Empire Today
Reviews and Complaints

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.

Thank you for brining your concerns to the attention of Empire. We are 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.

David, c'mon, get real, pal. You know how crappy traffic can be as well as what a pain in the ### some customers can be which is probably why your salesman was running late. I'll talk to him and see if we can give you and your wife (I'll take care of you wife) a little bonus.

Sincerely,
Mr. Empire

Thank you for brining your concerns to the attention of Empire. We are dedicated to providing world-class customer service to every customer. We are currently looking into the concerns mentioned in your post. We will contact you within the next three business days. Please feel free to contact us at CustomerSupport@empiretoday.com for further assistance.

Thank you for brining your concerns to the attention of Empire. We are dedicated to providing world-class customer service to every customer. We are currently looking into the concerns mentioned in your post. We will contact you within the next three business days. Please feel free to contact us at CustomerSupport@empiretoday.com for further assistance.

Thank you for brining your concerns to the attention of Empire. We are dedicated to providing world-class customer service to every customer. We are currently looking into the concerns mentioned in your post. We will contact you within the next three business days. Please feel free to contact us at CustomerSupport@empiretoday.com for further assistance.

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, the rep has no 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

Thank you for brining your concerns to the attention of Empire. We are 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.

I work at a retailer that sells flooring, i can say from experience that all the money issues should have been delt with prior to the installer's coming over as this seems to be the brunt of the drama.

Laminate will scratch yes but not easily, even the cheap stuff will not scratch easily, you have to keep in mind that pets with claws not trimmed will not scratch laminate.

I see you mentioned that the installer said that it will scratch if you move furniture across it, all you simply have to do is get some felt pads or pads that go on the bottom of furniture, you can buy them at home depot, PROBLEM SOLVED LOL.

It sounds like he said that just to irk you, dont be irk'd your flooring is fine.

Im sorry to hear that you got poor customer service, youll probably be better off next time if you use your local home depot or "lowes".

I recently hired Empire Today for carpet and laminate flooring for my home. What a mistake. The mintue the installer hit the driveway he demanded his money up front. I explained that my Fiance would bring it home on his lunch hour, half being paid in check and half in cash. They don't except personal checks so he had to call his office for approval before starting the job. He got approval and started installing the laminate. The carpet installers showed up two hours later and they wanted their money for the carpet installation. I explained how I intended to pay and the previous approval recieved from the laminate installer and noticed that they were just hanging around and not doing much. The carpet installer said that their policy with Empire was that the carpet was paid on one invoice and the laminate paid on another invoice. I told him I hired Empire one company, one payment. My Fiance came home and left me the money and went back to work. Shortly after the laminate installer comes in and tells me that he is going to finish the hallway and he is walking off the job. I was stunned, he never had discussed the payment other then the early morning and had he came to me after lunch I would have given him the money and so on, after a heated discussion the laminate installer refused to deal with me, payment was counted and processed with the carpet installer who didn't want to hold the money and gave it back to me. Prior to all this I was told by the laminate floor installer that my flooring was not all that it was suppose to be according to my sales rep, that the flooring will scratch by simply sliding a piece of furniture over it. The entire experience was a nightmare. Go through Lowes or someone that has a great product, sales team and so on. Empire Today Sucks!

Hi my name Bradd I just went through your training in San Francisco it was 2 weeks . The trainer was from LA area Jonnie, She said that she was there because the union city trainer needed help. It was very disorganize because she did not have the proper training material. I just figured she was from out of town. Your recruiter was Jennifer Hansen and said that I could do this part time your ad says I can do this part time with flexible hours. Since I have a medical issues I thought it would be a good fit. After the 2 week training we have the SF Trainer for 1 day he gave a test and was mostly rude. Ross was his name. We went to p/u samples at the office and was told this is not a part time job but mon- sat 9-7 . Also i did not get any carpet padding or vinly cut out and lamanit . I work with some property mgr company that would have like to see some of that and window treatments. and they did like the next day install . Base on my experience with your mgr at union city I will not recmand them to you. Maybe you should give them a better training on how handle part time .We had the Dm walk right passed us without saying a hello even. I tried to talk to Wille our mgr about my situation. He said that empire throws as many people against the wall and see what ### sticks as in people . I see why your nps score is so low in this market . the mgr are very unprof and rude to their contractors . I thought you should know to protect your image . You can call me at707 586 1433 if you care. I just got back from dropping off my supplies And to be fair I brought the corporate ad that say that you welcome part time contractors. Ross told me thats not true only full time and didn't seem to care about what the ad said.
THANK YOU Bradd Shattuck

The president of Empire-Today is Mr. Steve Silvers; he can be reached through their corporate offices in Northlake, Il. The actual owner of Empire-Today is Mr. David Elenowitz. He can be reached directly through his office at Mercury Capital, L.P., 153 E 53rd St. 49th floor, New York, NY 10022. His phone is [protected]. I hope this helps you. If so, pass it on.

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...

I am presently going thru the same thing. The interest hit my account in Jan. of this year, $2500.00 and now I am making monthly payments and not getting anywhere with the balance. Even called GE Money and they were not helpful at all. I will never ever suggest anyone to use Empire Carpets Today or Ge money.

I am presently going thru the same situation. I don't argue the fee( interest come due@years end) BUT, I feel the amount of credit extended ($6000 as opposed to $7500) to me should have been enough to cover the finance charge if the bill was to come full circle after one year. Now GE wants to charge me $39 a mo. until The balance is paid down under $6000. That could take me on a monthly basis app. one whole year of regular payments, plus overlimit fees. (Extra $480) No exceptions, no waving of fee, no credit extension; not to mention having my credit report reflecting possible late fees, & constant overlimit notations.

Thank you for brining your concerns to the attention of Empire. We are 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.

Hey man,

I hate to inform you, but this is not a a scam. This is something that is clearly disclosed in the documentation you signed or otherwise agreed to.

Yes, The salesman who's paid only comission for every sale didn't say, Oh and BTW, while I have you interested and ready to pay for this right out let me warn you that after 12 months, you will have to pay the entire loans' balance of interest if it's not paid in 12 months". That's not something he's paid to do, he's there to sell you a rug and get the hell out of there. Its your job as the consumer to make sure you read everything BEFORE you sign. Only if something is not disclosed on paper, you are not liable for such charges. If you didn't read the fine print, well sucks to be you buddy. Be happy you only got charged 30% interest, I've seen them as high as 50% or more.

I've worked for a bank for years, and this type of business has been out there for quite some time. "No Payments, No Interest for 12 Months" always means, 12 months, No interest ONLY IF YOU PAY IT OFF". Yes, it's not clearly disclosed in the title of the loan application, but with anything dealing with YOUR money, you MUST read every bit of fine print before you sign.

Mind you, I fuggin hate empire carpets, their salemen are complete tards, but this is not their fault. This is your negligence.

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.

only an idiot would use this company.

you would have to be a complete idiot to go with empire today

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

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!

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 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 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

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.

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.

In all fairness, though I am aware that in sales there are dishonest sales folks, there are never the less dishonest folks in all industries.

I have sold in the, "In home" sales industry for years and I have dealt with, "Dishonest" clienst from time to time. Folks that said I said something I didn't, offered something I did not etc.

Point being, it is a two way street. I use an old principle when working with the public and it has served me well over the others and it is this:

Do under others as you would have them do unto you.

Integrity and character coupled with quality and service are a winning combination for all parties and it is how I operate.

If you have recieved less tha that I apologize for the salesman you had to deal with.

Ask for local references.

Best,
Steve

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. We are currently looking into the concerns mentioned in your post. We will contact you within the next three business days. Please feel free to contact us at CustomerSupport@empiretoday.com for further assistance.

Whenever you go anywhere and get a "One year same as cash" deal, you are always subject to compound and accrued interest at the end of the finance period. The point is that you pay your balance off before the end of the year. If you cannot do that, it does not behoove you to take advantage of their offer. It is frustrating to me that people want to blame their ignorance on the way that things work on other people. You weren't "duped" or taken advantage of. There is no fraud. Sears, Home Depot, Lowes.. all long existing reputable establishments offer the same finance terms. All of them will add the compound interest at the end of the finance period. It's just the way it works. People please educate yourselves and be your own advocate FIRST. Allowing yourself to remain ignorant to policy, and then calling "Fraud" at the end of it simply because you did not take the time to understand what you were signing up for just isn't acceptable. I have taken advantage of this financing at Sears (2x), Home Depot, and Empire Today (2x). I understood the terms, paid off the balance within the one year as I agreed to, and I have never paid one cent of interest or fees.
P.S. The Empire Today in Maryland has been phenomenal. The sales and customer service were both polite and readily available both times I used them (2008 and 2010). I wasn't sure about my own personal color choice, and they offered to take care of me. No hesitation, and no hassle. I would absolutely go with them again, and highly recommend them to my friends and family.

Also in addition to the above fraudulent pricing. DO NOT BITE ON THEIR PROMOTION - NO PAYMENT FOR ONE WHOLE YEAR... They will not mention to you that " Yes, you are not paying for one year but the interest during this time will accumulate." After their promotion date expired, BAM... your bill will all of a sudden be $500. more of what you are expecting... Their credit provider GE.. also do not have good customer relations...
BEWARE OF THIS PROMOTION!

You ask who needs NEXT DAY SERVICE. APPARENTLY YOU DID! You called them and they showed up. You didn't like the price so you complained. That's nothing new. I want to buy lots of expensive stuff in my life. When I found out I couldn't afford it, I went somewhere else. Big deal!

The product is satisfactory, but forget about service after the sale! I left two messages with customer service (where they say you will receive a call back in 24 hours). When I called again, the woman said --- oh you must have talked to your sales person. I said, no, I have two reference numbers from customer service -- do you want to hear them? She got very quiet. BUT, we did not get ANY response until my husband was able to reach the manager of custer service. The problem was that the installation did not properly fit the space and they did not care. Finally, they fixed the problem, but it took weeks.

BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE! I called Empire Today on 5/20/2008 and spoke to a representative named William. I gave them my information and scheduled my appt. I then proceeded to ask him where the company was located cause I'd never heard of them or seen stores anywhere and he became very sarcastic and said we are a national company. That means we don't have retail stores. I then asked him if the representative that would come out to the house would have samples and if I would get a final quote at the end of the visit and he said very rudely WELL YES! That is why you have an appt. I then asked him why he was annoyed by my questions. I am wanting to know about the company and how it works. Is there something wrong with that? He said I don't understand why you are asking these unecessary questions. I then told him to cancel my appointment! If they are this rude on the phone I would hate to see someone like that in my home. After hanging up I decided to look up this company and found lots of complaints from other people. I AM MOST FORTUNATE NOT HAVE DONE BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY!

I have to admit I was going to call both Empire Carpeting and National Floors Direct to replace the carpeting throughout my home, along with having laminate flooring installed by the front door and in the dining area...but after reading the complaints there is no way I will do business with either company.

I want to thank all the people who took the time out of their busy lives to write in about the truth of these two companies...I only hope the saying "wht goes around comes around" holds some truth to companies like Empire and National Floors Direct.

I'm taking my business to either Home Depot or Lowes.

I just purchased carpet from Empire-Today and verified work order. I was charged for 200 yards, but they only ordered 155 yards. Salesmen obviously knew that he was quoting us and charging us an inflated amount. They ended up needing 158 yards because the role they brought was only 150 yards, so the needed something 8 feet wide to finish the job. Either way, they're still charging over 25% more for goods and services they are not deliverying.

I will be calling customer service tomorrow to ask for credit refund of difference. wish me luck!

i live in NJ, i had and free in house estimate for carpet for my living room with 12 x 16 ft and they estimated about $1700 which includes $200 discount he told. he was not giving me the price of the carpet. he was telling me the total price including installation removing the existing carpet and disposing. the 60% discount mentioned on their website was only on 1 carpet which is worst. just before the guy came in i went to home depot and i had an estimation for the same for $550 and the carpet was far far better than the one empire today showed. i strongly suggest you guys not to prefer this F^(#!ing company. all the best...

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. We are currently looking into the concerns mentioned in your post. Please feel free to contact us at CustomerSupport@empiretoday.com for further assistance.

I am tempted to agree. On a big job, the first crew was excellent. The second down right rude and abusive. When trying to handle the situation the next day, they were willing to put off fixing the problem. The cutomer service reps appeared to be there to annoy you into giving up.I finally reached the GM after approx 8 csa's. The only reason, I reached him was because I demanded it and fought hard.

No one should fight that hard to have a customer complaint handled. It seemed to me, that once the flooring was in, we did not matter. If you can, fight for your rights. Get the BBB involved. I feel for you.

Yes, I agree that this company Empire Today has some serious problems. I started out calling them for information and a free estamate for my home and kept butting heads with some incompetent person, so I gave up. a few months later I called again hoping to get someone a little smarter who new what they were talking about, and again with no luck. I tried again a few months
again later when they had a great deal on TV (bate &switch for sure with your 60% off) Finally got ahold of someone who took my
information and scheduled me for a morning appointment with a salesman between 9-11am. Well, no one called or showed up!
So I said to myself, forget it! Stupid Company!...then around 1:36 I get a call from someone stating that the salesman is able to
stop by! What? Well, I said ok. The salesman came to the door, he claims that he rang the door bell then left. Someone called me to tell me he had just left my house. They called him back and he returned...now we are looking at around 2:45-3:00pm. The salesman talks me into some carpet, I sign a check and he leaves at 6:30pm telling me that the carpet will arive at 9am in the morning but the carpet does not show, called the office who told me there was a window as to what time they get there and that was
anywhere from 9am to 6pm...right so I canceled at 9:10am...less then 24 hours later I am cancelling. Well they cashed my large ck
on 12-8 telling me that they had to have the check clear before they return my money!...it's now the 16th of December and I still don't have my money. I have reported them to the FTC, FBI...and anyone I can complain to. Their comment is that they have been
in business for 40something years...well I have been in business longer then that and I don't treat my customers that way! Take their money for weeks...and during Christmas! I think we need to put up a billboard telling everyone how cheap they are...They most be related to the banks!

RIGHT ON, Edward Avakian (page 1). AWe had a similar experience. As I read your detailed account of Empire's modus operandi, I wondered how they continue to get away with ripping people off? It's incredible...I challenge anyone to show me a positive, complimentary report. Almost every reference to Empire on the internet is negative. You are right, Curtis (above)...they must spend a fortune on those "in your face" TV ads, featuring that animated old fool...My installers were not blind monkeys, they were wearing sheep suits...! Michael Ford

I just hate the comment from Empire Today above... Thank you for bringing your concerns to the attention of Empire Today. Customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance to Empire Today. We are currently working with you to bring this issue to a resolution. This is the same thing the told me and also have told me so many times that someone would return my phone call in 24 hours and didn't. They need to be put out. I am so disgusted with them.

I have not, and never will buy from Empire Today. If it were possible to count the TV ads during one 24 hour period, on all the cable channels we receive, I bet it would be in the hundreds. I have seen the same ad twice within 30 minutes on the same channel. Any company that advertises this much must be spending $$$$$$$$$$$ on advertising, and guess where that advertising money comes from - your right - YOU.

I would almost bet that a large percentage of the amount charged by Empire Today goes to advertising, not to a quality carpet and knowledgeable installers.

Dear Edward Avakian,

Thank you for bringing your concerns to the attention of Empire Today. Customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance to Empire Today. We are currently working with you to bring this issue to a resolution.

I had Empire install carpeting in my dining room. Less than 1 month after installation the carpet started to unravel. It was also supposed to be stain resistant indoor/outdoor carpeting and yet it retains every single spot that ever gets on it. The sales rep seemed shady and spoke very little English. The installers spoke no English at all. I was told that the room had to be completely empty on the day of installation which I never heard of. For what I was charged, they should have just come in and done it all.

Ardith,

Thanks for the post. I recently received a quote ftom Lowe's and Empire and Empire's quote was much about $800 higher. The sales guy stated that Empire's floor is better, can be installed next day, etc. He was not the sharpest tool in the shed but I overlooked that. It was not sitting comfortable with me seeing that I knew more about installation than he did. He left the house and I called him the next day to say I was interested. On this second call, he mentions that he is not sure if the vinyl flooring needs to be removed and if so, it would be extra but we won't know until the installers arrive. He has been with Empire for 20 years and just doesn't know if it will need to be removed. I looked at the floor and I can tell it needs to be removed. Once again, this leaves a bad feeling in my gut. This post has just convinced me not to go with Empire. It is disturbing when the customer knows more than the salesperson. Once again, perhaps they are good with carpet but definately not hardwood floors.

Thanks!
written 9/24/2008

Dear Ardith Lynch,

Thank you for bringing your concerns to the attention of Empire Today. Customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance to Empire Today. A member of our management team will contact you to review your order.

Bought and paid for carpet install. Installer came, tore up the carpet, said I needed to Killz the sub-floor. I did that. Said he'd be back. He never came back. I have exposed sub-floors, no carpet installed, and I already paid. I called over a dozen times to get this fixed, with no results. The reason I needed to replace it was because their old carpet frayed at the seams.

Just had carpet installed from Empire and it has been a terrible experience. The first installation crew was less than professional and only one guy spoke broken English. They damaged a heat vent by severely bending it in with their stretcher and then claimed it was like that when they got there. They tried bending it back and anyone knows bent metal cannot be returned to its original smooth finish. It will have to be replaced

The upper hallway was pieced together in three pieces which I was never told would be done. They cut the carpet around the mantel when I specifically asked that it be placed underneath it. There was a gap between the carpet and the mantel. They left a mess in the hallway and never put the furniture back as I was promised. I thought they were taking their tools out to the truck and were coming back in to move the furniture but they just left.

I had a second crew here yesterday to fix the carpet where there was a gap by the mantel. The customer service rep told me they would replace the whole strip since that is where the seam is and they would only need a strip 4' x 20' and it was from the same roll so it would match. When the crew got here they said they couldn't guarantee the color would match and that the seam may not meld well since the carpet had been in place for 3 days. I told him it really hadn't been walked on in that area and he said it didn't matter. I didn't want to take the chance that the color wouldn't match so they stretched the carpet by the mantel to eliminate the gap. The carpet does look better, however the guy took several gouges out of the oak mantel with the tool he used to tuck the carpet edges back under the trim and the mantel. I called customer service and now they need to send someone out to repair the mantel.

The second crew knew nothing about the carpet in the hallway being replaced so after talking with customer service again yesterday I am now waiting today for yet a third crew to arrive and replace the piecemeal job in the hallway. The customer service rep guaranteed that I would be the first appointment of the day and it is 11:00 and they haven't arrived. I called the general customer service number to find out where they are. After being on hold she told me that the driver left his phone at home and she couldn't get in contact with him (how did she know he left his phone at home if he didn’t have a phone to let her know that?). I am tempted if/when they show up to tell them to just go away as I am worried what they might damaged today.

I think it is ridiculous it has taken 3 appointments and things still may not be right. In addition I have to schedule to have a furniture repair company come out to fix the mantel. I would recommend anyone considering new carpet stay away from Empire unless you have a ton of free time to sit around waiting for them to keep coming back, trying to get it right. Needless to say, I will never use Empire again.

When we were ready to move into our new home, we called Empire 2 days before our furniture was due to arrive. We asked about getting carpet put into 3 rooms which were not carpeted. We had a very nice sales lady who showed us samples and measured the rooms. Her pricing came in right at $2600 for the 3 bedrooms and she stated that they could lay the carpet the next day. I had already gotten prices from Lowes and Home Depot and although they would save us hundreds of dollars, we would need to wait a few weeks. The wait was not a problem but we decided to go with Empire and pay more to get it installed before the movers came. She said everything would be ready for the movers to bring our furniture and clothing when they showed up the day after the carpet was done.

When the carpet installation crew showed up, not one of them spoke English, which was a problem since we don't speak anything but English. We had a painter at the house who tried to help but he also was unable to help communicate with the crew. They were supposed to call and let me know when they were coming, which they didn't do - so one of the rooms they were going to carpet had paint which was drying. They came and took 5 hours to install the carpet. When they wanted to ask me a question, the man in charge had to call someone on the phone and explain to them and then give me the phone to talk to them to have it translated, then give the phone back and talk to them. I called my saleslady who wasn't available and I called customer service and complained and was told that he probably did speak english and I just didn't understand him.

I don't feel it is unreasonable when you spend top dollar on carpet to expect to have at least one person on the crew who speaks English in America.

I too was told that the carpet I wanted was not the one on the 60% off sale which ended the next day, I now see that the sale never ends for empire.

I also am curious how a company that works like this and is so poor at customer service can be advertising on TV that they have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.

I called many times to complain about this visit. When the crew was ready to leave my home, I went to see the carpet and our closet doors were all sitting in front of the closets. I questioned why? Of course, the crew couldn't explain, so he called someone who then explained that they were not equipped to put them back on the hinges. Apparently the carpet was higher than the original floors and they didn't mention this, not the sales lady, not the crew before doing the job, so they couldn't accommodate the doors and they would need to be shaved down to be rehung.

Our movers came and moved our furniture into the rooms with 2 large closet doors sitting in each room. It was not at all a good experience. I will never use Empire again.

I received a phone call about the experience asking me to rate the experience on a 1-10 scale and after answering the first few questions we got cut off, they've never called back again.

I would not send anyone I know to Empire for anything.

I own a very reputable carpet company in Denver & Parker Colorado. I just interviewed a salesman from Empire Carpets looking for a job. He bragged to me about defrauding the public by selling inferior carpets (P.E.T.)'s on average $ 5.00 to $ 7.00 a yard carpet and selling it for $ 40.00 a yard.

He boasted about selling eighty year old women and praying on the ignorance of his clientel. The company trains their sales force to make their house payment on every sale. The company as a whole makes an average of 500%.

This is a travesty!

Craig Connor
Buy It Direct

I have always thought that when I was going to re-do my floors, I would choose Empire! After all, all those commercials, and sales, etc. Am SOOOOO GLAD, I have read these reviews first! I wii NOT be using this company! BUYERS BEWARE!

Wow, I'm glad I checked out this site BEFORE buying carpet from this company!

I worked for Empire. While the company sucked big time, I do not understand what are you talking about by saying the sales man will pay several car and house payments of your contract. He will get 4 or 5 % commission. Le's say you spent $5000. So, his commission is $200. How many car and house payments will he afford on it? Don't get me wrong, I HATE the company. But why take it out on the sales man. You say, every suspicious he just gently calmed down. WHAT do you expect from a sales man? Come drunk to your house and hit on your wife? Maybe even beat you up if you don't like it? Of course he will be nice and gentle.

My brother is a salesman for empire today and they get paid 4% fixed commission which means that they only make $4 for charging per $100 which empire does to ELIMINATE the "used car sale" like experience.

As far as the overcharge that you're saying they charged you means that you would be paying $5000 on a $1ooo job and, as a owner of a carpeting company you should know, there are laws in place saying they cant charge more than what the market price of a product and they do fire any salesmen who sell any higher than that so a 500% mark up would've closed their doors years ago.

Maybe you should spend more time working on building your company up rather than trying to cut your compitition

Empire is the crookedest company in American history. Goto the following website and file a complaint with the FTC. It's not too late. Also, write letters to the editor at your local newspaper and to several consumer magazines such as Consumer Reports on the web. Empire screwed me too. Lets shut these SOB's down!

https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/

Thank you for bringing your carpet experience to our attention. We apologize for any inconvenience, and our team would like to work with you to explore a resolution. Please contact us at webcustomerservice@empiretoday.com so that we may be able to assist. You can also visit our online customer center at http://www.empiretoday.com/Customer-Service.

Sincerely,
Consumer Advocate Team
Empire Today, LLC