Empire Today
reviews and complaints

Date of the incident: 5-29-2021: Empire Today had concurred to install vinyl floors in my home on 5-29-2021. I had spoken to a customer representative prior to 5-16-2021 and I explain to the representative, I have asbestos tiles in my home, and will Empire Today be able to install vinyl floors. She stated, "yes." Jamie/sales representative visited my home on 5-16-2021 and confirmed Empire Today can install flooring in my home. I paid 708.00 down. Jamie scheduled for the floors to be install on 5-29-2021.
On 5-29-2021 Juan, installer from Empire can to my home, and did not greet or acknowledge me. "He said are you getting floors today." I replied, yes, good morning my name is Beverly; how are you? Two men and a female entered my home, did not knock or ring my door bell, and stood in my living speaking Spanish never acknowledging me. Juan stated, "He can not do the floors and left. I spoke to Erica/office manager, and she indicated someone from Empire will contact me at 9:00 a.m. on 6-1-2021. No one from Empire Today contacted me. I called and spoke to Victor, he stated, "He cancelled the installation and my account was credit 708.00.
I waited until 6-11-2021, did not receive my credit to my account, spoke to Erica, Bridgett, a the manager on 6-14-21, 6-18-21, 6-21-21, 6-28-21, 7-6-21 and 7-7-21 and each individual lied and indicated my money was credited to my account. I had not heard anyone apologize to me, but continue pretend my money was credited to my account. I had each individual to be rude to from stating if I did not have an old house, I would have my flooring from one person told me to count to ten days and I will get my money, to one Tyler to threaten me on 7-6-21. I have never been disrespected, called a liar. I am appalled that people think this is acceptable behavior to treat customers in this magnitude. Today, I spoke to Valarie explain how no one called me to apologize, or provide me with accurate information regarding my money. All I want is my 708.00. They continue to claim my money was credited to my account which I know that continue to be a lie because I have gone to bank as of 7-7-21 and check it daily, and my money is not in my account. This saddens me, that Empire has made no effort to accept responsibility for this mistake, offer solution to resolve this manner.
my number is [protected].

This has caused me to have sleepless nights, frustration, aggravation, and due how people continue to talk to me in disrespectful, rude and condensing manner, as though this is how I suppose to be treated.
I am request a refund for my money, and hopefully others are not disrespected as though and how I been since 5-29-21 to 7-7-21

Had 1 area of flooring warped (other 4 pieces fine) and 2 area had depressions and made clicking noises when stepped on. Inspector came (1 day late) put moisture meter on floors and stated we had moisture on floors .I went online and looked up directions for the exact brand and model number and it stated the meter was calibrated for 3/4 inch measurements. My floors are 3/8 inch thick. It went on to state an inaccurate reading would occur if not used at 3/4 inch depth. They refuse to send another inspector out and told me to contact my homeowners insurance to cover the repairs. (which is incorrect homeowners insurance only covers broken water pipes for this)

We met with an Empire Sales Representative on the evening of Thursday, June 24, 2021. He came out to our new house to measure and provide us a quote for flooring. He didn't have exactly the flooring that we wanted, but we were able to pick out carpet and laminate that we liked. We informed him from the beginning of his visit that we were going to be getting multiple quotes for flooring and that Empire wasn't our only company we would be talking to. The sales representative took measurements and provided us with a quote. He also provided us with a proposed installation date, but stated that if we didn't put down a deposit with him that day, we wouldn't get that installation date and would have to wait for weeks or more to get another one. We reiterated that we weren't sure we would be going with Empire, but he said that we had until the following Tuesday to cancel and get our full deposit back. So we decided to put the deposit down. We completed the paperwork and after reading the Notice of RIght to Cancel, which states you have 3 business days to cancel the order to receive a refund, I asked the representative what the business days were. He replied that the business days were Friday, Monday and Tuesday, so we had until Tuesday to cancel. I asked him this twice. He assured me it was Tuesday. On the afternoon of Monday, June 28, 2021, I called the sales representative and the customer service number for the company to advise that we would not be going with Empire after all. The sales representative did not answer my call. The employee who I spoke with at Empire proceeded to tell me that we were outside our contract period to cancel and would not be receiving our deposit back. I explained to him that the sales representative assured me that I had until Tuesday to cancel for a refund. He told me I should have read the contract which states 3 business days. I responded that I did and again, HIS SALESMAN informed me the 3 business days were Friday, Monday and Tuesday. The employee told me that the business days were the day I met with the sales rep (Thursday), Friday, and Saturday! He advised me if I didn't like it I can write a letter to their legal department.

I never would provided the deposit if it had not been for the false representations made by Empire's Salesman. This is clearly deceptive sales tactics to cheat individuals out of their deposit should they change their minds. I have not received any goods from Empire, yet they refuse to return my $829.80.

I was pushed into putting down a deposit for window shades by the salesman who came out and assured that I could cancel and receive my deposit back. I called to cancel two days later, June 9th, and was told my cancellation would be processed within two to three days, after waiting on hold for well over an hour. When I still hadn't heard back, I called again and after waiting another 90 minutes on hold, was told that there was nothing that could be done for me because I was calling about window shades and not flooring, and the Michigan Market needed to handle it. When I asked to be transferred to them, the call was disconnected. After looking that number up and calling with nobody answering or returning my call multiple times, I finally got ahold of someone in a different department who transferred me to customer service. At that point I was told that my cancellation would be finalized and refund issued within 7-10 business days. I waited until the 28th, at which point 12 business days had passed. Started calling and getting automated messages and no call backs yet again. I was told when I finally reached someone this morning that I would hear right back from them. That was 5 hours ago and nobody has called me back. All this when I found a local company who was charging less than HALF what I had been quoted by Empire, for the same product, and with a quicker timeline. I will absolutely never work with this company again, or recommend them to anyone.

On June 2, 2021 we contracted with Empire Today to install carpet for our master bedroom and our lanai at 1549 N. Ridge Lake Circle in Longwood, FL. We were quoted an installation date of June 17, 2021. We received a call from our salesman on 6/16 informing us that the indoor/outdoor carpet was delayed due to supply chain issues and that our install date would be pushed to the following Thursday. We agreed to split the order to allow for the bedroom installation to continue. We were later told that our Thursday date would now be Saturday June 26th. At that time we informed our salesman to eliminate the indoor/outdoor portion of the contract and allow for our deposit to go towards the master bedroom's carpet cost which was agreed to by Empire. We have been most patient in awaiting installation (the excuse now is labor issues) and now are advised that it will be July before we can expect completion. We must continually call for updates as no one calls and provides information on the status of our order. At this point we are concerned with the quality of the service we will receive from Empire.

My install took place January 28, 2021. The installers left cement and glue all over my flooring. The 'trim' was not sealed around walls and toilet. For the life of me, I can't get anyone to respond. I have talked to a CLIFF, a SHANA, a Chris, and a Jenna. they ALL said they would 'assist' me in getting this problem solved. To no avail, I have accomplished nothing. It is now JUNE...5 months later. I CANNOT GET ANY ASISSTANCE from anybody.

I hired Empire Today to install a new floor. The installers were exceptionally careless and inconsiderate of my property speaking very little English. They brought in a 2k pound sit on machine without a ramp to drive over two steps and the threshold. When I questioned why not a push stripper the answer was there was no such tool. Their attempt at patching the concrete threshold was sloppy. They stepped in it trekking wet concrete on my decorative porch. The metal threshold plate has been bent allowing water intrusion. I submitted estimates for repairs and have been promised a payout of the damages, but since early May, no one can answer why I have not received the payout. I escalate with the call center only to be told, a message was left and a return call will be in 24-72 hours... Four separate times. No one EVER calls back.

Dear Sir or madam,

I was scheduled for a carpet installation of 1 very large room today,
A quick easy job with minimal cuts and 2 large dry areas to cut carpet as needed and have been on the scheduled books for 3 weeks .

I received a call at 8:30ish am today, Monday June 21st by Shay, the manager at the Charlotte location .

She called to cancel my appointment with zero apathy, courtesy or remorse that my installation we waited 3 weeks for, was being cancelled and moved into the end of July, the 22nd to be exact ... with almost another 5 weeks waiting time, and she did so rudely, with zero class and a snobby "as a matter of fact" attitude .

Mind you, my contract which first off has zero amount for monthly financed payments in writing and expressed severe apprehension about, DOES have in writing that the room being carpeted for us is due for guests on the 23rd of June, and they are coming in from the west coast and the job must be done by the 22nd of June, this is in writing, without this room done, they have no place to stay.

This date and issues were/ was cleared by the salesman Brion beforehand as I stated to him, if you cannot meet this date, we will find someone else, to which he then cleared it through the 2 supervisors of installation in Charlotte on my appointment date and checked it twice the 2 different occasions he was here .

I had also checked this date myself twice prior to the install during the week of 6/14/21 by calling directly to corporate Texas and local Charlotte and the install was confirmed for the 21st of June.

I also received an email confirmation Sunday the 20th for the 21st of June.

After Shay on the 21st rudely cancelled and moved me 5 weeks out ignoring my contract details entirely, I called Corporate twice and asked both times for supervisors who were of course entirely unhelpful.

One sent my message directly back to Shay in Charlotte who called me almost gleefully and now says my date is the 26th of July not the 22nd of July... adding another 4 days delay to the month plus .

I called corporate back and spoke to another supervisor, who I then said, I want expressly to speak to upper corporate management and was told they emailed a different party about this issue .

I am not only a repeat customer but a retired 36 year general contractor and this behavior is unacceptable in ANY trade .

I am doing my best to remain polite and professional but as yet have to get the same in return .

Frankly what I see here, and I surely would know is a definitive breach of contract and would expect Empire to make it right, but highly doubt with what I've seen today they care about their customer base, repeat or not .

Sincerely,
Edward McGrath
4460 Queeens rd
Salisbury NC 28144

I am a retired Columbus Firefighter and Veteran. I cannot believe the way Empire has treated me. I moved everything and prepared for my carpet installation 2 WEEKS AGO. The wrong carpet was ordered Three TIMES, too many customer service complaints to even go into. Two weeks in, STILL trying to get the carpet I wanted installed. Today, 6/16/2021 was the 4th attempt. STILL not the carpet I wanted. Everyone blames each other, no one tries to correct the problem. They do not return calls or even follow up when they say they will. It took 10 days to get someone to have a supervisor call me (Lauren) and then SHE did not call me back, as promised, to tell me where we were at. My house has been in disarray for 2 WEEKS! My 80 Father, with dementia, lives with me, and this has ALL been very upsetting to BOTH of us. I am a 1st time customer and I am in disbelief of the rude, disrespectful treatment I have received. Called the National Corporate office and the Columbus Corporate office. Have not heard back from anyone.

No show on scheduled installation date. Had to wait 5 additional days rescheduled. On the rescheduled date the installer said that the hardwood would not work because the floor was not level. Called my Design Consultant (Damu Hari [protected]) who came by my house so I could make another type of floor selection. That took another 2 days before installation. The installer finished the installation without any more problems. Now my problem was with the pricing. Original pricing was for 2 rooms of hardwood, plus extra for leveling after removing the carpet. Original total price: $4550.00 I paid in full by credit card when placing order. Was authorized a $550.00 credit for the no show on the scheduled date by Joe Maggio [protected] x3702) Don't know if this has been credited to my credit card company. Looking for the refund of the $900.00 I was charged for leveling of the floors, which was not used. Additionally I believe there should be a difference in price between the hardwood and the laminate flooring. The original installation date was April 30, 2021. The rescheduled date was May 4, 2021. The re-rescheduled installation date was May 6, 2021. Since May 6, 2021, I have been trying to contact someone to help me with this issue. My name is Calvin Tolbert. Address 720 Lenox Ave., Apt 12C, New York, NY 10039. Phone # [protected]. I Customer Services [protected]) on the following dates: May 19, 2021 Erica Gandarilla Ref # [protected], May 25, 2021 Miss Vaoerie Ref # [protected], May 28, 2021 Miss Shannon Ref # [protected]., June 2, 2021 Ref # [protected].

30391 Tristania ct Wesley Chapel Florida.
We had floors installed and the installers said that gluing was not necessary.
We began noticing creaking when walking and thus called Empire. We were told that a three month wait was required for the floors to settle. Time has passed and now it is very difficult to get them to come and inspect. They take876543wzsdxfghjhkthe name and telephone number but say that we will be called back within three days to set up an appointment. We ask that they call in the morning because we start work in the afternoon. Of course they call in the afternoon and give a number for call back. We call the number and the numb sculls who answer are ignorant and say they can only take our information and that we will be called again in two or three days. The obvious is that servicing is being avoided.
This company has gone down the drain in quality of work and backing with service. We have advised our homeowners association members to beware.

Empire could NOT spell PROFESSIONAL COURTESY if someone laid it out in all caps. Horrid service. My advice is to stay away from Empire. Scheduled 5/18. No show, no call. Told they started a ‘ticket'. I called again on 5/19 as we had heard nothing. After the difficult and time-consuming process to actually talk to someone, got bounced around because no one had answers, was told Julio closed the ticket as resolved. NO reschedule or any contact to justify that. FINALLY got to a manager Sheri (sp?). Had the wrong name on the order. Tried to place situational justification for the mismanagement and still no answers. After numerous calls said the best THEY could do was to schedule for June 9. SERIOUSLY! THREE WEEKS because of Empire's screw ups. After having to heavily negotiate a better date, got scheduled for 6/3. 6/3 comes, no show and no call. Again, bounced around and call center reports the installer had the wrong materials. They had to cancel. No one bothered to call. Sheri confirmed, did not have any answers. FINALLY talked to a supposed director, Nick Martin. Typical salesman. Made all kinds of commitments with no follow-through. Promised to personally confirm the install was on track the day before 6/9. No call. Promised to call the morning of 6/9 to confirm the correct materials were loaded on the truck. No call. I had to call. Not loaded. Said he would call me once truck was loaded and in route. The installer called. Not Mr. Martin as he committed. Nothing in the contract about final payment. Would not start until final payment was issued. Would not start until the office confirmed the check cleared. I guess we must hope the job is done right the first time.
COMPLETE LACK OF PROFESSIONAL COURTESY. EXCUSES AND DIVERSIONS. INCOMPETENCE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE AND MANAGEMENT. STAY AWAY!

I had a salesman from Empire give me an estimate for carpet and
LVP. The salesman was very clear that I would not have to
remove any furniture, including 3 loft beds. I was told that moving
the furniture was included (as in not paying extra for) in my
purchase. I made it clear I could not do anything with the beds.
Said the extended service plan/warranty was also included at no
extra charge. Pressured me into signing the contract that day
after saying I wanted to wait assuring me that "I would be able to
cancel without any charges as long as I wasn't waiting to cancel
the day before installation" and "they would have to charge more
money if he had to come back out the next day to sign". All lies.
They will not remove the loft beds, the extended service plan is
not included for free (almost $800 extra), and you only have 3
days to cancel which he NEVER mentioned. I tried to cancel on
day 4 after discovering all the lies and was told they will not
refund the deposit. After trying to take care of the loft bed issue myself, I can not do anything about the loft beds at all. I would have never gone through with the contract if the salesman would have told me the truth about the furniture. I want my money back.

We bought new carpet from empire for a big chunk of our house not even 2 years ago! The carpet is fraying and the seams are coming apart and are very noticeable. There is only my husband and I in the home and since we bought the carpet we always take our shoes off before walking on it. If we have guest they remove their shoes too. The carpet looks horrible for as much as we paid this should not happen in less than 2 years! This should not happen at all!
There was only 1 man completing the work and was obvious in a hurry.
Last week I made an appointment to have someone come out to look at it, ironically they want me to pay 75.00 for them to check the bad carpet they sold to me!? That makes no sense whatsoever. Anyway, I took off the day from work which isn't easy because I'm a nurse and with the pandemic still continuing they may be short handed.
Nobody showed up so I called and they sated "oh ya that person isn't in today." Nobody bothered to call and let me know. So, I make an appointment for yesterday 6/3/21 and they stated they would be here after 1:00 PM. Nobody showed up or called! Again, I had to take a day off! I called last night and left a message and still no call and it is now 1:11 PM and I called at 5ish yesterday evening. This is ridiculous, not only is the carpet horrible but customer service is awful. Not everyone can take time off from work to wait for an appointment and nobody calls or shows. I am terribly disappointed in this company and staff!
I don't get angry easily but I also don't like being taken for granted, then I get angry. I tried working with the staff nicely but just got taken advantage of.
I would take pictures but my phone does not do justice for how bad the carpet is!, if they would have come out they could have seen how bad it is!

The insurance that they sell is a scam. The salesman promised that if we got the insurance we would be covered if anything happened to the flooring. So far the corporate office has denied us coverage twice. I have requested my money back so I can have someone that can actually fix the flooring. Made many calls to the office where salsman works out of. Insurance coverage is just a way to steal your money.

Only a flooring company can [protected]@ up installing flooring! That's Empire. They will lie and tell you anything to sell you flooring! Spent $$$$$$ for sound proof flooring that's don't deliver on the sales person promise! They won't rectify my problem.

I was guaranteed that the sound proof flooring I bought was going to eliminate 100% of noises from my tenants above us and it provided 0%.

There was no padding or anything between the old subflooring and the new one I had to pay a additional 2k for that may of made a difference.

I had 11 faux wood blinds installed in my new house in Timnath CO on 5/5/21. We were told these blinds would be a perfect fit due to being precisely measured twice. They would be better than Hunter Douglas quality. Two hours after they were installed I got home from work and immediately saw this was a crapy product! The blades on almost each blind are bowed, not straight. Nice tight fit on one side and a huge gap on the other side. The other blinds have the blades all slanted down to the left, not straight at at all. They added a cover strip at the top to cover where it mounts and those pieces are all bowed and not cut to fit. One blind is missing the rod to open and close the blinds. We asked the one set of blinds in the stairwell to have a longer twist rod so we can get to it easier. That set of blinds didn't even come with the stick and all the other blinds came with long sticks. When I close the blinds all the way tight, the blinds still don't close and you can see outside!

Seeing all this, I immediately called my sales rep Thomas to complain. He said he would put in a ticket for these defects. I waited three days and finally got a random email saying to call in. So I did. The lady who answered took down my notes and said the installers will call me shortly and would see this request in 10 minutes. I waited two more days and no one called. So, I called the number back. This other lady answered and took more notes to add to my account. Told me the billing department was closed and to call back during business hours. I did and got another person who said there were no notes in my account and that she was part of the installation and I had to deal with Empire, I thought thats who I was dealing with. Now even more frustrated, I called the customer service number on the Empire website only to never be connected and disconnected while on hold. Finally used the "chat" method and was told there was another ticket created and someone would call me. Waited two more days, NO CALL BACK! I called another number I found online and it worked, someone answered, took my notes down and told them at this point I want these blinds removed and a FULL refund. The lady apologized and said someone would call me back. No calls back. Waited two more days, called them back, explained my situation once again and this time was given two names (Savanah & Felica)
and their extensions and was told they would be working on removal and refund and would call me. Waited two days, Called them both and left voicemails, no calls back. Waited two days and called them back and left voicemails again...almost a month now AND NO ONE WILL CALL ME BACK! HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE AND HORRIBLE PRODUCTS! I swear this company is a scam!

If anyone from Empire reads this they should be able to see all my info using the ticket # I was given. Ticket # 1-[protected].

If someone would like to help me get this quickly resolved I would be more than happy to edit my review. Until then I will tell everyone to avoid Empire Today, they are scammers and will take your money and will never call you back. With this whole Covid situation, there are a lot of business that need work and will do a way better job! My neighbor got her blinds installed for 1/2 the price and 1/2 the time it took Empire. Her blinds were done by Home Depot and are perfect!

This is my 3rd complaint concerning my April 28th installation. The installation should have been a 1 to 2 day installation. It's May 25th! Empire today has scheduled two (2) revisits to finish my installation. Both revisits Empire today sent the contractors out with the wrong finishing to complete the floor. It's been just about month and Empire still hasn't to sent the correct flooring to finish my floor. It's extremely sad that a multi million company has shown so much incompetency. My husband and me are still waiting again for another call from Empire. Empire hasn't offered any compensation for this month of inconvenience for my flooring not being installed on time and correctly. My home is still in disarray waiting for Empire to finish the installation. Competency is not high from my view on Empire today. It's shameful service!

I have calling the customer service line since 5/21, as my wife and I had decided to cancel the flooring contract with Empire Today. Today is 5/24 and is the last legal day to cancel. The company provides you the document to sign to cancel and says to mail or email, and no where in the contract does it give the email address. Every time, I call Customer service number, I sit on hold for 20-30 minutes to hear, I need to transfer you to the cancellations department, I sit on hold for another 15-30 min and get a message about leaving a message or staying on the line, I decided to stay on the line and then hear a beep to leave a message, so I do. I have left multiple messages and still no call back. I asked the CSR for the email address to send my cancellation form and they tell me they do not have it and I have to speak to that department.
This is just a ridiculous way to run a businesses, and Im now sure I do not want to do business with them.

My Name is Christy Ostrander and I live in Whiting, Indiana.

On Tues, May 11 I was to have Incomparable (Sonora color) carpet installed in a bedroom. The installers came with the wrong carpet (color and type) I called customer service and opened a ticket [protected]) number and rescheduled for May 13th.

Weds, May 12th, I had vinyl plank floors install in all my rooms. I am very happy with the vinyl flooring. I paid for 5"baseboards but because of the location of the electrical outlets in my home I had 3" baseboards installed. I spoke with my Sales rep, Randy Turley, and he assured me someone would be calling me to refund me the $56.75 difference. No one ever called but I did open another ticket a few days later.

Thurs, May 13th the installers again brought the same exact wrong carpet. I called my sales rep again AND customer service, opened another ticket and was told the correct carpet would be installed the next day, May 14.

Friday, May 14th, I stayed home all day only to have a no call/no show from Empire. I called my Sales Rep and sent him a text. I think at this point he must have been sick of hearing from me so he didn't respond. Some guy Carlos called me at about 5 pm asking if the correct carpet was installed and I explained there was a no show/no call. He said he'd make a few calls and get "right back to me". He didn't.

I called customer service again and opened a ticket for carpet and refund [protected] is one of them. I have the calls recorded but don't feel like going through the call to find the other ticket number) I was told someone would call me the next business day (Monday). No one did.

Tues. May 18th I received a voicemail (transcript attached) from Mandy asking me to call her regarding the carpet. I guess she called again and my husband (who unfortunately had no idea about the baseboard refund) answered my phone and setup an installation for the carpet for TODAY, May 20. She also assured my husband that we'd be the first installation. Their usual time-frame is 8 am - 6 pm. I called her back and left her two voicemails in regards to 1. Baseboard refund and 2. The possibility of a discount. She never returned either of my calls. It is 11:30 am, May 18th and I am still waiting for the installers.

One other thing that raises a "red flag" for me is that when the installers arrive, the first thing they want is payment. Anyone with common business sense knows you should NEVER pay for a job until it's done, especially after I already put down a $2000.00 deposit.

I know there are much bigger problems going on in this crazy world of ours. My carpet issue is "small-beans" compared to all the suffering I see on the news everyday. I pray the carpet guys show up /call and install the correct carpet and that someone calls me regarding the baseboard refund.

So, that's my story and it's still ongoing.