Empire Today
Reviews and Complaints

Empire today installation 9/21/06 diane graham home elgin, illinois

Agreement was signed by salesman jake ryan and diane graham on 9/20/06 for a hardwood floor to be installed at 1029 polly ct. Elgin, illinois on 9/20/06.
The family room, hallway and master bedroom was to have carpet removed and hardwood installed for the total charge of $6656.00. Jake ryan also gave an estimate of
$2300.00 for the living room and dining room floors to be done at a later date. The special financing was no interest no payments until 1/01/08. Diane graham advised salesman
Jake ryan that there may be tile and carpet under the existing carpet to be removed. He explained that after determination by the installers, there may be an extra charge for underlayment.

On 9/21/06 the installers arrived late and with the wrong trim and no underlayment. Upon further inspection during the removal of the old carpet, it was determined
That underlayment was needed. Denise dering, diane graham's partner was on site for the installation and was constantly on the phone with both jake ryan and also
Tom joy, the installation manager, at installer bob's request. It was determined that we would be charged extra for the underlayment, which we agreed to. Not only
Did we agree to the extra charge, but we had to drive to home depot with the installers following us so they could get the underlayment and the right trim, which was
Brought to the home.

On the first day of installation, most of the morning and afternoon hours were spent with installer bob on the phone with tom joy to determine how to proceed without proper
Underlayment and wrong trim. The workers that accompanied bob were removing old carpet and tile while bob was on the phone. Floor underlayment was started on 9/21/06
And wood floor inspection found that the wood flooring delivered to the home was wrong. Bob was again on the phone with tom joy until the installers left for the day. We were promised
The floor would be installed in one to two more days.

The second day, 9/22/08, the installers started on floor installation after a delay having a different floor delivered to the home. The installers proceeded to install the floor on the
Second day and asked to come back a third day to finish some minor details. After having finished up the third day and moving furniture back in place, we were to call if there
Were any problems with the floor.

Upon inspection of the floor while down on hands and knees cleaning the floor, we noticed several areas where there were large gaps between boards and also some boards were scratched
And chipped. We called empire about these areas and the same installers came out with saws and flooring and removed the areas and replaced them at several intervals in that first year. Installers never tried to fix the gaps in the floor, stating that was the best they could do. Every time we called empire about a problem with the floor, we documented the calls and the results. Dee brown in customer service was most helpful.

Upon further inspection after several attempts to rectify the problems with the floor, tom joy, the installation manager, visited the home in june of 2007. He told us that an inspector from
Shaw flooring would be out to look at the floor to determine if the floor had quality control issues or the fault was with the installers. That day in june 2007 tom joy reassured us that he would be
The last person we had to talk to about this matter.

Tom joy was in contact with us about having a representative from shaw floors come out, but that never happened. Tom was frustrated as were we. After several calls to customer service and
Tom joy, we finally had an inspector come out in the fall of 2007, but he was an independent inspector, not from shaw. He took several photos with a magnifying glass, took samples of the floor
That were left behind by the installers, and said we would be contacted by empire about the determination. After several attempts to call empire: dee brown in customer service and tom joy, we
Were told that the inspector's report determined that we were to get a replacement floor due to both the installation and the product. This, after several months of calls to empire was determined at the end of 2007. Almost one year to the dateof the original floor installation.

At that point, we were called by someone from empire asking how we liked our new floor. Of course, we had no new floor. The communication throughout all of this has been so horribly poor between
Customer service, the installers, the sales department, tom joy and his management who never returned our calls that we are so disappointed about what could have been a great experience.

After it was determined that we were to get a new floor, tom joy said we were to get a call from his manager. He said they would replace the floor and we could re-start the financing without any problem.
We never heard from his manager, nor did we get any information about when we were to get out floor replaced. After exhausting several more months of no action by empire's part, we were
Also questioning the financing and asking for a deduction. After all, we had intended to get the living room and dining room done at a later date. With all of these problems caused by empire we
Were having serious doubts about the integrity of the company.

In the months that followed the promise from tom joy that he would be the last person we would have to talk to about this matter became a joke. He asked us to call his manager, we got no return calls from him.
We were then contacted by another gentleman from empire, who forwarded us to troy pringle. Mr. Pringle has taken our calls and called us back on a few occasions, but mostly we are playing phone tag,
Leaving messages. He has told us that we will have a new floor installed and was to make sure that would happen last fall of 2007 after originally being contacted by tom joy. Mr. Pringle also stated the floor would be discounted and the financing restarted along with an inspector on site during the floor replacement. This conversation took place in the first week of december 2007 and still nothing has been done. Delays in this matter have been further problematic by the fact that we now are being charged interest on the floor and this is ruining our credit. We were promised this matter would be rectified by the end of 2007 because the 0% financing was to end on 01/01/08 ansd we would have the new floor installed and also the financing re-started by then. None of what we were promised has happened.

We are so disappointed by the outcome in this matter and have tried to be patient and understanding about empire's role in getting this matter resolved. Not oly has our patience run out in getting this matter
Resolved, but now the credit we have worked so hard to keep in good standing is now in jepardy because we had trusted empire to take care of this matter as we were promised. Ge card services has called
On the phone with threatening messages and we have exhausted all avenues to reslolve this matter with empire. Promises were not kept, floors were not replaced, and we are now in a battle not only with
Empire but with ge card services. All we wanted was a new floor. We have had new windows replaced in the time since the floors were replaced and have paid in full due to the satisfaction of the product and
Of the professional installers and customer service. We were willing to be patient and reasonable, but after 18 months of this problem not being resolved, enough is enough.

We have been in contact with the better business bureau, our legal representative, empire and ge card services and want this matter resolved without any further time or effort on our part. 18 months since the
Floor was ordered, we still have no resolution. We have been patient and understanding and tried to resolve this matter. We feel empire must rectify this situation as soon as possible. Promises by empire in the past
18 months have not been fullfilled and we feel that we have every right to be very disappointed with the lack of integrity shown by empire. We must hear from empire as soon as possible to rectify this situation.
We have been advised by our legal representative to try to resolve this matter without a lawsuit. At this time we are running out of patience and time

Do yourself a favor don't believe you are getting a deal with empire carpet, even if it is 50% off, you will be paying for lies and problems, namely; carpet that comes apart from the wall, rips apart from the seams, and disintergrates under foot.
Google: "complaints against empire carpet" you will get plenty of information to read and think about it long and hard before you sign with empire. Empire today's own personal web-site is bogus, think smart, they're not going to tell you the truth there either.
People who have settled with them have to sign a no-disclosure contract so their scam cannot be readily uncovered.
They sub-contract everything, salesmen, installers, carpet manufactures. Be warned. Sorry if you are reading this too late as not to get burned, all you can do then is try and warn others.

In December 2007 Empire's installers spilled a small can of stain which ruined some trim boards and splattered on a stone front bar. I have left several messages for a Donna (no last name known) x3169 to no avail. I have emailed pictures of the damage, faxed receipts for proof of cost of products damaged and as of 2/29/08 still do not have this rectified. I was not able to stay for the installation and my wife was not aware this was done by the installers as they did not report spilling the stain to us.

I booked an appointment on line and the Sales Associate arrived on time to measure my entire house which needed new carpeting. She even measured some areas twice to make sure of the footage, as we had the original specs on our home from 1996. She made two diagrams, one for the upstairs and one for the downstairs and then gave us two different prices for two different quality of rug. Since we were putting the house up for sale, we went for the lower estimate and signed a contract along with giving a deposit. This was 2/9/08. We were to have the rugs installed on 2/22/08. Five days after our contract we received a telphone call on our answering machine to contact the Sales Associate which my wife did. She left her a message that we would be home after 6 PM and she could call back. The next day she called our home again left another message, which my wife returned and said we would be home all weekend to discuss whatever was concerning her regarding our contract. Instead of using the alternate number which is my cell phone she proceeded to call again on 2/18/08 at our home, knowing that we both work. She finally got my wife at 5:30 PM at home on Monday the 18th and proceeded to explain that she mismeasured and that the cost would now be $1,800 more than the contract. My wife told her that I would call her back but not to expect that I would go for a higher price since the contract was firm. I proceeded to speak with six other supervisors, regional managers and even the office of the president, but the woman at that office would not give me the president's name - she didn't know it. After Empire trying t0 tell me for $1,000 more they would complete the job, I said I wanted them to honor their contract, I was told that on the back of the contract it states that Empire has 30 days to cancel a contract due to delays, shortage of material or incorrect pricing. So convenient this would be on the back of the contract and not on the front. The consumer gets a 3 day cancellation option, but Empire gets 30 days. What is wrong with this picture? Empire has sent a certified letter cancelling the contract and return of our deposit. But now I must try to cancel their credit card and get it off my credit report because the Sales Associate I know didn't measure incorrectly but most likely gave us the wrong price. But twice - for two different grade of rugs. This sounds very suspicious to me. I have sent letters to the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General's Office of North Carolina who my wife deals with at her job so the higher ups are familiar to her. I want everyone to know to steer clear of dealing with Empire Today, you most likely will get a better deal with your local merchants who will most likely be more honest with you.

I had carpet put down about 6months ago, it started sheading, I call them and told them, it is in such bad condition that I riped it up and threw it out.

Contracted Empire Today 588-2300 to replace a kitchen floor and was approved through there financing for $1607.00, with a 0 percent interest for 12 months.

I never was late with a payment and was never charged any interests until the 12 months were up in JAN 2008. I now owe a balance of only $400.00 I was never told that I would be charged an astronomical $$ amount of interest on the whole loan which was $1607.00.

The interest was only to be on the balance due, and I was never verbally told the true circumstances of this agreement. If I were informed correctly, I would have paid it off much sooner!

I am very disappointed to find that Empire Carpets would deal with such a financing company that would do this to there loyal customers.

So, my balance of $400.00 is now $846.00 which is an interst charge of $346.00 based on the original loan amount . I will dispute this with the company and request for immediate assistance in this matter.

Disgusted!

I need new carpet for my home as I'm trying to sell it. I called Empire to try to get the cheapest deal possible because of an advertised 50% off sale. When Steve, the Empire sales rep came out, he measured my place, and the cheapest carpet that he'd show us was $4000 for the job. Since I only wanted to pay about half that, I was fine with it - but, Steve told my fiancee and I that the 50% off deal didn't apply to the quality that we chose. What the heck did that mean?!?

INSTEAD - Steve, because he "liked us" and thought we were a nice couple, was going to "break the rules a bit" and he'd buy the carpet for us through his 35% employee discount, which, he'd take 10% for himself, and pass 25% savings on to us, so, we were down to about 3200 dollars now. I told him that every other place quoted us about 2000, including Home Depot. He then pulled out a typewritten sheet that he made up himself about Home Depot, about all of their "hidden" charges. (all lies, we later found out, as we went to Home Depot to check.) I asked him for a card, in case we changed our minds, and he refused to give us any identifying information, and wouldn't leave the estimate with us either.

I was SO angry at the treatment, (and glad I read this stuff here) that I felt compelled to write. Steve obviously works on commission, but was so bad at it, (his cell phone kept ringing too, as if he was trying to seem self important) that I felt compelled to write here.

Do your research and don't be intimidated by your empire salesman! Thankfully, becuase I did, I didn't waste a LOT of money!

If you have flooring needs, I plead that you never do business with empire today. Their prices are ridiculous and the sales staff are a bunch of unprofessional con artists. Trust me, it starts from the top down. They are sweey and nice once in your home but immediately become terse the moment you hint at not buying. Who, in reality, needs their floors done the next day? The only reason why they favor providing "next-day installations" is because once it's installed, it's yours. You cannot back out! You signed an official contract and now you owe! Beware, people! Any questions, feel free to email me.

Mp.

Empure Carpet came to our home and measured the carpet. We purchased the carpet after the salesman reasurred us repeatedly that they move furniture and boxes and the warranty covers pet stains( we have a puppy). Empire arrived and their crew (two people) said they do not move furniture and carpet and pet stains are not covered. They left the job saying they were going to cancel the job leaving exposed tack strip all over the steps. It was disgraceful and harmful to my family. Our house was a mess and left disheveled while we ordered new carpet from another company and had to wait over two weeks to get the carpet. Empire claims their salepeople don't work for them and are independent contractors. Beware. In my opinion, this company is running a huge scam.

When I decided to get laminate flooring from empire carpet in 2003, three different salesmen from that company came to my home and gave me three different prices on the same living room floor for the same product. I ended up having to hire an attorney for over $2,500.00, which I'm still paying off the loan for the attorney, and I ended up having to still pay the switch and bait price for the laminate floor even though the attorney charged Empire carpet with 21 counts of not being fair. The floor was supposed to cost me $1100.00. The final charge was $2600.00. I ended up paying $1300.00, plus the attorney fees.

They attorney didn't want to pursue the case and the case was dismissed. The attorney told me I had won my case, but I felt like I 'd gotten the bad end of the stick, because three different salesmen from Empire carpet came into my home and lied to me about the price of the job for the lainmate floor.

Because of Empire carpet, I'll Never trust salesmen in my home, ever AGAIN. Empire carpet has no RESPECT for the consumers or WOMEN that are head of their household. Thank you Empire carpet for teaching me never to trust home products salesmen in my home ever again.

i had empire today install new carpet a few months back. the salesman measured the rooms and claimed i needed 160 yards of carpet. at a price of over $6000.00 .After feeling i got ripped off i checked the installers receipt and discovered they only installed 120 yards of carpet. after a few days of runaround the empire today salesman admitted the mistake and refunded me the overcharge. since then i have had carpet put in other parts of the house by other companies and they could have done the job empire today did for 2500.00 less. if you already used empire today check your work orders and look for any measument"mistakes" .i'm sure the salseman work on commission

I had flooring from Empire installed in my house in October 2005. Biggest mistake of my life.

The first day they were there, not only did Empire not finish the job, but they tried to get my contractor and his employees who were there installing a new ceiling, to help them carry their materials upstairs and asked them to finish the job, rehang closet doors and put down the trim. Empire also did not dispose of the old carpeting as we had agreed.

I had my contractor dispose of the carpeting and when I called Empire to complain, I received a credit for that and they said they would send someone out the following day to finish the job that I was paying them to do. Big mistake once again. One of the 2 Empire installers used my bathroom w/o asking and backed up the toilet. I was sitting downstairs doing some work on the computer and water started pouring through the ceiling lights and the brand new ceiling that had just been installed a few days before. I ran upstairs and opened the bathroom door to find the woman trying to sop up the water with towels. She didn't call for help. She didn't turn off the water. Nothing. When I asked what happened, she said the tank started overflowing. This is virtually impossible and the plumber I called that day confirmed for me that there was nothing wrong with my toilet. Also, the other Empire installer she was working with claimed to be a plumber and gave me his number to call to come back and fix it. I was in shock to say the least.

Anyway, I spent about a year trying to get in touch with someone at Empire who could help m. Every time I spoke with customer Service I was transferred to someone's voicemail and never got a call back. When I finally did get in touch with someone who was helpful in the NJ installation office, she put me in touch with someone who could help, Sam, also located in the south Jersey installation office. After speaking with him several times, he told me he was going to contact the installers insurance company to resolve this matter. To the best of my knowledge this was never done. I have tried since to reach Sam and he has not returned my calls.

DO NOT USE EMPIRE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! I also found out later that Empire caused substantial damage to my neighbor's new drywall when carpeting was installed on her stairs.

I purchased Empire Floors for hardwood and carpet for my home.

After initial problems, (like the lead person talking on his cell phone all day about how there was a warrant out for his arrest), the hardwood floor was installed. It seemed fine. Then four months after the installation, the nightmare began. A toilet in the house malfunctioned and flooded most of the upstairs area and the hardwood floors had to be removed. Well...the hardwood floors was glued directly to the subfloor (Plywood) without any underpayment. Of course the hardwood floor would not come off easily and so the subfloor has to be removed where big pieces of the subflooring broke away.

What could have been an easy replace has been a construction issue and one that has to be figured out how best to replace the subflooring so the house does not become structurally weak and fall down!

On 9/13/07, a Empire sale rep visited my newly purchased home in an effort to offer a free estimate in the hopes of possibly making a purchase. The rep, upon entering the home presented body language as if he knew he would not make a sale that day. And, why waste my time. I do believe he came to this conclusion based on the neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY. ALSO, i FIRST TOLD HIM I WAS A RENTER. We began discussing what my needs were. He immediately told me, "we only have one type of wood-and it is the highest price", he went on further to say"laminate or carpet may be better as it is the least expensive". I questioned how much would the hard wood floor... cost. He then took i guess what was a measurement that arrived at 80sq. ft., and quoted a price at over $2500. He then went on to say well the traffic, and who would be walking on a daily basis-along with looking and judging my weight(180)might not be such a good purchase. At no time did he offer the pay later deal as advertised. I was told that my credit would be checked at the time of estimate-he did nothing. I believe he assumed my credit would not go through, although it is 725. BASICALLY IN A NUT SHELL THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED WITH MY EXPERIENCE. SO PLEASE DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THESE PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE IN CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOODS. THEY WILL NOW OFFER THEIR FULL PROFESSIONALISM. THEY WILL JUDGE YOU BASED ON RACE AND LOCATION. THIS IS TRULY WHAT I FEEL HAPPENED IN THIS CASE. HE OFFERED HIS APOLOGIES, BUT FOR WHAT. HE COULD HAVE MADE A CASH SALE WITH THE CORRECT MEASUREMENTS...

This complaint is about a $50 service charge that Empire Today has attempted to collect from me for warranty work. While their customer service department has attempted to help and agrees that the charge was levied in error, the accounting department continues to ignore their communications, does not communicate with me, and has sent my balance to a collection agency. Empire alleges that when I called them to schedule warranty work (there is no dispute that the mini-blinds were still under warranty), they informed me that there would be a $50 service charge. I disagree. Furthermore, when the serviceman came to my home and repaired the blinds, he signed a "Certificate of Completion" that said I owed, $0.00. Lastly, I had warranty work done on the blinds a few months earlier, and the charge then was also $0.00.

I have now filed an official complaint with the New York State Consumer Protection board.

I had read of complaints about Empire, but did business with them anyway, because I was homebound for many months with sick infant twins, one on oxygen 24x7, and I needed a window covering for their room. I could not get out of the house to shop, nor could I install a product myself. In hindsight, I should have called some other shop-at-home, install-it-for-you company.

Empire installed carpet in our home two years ago. We immediately noticed an inordinate amount of shedding, so we called Empire. They said that this was normal and that it would stop after a short time. The shedding continued - fuzz balls rolled up as we walked across the carpet and the vacuum cleaner got clogged every time we used it. So, we thought, maybe this vacuum is old, we'll buy a new one. So we bought a brand new Hoover. The problem continued. The vacuum clogged and stopped working every time we used it. We would lift it up off the floor and balls of carpet fuzz would fly out. We called Empire and they sent out one of their "inspectors" who submitted a report stating that there was nothing wrong with the carpet. So we took the vacuum back (JC Penney was very cooperative - thank you, JC Penney!) and we exchanged it for a more expensive Hoover. This didn't change a thing - same problem, same clog, same carpet fuzz balls. So we think, maybe it's the Hoover brand (not so, sorry Hoover) and we bought an Oreck vacuum. No change. At this point not only have we been vacuuming, but Stanley Steamer (good company!) has cleaned the carpet twice. So we call Empire again - again they send out an "inspector" who submits a report stating that there is nothing wrong with the carpet - it's just all the pet hair on the carpet that's the problem.

The pet hair is there because I can't vacuum my carpets! Dogs have lived in this house for 20 years and we have NEVER, EVER, EVER had this problem! I have spoken to Empire and they tell me there is nothing they can do - the "inspectors" report is the "final word." They simply don't care that they have installed an inferior carpet - they got their money and that's obviously all they care about. "Customer satisfaction" my eye.