Empire Today
Reviews and Complaints

EMPIRE INSTALLERS RUSHED THROUGH MY JOB TO LEACVE EARLY ON A SAT. AFTERNOON. THEY ENDED UP STEALING PRESCRIBED MEDICATION FROM MY MEDICINE CHEST AND CREDIT CARDS FROM MY WIFES PURSE, CHARGING OVER $200 WORTH OF GOODS BEFORE I COULD CANCEL IT. I MADE A FULL POLICE REPORT.
THE CARPET ENDED UP BUCKELING DUE TO POOR STRETCHING AND TACKING DOWN OF CARPET. WHEN I MADE EMPIRE AWARE OF THIS WHOLE FIASCO, THEY HUNG UP ON ME. EMPIRE IS THE WORST.

In April, 2008, we invited Empire Today to our house to discuss flooring options. We were considering either hardwood or laminate and after our discussions with the Empire representative, we purchased laminate flooring. During this initial consultation, the sales representative told us that the flooring we were purchasing, Quick-Step flooring by Unilin, was water and scratch resistant.

He told us that water could sit on the floor for up to three days before it suffered any damage and that, because of its superior water resistance, it was the flooring that Empire recommended for kitchens and bathrooms.

To clean the floor, the sales person recommended Windex or a laminate cleaner. For sticky spills, he said we could moisten a rag with water and wipe the spill. For tough spills, he recommended Goof-Off.

We agreed to have our entire first floor covered in the Quick-Step product. The cost of the flooring was almost $9000.00!

Installation went smoothly.

We cleaned the floor as recommended by the sales representative, including the use of a moist towel to spot-clean. Regardless of how we cleaned, be it laminate cleaner or Goof-Off or moist towel, we made sure to dry the area thoroughly. At no time did we ever mop the floor with a floor mop or saturate it with laminate cleaner (or water).

Within one month, the flooring in the kitchen began to bubble around the edges of the planks and, after several telephone calls, Empire Today sent a flooring inspector to inspect the floor. The flooring inspector noted that the bubbling was sit-related due to water damage, but gave no explanation as to what he meant by that.

Because the product is in the kitchen, water spills occur frequently during routine use. We wash dishes, prepare food, wash hands after dinner, etc. However, we towel-dry the floor after each spill.

Empire Today has refused to honor our warranty, claiming that the manufacturer will not honor a claim of damage caused by water.

According to the Quick-Step warranty, the product ...will resist water damage. The warranty then states that it WILL NOT cover damage if the product has been ...put to abnormal use or conditions or abused in any way.

The warranty describes abnormal use to include ...water damage from plumbing, storm or flood, damage from smoke, fire or other casualty events; damage caused by negligence... And describes abuse as ...any use of the flooring that is unreasonable considering the normal and expected uses of a laminate floor in a residential environment.

Since the floor was installed in the kitchen, at the recommendation of Empire Today, it is not unreasonable to expect that it would withstand water spills, provided the spills are cleaned up afterward.

The general Manager at Empire Today (Durham, NC) does not seem to think so. He has made it clear that, despite what the sales representative told us, it was our responsibility to verify the accuracy of Empire's claims. So it is our fault that we are stuck with a damaged floor that soaks up water on contact.

Horrid company. They're extremely low bid should've raised a red flag for me, alas, I was baited and they switched.

Customer service is atrocious. They can commit only to a 10-hour window for installation. The poor installer subcontracting to them didn't receive any instructions, only the material. And the material they received wasn't what we ordered.

What they're good for? Quick, cheap, shoddy material that if you don't care how it's going to look, will be installed sometime within the 10 hours you're waiting at house.

If you're looking for a decent product represented by a respectable company, then go local. Empire Today appears to have the same corporate infrastructure as the bygone Communist Party of the old USSR.

Empire is a rip off, poor quality work, damage to property & now no one wants to settle my claims... Dont use them

On top of it all the Carpet was a bait & switch... received lesser grade carpet than was supposed to be put in. They also use illegal aliens to do their work

Please save your self the time of dealing with pushy salesman and DON'T use Empire for flooring and/or in home estimate. My husband and I are in the process of doing some small renovations in our home to include flooring. We recently saw an ad for Empire, to buy one room get one free, sounds good right? Not so much. I called and scheduled an in home estimate, and within a week had a salesman in my house. This part I was pleased with, friendly customer service over the phone but that must be the sugar on the outside of the poo sandwich. The salesman showed up to our house right at the appointment time (a plus), but immediately mentioned about how he had tried to contact me to come earlier, and questioned me about why I didn't answer the phone (huge brownie points LOST here). He brought in samples of the crappiest carpet I had ever seen, and proceeded to plop down on my couch, and dance around all questions we had about the price of the carpet. My husband and I are fairly new at this whole renovation thing, so we asked all the common questions, how much per square foot for the carpet, our salesman's response "We don't do price quotes that way, we are a Next Day company and are price includes movement of your furniture and installation of your new carpet." I wanted to throw him out then, but decided to be nice despite my gut feeling about this whole thing being WRONG. He went on to take measurements of the 2 rooms that we wanted carpeted, show us the crappy samples that he had (explaining that the one that was on sale for %60 off, was basically the bottom of the barrel crap that he was showing us. My husband and I said to go ahead and qive us a quote for the grade 1 (lowest grade) and the grade 2, just to see what the difference in price was. He sat there with his little calculator and then told us for less than 400 square feet of crap carpet installed "Next Day" it would be $2600.00! I wanted to throw him out for sure now. He then proceeded to tell us that for Grade 2 (the next crap carpet up) that it would be $3200.00, was he crazy? We explained from the beginning of this terrible meeting that we were just gathering information and would not be making any decisions on the spot, he was insitant on "earning our business", he repated this several times. After a price drop of $400.00 in less than 10 minutes, he then asked "what were you looking to spend?" We explained that we were looking to spend no more than $1500.00 install included. All the sudden our helpful salesman, got his butt off my couch and said he would like to make a phone call to his boss to see what he could do, but that he would need to get his phone out of his vehicle. What a shock there? After a brief walk out to his car and back into my living room, he dialed his boss, who spoke loud enough for me and my husband to here and stated the he could allow the salesman to cut us a deal for $1560.00 if we signed today. This manager must have been psychic, how else could he have known that $1500 was right in our price range. I find this odd, wouldn't you? It took me 10 more minutes to get this guy out of my house, I kept explaining we wanted to get other price quotes first and that we would contact him back to let him know for sure what we had decided. He informed my husband and I that it would be extrememly hard for us to find carpet for cheaper than what he had quoted us at the "quality" that we looked at, and repeated at least 3 more times about how he "wanted to earn our business today". No ###, if I was a salesman trying to rip innocent consumers off, I would also like to "earn their business" within the first 20 minutes of meeting them, so they didn't see what was coming. We finally go this man out of our house, and then called some friends of ours that live within a mile of us to see where they went for their carpeting. It was a local company who has a full warehouse, where you are able to select your carpet with no salesman in your face with "price per square foot installed" price tag's on every single sample. They were able to get their whole house carpeted for around $4000.00 with no hassle and their carpet looks FANTASTIC. Our friends also went to on to tell us that they had the same exact experience with Empire even with the same exact salesman, same pricing even for ONE room that was smaller than the 2 rooms that we were trying to get carpet for. Empire is a total rip off, I recommend anyone who has is looking for quality carpet at a decent price, and no forced agreement the day you have an estimate to steer clear of this company, and go ELSEWHERE. So glad that we did not actually sign an agreement, I can see other consumers on here that unfortunately went to the next step. Happy Carpeting with some one other than Empire to all consumers out there that need flooring.

I hired Empire Today for carpet installation. Stay away from these crooks! They came and would not install until I paid them in full even after the salesman told me I would pay upon completion. When they came they were short on carpet and had to return the next day, this time it was a different crew and they left a large visible seam in the middle of the floor. They also broke furniture! After about 3 months of the carpet being installed, I noticed that the carpet was wearing quickly, I called Empire and they told me they would have someone come out to look at it, when the man came out, he insulted me by saying my vacuum was no good and I don't vacuum enough, when I told him that I vacuum 3 times a week he said I need to vacuum everyday. I was so upset by hearing this and I contacted Empire again, this time they ingored me. At this point, I reported them to the BBB, this is when I finally heard from them. They had a third party inspector come out and a week later I received a report in the mail saying the carpet was not defective and it was my fault it looked the way it did beause my vacuum doesn't pick up the fibers enough. Too bad they don't have a section on the report that states the carpets they sell are inferior and junk! Stay away from these crooks, they are very dishonest and are not in business for the customer, if you get their flooring, you will need to spend more money to replace it in the near future.

Called Empire this morning to request a free in-home estimate. Salesperson just showed up at my door and wanted to know what kind of carpet we wanted in our house. I told him that I'd like to see his samples, and that we were getting quotes from other companies as well. He wouldn't show me the samples, and instead demanded to see the other quotes, which I explained that I couldn't give to him because we didn't have them yet (we just had a Lowe's rep here this morning measuring, and they give you a quote within 48 hours). The Empire rep pressed me for the quotes and and I repeated that I didn't have them. He then said whatever price we had he'd beat it by $150. I again repeated that I don't have a dollar figure from anyone else yet. Then he said "So you're not willing to make a decision today", and I replied "No, I'm not, we're getting quotes from several companies". He picked up and WALKED OUT without measuring a thing. Obviously their sales pitch is high pressure to the customer-and the guy was a total #$@!.

had hired Empire Today to install carpet in my house on 6/27/09. The installers came and installed carpet on bedrooms and stairs, but they did NOT install carpet on the entrance hallway leading up to the stairs. The order form states "Hallway" is included, and our sales representative Mr. Joseph Orelien had mentioned stairs and hallway in the price quoted.
The installers said they had no more carpet left to do the entrance hallway and left. I did NOT sign the complete installation page. I intend to dispute your charge.
When I called the sales rep, he said Empire will have to charge me MORE money to do the entrance hallway as only top hallway was included, I WAS MISINFORMED and was assured that BOTH hallways would be carpeted.
I have digital pictures of the entrance hallway that has little carpet padding thrown on it and is UNFINISHED, and NOT carpeted as promised to me by Empire. The rep. wants to charge me more money to do the job right. This is unacceptable!
I chose Empire Today after reading about good customer service and fast installation PROMISES, I was offer NEITHER. I am extremely unsatisfied with my experience with Empire Today and I will post this on EVERY internet discussion board I can find to inform other consumers to BEWARE of Empire Today unless my issue is resolved

I have purchased carpet on 2 occasions and ceramic tile from Empire Today. So 3 different times I chose Empire and all 3 times I was 100% satisfied with quality of work. I did shop around a bit and found the pricing comparable to other flooring stores. I like the fact that I can shop at home with Empire. My estimator on each occasion helped me select flooring that looks great in my home. I am a very picky person and liked the attention to detail the installers took on my installations. I did have some very irregular shaped rooms that took lots of time but the Empire crew took there time and did it right. 4 years after my 1st carpet installation and 2 other jobs, I am still happy with my flooring.

After all the complaints I read on this site about Empire Today, figured I would tell everyone about my experience with Empire.

I wouldn't say Empire Today is the worst company I've ever hired, but they certainly were not the best. The sales person was very nice and courteous and told me all I needed to know about the installation. I got next day installation from an order that was submitted around 9pm at night.

Carpet Install:
The carpet installers broke two of my dressers and did not say a word about it. I found the broken pieces in the drawers later that night. I was running back and forth between work and home and I noticed that they did not replace the old tacking strips. (I had pulled up some of the carpet the night before and primed some of the areas due to a pet problem so I could see that they didn't replace it) I didn't specifically ask that they do that, but I know that it is just good practice and will hold the carpet better. They pieced the carpet pad together so that there were tons of cuts and I specifically paid for a higher pad that had a pet coating on it. They should have laid it out so there were as few of cuts as possible. There were tons of nails/staples/etc in the carpet that I have accidentally stepped on and am still finding 3 weeks later.

Stairs/entryway (hardwood substitute) install:
After finishing the job, I had to ask the installers to fix several things. Everything I pointed out to them that was wrong, they would tell me that it was supposed to be that way. Eventually I got them to fix most things by arguing with them. A few days later, I noticed that they cracked some of the existing baseboards and that the entryway was not level going downstairs.

1st guy they sent out fixed the baseboards, but did not have the pieces to fix the entryway.

2nd guy had 1 piece to fix the entryway, but they did not think ahead and after ripping up part of the entryway told me he did not have the rest of the pieces to fix it! I had a giant hole in my entryway for 2 days! Not only that, but I saw that they did not remove the old tile and when he tore out the new entryway, he tore out SOME of the old tiles, but not all. I could tell that this was going to cause an issue, because it would make any other pieces installed on top unlevel. When I called to reschedule the 3rd guy I told them that they would need to make the floor underneath level first. I knew that would go in one ear and out the other because queue the 3rd guy:

3rd guy finally had the right pieces, but installed it even more crooked than the initial installers! My roommate pointed it out to him (because I couldn't be home that time) and they told him that "it was supposed to be that way" The boards are bowed and the quarteround does not sit level to the floor. Also, the edge of the last board of the entryway is crooked over the stairs. He also scratched the surround wood pieces and did not replace them. HOW COULD THAT BE RIGHT? He also told us that we could not walk on the entryway for 2 days. They told me that they would call to reschedule, but I've called them twice and they keep telling me someone will be call me to reschedule. Supposedly someone will call me back tomorrow.

I think I'm becoming more of an expert on the steps to install these floors than the installers because every time they come out, they get it wrong. It's just common sense to make sure the floor underneath is level (and cutting the stairs correctly) first before installing the new floor over it. If they had cut the stairs to fit the entryway/stairway, I would not be having this problem right now. Every time they come out the new installer says something to that fact, but DOESN'T FIX the root problem.

RIDICULOUS. I am so angry that I can barely talk to their customer service agents because I want to start screaming. I've missed work to watch them fix things incorrectly and I'm SO tired of the installers arguing with me that "this is how it is supposed to look." Whenever they say that now, I bring them upstairs and show them what a good install of hardwood looks like and they shut up and try and fix it.

Note: If I had my pictures with me right now, I would definitely be posting them.

My Empire Sucks story:
Had to replace the rugs in the hallways/stair case of a three story three family in Boston. Had used Empire before so gave them a call and got an estimate. The price was 4.53 sq ft installed. To say that the salesperson was incompetent would be generous. Had to measure everything three time, could not do simple calculations. He made so many mistakes on the order crossing things out two and three time that it was unreadable. Told the property manager that she had to put down a a third of the total cost because it was a special order and would take 10-14 days to special order. Then in the next breath said that it could be installed the next day.
Came up with an estimate of 3692 based on 774.26 sq ft. We said that seemed high. He said no that there was a lot of area. We asked if there was additional labor charges since this was a stair case. He re-iterated no it’s a flat fee. We agreed to remove and dispose of the old rugs to save $200. When we ripped up the rugs I looked at them and told the property manger that there was no way that this was close to 800 sq ft. I went in and measured it and came out with 305 sq ft. The property manager, architect with 30 yrs experience and an expert in this area came up with 304.
Granted it was a staircase with more waste than normal, but over150%. She called the office and complained. A manager came out and first he said that the order was for 680 not the original 774.26. He also confirmed that the price include installation and that there was not a separate labor charge. When asked why there was no adjustment and that the price still reflected the original 774.26 he had no answer. He also confirmed that it was in stock. No one has ever explained why she had put up $1000 deposit instead of the standard $25. A question that remains to this day.
He measured and came up with 502 sq ft. Not sure how using the same equation they came up with three different sizes for the same square footage of floor space. He told the property manager that he would give her a $500 credit. She said OK and the install was scheduled for the next day. She really didn’t have much of a choice as she stood to lose the $1000 deposit.
The installers arrived with a note on the work order to call after the work was done. The property manager called nad he didn’t want to talk. They did the install and called. He said the bill was $2800. The property manager reminded him that he had agreed to a $500 credit. He denied that he had ever agreed to that. Among the scrap was a single piece 12x6 and the property manager wanted a credit for that. She wanted to pay for 430 sq ft the 502 – 72. He said no, so she said that she would pay for every sq in that was put in the truck. She took out her calculator and computed 2387.76. He said no that $2600 was the best he could do. She reminded him that the contract was for $4.53 per sq ft installed not $4.92. She still questioned why there was over 58% waste but decided to drop it.
He pretty much demanded the new higher price even though he could offer no explanation as to how he came to that price. He also told her that she had to pay it since it had already been installed even though the new higher price had never been discussed.

My nightmare begins a very looong four and a half, yes that’s 4 ½, years ago. That’s when I was involuntarily terminated as a service provider in the NY, NJ, and PA markets by Empire Today, for reasons I will leave unmentioned at this time.

Empire Today has not paid me in full, and continues to refuse to do so, for services rendered. Furthermore substantial deductions made from checks paid to me, which are held in an escrow account, also remain unreturned. Combine the just mentioned and you’ll get a staggering five/ six figure total.

Unfortunately I can’t show the actual per job invoiced amount and/ or what specific work orders have not been paid for, due to Empire refusing to issue even just the recaps for all the checks, that have been paid within the timeline in question. Although these recaps were supposed to be issued on a weekly basis, they were actually made available to me when the accounting department ‘had the time’ to prepare them. Now this does makes the battle ahead more difficult, but believe you me I AM DETERMINED TO COLLECT WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY OWED TO ME.

I have had face to face conversations, made phone calls, left voicemails, sent countless e-mails and even certified letters, with and to Empire Today associates and/ or management team members, all to no avail. In fact judging from past experience, I honestly believe this report will incite a joy to some of these management team members.

This company knows exactly who I am and is very well aware of the state of affairs I find myself in stemming from the intentional nonpayment. I may not have on staff investigative agencies and law firms, or the ability to compete financially, that doesn’t however mean that I can’t do battle in the court of public opinion.

I am exasperated at the notion that my efforts to have Empire Today pay outstanding amounts have resulted only in the amusement of certain people at my expense. I have provided two and a half years of service at three of this company’s branches, on many, many, many occasions going way beyond the call of duty. I have spent more time in company offices and have more familiarity of day to day events and operations, than even some of the management team members.

I will post an update and also start a blog, where I will in fine detail discuss all my experiences, share relevant documents, images and even some fascinating conversations that have taken place, for all interested in a real account of how, when, who, what, why, where and of course HOW MUCH. I will share how customers, employees and subcontractors are treated and not only spoken to, but spoken about, especially when one’s services are no longer required.

In the meantime however I need to find more places where complaints can be posted and file this very report.

Thank you for reading,
X_Empire_Installer

I just want to warn consumer not to jump into buying carpet from Empire. Diane F. Hunter was the biggest swindler we've ever come across. She pressured us into making a decision to get the discount that Empire advertise. They advertise buy 1 room and get 2 rooms free but it's carpet that you don't want and limited to 2 types only. Bait and Switch. We gave it a benefit of the doubt and said okay...maybe the quality of work will be great. WELL...we were promised same day install and the installer told us that Diane entered the other as a 2 day install...all in all, the experience with Empire was HORRIBLE. What a regret and a lesson learned.

We had to get carpet for our stairs and had a guy from Empire Today come out for the free in-home installation. I should have known it was going to be bad when the salesman sat down and started telling me his life story (all about his hip replacements, his wife, how long they had been married, etc.) Well, I just wanted to get down to business and have him do the measurements and show me the carpet samples. Meanwhile, I'm holding my crying 2 month old baby and it didn't seem to faze him at all. He was all chatty.

He took measurements, showed me the samples, and assured me that there was a 7 year warranty on the carpet.

First, the carpet selection was very limited. Second, he failed to mention that nylon is preferable to polyester on stairs because it's more durable. Third, he quoted me a price of $1100+, took an "automatic 10%" off, then asked me what I wanted to pay. I was like, what? So then I said $800, and then he called his manager, and it went back and forth a little, and finally they agreed. Who does business like this? I felt jipped, and also like I should have asked for $500, maybe they would have agreed.

It made me feel uncomfortable, so I went to Home Depot the next day to get a better understanding of different carpets and prices, and learned immediately that you should always get nylon on stairs and NEVER get polyester. Also, he told me that carpet on stairs is never under warranty because it's such a high traffic area.

I called the Empire salesman the next day to find out whether my order was for nylon or polyester, and he laughed and asked me, "What does it matter?" and said he didn't know, he had to look it up. Well, no doubt, it was polyester, so I cancelled the order (which took over 30 min because I was on hold for so long...)

Long story short... the salesman didn't know what he was talking about, and was condescending, and their practice of haggling made me uncomfortable. I'm going to Home Depot or Lowe's or some other local carpet store and am hoping for a better experience!

My father (who is elderly) called empire today to carpet the whole house.Three bedrooms, Living room & den, stairs(13).I set up an apt for the sales rep to come & show samples.I had gotten other quotes from reputible carpet stores.When the rep came he was very professional (I thought)he bought many sampels & all was going well, until he started to write up the estimate & he forgot the small walkway going to the kitchen, and then proceeded to write another estimate for that small piece of carpet.3x4 feet.The estimate was$ 94.95.I couldn't believe he was charging me for his mistake, but after being there for almost 3 hours I agreed to pay for it.The rep quoted me a price of 3, 700.00.I said no it was way too much, he called his "Supervisor" & dickered the price down to 3, 500.I said no to that.Itold him that I picked the cheapest carpet how could it be that much, he then called his supervisor again& dickered it down to 3, 200.00.I agreed only because we were selling the house & needed it to be done the next day.I do believe this was a scam, you usually don't call your boss to check & see if you can take a lesser amt of money, if that is the true measurments & price.I feel cheated for my dad by this company & will never recomend them to anyone.I must say the installers were VERY nice & took there time with the installation.PS.We paid cash!Don't ever do that.!Hase makes WASTE>>>>>I have tried to call them & I get a message machine.This was done in March.09.I will keep trying if not I guess it's court time...!

Empire installed carpet in my entire home several years ago, when I wanted to update my bedroom carpet. I contacted Empire again, did not receive the advertised 60% off, the installer removed my doors now one door will not latch in it's frame (fire safety hazard), so unable to lock my bathroom door, out sourced installer returned to my home and reviewed the problem then stated "I am not a door professional", said he would contact his manager I have not heard from him or my sales person Robert Bilek, #QA3 (order #035793) after several calls to both. I contacted your customer service line [protected] rec'd a ref #[protected] and still no action. I am very disappointed with Empire I paid $2082.00 for carpet in one bedroom and now I have no privacy in my master bathroom. The good feelings once held for Empire has changed. Please contact me ASAP. My next course of action will be the BBB, Ripoff Website and/or Indiana Secy of State.

C. Rainey
Indianapolis, IN

I so wish I would have checked Empire Carpeting on the Internet before I had them install our carpeting. I assumed since they have been around a long time they must be a reputable company with a good product. Absolutely not.

It sounds like my husband and I are having some of the same issues so many others have had. Our carpet was installed about a year and one-half ago and it looks terrible. I noticed after about less than a year after our carpet was installed it started to look worn out. Our representative assured us it would wear very well (not). I picked out a carpet that looked textured - because of the twisted fibers the representative said. It looked beautiful when it was first installed but in about six months the well-traveled areas started to look dull and flat and a different color than the areas that weren't well traveled. Also, our vacuum cleaner bags were just full of carpet fuzz the first three or months we had the carpet. Our representative told us this would happen and not to worry about it - that should have been my first clue to run away from Empire Carpeting.

Anyway, I decided to call Empire after about a year because so many areas were looking bad. They told me they would send somebody to check into it. When their representative came to look at the carpet I showed him how worn out some areas were. He took pictures which didn't really show much and said somebody would get back to me. We got a letter from Empire about a week later saying they wouldn't do anything about it and it was just a result of the fibers becoming untwisted. WHAT? And that's supposed to happen? They should have told me that when I ordered the carpeting - I wouldn't have ordered it. Now I'm stuck with ugly carpeting (after spending $3, 000) that I'm going to have to replace because it looks crummy in so many places. Why are companies like Empire allowed to continue operating when they sell a substandard product and won't do anyting about it? Just another case of a big company screwing the consumer.

WOW! This company is not what I thought! I would NEVER recommend them. We had Empire come out.. Next day for a free cons. The man that they had come out was RUDE, PUSHY, and unprofessional. He told the measurements of the rooms to be carpeted. I ASKED how much they cost per sq. ft. And he told me Empire dosen't charge that way. He then ran out to his car and quoted us $1, 900 (for the stuff that sells at Home Depot for 77 cents sq.ft) After my husbands jaw about dropped after the shocking price.. he asked us.. what we'd Like to pay for it. Then went down to $1, 400. Then went on to tell us we'd be foolish not to take the price. And told my husband that he basically didn't know what he was doing.. etc. We chose not to go with them.. Anway.. I just wanted to get it out there... BEWARE with EMPIRE they are over priced CONS.

My name is Raymond Delien,

I responded to the TV adds about the Empire carpet 60% off sale. We thought it was great timing because we just bought our first house and everything happened in time to take advatnage of the sale.

The sales guy comes in and brings samples and we picked which ones we wanted. He measured the rooms and then gave us a quote for 1400.00, for two rooms, 14x14 and 11x15.
I advised that the amount seemed like allot for two rooms, bur sister had a local installer (who did a great job) do her entire house with the best carpet pad that money can buy for 3000.00 and two of the rooms were carpeted with premium carpet, and if this was 60% off then the cost for these two rooms without the sale would be $2, 900.00 which is preposterous. I advised that it did not feel like 60% off. He said that we weren't taking advantage of that sale because if we did he would have to itemize everything, but since we are just taking a price from him then he didn’t have to itemize the tack strips etc, and did not have to charge us for anything extra. The guy was scribbling all over this sheet of paper that was supposidly my "quote" and I did not understand any off the costs. Also he told us that the installers are not on sale and I still had to pay full price for them. The commercial leaves that part out. I had planned on having someone else come out and give me another quote anyway so I accepted his offer. He advised that the 50.00 deposit that I gave was fully refundable.

After speaking with some other people who have recently had carpet installed, I decided not to do the instalation. I called back to cancel the order, and was told that I needed to have my order number to cancel it. I did not have that with me and therefore I could not cancel. I adivsed that I would call later to cancel. Even though the customer service rep that I spoke with did not ask why I was canceling, I volunteered the information. I advised that the sales guy was all over the place with the numbers, and the cost did not make sense to me, that his measurements seemed high, and I did not feel comfortable with the fast paced measure/quote process. The customer service rep simply said "well call back when you have an order number and you can cancel". No apologies were offered, and no attempt was made to retain my business.

We had the same local installer who did our sisters carpet come out and give us a quote, the quote was for 800.00. We picked the same carpet and a premium pad. The only downside is that we have to wait a week for the installation. But because we will already be moved into the property by then he said he will move all of our furniture for free to make up for it.

I shouldve read these complaints before I wasted two hours that I cant get back. The rep showd up on and it went down hill from there. Trying to goet pricing information was the worst. She insisted she measure before she would give me a quote. There was no pricing on the materials, so didn't know if you could even afford what they had to sell. She criticized every other company's product and if you didn't know better, you would swear Empire Today had found THE CURE FOR CANCER. We just picked a couple of pieces we liked just to get a price and when the price came..OMG! it was $26K! Are you kidding me? Then she did the typical 10% off for Orlando residents, blah blah blah. The final price was somewhere in the neighborhood of $13K. We sent her packing! Good ridence to this terrible rip off of a company.