEVER use this company again, and neither should you.

In the past I had my carpet replaced with Ferber. It was not real. Looked very nice. But they forgot a closet and cut a square to do a patch job on it. They gossiped to my neighbors because one of the workers know them about how poorly my closet was packed with junk. They broke my living room ceiling light from hammering too hard upstairs and they broke the glass out of my entertainment center. Only gave me 100.00 for damages. Couldn't find a light so had to buy a ceiling fan. And couldn't afford an entertainment center so I had to buy a cheap walmart brand that ended up costing me about 500.00.

They did a very tacky job on my stairway and never came out to repair. We just gave up. They had cut it too short. We used a staple gun and it's being held together with that. Thank goodness that I did not let them come out for an estimate on my ceramic floors I want now. I will pay the 3k and have home depot do the job and get 1/2 the home done. Thanks for all of your reviews to remind me that these people are criminal. They do steal your money and need to be out of business. Hope this happens someday. Oh yeah we are forced to put one star. They don't deserve that.

NOW THE PROBLEMS BEGIN. We encountered a minor problem, where one of the threshold pieces was lifting from one end. While this is a minor fix, I decided to follow through with the “WARRANTY” and contacted EMPIRE, in an effort to have someone come out and re attach the piece. We called the customer service as required and scheduled an appointment for the repair. NO ONE SHOWED UP. NO ONE CALLED, even after we contacted customer service later that afternoon. We again re-scheduled a repair for the following week. AGAIN, NO ONE SHOWED UP. NO ONE CALLED. That evening we called and spoke with a “customer service representative and a supervisor (Joel). He was going to contact the crew and have someone call us back or he would call me back and set up an appointment for a third time. AGAIN, NO ONE SHOWED UP. NO ONE CALLED, NOT EVEN THE SUPERVISOR.

I am now upset and more than disappointed. I again called the customer service line. Spoke with another Supervisor named Joe. NOW I BEGIN TO SEE AND UNDERSTAND HOW EMPIRE PLAYS THE GAME. The sales department takes your money. The customer service department passes the buck, and you are left holding the bag. After today, three weeks later, the threshold has not been repaired, the manager has made notes to be sent to the installation/repair for review and I am not happy about the procedure, or the time frame that has taken to avoid a minor repair that has brought this on.

We have a brand new kitchen and they destroyed the kickplate around the cabinets. (They ultimately fixed this, but not without hesitation and we had to buy all the replacement material ourselves). A couple of weeks later, I was on my hands and knees cleaning with a fine white cloth, and noticed a quarter sized dent in the kitchen, and some warping in the living room. My husband and are just sick about this..... $7000 later, and feel there is no one to turn to, unless we take legal action. We did put in a request for them to come back out to take a look at it, but if the same crew is sent out, they will most likely treat us as if we are high maintenance pains in their backside. Again, we are just sick about this.

I had to wait for my paperwork to be emailed and electronically signed then they said it would be 3 days before they could schedule the install because I needed to make sure I wanted to do it. Needless to say the next week when I was out of town they finally came and installed my carpet. It is of ok quality. It definitely will not last the 20 yrs promised. And the pad I do not believe was what I ordered. The sample pieces felt a whole lot thicker. So then comes the big kicker. My payment was supposed to be for 2 to 3 yrs with the 1st year same as cash. Not so much. I am now paying for 61 months 5 yrs and 6 months same as cash. I received a phone call well several from financing with different congratulations on your financing for 1 yr same as cash blah blah blah. The reality of it is THEY SUCK. Terrible organization. Too many promises made that were not true. Now I just hope nothing goes wrong so I do not have to deal with any type of warranty issue. As previous reviews have stated that too will be a nightmare. Overall I would NOT recommend this company and nor will I ever do business with them again. Now if I can just get my loan paid off asap I will be a lot happier.

Floor Quality and Workmanship: It took two full days and when the flooring went down there were soft spots in the floor and the cove base in the bath began pulling away. I was told my floors needed more prep than planned for and maybe this is true. But, I believe there should have been at least two fully skilled floor layers working on my floors rather than one with a trainee on site. With my own know how, I adhered the areas in need on the cove base with calk using some added pressure to reinforce the cove base. That seemed to do the trick and I thought this would be the end of my flooring issues but I was mistaken. Four days after the floor had been installed we were moving the new couch into the house when the flooring ripped an eight inches in diameter hole over a "soft" spot.. The couch legs had pads on the bottom and there were no sharp edges that would have indicated that the legs of the couch would have caused this tear. Again, I was forced to use calk to glue the torn vinyl back down. I set a shelf board in top of the repair and placed the couch on top of the shelf to add weight.

Since my sister (still in a fragile state of mind) was being discharged from the hospital the following day, my options were limited. RESOLUTION: I did call "Empire Today" to complain and they said they would be happy to come out and repair the damage. I still had several concerns however: One: Patching a brand new floor (it was patched; I patched it . . pretty well too). Two: The quality of the flooring and/or the workmanship! Would a new tear in a different area be likely in the near future? Three: With my sister's psychological issues there ARE and will continue to be limits to having workmen in the house while she's present.

THE RESOLUTION: I addressed these concerns with Empire Today's customer service Representative Christina and a negotiation of a 10% refund along with EMPIRE's one year warranty of the floor being repaired was the deciding resolution. Although, I'm disappointed that there were issues with our vinyl flooring and with the installation, I'm impressed with Empire Flooring's Customer Service for their prompt response and willingness to make right my less than satisfactory experience.

Remember, 2 rooms are supposed to be free, so you can do the math. Still way too high. Later he called back and asked what I was expecting to pay and I said no more than $3,000. Magically, his boss called me that night and offered to do the job at $3,000. However, since then I had gotten another estimate from another carpet place and it was for $2,400. I told him I had an offer for $2,400 and he said he would see what he could do and call me in the morning. Instead what I got in the morning was Empire showing up wanting to install carpet. I sent them back and never did get a call back from Empire. These people are rip off artists.

It was like pulling teeth to get the price of carpet per sq. foot. The labor costs were totally unrealistic. The salesman never did tell me the exact sq. footage of the house that he measured other than to say it was around 1200. When I measured it later, I came up with about 900 sq. feet. Needless to say, I will never do business with Empire Today nor will I ever recommend them to anyone, friend or foe.

When I called Empire to get someone out there to see the quality of my carpet, the person who called me back said, "Well, all carpet mats and crushes." Basically the sales person sold me a dream to get the sale and I'm told something different now that I bought the carpet. The carpet is also bubbling in the master bedroom. It's also very worn looking in our bedroom where we walk to the bathroom. I wish I had gone with Home Depot or Lowe's or another company that actually cares about making things right. I can't walk into a store and talk to the manager. All I get is "Vacuum more or pay more and we'll come out to look at it." We will have to buy new carpet in the next 5 years.

After measuring the home we were told the 1st option would cost 11,500. 7500 for the hardwood and 3900 for stairs and upstairs hall/bedrooms. He said they could figure in the vinyl to make it work as it was another 750.00. The 2nd option would cost 6400 for carpet replacement throughout only. No hardwood or vinyl. The last option was 9900 with carpet with hardwood replacing tile in entryway, powder room and kitchen as well as the vinyl. We decided on the first option with hardwood downstairs and carpet everywhere else. We were ready to sign the necessary documents when Mark realized he forgot the contract paperwork. We agreed to sign the following day.

My husband had written down his own notes the previous day as we were going over the 3 options, which frankly I thought was redundant but in retrospect am grateful he did. Mark arrived the next morning and while reviewing the contract Mark said the 11500 would cover carpet upstairs and downstairs with hardwood in entryway and kitchen only! I told him to get his notes from the previous day when he told us he had redrawn them when he got home so they would be neater. Well we said that was not what we signed up for and he grabbed all his things and practically ran out the door!

We were stunned at first, then mad at the HUGE error but are now grateful (but disappointed) after reading all these reviews. As today is Sunday, hubby is going to call and complain tomorrow but it sounds like it won't do any good according to other experiences I'm reading about. Although I am disappointed with the experience I AM glad it fell through as it sounds like many others here have had worse experiences with Empire.

After one year the carpet has buckled up in 4 rooms. Called customer service and they said they would send someone out to re-tighten, but it would cost $200.00. Told them no thanks, the job should have been done right the first time and I would rather pay a real professional to fix it. Hopefully people will read these real reviews, not the ones they show on their website. I surely wish I had. STAY AWAY FROM EMPIRE.

Four weeks later Empire called to say it was top layer moisture build-up and was my problem. I am still a little shocked since the flooring (Home Legend Uniclic Bamboo) was glued down and the instructions that came with the flooring state "Uniclic angle is a revolutionary system for installing bamboo floors without using glue" and an underlayment must be used on concrete. $8,000 for a floor that is inferior quality.

They had placed furniture in the way so I could not get to that room. The carpet sounds like it is cracking when you walk on it. (as if it is dry rotten on the back). It is no better than an indoor outdoor carpet. The padding is the lowest quality you can get. I am on a cement slab and you can't even walk barefoot on the carpet, it is so cold. I went to fix my curtains and the carpet is so thin the tack board came through the carpet at the sub-base. The pile of the carpet is coming out and it is all over my house. Some guy John keeps calling from customer service and when I call back or leave a message I never can speak to anyone there. Then he calls back and says on my answering machine "I understand your are having a problem with the install." This is not a good experience, if that carpet was 60% off it would have been almost a 1500.00 carpet for this room. No way is this a quality of that price. Also, the installers did not speak English and the only thing they got right was the color of the carpet. Will not use this company again.

Empire promised us outstanding product and that they would stand behind everything. Empire's published commitment is complete support and services for the products we install. Award winning customer service before, during, and after the installation. Valued customer for life. Wow what a joke. 2.5 years later carpet shows signs of degradation, wear, crushing, and matting. Additionally, we have multiple bubbles in every room of house.

We contacted Empire to request they address these issues under our warranty. Empire sent representative Jamie to our home. During his inspection Jamie indicated this carpet looks 10 years old and whoever did your installation did a terrible job. As it turned out Jamie was a salesperson and had been assigned to our appointment incorrectly. Jamie called his boss to inquire how to handle the situation, and his boss told him not to say another word and to leave. They would send an adjuster as this was a warranty issue, not a sales issue.

On January 8, Gina (Install Manager) from Empire came to our home. Gina was surprised at the poor condition of the carpet as it was only 2 years old. Gina noted the bubbling, matting and crushing in multiple areas, and indicated she would submit a claim for replacement. Gina's report indicates home is well kept, carpet is matting and crushing. We were contacted by Karin ** approx 1 week later with a copy of Gina's report. Again, the report indicates crushing and matting of the carpet. Curiously, Gina's report completely omitted the multiple areas of bubbling throughout the house. Through our research we have found that bubbling is generally caused by poor installation, not coincidentally Gina is Empire's installation manager. Karin ** informed us that they were disputing the claim and would submit our complaint to a third party independent inspector.

On January 16th Michael ** who represented Inspect Solutions came to our home to inspect the carpet. Michael informed us that he had 30 years experience in the carpet industry. Michael spent over 1 hour in our home examining our carpet using various tools such as ultraviolet light, magnifying glass, and a grooming tool. Additionally, Michael took several pictures of the rooms in question and close ups of the carpet in order to show the poor quality. Michael indicated your home is remarkably clean and the carpet is as well. Michael also indicated there shouldn't be this much wear outside of high traffic areas and the bubbling indicates poor installation. There is no way your carpet should look this poor after only 2 years and minimal activity in the home. I'm not going to say you were ripped off but. Michael's final comments to us upon completing his inspection was your carpet is not wearing well and was not installed well. Once Empire gets my report I'm sure they will be calling you to replace the carpet.

1 week later we received a letter from Bill **, Empire's customer service manager. Bill's letter indicated our claim was being denied. A copy of Michael **'s report was included with the letter. Upon reading Michael's report we found it was fallacious, and in fact completely the opposite of what he discussed while in our home. It is clear that this company is under contract to Empire and therefore incentivized to provide reports which preclude the customer receiving any type of settlement report points below:

1. Customer contacted Empire previously to address bubbling issues and Empire re-stretched the carpet. This is untrue and did not occur. Empire never re-stretched the carpet for us.

2. A carpet grooming tool was employed in several areas of matting and crushing and it returned the carpet to a nearly new appearance. This is untrue. Michael used the tool (essentially a large comb) on 1 stair and commented that while this was a high traffic area the fibers were crushed and untwisting. Additionally Michael noted that almost all stairs were bubbled indicating poor installation.

3. Inspection indicates the carpet is wearing normally. This statement is in direct opposition to the statements Michael made while in the home your carpet is not wearing well and was not installed well. Separately, the report also indicates the condition of the carpet is FAIR. Good quality carpet should not be in FAIR condition after 2 years in a low occupancy household especially in light of the 15 year warranty.

4. While Michael took several close up photos showing bubbling, crushing and matting, these photos were not submitted with the report. Photos were submitted showing views of entire rooms, not close ups of the bubbling, crushing, and matting.

5. Reference item #2. Report indicates a carpet grooming tool was employed in several areas of matting and crushing. Michael used the tool on 1 stair, however he submitted photos of 2 rooms which he indicated were groomed to show that there was no matting. Michael did not groom or comb two entire rooms of our home. This statement is ridiculous.

6. Report indicates there is matting and crushing in traffic areas. Michael fails to report the matting and crushing in non-high traffic areas. Michael also fails to report bubbling in the following areas: master bedroom, top of stairs, 2nd floor hallway, unused guest room, guest room and 17 of 21 stairs.

Summary:

5. The carpet is 2 years old yet appears to be 10 years old. The household was described as extremely clean and is only inhabited by 2 adults and 2 cats therefore not highly trafficked. Shoes are not worn in the home.

We did not receive the product we thought we were purchasing. Empire denies any reasonability for product quality and poor install.

The final straw was that they unplugged my freezer in the garage for their tools and never plugged it back in. By the time I discovered it all the food was ruined. Adele told me I would receive a check for $200 to compensate me and it is now three weeks later and I am still getting the runaround. I have already taken to social media to share with everyone and asked them to share what a joke customer service is. My next recourse is the Attorney General's office as suggested by a friend. Terrible experience and service.

I am still having to pay an additional $500.00 for work I feel could have been avoided if the sales rep had done their job a lot better and explained in detail how a floating floor was going to feel. Some people my like the cracking and popping and walking on sponge feel but I didn't. Just make sure what you are getting before you sign that paper! Satisfied with the work A&W did, not the way Empire handled the whole deal!

Original Review: Dec. 24, 2013

The sales rep told me I would be completely satisfied and if I had ANY problems Empire had an excellent record for taking care of their customers. Wrong!! I was not aware of what a floating floor meant, because I have never had a wooden floor before, I just thought it meant it would not be nailed down. The floor cracks and pops it feels like I am walking on a sponge. Some of the boards have cracked and the transition pieces they glued down are coming up. I called and got the run around about how they could come out and glue the floor down for an additional fee $500.00 fee. I felt they should pay for it but I said okay to the $500.00 because I want my floor fixed. They were supposed to send according to them their very best crew out on Saturday, December 21st, 2013.

No one ever showed up after I spent time taking all my china and other dishes out of my china cabinet so they wouldn't get broken, unfortunately I dropped and broke a bowl that is 40 years old and can never be replaced. I called and asked why they didn't call or come as they said they would. They said they were trying to round up someone, ROUND UP someone, they said they were sending their very best installer. Then they said they would come on the following Monday. Well, on Monday, it was pouring down rain but they wanted to come but I said NO it's raining and I don't want my new wood floor walked on while they have to go in and out of the rain. Finally I was so mad I told the lady Janette I wanted them to just come out and take the floor up and give me my money back. She had another man call me and I say man not Gentleman called me and he was not very nice at all. He told me I could not get my money back POINT BLANK. NO REFUND. What happened to satisfaction guaranteed. Not at EMPIRE TODAY!

Original Review: Dec. 12, 2013

First Empire Carpet did not show up on the day they said they would, when I called to find out where they are, they said since we did not confirm the night before they cancelled our installation, even though the person who sold us the carpet said Empire would call that morning to confirm the order and let us know a time frame when they will be here, so we rescheduled for Thursday and was told we would be the 1st stop. Empire Carpet never called the night before, which was Wednesday so I called to confirm the installation. They called Thursday at 7:30am and said we were the 2nd stop, so another lie was told and said they would be here between 12-1pm. They called back and said between 12-2. They got here, the only problem was they brought the wrong carpet. We were also told we need more carpet and the estimator who did the measurements did it wrong. Horrible service all around! DO NOT USE EMPIRE CARPET!!!!

I called their customer service dept and spoke to a Richard who said he would document my case and a rep would get back to me. That afternoon a C/S rep by the name of Adele called back and took all my information, she also told me there was no documentation regarding any credit that I was supposed to receive. She told me that she would start a file and document everything and that a manager would be calling me within 3 days. That was on 12/7. I called her on 12/12 and told her that no one had contacted me. After putting me on hold for 10 minutes she got back on the phone, apologized and said a manager would be contacting me this afternoon. I still have not heard from anyone. I have filed a complaint with the BBB, I am filing a complaint with the finance company, Wells Fargo, to dispute the balance on the account and have contacted you. My hope is that this can be resolved without legal action but I will pursue that route if need be.

I called for service a week later for carpet seam(s) which had raised due to "according to the contractor", when they use the seam tape, it shrinks and makes the seam raise. I found this explanation hard to accept. I remember walking through many new homes prior to buying this home in 2004 and had not seen any issues like this. I also had the contractor redo the vinyl seam in the dining room where he installed the particle board. The seam was very noticeable and the contractor had to pull the vinyl up using a heat gun and use leveling compound to make the transition more dynamic. Several days later, the carpet seams once again raised up so I called for service and left 3 messages and got zip.

Through the BBB process, I ended up talking to the Bob ** (GM) and found him to be a nice guy who was genuinely concerned about my issues. Empire Today uses subcontractors who sometimes have a bad day which turn into a poor install. This combined with limited follow up on behalf of Empire Today turned into a terrible situation for me. My $9000 floor covering install turned into an unexpected $14000. My BBB case is listed as Resolved but it really isn't. I am not happy.

We got a new account with the $5,100.00 balance in November with a minimum payment of $175.00 a month. Then the last week of November, we received a statement that the $1,600.00 must be paid by 12/13/2013 2 pm or we must pay the 27.99% accrued interest of $447.84 for a total $2,04784. Bret ** says he misunderstood us, it was coming do any way just pay it. His Sales Manager never called as he said he would. Wells Fargo by the way is our bank. They refuse to protect us as a credit card customer. Too big to Fail, I guess They are real smart. It is not much but we will pay them their $1600.00 if we have to and take our $7,000.00 out so they cannot charge such high rate with our money with someone else.