Empire Today
Reviews and Complaints

We wanted an indoor outdoor carpet for a sunroom that leads out to the yard. We have dogs and empire came and visited. They showed us a few samples to choose from and we selected the carpet based on longest warranty - be careful - they don't honor the warranty. Within 3 months the carpet was showing signs of deterioration and snags. When we contacted customer service we were told that the carpet shouldn't have been sold to someone with dogs - how do you miss this? Their offer was to sell us more carpet at 50% off - what a scam! Stay miles away - even if you can get it installed quicker, what the point if you have to replace it again in 90 days. I expect more from $40/yd carpet. I've had dogs before and have never had this problem. By the way, their pitch is that they come to your home - whats the point?

We had carpet installed in 5 rooms in our home. There are no pets, children and we are only here half the year. In less than four years, we have had the carpet stretched twice to pull out the 'wrinkles'. The serviceman came out and said we would need to steam clean the carpet. In addition, he said that someone from Empire would call to set up an appointment for the necessary stretching.

In two weeks, no one called so I called them. The first time I called their customer service and calmly explained the problem, she put me on hold, then the phone disconnected. So I called back and again, calmly (this was becoming difficult) explained the situation. She said it would cost us $496.23 to have the carpet stretched. I explained that this was not acceptable, so she reduced the stretching fee to $350. She never mentioned 'steam cleaning the carpet' and asked if the service rep explained there would be a fee. I said NO!

I am disgusted with Empire and recommend they not be used. I should have known there would be an issue as when the carpet was installed, the proper amount of pad had not been ordered, delaying installation for two days for the project to be completed.

The last service rep I spoke to was named Jasmine. She talked too fast, was snippy and sure could use a class in customer care. I think the entire Empire group could use some communication training. What a shame to think they spend so much money on advertising, and don't care enough to take customer problems seriously.

I sat down with Empire Today's salesman, Sean and decided to go with their 50/50/50 deal for installation of laminate floors in my master bedroom and office. After researching several other local companies, I believe this 50/50/50 deal is a scam. My fault for not searching prior to going with this awful company. They were still more expensive than other quotes. With that said, the company arrived on a cold January 2016 day. Two of the three Mexican workers did not speak English. Therefore, it made it difficult to communicate at the onset. They kept leaving my front door open after asking them to close the door multiple times. In addition, the electric saw was just outside the front door and was extremely loud. After the work was nearly done, the English speaking worker came to me and said they did not have enough boards. I was flabbergasted. I immediately called Sean and he said, "I have some personal contacts and I will call you back." It has been several days and no one from Empire Today not even Sean has called me! Not one! Not even the salesman. This shows how much they DO NOT care about their customers and how they only care about getting their money. Today, I receive an automated appointment via email and that I am scheduled for completion this Saturday! I won't be here and it is a "noreply" email! Now, for their work. The quarter round work was awful. One section of quarter round came to a "point?!" The transition boards were awful. There were gaps and overcuts. Here is what they did. They filled the transition board gaps with white caulk! Unbelievable! They left my bedroom door dirty with their black gloves and dirty hands. It was awful. Never ever use Empire Today due to their salesman's lack of professionalism and their workers lack of English speaking workers and more importantly, the extremely poor craftsmanship. It just goes to show that companies like this boast about they have been in business for so many years and great customer service - NOT! NEVER AGAIN Empire Today! And, all of my facebook family and friends will know! I will use the power of social media!

Approximately 2 1/2 weeks ago I contracted with Empire to have engineered hardwood installed in my home. Approximately 1100 sq. feet. The salesman came to my home. He showed me a test on the hardwood for scratching. he took his keys and vigorously scratched at the product to show that the floor was durable and would not scratch. this was extremely important to me because i have dogs. i scratched at the wood sample myself with his keys. I purchased the product. The salesman asked for next day installation. I agreed. Well next day only 2 men showed up without enough wood. Seems that the warehouse was out. Why the push for next day installation? So they installed the floor they had. I waited a week for the rest of the installation. This all occurred while I had guests for Thanksgiving! I had 1/2 of my floor ripped up and open. The wood was never brought into the house and acclimated to the house temperature. We asked about this. We were told it didnt matter. The sales man assured me it was 1/2 inch thick. The product was 3/8 of an inch thick. It is chipped on alot of the edges from improper installing. And it has been completely scratched. From normal sliding of a bench on the floor. And the bench has a smooth wide bottom. The scratch goes right through the color of the floor. It is 30 inches long. I took an extra piece of the wood they put down on my floor. I used my keys like the salesman and I did on the sample. Guess what? It scratches really easily. I feel this is such a scam. I did not receive the product I wanted. It is cheap and poorly installed and chipped, with wide seams. I have been on the phone with them for over a week. They sent a person to my home, that said yes it was scratched. I knew that already. The people I have spoken to with on the phone have been nice. However, I am getting no where near a resolution. I have contacted my credit card and have stopped payment and have disputed the charge. I have attached a few photos Maureen Riordan Warrenton, Virginia

We have a luxury condo that tenants damaged and required a complete restoration. It is located 5 hours from our residence. Empire advertised on line that they serviced the area. We contacted them and they stated that the customer must be present for measuring and also for installation. They mentioned they were having a sale ending at the end of the month, and could install the carpet next day if material was in stock. We stated that we would have to both take two days off from work and drive 5 hours to make the appointment and have the carpet and laminate installed. We made an appointment approximately two weeks in advance. We reserved a motel room for the overnight and scheduled two days vacation for the both of us. Empire continously confirmed the appointment with reminder emails. We drove 5 hours to the unit on the day of the appointment. After arriving, and one hour before the meeting, we received a call from Empire stating that they did not have a dealer in the area. When I complained that we were greatly inconvenienced by their incompetence, both financiall and with time, they could only say "sorry". A call from the general manager was never received. We spend $15K with a local contractor to get the job done. I don't know why anyone would call or do business with Empire. With little research, anyone can see that the internet is loadd with similar complaints. Don't do business with this company. Their carelessness likely carrys over to their work. Buy local

I am a real customer — run.. Smiling salesman says "how much do you want to pay?" wanted cash before install. Put new floor over wet sub flooring. Promised to repair twice. First time, forgot the glue, second time had wrong color flooring. Then corporate office that is in chicago, would only repair floor if I signed a gag order, that I would not tell the truth on social media. I think of empire (Negatively) every time I walk past my wet, ruined floor.

I made an appointment to get an estimate for replacing a carpet for 10/01/2015 between 5pm and 7pm for the estimator to meet. On the date, I called few times prior to the appointment time to make sure my appointment is confirmed and informed them that I was coming 1.5 hour away each way, so it was crucial that he shows up during the time promised, which was 5pm to 7pm. As I drove to the unit, I again called to confirm it, reminded them that I was coming from 1.5 hour away and no indication of problems existed. I called about 6:45pm to find out where the estimator was and he was coming soon. At this time, the call center representative called the estimator and left a message with him and I was asked me to wait for a while since it was not 7pm yet. Obviously I waited. About 8 minutes after 7pm, I called again. At this time, I was informed that the estimator, Chris, contacted the management office to inform that he was not able to make it to the appointment. Somehow the communication was not conveyed to me. That was completely lie and unacceptable excuse. I know in fact that the call center log every call in the system and know what is going on. Also the estimator had access to my number as well to inform me. I cannot express how angry I am and very dissatisfied.

On 9/23/15 the Empire rep came back. We were going to install porcelein woodgrain tile in the main level (~800 sq ft) but could not find a tile we liked. That job (with underlayment, complicated grout lines, and labor was bid at >8000). We decided to go with hardwood instead. Even though the material is the same approximate price per sq ft, the labor to install hardwood should be significantly less, but the job was bid at almost 10, 000! The rep showed us some hardwood flooring samples from a product line called "Hamptons". He insists that it is an Armstrong flooring product. We checked their website in his presence and it is NOT an Armstrong nor a Bruce product. He looked up the SAS302 code and said it was their product code. We again checked the Armstrong website and did not find it. I pointed out the "Mohawk" finish on the product board and asked if it was a Mohawk floor, he SWORE it was Armstrong. I searched Google for "Mohawk winchester gunstock" and the picture from his product board comes up. I searched similar images and it is repeatedly linked to Mohawk Rivermont flooring. This is SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than the Bruce Dundee flooring, yet he overpriced it giving us the impression that we were "getting the exact same product" but that each store is allowed to "give it a different name." Clearly, this is misrepresentation. I want nothing other than honesty. I want Armstrong to know that their product line is being misrepresented. I want Mohawk to know that their floors are being misrepresented and passed off as the competition.
In short, I KNOW that I cannot trust Empire and their "magic number" pricing to give me an honest price. When they lower the price, I cannot know if it is a true price or if they are substituting inferior product and saying it is high quality to cut corners. Or, they could be using cheaper wood without dropping the price just to line their pockets.

To those it may concern,

On May 6th my wife and I, Joshua and Amber Parker, purchased new ceramic floors and carpet from your company. Satisfied at the time with costumer service and product installation, no problems were noted, until July 9th. At which point Amber noticed a dime size chip in the new ceramic floor in the kitchen. We immediately called customer service, they gave us a reference number and told us to wait for a call within 3 business days that would handle our concerns.
Susan from the Portland, Oregon office called on July 11th and asked for us to send her a picture of the chip. We sent it over and she told us that she would call us back on July 14th but did not do so. Amber called her on July 15th and was told that this chip was not covered under manufacturer or installation warranties because it was only one chip. Susan said that if it was multiple chips then the floor would be covered.
On July 18th we discover a loose board in our kitchen. Along with the original chip, we began to inspect our ceramic floors closely only to discover multiple chips similar to the first.
July 20th Amber called the Portland office multiple times after 7:20 a.m. with no answer. I followed up her phone call at 8:00 a.m. and reached Dorene immediately. The automated phone system states that the Portland office opened at 7:00 a.m. on July 20th. Dorene ensured us that Christina would be in contact with us later that morning to follow up with our additional concerns. Christina called around 10:00 a.m. and asked us to send over pictures of all the chips we had found. She said she would escalate the pictures that day with an inspection notice. Amber asked her to send us a confirmation email when the inspection notice had been sent and one when accepted. At 3:00 p.m. we had not heard from her, she attempted to convince us that she had tried to send it earlier that morning, but failed, and behold ten minutes after our phone call we received a confirmation.
July 21st, Susan called Amber to tell her that the inspection letter had been sent off and scheduled for July 23rd between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
July 23rd the inspector came out, took only a few pictures. The inspector did not look at the entire surface of the floor under question. He told Amber that he did not need to see it all and therefore did not write down the full extent of the damages. This could possibly be to blame for the lack of communication that followed between Empire Today employees, as you will read later in the letter. To note, the inspector was an Empire Today employee, not a third party worker.
July 27th we received an email that installers would be here July 31st to fix the floors. Amber was told that the installers would call first thing that morning to inform her when they would arrive.
On July 31st at 10:00 a.m. we did not receive that phone call, so Amber called the installation coordinator, Julian. He informed us that they would be here between 1 and 3:00 p.m. At 3:30 p.m. the installers had not arrived and had not called. Amber called Julian back and he let us know that they were running late on a job. They would be there between 5 and 6:00 p.m. The installers were still not here at 5:55 p.m. Amber proceeded to call the customer service line to get an ETA of our installers because Julians office was closed for the evening. Amber was told by Victor, from customer service, that they were unable to connect with our installers as the Portland office neglected to write down exactly who was going to be helping us. At 6:30 Elizabeth and the other installer finally arrived only to tell us that Julian and the rest of the Portland office had failed to communicate with them exactly what needed to be fixed. (They were under the impression it was only 2 or 3 boards vs. the entire kitchen floor) Upon their inspection of our floors, they thought that the entire floor needed to be replaced. They then informed us, that the Portland office had only ordered two boxes worth of material and this job was going to require at least 8 boxes and probably 1-2 days to complete.

After waiting all day to have our floors fixed, we find out that we are going to have to reschedule. We had been going around in circles for 2 weeks trying to get our floors fixed under the warranty that Empire Today provides. All the while, the Portland office has made every attempt to get around the warranty and ignore our phone calls, particularly Susan who handled our file. At this point, we sent an email to every Portland Empire Today employee that we could find online. In that email we stated that a manager needed to be in touch with me and only me by August 3rd or we would be seeking legal action from our lawyers.
August 1st, Dean, the regional manager called Amber and tried convince her, in a voicemail, that the lack of communication was unusual and that they would do everything that they could to make us happy. He proceeded to offer to replace the whole floor and he would be calling me shortly after that. At 3:00 p.m. I called Dean and left a voicemail because I had not received a phone call from him since he left Amber the voicemail.
August 2nd we called Venus, the Market Support General Manager and she had stated that Dean left notes in our file, that he had already talked with me and that he would contact me again on August 3rd.
Dean called me on the third and assured me that they would replace the entire floor but could not do it until the end of August because there was a long list of costumers ahead of our file. I informed Dean that our file was priority number 1 due to the nature of our circumstances, no later than August 5th was acceptable. Finally agreeing to this date, installers would be here August 5th at 8:00 a.m.
The installers and inspector arrived on August 5th with a communication breakdown from Dean who had told the inspector the plan had been, from the start, to remove and replace only the tiles and surrounding tiles that were chipped. The inspector and I discussed this plan, yet did not agree. The inspector went out to his van for two hours, making phone calls, while I called Dean to discuss the plan. Of course dean held true to his plan for the day until I reminded Dean of our conversation we had, as well as the voicemail he left my wife, which says the installers would be replacing the whole kitchen floor. Shortly after I hung up the phone, the installers and inspector came back inside with the new plan of replacing the entire floor with grout.
Upon the start of the second project that day, the inspector admitted to Amber and I that Empire Today had thought we were lying to them about the condition of our floors. We also found out, from the inspector that they were aware of the improper installation of the ceramic tiles and that they knew that, eventually, the tiles would chip due to the improper grout lines. The inspector proceeded to tell us that the installers were not allowed to warn us of this possibility so they continued with the first installation.
At this point, 10:30 a.m. they began the second installation of the entry way and kitchen. This time around the installers went way out of their way to make sure we were entirely satisfied. This included brand new quarter round, new one inch subfloor, protective plastic for the carpet, and extremely expensive grout to prevent future problems. We also learned that Empire Today was forcing the installers to pay for everything out of pocket because Empire Today blamed them for the issues. The inspector lead Amber and I to believe that this entire issue could have been prevented from the start.
The installers work ethic, quality, and punctuality are not to blame for this dispute. If they truly were forced to work on this project, a second time, for free, that is wrong. Empire Today is at fault for what the installers were not allowed to tell us from the beginning. Upon conclusion of our business, we were entirely satisfied with the finished product. Good Job Saul and Erik Alonso, but we will not be seeking further business with Empire today, tomorrow, or any future date, along with discouraging others from doing business with Empire Today.

Sub par customer service! Installation is shabby and rushed. Was told that installers are employees of Empire Carpet, not contracted and all English speaking (sales guy's words, not mine) which surprised me as any installation of any kind is usually contracted. That was a ploy to get our business obviously as it was a lie. Installers were sloppy and left the house filthy and were CONTRACTED.

The contact person at Empire for installations is rude. Kept calling to set up install, left messages for her, but was told she didn't receive them like I'm lying to her. Told her I left 3 messages and I get an "uh huh." You know, I don't care how busy you are, have some respect and stop lying to your customers. Instead of saying I'm sorry I didn't get your messages, she precedes to tell me that she was there when I called on a Saturday. It's her contact number and her voice on her outgoing msg, yet she didn't get my message. Whatever. Continue to be your unprofessional self and good luck at the only job who will ever have you.

From the very second the sales person pulled into our driveway, (and yes, he parked in our driveway like he lives here), it was lie after lie. From feeling ripped off on price, to the installation, to the follow up of installation. I actually got a call asking me how the installation was even before there was an installation. After the install, NO CALL. I would never and will never recommend this awful company to anyone. A bunch of liars and con artists.

I scheduled an in-home visit to get details and measurement of three rooms. That appeared to be ok, however then the installers arrived the measurements were not accurate, and they did not get adequate bull nose to finish the edges of the laminate. The in-home agent told my husband that when the installers come all he needs to do is tell the position he wants the laminate laid and there will be no problem. That was not the case, the way we wanted it laid required additional money, to the tune of $450.00. That amount was not apart of our budget. Earlier this year we had hardwood installed in our master bedroom, and the in-home agent did not measure inside the walk in closets. Does Empire Today Agents know the importance of measuring as accurate as possible.

Avoid Empire-Today at all costs!

I come from a unique perspective in that I worked as an Independent Sales Contractor for Empire for a year and a half. Unfortunately, I cannot speak to Empires business model or practices due to a confidentiality agreement, but I can speak as a customer who used Empire 4 times, once prior to my employment. So trust me when I say avoid at all costs unless you want the risk of them having to come back a repair things, damage to your property, no shows, out of stock, charging you in full before the job starts and endless emails, phone calls and hassles!

My first install was approximately 6 years ago. I ordered laminate for 2 rooms, a hallway and stairs, got a phone call the next day saying they don't do laminate on stairs, but that they would do hardwood at no additional cost, I was assured it would match the laminate. It was not suggested that I do the entire job in hardwood, which I could have afforded. It never looked right and friends always asked, why do laminate and wood together? After the install we noticed every nail on the stairs was popping out. They never set the nails. A safety hazard. We called and it was repaired. So when I got a call, as they had seen my resume on line, to come work for them 4 years later I accepted. After all, they had fixed the stairs. I did enjoy the freedom the job gave me and working with customers, that's about all.

My next install was a little over a year ago for carpet in 4 bedrooms. Once completed I noticed a 1 inch gap from the wall in an area, a seam that was buckling and visable on one half and the other was perfect, and exposed tack strips that punctured my foot! They came back did the repairs except to the seam. I was told it's the type of carpet, but why then was one half of it perfect? I just accepted it.

The third install we were fixing the house up to sell and we did tile and carpet on the stairs and hall where they had done wood and laminate years before. They started with the tile in the kitchen. I had just had all my cabinets professionally painted. They took no precautions and covered nothing. My painter who was doing another job for me noticed they had scratched almost all of my kitchen cabinets and he was furious as was I. The contract does say baseboards can be nicked, but not cabinet doors some which were as high as a foot from the floor, I called installations to complain, they assured me the bathroom cabinets which were next would be covered. The next day they started on my bathroom and again did not cover the cabinets. I had to stop them and have them cover the cabinets. Later I came upstairs and they had gotten thin set all over the carpet I had put in 6months earlier. While I called to complain they scrubbed the dirt in with a cloth and water. Really? Now it was all ground in! I was offered to pay for the cabinets a carpet, but I did not want to make waves with the company I worked for, my husband wanted to be reimbursed, but I didn't pursue it. Once the tile was done, we noticed numerous areas were the tile was crooked and sticking up. I asked for a different crew to come make the repairs and they sent the same ones! Next the carpet? They charged me in full when the installer arrived, we get alerts on every charge, I didn't make a fuss as it was a one day job. The carpet installer said the wood stairs had to come out, I didn't want them out in case the new owners wanted them. He kept insisting. I called the install manager and he told the installer that yes we can carpet over stairs. Did they just get this installer off the street? Surprisingly, no other issues with the carpet.

We purchased a new home and needed flooring. My husband begged me to use someone else and quit Empire. I told him I'd talk to the install manager and make sure we got one of the best crews. I was assured everything would go smoothly this time...Ha! A drunk driver crashed through the living room the day of closing. I had placed the order for tile and hardwood prior to closing, but had to remove from the order the hardwood from the front room. When the room was repaired I added the wood back to the order and made one other change. For these changes I was referred to by my General Manager in an email he copied to several people in the organization as a "sales rep with half a brain". Really, for making changes to an order because a drunk driver ran into my house? This was totally out of my control yet he slandered me within the company! Anyway, the hardwood was first to go in, again I was charged in full $10, 517 before the job even started and it was 2weeks later that it was completed. Against the law and breach of contract! Before they started the lead installer said Empire ran out of stock and he only had enough to do 2 bedrooms and hallway. They finished early and had done the mbr and hall and 2/3 of my daughters room. The installer said he could have finished my daughters room but that he stormed out of the warehouse in anger leaving 3 cartons behind. He said he was so pissed because Empire was "consistently running out of stock" and that "other companies he does work for are never out of stock "! His words not mine. No one could tell me when the wood would be in, so I asked the install manager to go ahead and start the tile and he said they would start Monday, this was Saturday. Monday came no one showed. I called to ask why and the assistant install mgr said "they didn't have any installers who could get through the border checkpoint in Temecula". So, they're hiring illegals? That was news to me. I decided to have a painter start since we couldn't get anyone to do tile and the wood was out of stock. I told the install manager the painter would be done in 4 days which was Friday. They got the wood in and wanted to start Wednesday and I said no Friday the painter will be finishing up. The installer came Friday morning while I went out for coffee, 15minutes. The painter said the installer took pictures of the area he was working and said "I can't work like this." And stormed out again in a rage! I called install and the general manager and got a tongue lashing as they had seen the installers pictures. I then took pictures of my daughters room and office which were nowhere near where the painter was working and the installer could have worked without even bumping into the painter. I forwarded them to install and the GM and all I got was an "oh". I also want to ad that I was accused by the GM of writing a bad yelp review which I did not. He called me a liar and said it was in front of him and he was reading it. Come to find out my husband called to complain and threatened to yelp, but never did. When I confronted the GM he said he never said he actually read the post on yelp. Now who's lying? No apologies for yelling at me or talking down to me...typical! I have since written reviews about Empire on yelp, consumer websites, etc...I asked for a different installer because of the installers anger issues. I was assured by the GM they would not be sending the same installer. The next day again they couldn't send anyone else until the following week as they couldn't get past the border checkpoint. I had to use the same installer. My daughter couldn't sleep in her room for 2 weeks as it was and it couldn't wait another week! That morning the same installer ran the security gate to out community and refused to pull over until he got to my house. He exited his truck in a rage (what's new) waving his arms and swearing at the security guard. I stepped in calmed him down and talked to the officer. The installer was lucky he did not get cited or had I not intervened arrested! The job was finished and for once done right the first time, I should say so far as I can tell. I cancelled the tile order, resigned and turned in my samples. I did get my kitchen tiled by another company and they took great care with my kitchen cabinets, I didn't even have to ask, not one nick or scratch, go figure! Bottom line read the reviews on Empire and how the majority are bad. You might get a reply saying only disgruntled people do reviews on sites like yelp. Not true, don't by the spin! Do not risk going with Empire!

We had new wood flooring installed by empire flooring contractors, they did a very poor job & did not complete the work. They also did not reconnect the closet door & I went to open it & it fell on me, we have tried several times to call someone about our issues but no one calls us back. My husband had to finish the job & we are making sure that everyone knows what a bad job they do.

I set up an appointment for free estimate between 10:00 an and 12:00pm. The sales person arrived an hour late and when I asked about him coming late. He asked if the company had called to let me know he was running late. No the company did not call and I was going to reschedule . I let him in and he was rude and quoted me an outrageous price for 2 room and a hallway. He wanted to call his supervisor to see if he could get a better quote I told him not to bother because he gave me his estimate. He stated that I was wasting his time. Wait a minute you are the one that was 1 hour late and very rude. I will not be using this company for my rental properties.

May 2014 we purchased & had installed carpet in our new reckroom. Got a 50/50/50 sale for Memorial Day. The salesman came showed us samples. Said we were getting free pad upgrade with our 25 year warranty carpet that is waterproof and stain resistant. We were excited! ( Until we Weren't) The installers were to arrive the next morning & didn't show. I called Empire and the installers were being rescheduled.( Not very Professional!) When they did come, the men went about their install. I tried asking a couple questions but quickly found out that this crew speaks little to no English. To their credit?, the job was done quickly and they vaccumed upon completion. BUT, The installers left a pile of carpet & padding in our basement & the only one that spoke just Broken English said they'd be back. We asked about the smell and he said it was fumes from the carpet and it would go away in a couple days. By June, I called about the garbage left behind & the smell. I was told someone would call back. NOTHING! By July & August, the smell is getting worse. I called and was told that we need to hire a professional carpet cleaner to clean odor. $129 and Still it stinks! I realize that the smell was coming from the ENTIRE perimeter having what appears to be male cat spray which is drawing my cats to the spots. Believing my carpet was waterproof & stain resistant, and because its not recommended, we did not have the ckeaners saturate the carpet. We have spent Months on Carpet cleaning, enzymes to destroy, even had other carpet installers pull up areas, for Viewing ONLY!) To find entire perimeter as well as Enclosed Closet ALL have Urine/Spray & also that they used Cheap wood tack strips as well. I have spoken with numerous people at Empire Today who have either said someone would return our call or finally, that we can PAY THEM $400.00 for Labor to have this Toxic Carpet removed and replaced. ( We aren't sure seeing as we were told carpet was waterproof). I argued that why only remove carpet when the pad may have been the issue & that BOTH need to be removed Immediately from my home. Helen at Empire became the contact person after vickey. She has held our home hostage by lying. First insisting on the $400.00 labor fee, then saying I need to sign an agreement form. The form turned out to be a Full and Final agreement stating all releases to from everything and everybody including that I can't post reviews, comments etc. I called Helen and disputed the Hold HARMLESS CONTRACT after filing my complaint. It is now January 2015 and they have not removed them Stinky carpet & pad from my home. We have not been able to finish our "New" Reckroom, our drywall has been damaged, I have spent close to $600 on carpet cleaning and enzymes and countless hours of my life cleaning, waiting for cleaning, on the phone with them talking, arguing, have had LUNA Carpet come to give quotes, all the time spent writing back and forth and have even had 2 hospital visits because of illness that flared up due to Empires Poor quality Products & Service. I requested they remove these products, pay for the costs incured, and at one point, I was going to trust them to replace. They have offered NOTHING but the Cost we paid minus the deposit. This business sells you a product using salesmen full of lies, in hopes that you'll be so excited by the price that you won't notice the lack of quality, the fact you've been lied to, that you actually have overpaid and that once they have installed your flooring, that Empires Warranty and Customer Service is pretty much Absent! Almost 8 months and I am still being held hostage by Helen at Empire! I have NEVER, in my Life, done business with such a Shady Company! And the Fact that they have SO Many BBB listings and are ALL the Same company Nationwide... Over 1100 complaints on just one Listings in Northern IL.; and they have an A? Really? You'd be better off doing it yourself from a Big Box store, at least their would be a Real human that Cares and is Local instead of trying to find a Lawyer from Whatever State You're in that is Licensed to Practice in Illinois. Good Luck! This is how Empire gets away with ALL of this! You think they're local and they Don't even have their own crews! Everybody is Subbed out so you don't even know what type if person will show up at your home. Had I known this I would NEVER had Allowed Empire Today into my home for ANY reason! I want this Crap out of my home and I want my money back! BUYER BEWARE! This Company not only Bait & Switches, they Lie, Scam & they dont care because NOBODY can stop them. They deserve an F on their rating!

I'm a contractor that work for Empire Today NY market, i will start saying that theres a lot of corruptions going on. I'm tired of this ###, i wish someone comes and inspect to the installation managers (Carlos Perez, and Manny). Those two sell the jobs to just a group of installers that give them money under the table for the big and good jobs. Those people work everyday, while the other installers dont, theres a lot of preferences and its clear to see it because those installers are the one that made over 500 yards per week while other (like me) we dont make not more than 200 yards per week and thats counting going to work everyday. Its sad to see how selected group of people got the best and others have to go back home with the hands on your pockets because you cant make anything. I dont know where i can talk and express this issue, i'm not the only one who has this problem there are many others that are on the same position.
I wish someone could come and check them or better yet to rotate them (give other position) and see how it goes because this is not right, we all pay insurances and we all are capable of doing those jobs but sadly we depend on those two people to see if we get to work or not. About the score thats just a ### not matter how good your score is, still dont help. Installers that buy the jobs have lower score and have work everyday. Please if someone of the headquart its readying this post, come to NY and check all this issues, we love to work for Empire but we hate how those two people handle this, they are not capable of being on that position. When we have problems they dont answer our calls and leave us on the dark, and hoping someone will help since they are "BUSY" and dont pick up their phones. PLEASE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS, WE ALL TIRED !

The only reason why I'm writing this is to stop someone from even getting their "free estimate." First I scheduled a day & time, which had to be a 2 hour window. They did not show up at all. Then a representative called me later that day to reschedule, after I said no, forget it, he says he'll give me $50 off for my inconvenience. So, I said fine & rescheduled for the following evening from 6-8pm. He shows up close to 8, & is really kinda odd actually. He had no identification to show he even worked there. He walks in our house, & talks & talks for at least a half hour about everything he could possibly think of to "gain our trust" It was so obvious what he was doing. Finally I bring up the carpeting. We wanted their estimate for just the living room. Standard size living room. Maybe 20 by 12. He eventually brings in the samples. I had been to Lowes a few days prior for their estimate, with no problems by the way, & I could see right away Lowes product was better made. But I still wanted the estimate so I could compare a few places before we decided. He asked my husband for help in measuring the living room. Then he oddly asked to use our restroom. Then he comes back & sits down to figure out his estimate. He kept making these stupid comments, like "wow, what a great deal". Then he comes back with " total originally priced is $2300.00, but with this good deal, I can get it down to $1200". Even though we definitely realized he was trying to scam us, we didn't wanna be rude & say that that was ridiculous, so we just said ok, thank you for the estimate, we will let you know. The guy immediately lost it. He totally flipped his personality completely. He got loud, angry, I was trying to what I thought bully us into signing the contract. I had to tell my 2 daughters to go into they're rooms. As soon as I heard my girls bedroom door close, I said that we weren't going to argue. My husband said no is no. I gathered his samples & my husband opened the front door for him to leave. He mumbled something under his breath as he left. We were all shaken by this weirdo in our house. He kept saying over & over, "do you think I drove all the way over here for nothing?", really loud too. If I would of been alone with my kids, I would of been scared. Later that night, we got onto this customer complaint site & read all these stories, of the same situations, I wish we would of before we booked a appointment. I will say it again, DO NOT go through this company. They obviously don't screen the people they send to your homes. & their carpet is not good quality.

My problem ... laminate flooring installed by Empire Today was out of
warranty; Empire Today does not make repairs to out of warranty situations;
Empire Today does not sell the product.

After posting my poor experience with Empire Today on several Facebook sites, someone called in an effort to resolve my problem.

FINALLY, there was an offer to sell me one or more cartons of the product, about 12 square feet in a carton ... at an excessively outrageous price of $195.00. Since I had to have the product to have repairs made, I had no choice but accept the offer, for one carton. That works out to $16.25 / sq-ft.

It's obvious Empire Today seized this opportunity
to SCREW ME!

My personal opinion, BUYER BEWARE!

Bruce Hardy

[protected]

(Oh yeah, I'll probably post the foregoing on Facebook, too.)

Wanted to share my experience with Empire Carpet in Colorado
with any other consumers who are thinking about using them for your carpet
purchase/installation. DO NOT USE THIS
COMPANY! This was the worst experience
ever – it made buying a new car seem like a dream!

First off, I cancelled my appointment, but the salesman
still showed up. Since he was there, I
let him come in and show me what Empire had to offer. We had already had two other bids, and were
pretty set that we were going with another company. After talking to him, looking at the samples
and having him measure my home, his price $1, 100 higher than the other company
we were going to use. He told me that he
would match that price, that the price included furniture moving, AND he could
get me started that Friday/Saturday. I
asked for his price in writing (which was $5, 199), and received it in writing
the next day. I felt it was a pretty food
deal, so decided to go with Empire.

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 8:00am 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 buisiness
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 10:00am 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 and 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 top come out were not answering – so she had to
call another crew. By noon – they finally
got there.

They finished at 5:00pm – then my husband and I were left
to move all the furniture back.

This was the most horrific experience ever! To be WAY over charged ($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!