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If you are considering using Empire Today please read this and be advised that they are completely full of crap. I did not use them thanks to all of these complaint websites and after meeting them for the free estimate. Just in my brief 30 minute consulting period I knew they were full of crap. So here are the circumstances in how I got involved with them:
I was looking to put laminate wood flooring in my living room. I already had hardwood in the other rooms so I wanted to continue that look through the living room as well and get rid of the carpet. I measured it myself coming up with about 350 sq feet. However, I am not a carpenter so I figured I was probably off between 20 to 30 sq feet. So I called Empire Today to get a quote. I had honestly heard horrible things about this company but I decided a free quote couldn’t hurt anything. The guy shows up and goes on and on about how great the company is and how they don’t have one unresolved complaint from the BBB. Which if you have looked at the BBB website you can see that’s a bunch of BS. They have a laundry list of complaints from customers.
He then proceeds to measure my living room (without writing a single measurement down) and tells me it is 450 sq ft. Now, I know I am not a carpenter but I was not a hundred feet off in my measurements. SO he proceeds to sit there with his calculator and tell me with the $500.00 off coupon it would be $5900.00 for the job. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? I could renovate my whole kitchen for that. So I told him that was too much. So he makes this fake phone call to someone and they start talking in this code language and the best he can come down is to $5300.00 for buying and installing in one room. He kept pushing me to hop on the finance bandwagon with them. I just bought that house less than a year ago; I have a car loan, and a student loan. I am not going to do financing for something simple like putting a floor in one room. He also doesn’t know how credit works because he said it would increase my credit score by taking on the financing. I am an accountant and I can tell you the more you borrow the lower you score... period!
So needless to say I won’t be using them. I found a place that I can buy almost the same exact flooring for $1.49 a square ft. I also had someone else come and measure and they measured 320sq ft after writing down all of the measurements. I knew I was off a little bit in my calculation but not 100 sp feet like the dude from Empire quoted! I can get the installation and the product for about $1300.00, and I can get it done this weekend in one day. The only thing they won’t do that empire will is move my furniture. So if moving my own furniture saves me $4,000 then that’s worth it!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer's satisfaction.
Thank you for brining your concerns to the attention of Empire Today. Empire Today is dedicated to providing world-class customer service to every customer. Unfortunately, we are unable to reference your account with the name provided on this website. We would like to work with you to resolve your concerns. Please contact us at CustomerSupport@empiretoday.com for further assistance.
Thanks for the heads up. I read your report plus a few others and they sound terrible. I signed up for a free estimate this Monday, I think I might just cancel that. It's not even worth putting my Mother through the headache of dealing with a salesman (as I will be at work). Empire sounds like they really suck, too bad.
I disagree with your complaint, but forgive you your ignorance. It sounds like you are a first-time homeowner, and thus a first-time floor covering consumer. The "almost same exact" product you found for $1.49 sq. ft is a far cry from the products offered by Empire. Other than the fact that they are both laminates, they have very little in common. The laminate floors carried by Empire are of the highest quality available on the market, which is why they require a much larger investment. I fault the salesperson for not explaining those very important details in greater depth.
On a side note, the reason Empire carries a much higher quality line of products is because they assume all manufacturers warranties. Therefore, it would not be a wise business decision to offer products that will not perform. Also, very few people realize that EMPIRE TODAY IS THE ONLY SPECIALTY FLOORING RETAILER IN NORTH AMERICA THAT ASSUMES ALL MANUFACTURERS WARRANTIES. Additionally, all service requests are resolved within 72 hours - GUARANTEED! I urge you to try to find peace of mind like that from ANY other flooring company.
On top of that, Empire Today is the ONLY flooring retailer to ever win the prestigious BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU TORCH AWARD!
Lastly, uninformed consumers have a terrible habit of comparing apples to oramges.
Thanks for your post. It's amazing to read your post -- looks like you posted it one year ago and I just had the same exact experience with Empire. They came out and quoted me a price that was about $5k more than their competitors. They did the same thing -- the bogus phone call to the office to see if they had any leftover wood from completed jobs. They then offered a 20% discount. I felt like I was buying a used car. Stay away from these guys. After reading all of the complaints that are on this website I wouldn't dream of using them.
Enough is enough ... someone has to put a stop to Empire-Today's madness.
Everything written here is true.
Empire-Today sells low quality carpet for upper range pricing.
Empire-Today uses very low criteria for hiring installers.
Empire-Today's Sales Reps will tell their customers virtually anything to get a sale.
Empire-Today's Sales Reps are not employees, they are independent corporations. The result is that Empire-Today isn't legally liable for any promise that a rep makes to a customer. Also, once incorporated, the rep has very little liability either, that's why they are required to be corporations.
Empire-Today's Sales Reps are paid a sliding scale commission. They make very little commission on each sale, unless they are able to get the customer to pay 30-50% more than they would typically pay elsewhere for carpeting of comparable quality. In that case, they make a very high commission.
Empire-Today's NEXT-DAY installation is designed to get the flooring installed as quickly as possible. That way they keep the customer from going to a competitor and discovering how over-priced they are.
Empire-Today's 50-60% sales are only on 2 styles of carpeting, both of which will be priced higher on sale than anywhere else at retail.
Empire-Today's Sales Reps will tell a prospect various stories about what's on sale and what's not on sale, depending on how they think they can manipulate the customer.
Empire-Today prays on people who would rather stay at home than go shopping themselves.
Empire-Today's warranties are written so that they are virtually non-enforceable. Read them carefully and you will see for yourself.
Empire-Today monitors all these sites and will do anything possible to remove responses like mine.
Come on people ... use your heads. Shop somewhere reputable ! ! !
Good luck
Its simple to measure and figure out how much a person needs for flooring.
Its confusing to think that a flooring installer would not calculate at least with a calculator and a pen/paper pad.
None the less you take the Width X Length in Feet and add 10%
They measure 320SF so 10%+ would work out to be 352SF and since flooring is sold per case and on average of 20SF per case
that makes 352SF / 20SF = 17.6 Cases (cheaper laminate is around 20bucks a case - the better stuff is around 50bucks)
18cases @ 50 bucks = $900 realistic
their should be no shady business when it comes to flooring ESPCIALLY when it comes to laminate LOL.
Actually, I found a place for laminate floor for 99 CENT SQ F! The warranty is for 50 years!
That is amazing, imagine all I can save. They installed it, they saud the installation is going to be around 500 bucks for 300 sg of my kitchen. Well, the store installed it in 10 days, it cost me 99 cents plus tax, but the installers charged me around 900 buck, the store said they dont have nothing to do whith installations prices, so I just paid it. The installation was fine, but, this store made me signed the 50 years warranty, and for my surprise, they said that once the floor is installed, the warranty is VOID! what in earht is that! A few months later, the laminate started to bend upwards, I called the store and I was told someone will be going to my hose in the next week. They indeed came the next, next, next week (three weeks later) and said that the laminate I purchased is very low quality and if I want it to last longer I should purchase new flooring! That is outrageous! Next thing is that they will charge me 500 bucks to fix just a few laminates that are bending!
I had an estimate for empire today, but i learned from this blog that empire is a ripoff and that is not woth it, so I went to another store suggested in this blog, then all started to go wrong...
I learned my lesson, I should bought it from empire today in the first place, since they offered me an extraordinary flooring with written warranty and one year installation warranty. That is peace of mind. Next time, I will not be cheap as some people in this blog, shame for me, shame for you...
Can anybody suggest a competent competior? I just cancealed my appainment with this Emipre -Ripp-Off-Today?
You're so way off, it's not even funny, because when you write a complaint like this you cause undeserved damage. Genius, the salesman was figuring in overage. Do you know what overage is? You see, you have to bring more than your actual square feet. So, even if you have 320 feet, you may have to be charged for for over 400 feet because laminate comes boxed, and you can't buy half a box. AND, installers will have about 10% waste. So, you have overage, and you have the fact that the item comes so many feet per box which may mean you will need to commit to considerably more feet. You said you could get laminate for $1.49 per foot. [censored]. I have been in this business for over ten years, and that's a bold face lie. You may get laminate for $1.49, but try getting it installed for that. If you found a guy that could install for that cheap you could make a fortune with that company. DECENT LAMINATE starts at $3.49 a foot, for DECENT. Yes, there is plenty of garbage out there that will look like crap in two years. You can literally feel boards moving when you walk on cheap laminate, and the look is horrible. Cheap laminate can weigh up to one quarter of higher quality laminate! That's hugely significant. Empire Today happens to carry Quik-Step which is one of the top rated products in the market. In fact, Empire is one of the only companies that can install immediately, so there is a service added value as well. Lots of people use Empire with excellent results. The real problem I see here, are people who have something against salesmen. You can feel it in your letters that you have a predisposed disgust for these people who have to deal with a holes like you all day, and drive around the city day and night to make a buck, dealing with your indecision, your prejudice for salesmen, and overall general naivete about the concept of profit. I see words like "he started with the scmooze asking to pet my dog", etc. I guess there's something wrong with trying to be nice. Maybe, he should just walk in and have no personality at all. Then, I'm sure you would complain about the salesman not being friendly. I've worked in the business for a long time, and I have found the general American populace to be rude, completely benign to the concept of profit, and always looking for the cheapest way out. I am amzed as to why a lot of people even bother to have a salesperson over their house if they hate them so much, or even won't lend a little faith. If you do something for the first time, like install carpet, act on what feels right, and you just have to hope that the company you select comes through. If they do a fantastic job, tell your friends about them, and use them over and over again. That's what it's all about. Building relationships. So, next time you want to whine, and gripe about salesmen, as if they are the problem in society, think twice about what that person is up against. A corporation that puts unrealistic demands on them, as far as sales volume and closing percentage. As far as the fake phone call, you couldn't be more wrong. On many ocasions a salesperson will go to bat for you to stretch a discount to the point where he will cover his ### to get an approval for a certain price point, so that he doesn't get charged back. If you only knew just how tough it is to be a salesperson for home improvement, you'd stop acting all high and mighty about yourself. These people drive upwards of 100-200 miles daily to serve your indecisive ###, and have to put on a show 3-6 times a day. NOT EASY.
dont be bitter that you work for a pyramid company skreenjfactor
I find it interesting that Empire actually has the time to rebuke these complaints by totally demeaning and calling "possible" customers ignorant and such. That is reason enough for me to never do business with them. Fortunately I work from home and just scheduled an estimate, and I will not cancel. I've got all the time in the world to waste their time. I am also a very informed consumer and have done my homework. I know what the carpet I want costs and how much I'm willing to pay for labor. I've been around and involved in carpentry my whole life and just because I'm a female doesn't mean I will be walked on. If you who works for Empire today are angry that you are spending so much money on gas and commuting, possibly you should find a company to work for that will allow you to not have to work against such a tarnished reputation. Bitterness and name calling is no way to handle upset customers. It's ugly and defames your company name. If you were so proud of the company that employed you, I think you'd be kinder when using your tongue.
Wow...I just had EmpireToday out recently to extend my hardwood flooring from my kitchen into the hall and dining. First class service all the way and the price was very competitive. By competitive, I mean competitive with higher quality flooring companies within my local market. The fact they honor all manufacturer warranties was a big plus too. The sales and installation team were so good I'm having them back out to quote my foyer.
I'm amazed how people will cancel an appointment because of what they read on the internet and then turn around and post a request on who else they should call? If you haven't done this amount of research then you are truly in way over your head. ie It's common knowledge to get at LEAST 2 bids (if not more) to compare before committing to a contract. Angieslist is also a good starting place IMO.
Perhaps I'm just lucky and the sales and installation team in SE Michigan are just better than what the complainers experienced. Regardless, you're a fool to do business with anybody without due diligence. I admit it is possible to find flooring at or below wholesale for DiY jobs, but, that's hardly a reason to criticize a company. You need to compare empiretoday against the competition in your local market--not against blogs.
Wish my wife and I had seen all the bad comments on this company before we agreed to spend 5K on hardwood flooring that Empire rep stated would hold up to scratches from our 43lbs boxer. According to rep, the wood we got was Empires best and would be great for us having a dog. And it was Empire's biggest seller.Within an hour after installation our floor had a few scratches. within 2 weeks 100's. Floor was installed mid Jan 2011. Still today, we are getting the runaround from Empire. They are not willing to do anything but replace a few boards. Which is only a short term fix and they are not willing to take responsibilty for their sales reps deseptive sales tactics. Picture that is attached is from Jan 18th. 2 days after instsllation. Imagine over a 100 or more of these that are all over our new hardwood flooring.
My rep. was worse, he told me financing wasn't available to residential buildings simply because I could be evicted tomorrow or my building could burn down. The rep. wanted $1400 to install carpeting in one room and told me he really didn't want to come back and within five minutes was ready to leave. Upon contacting Empire the agent told me financing was available and with my discount the installation would have been less and said they could have the rep. come back but I said no because this man was a racist. I've never encountered racism before but this rep. made several comments which I felt were uncalled for considering I'm the customer and truly believe respect goes both ways. Someone else probably would have confronted this rep. but I chose to inform the company instead. Personally after this experience I don't plan on doing business with empire again. I will say this though Empire did apologize for their rep. behavior but in 2011 it's shocking to see stupidity like this still exist.
I have used Empire for 10 years, all this Hulla boo about inferior service. overcharge, overcharge. There is one simple fact everyone overlooks. I they are so bad, .How is it that they are so sucessful, Based on vast amount of jobs that are installed . The paltry amount of complaints are really very low compared to other companies that do 5% of the business we do. Sure you can go to a store and buy carpet and laminate at cheap prices, and hire a contractor to install. Big mistake, when something goes wrong. Bingo trouble starts. Try and find out who is going to replace the floor installer or Manufacturer. Neither one, will they blame each other. REMEMBER THIS-- EMPIRE TAKES ALL THE RISKS THEY SEND THEIR INSPECTOR OUT, THEY DEAL WITH THE MANUFACTURER. I know because I had it done. My whole family uses Empire for 10 years, sure we have had some problems, However every one of them was resolved. As far as Sales Reps are concerned, there are good and bad in every form of life. So Suck it up
I could not sleep after signing up with Empire Today I felt I was buying a used car. The salesman did a pretend measuring and then did a few numbers on a piece of paper then came up over $12.000. I reluctantly agreed because I was anxious to get flooring done before moving in. I have since canceled the order. They did try to negotiate the price but by then I realized that this was not a reputable company. I have since used a local company and Empire over charged me $5000 for I am sure would have been poor workmanship. Do yourself a favor do not use this COMPANY You would be surprised how reasonable and efficient your smaller local company can be.
I am currently looking to sell my townhouse and need to recarpet the entire place. Empire has an advertisement that if you pay full price for 2 rooms to be carpeted, they will carpet the remainder of the house. I am curious if anyone has any advice on whether I should engage with them or stay away completely...Please any response would be helpful. Thanks.
I met with one of their sales people for a quote on some window treatments. He gave me his quotes during my first (and last) visit. His first quote was $22, 000! Then he made the phone call to his manager (he probably called for the weather forecast!). His "manager" was in a "good mood" so the quote went down to "only" $15, 000. By the time he left the quote was down to around $11, 000. The next day I had another local firm over and their quote was for $4, 400! Needless to say they were selected and did a fantastic job for a fraction of the cost of Empire. What a bunch of thieves!
Will we just had empire today over for a quote for hardwood flooring LOL what a joke I will told on Friday that empire had a sale this week the $99.00 per room deal, ok so it's time to get the price $31, 000.00 what a joke this lady was I told he to leave and to leave my home now she was like way sir I said you would have been my 4th quote in the. Past week the hi price was $12399 low was 9790 and that was with the wood run run as fast as you can fom empire don't even call them
you would have to be a complete idiot to go with empire today
only an idiot would use this company.
Rude and pushy is an understatement for Sales Reps at Empire Today. This group takes the cake for the misleading commercials. Buy this much carpet and get the rest free is a crock of bull. First of all lets start off with the salesmen . I called for a price on laminate wood flooring throughout my house fam room, living room entry way, hallway, laundry room and kitchen., by the end of our conversation he had me talked into carpet for my 4 bedrooms that i did not even plan on remodeling yet. This man would not leave my house and firmly suggested i put it on order now. I told him i wouldn't be doing the bedrooms til i completed the rest of the house but he insisted to put the carpet on hold until i need it. He said lets just hold it and i need 10% down, if you change your mind i will send you your down payment back. My mistake, i felt pressured and signed his 10 page contract that he presented as "sign here sign there" and i asked him what im signing he stated just asking us to have the carpet when you need it. So after he left i thought what did you just do, did this man just make me feel obligated and intimidated, i had just pulled up carpet and had it removed i didn't want carpet . When he priced me for the laminate floor i about fell over with unbelief, 10, 000 he priced me so wow the installers must make bank. I said no that's too much then things got nasty and he said he didn't come to my house for nothing he came for a sale. So i hand the man 50 dollars for 5000 dollars of carpet for my bedrooms that weren't even in my project at the time. anyways im looking over the contract that binds me to put a lien on my house if i fail to buy this carpet "pay in full and have it installed" within 3 weeks. Fortunately, California has a 3 day cool off period...yes i cancelled, the very next day. So its 2 weeks later he calls me and says hi did you cancel your order, i said yes, i wont have the rest of the 5000 in 3 weeks, due to remodeling my original project and he tried lowering the price to 4000 i said no its just not going to happen next week, and lo and behold he said to hell with you and hung up! while i was in the middle of a sentence asking about my 50 dollar refund. I am appalled and at the loss of words for this man. well all that's over, if i get my refund i do if not a lesson is learned, NEVER EVER CALL EMPIRE TODAY AGAIN EVER! I ended up with lam flooring new bathroom vanities, upgraded kitchen cabinets, tile for 3 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms carpeted for 12, 300.
unbelievable my entire house has been remodeled and with empire i would have only got the bedrooms and wood flooring and it still would have cost 3000 more than what i paid with all the upgrades and remodels for each room. They are False advertisement and misleading. unprofessional, selfish, inconsiderate, lousy, rude, expensive but cheap company.