Empire Today
Reviews and Complaints

We paid almost $2500 for a laminate floor for our kitchen and den in September 2008. Salesman Alan Peele [protected]) assured us it would be even better than hardwoods. Though the floor did not look like the picture, we were still happy. By October 2009 the floor was bubbly in odd places. Rhonda Coleman [protected]) sent someone to our house allegedly to repair the boards. The two workers, after poking the floor and making it look worse, said they didn't know if Empire would make good on the product. They then were unable to answer any of our questions. They put blue duct tape on the spots they had messed up in an attempt to repair the new mess they created. After numerous attempts to get Rhonda, who ha said she would contact us, I finally talked with her. She said the bad floor was our fault and that Empire would not stand by the promises of their salesman. When I asked her how happy she would be with a defective floor and asked for her superior, she referred me to Renatta Odum at corporate [protected]). Renatta basically said "tough luck" and that we could pay someone to come look at the floor. She was very abrupt, but did refer us to Tim Sherwin at regional [protected]), who said the floor was highly water resistant and was surprised that some surface moisture (this is what we were told had happened) could cause this damage. He had no answer for why Empire would install a floor, especially in a kitchen, that couldn't be damp mopped. We explained that the floor had not been bused. He made no apologies and also said that Empire would not repair the floor they had sold us less than 1 1/2 years ago. We are now in contact with our attorney, when all we had wanted was for them to honor their promises.

Do not do business with Empire. Whatever is under your feet is better than the inferior product sold to us by a company more interested in cashing a check than keeping a customer. We had thought about using Empire for our lake house, but we now know better. Use a local contractor who stand by his promises.

My mom bought carpet from this company in February, 2008. At first when she vacuumed, she thought the carpet debris was just extra fibers from the install. However, each time she vacuumed, the canister filled half-full with carpet remnants. Empire sent a tech out to inspect, and of course, there was nothing wrong with the carpet! A rep suggested it was the vacuum. I have used 3 vacuums on my mom's carpet with the same results. iIn one vacuum, the canister loads up with carpet shedding! Now I have a complaint lodged against this company with Consumer Affairs! My 86 year old mom can't sleep in the bedroom. There is excessive dust which irritates her windpipe (asthma) and her sinuses. This company is scandalously fraudulent!

Well Empire installed carpet in 1 room and laminate in my bathrooms 4 1/2 years ago.The carpet is wore thin already and the main bathroom floor fell in last week (1-7-10).This would have never happened if the crew would have spent $5 on anew wax ring for the toilet.Insted they reused the old one and my toilet has had a small leak since they did the floor.It rotted the 3/8 and 1/2 plywood and even got into my floor joist and started rotting them also.It completely destroyed the floor behind my toilet.There was never 1 drop of water that came through the floor to indicate there was a leak until last week 1-7-10 the laminate started seperating and that is when I found the problem.I called Empire for 4 days until I finally got a call back.The lady said sorry but thats not our problem so they got the regional supervisor call me.I told him what happened and he said he didn't beleive that caused the problem and they only give a 1yr warranty on labor and I should have notified them within the 1 year.If I had known it was leaking within the 1 year I would have called but there was no way to tell.Needless to say thet denied all wrong doing and said the problem was mine.I have fixed the problem but saved every receipt so I will see you in court Empire carpet and to think what was only going to cost you about $400 will end up cost you in the thousands now

I had Empire come out for an in home estimate on laminate flooring from my kitchen, through my dining and family room, and my hallway. 700 sq ft total. First off the sales rep was very condescending and unprofessional. In the first 1o minutes she made the statement, " well we're not the cheapest" a good 3 times as if she knew what was in my bank account...She told my daughter several times throughout the process, "why dont you take your little brother in his room and play." I guess my 2 and 8 yr old children were bothering her. She went on and on about how much better quality their product was than anything Home Depot or Lowes carried, particularly the click and lock system on their product..She had an example of the "bad" one with her, but said that their sample was in her car buried under other samples. Anyhow, then came the estimate...For 700 sq ft of laminate I was originally quoted $9600! Then she went out to her car and "called her manager", she came back with a generous offer of $7200. Thats over $100 a sq ft! For LAMINATE! These people are nuts! I asked her for a break down of material and labor costs and she said they dont do it that way, it was a package deal. But that included moving furniture, removing old flooring and disposing of, etc. My husband said, "what if we do that ourselves?" and she just laughed. Never was I offered the current online and tv advertised sale of 60% off select brands...This company is the biggest ripoff I have ever seen and will never do business with them.

I currently work for Empire and I would like to make several things clear to the public about Empire Today. I will set it up in ten categories, each explaining the reasons why you would be CRAZY to buy from empire. I will also tell you about a couple pros so you don't think I'm totally bias...

1. Management. The head manager of the Dallas market is named John kirchner, we have weekly meetings where john explains to us the reasons why were so expensive (none of which having anything to do with product quality.). The sales people are all wonderful but empire treats them horrible and pays them just enough to get by. This causes the sales reps to care very little about any customer individually. The general manager of the store is Dan M. Dan is a yes man that does nothing to make the company better other than look at past stats of performance. He's suppose to have power over John k. But he doesn't even though he's the boss.

2. Pricing. Empire has a "car sales" approach to selling flooring. They will come in, pretend to be your best friend, tell you about the company and then present you with a price. The first price will be either "target" or "8%.". The percentages are commision levels. That price will be very high. Once you reject that price the sales rep will then call a manager looking for a lower price. They will justify it by saying it's for cash, volume, next day, etc. Whatever fake reason the sales rep makes up. The sales rep knows pre call what the price will be. The managers role in drop calling is simply to pretend it's important, when they say the same thing every time. So now the sales rep wil have you at "6%". You will say no to that and then the call charade begins again. Then you will be given a third price, the 4% price. If this doesn't work then the sales rep will try anything necessary to get your business. If all that fails, empire will call the customer 2-3 days later and make a final offer lower than all the others.

3. Products. The products empire uses are the exact same as anyone else. It just seems better bc sales reps can explain it. The quality is equal to that of anything else. The hard wood is waaaay over priced, often $12-$15 a sq ft, and that's with no take up. The bath liners crack easily and do not have warranties.

4. Warranties. Empire claims to have long warranties but the truth is, you mess up your floor it's your fault. You better have a signed letter from Jesus if you want results.

5. Customer service. Possibly the worst part of the job. Getting. A rep to your home is easy, making the purchase is easy (if your rich) but the second you have a problem be pretared to call for hours. Don't call the sales rep, they can't afford to help you bc they work to much and drive far distances. The local office number will not answer your calls, ever. Your best bet is to call John kirchner directly, he's the only person with any say, and he's a demon.

6. Installers. The installers never talk to the sales rep so most of there work is improvised once they arrive. They will convince you not to do things so it's easier on them. Be prepared for Hispanics, none of the installers are American born, and they speak little if any English.

7. Quotes. If your buying anything under $1500 and the rep has to drive more than 10 miles your wasting there time. The rep doesn't get paid well enough to care about that so they avoid you at all costs. It's nothing personal, it's just money.

8. Senior managent. The guys up top are all between 25-35. There all trust fund babies and know little if anything about floors or sales. There focus is making sure we sell at high commission levels and often. They never see the people on bottom and good efforts never get noticed. You will never get to talk to one of them, they hide in a corporate building in Chicago.

9. Website. A lot of what we say we carry we don't, just so we can get in your house and try to sell you something else.

10. Pricing again. Empire offers price match, you just have to get a written quote. Once you get one they will try to explain why it's lesser material. Long story short, good luck, it's not gonna happen.

In short, working for this company is the worst job experience ever. Management walks over there sales force, even though they are the heart beat if the company. You would make a huge mistake buying from this company. Call someone local and private, they may take longer, but rest assured they value you as a customer match, you just have to get a written quote. Once you get one they will try to explain why it's lesser material. Long story short, good luck, it's not gonna happen.

In short, working for this company is the worst job experience ever. Management walks over there sales force, even though they are the heart beat if the company. You would make a huge mistake buying from this company. Call someone local and private, they may take longer, but rest assured they value you as a customer

Let me start off by saying I was quoted $8, 200 for 1 small room of "inexpensive laminate flooring." I want to make sure everyone sees that in case this complaint runs long. I recently bought a large home in a nice neighborhood. I wanted the kitchen floor replaced with inexpensive laminate to last only 2 years before I remodel. My wife explained this in detail to the person at Empire before they sent out the salesperson. My wife was there with my two children and her mother when he arrived. The guy immediately starts in about how nice and big the house is. I have a chandelier waiting to be installed and he actually asked if we were getting rid of it because he would take it!? He continues on asking my young daughters their names and basically freaked out my wife overall to the point she is too scared to call and complain.

He measures the kitchen, incorrectly I might add. He did not remove the square footage of a huge island in the middle of the room. He comes up with 445 square feet. Its really about 325 at most. She picks out a very basic self adhesive laminate and the guy actually had the audacity to say it would cost $8, 200. I am absolutely in shock. Furthermore, he told my wife she couldn't get it done for any less and could never get it done in time for Christmas, 3 weeks away. I don't need it done by Christmas but I guess he figured we did. Its not like I want to show off my $2 tiles to my friends over the holidays.

So, after insulting my wife, insulting my intelligence and scaring my two little girls he asks if he cruise around the back yard and leave thru the side yard! What in the hell is going on at Empire!? I'm going to check the sex offender list for that guy! Maybe I should have a smaller house? I figured this job around $500 tops.

We had carpeting installed in our living room yesterday. The employees could hardly comminicate in english. They damaged a heat vent by pushing their strecher up against it and bending it inward and then claimed it was like that when they came. They also cut the carpeting around the fire place mantel when I specifically requested it go underneath the mantel. I was mad and didn't sign off on the work and they would not leave a copy of the invoice for me. They left a mess in the foyer and didn't put the furniture back before leaving as I was promised. I would never use them again!

I had Empire Today install laminate floors on the entire lower floor of my townhouse for approx. $6K on 09Oct09. I now appear to have buckling seams and am very worried about how they will fix this.

From the websites:
Wood laminate floors provide excellent visuals that emulate the most popular species of wood from around the world
Wood laminate is durable and long-lasting
Non-disruptive installation
Wood laminate is less expensive than hardwood flooring
Easy to maintain
Triple protection warranty against wear, fading and stains
Topical water warranty available on many styles

The gentleman selling me the floors told me they were water resistance but now I read the manufacturers warranty:

This limited warranty does not apply to damage caused by water or moisture in the subfloor or underneath the flooring, including but not limited to water damage caused by flooding, standing water (water that remains on the floor longer than 30 minutes), leaking pipes, , household mechanical failures, appliance leaks, or pet urine.

I had two dogs running around and he said these floors would be great for dogs..HA

I also had this floor installed over my concrete subfloor and I am not sure if the did the following:
This limited warranty does not apply to flooring installed on a concrete subfloor unless a non-recycled (100% virgin resin) 6-mil. Polyethylene film vapor barrier with a density of .92 lbs./cubic ft. and a thickness tolerance of +/- 10% is installed over the concrete subfloor that emits a water vapor no greater than 5 lbs. per 1000 sq. ft. within 24 hours (on the warranty page).

I have asked for a manager to come over and look over the floors and I really want them to be completely removed and get another installer and product put down. I am very worried!

CUTE ADS- RUDE SALES REPS in Texas!

We had a in home quote done today by Rex here in the Ft. Worth Texas area. Rex showed up and when bringing in the carpet samples he first spit on my driveway as he made his way to his truck. When we asked how much carpet was per square foot he had no idea on how to break down the price, very unprepared and unprofessional. We had to call him back to come back the next day so we could sign the contract he was rude and hung up on us. I was told that he does not F***ing care, and just like that! I am flabbergasted as to the lack of customer service I was shown by this Empire Carpet Sales rep Rex. And they want to sell us carpet, oviously not!

On May 29th 2008 I place two orders with Empire Carpet with sales rep Mr. Phillip Dorminey. Order # 1 (U050173) for $5, 189.25 and Order #2 (U050174) for $1810.75, which was a special order item. Both orders was charged to my American express that was paid in full. Empire's policy for cancellation was within 3days. Order #2 was cancelled the same evening and a full credit was given and put back on my American Express 0f $1, 810.75. The carpet that was installed in 4rooms had problems. They sent repair crews on several different occasion to repair carpets. The sitting room's carpet was so bad the repair rep said that the carpet has to be replaced due to the bad batch of carprt that was installed. I had to reselect a carpet for the sitting room. I did so with another sales rep from Empire nane Reggie. The carpet in the sitting room was installed on June 27th, 2008. This suppose to be a replacement carpet from Order #U050173 that was already paid for, but instead the office mixed up the order numbers and charged my American Express without my permission. I contacted Empire on several occasions to explain them that I have a zero balance and that this is an error and they refuse to credit the $1, 810.75 that they charged for the replacement carpet that was already paid for. I had to file a dispute to American Express to get my money back. Empire Carpets has me in collections and put it on my credit report. I would like consumers to know that Empire has bad customer service and their quality of carpet is not good. i'm still having trouble with their carpet. There are 4 seams in my son's bedroom, when vaccuumed the vaccuum cleaner is full in secs. The quality of carpet is horrible. I would like for Empire to review their paper work and admit to the error and to remove this collection off my credit report! I Have a zero balance. I already paid them $5, 189.25 which was a waste of money. I have so many regrets.

I have major problems with the results of my hardwood flooring install (serious permanent damage to my home caused directly by their installers, among many other problems). I am trying to find a contact for my complaint beyond the general customer service. The woman I have been working with (for 4 months now) has never retained anything about our case. Every time we call her we have to start from scratch. She keeps sending new people out to look at the problems and then takes weeks to get back to us (after we leave many messages), and then is clueless once again about the problems once we finally get her to call us back.

Is there anyone who has had luck getting a hold of someone actually helpful at this company? I definitely feel that they are playing dumb so as not to deal with the problems their people caused in our home.

Do not even consider using this company. They will bring down the value of your home, and will only waste your time when you attempt to get the problems fixed. I sure wish I had checked this site and seen all the complaints before I had.

Don't use this company! 3 months later and still no resolution. Installers damaged my freshly painted walls. It's been months of back and forth and people out to inspect fix 4 different times, and me having to give up valuable time and it's still not corrected. I would like a credit to my account for all the time and inconvenience and back and forth i've had to deal with for a less than professional installation and inferior quality carpet, but the compensation they're willing to offer is almost an insult and not satisfactory considering all the time, energy and effort i've had to put into getting this resolved. Only now, 3 months later, are my complaints finally being sent to the corporate office - and I have yet to hear back. We shall see. Have already filed compaints with the bbb and now here. Next stop is small claims.

Mr Hunter,
On July 17th 2009 I called for a quote on window treatments for my new home in Chicago. An appointment was made and the salesman Reid met with myself and my wife. After a long meeting and debating colors and what would work best for our windows, we chose some sample colors and patterns. Reid stated he had another call and could not leave the samples for us to hold up to the windows until later that day. So later that day Reid did as he said he would and left them for us.

We finally made a decscion and called him back to place the order. He came back and wrote up a tenative order based on his pre-measurement. We had agreed on the price to do all 8 of my windows for the price $3097 installed. He left and after a couple of days had passed, he called and said he wouldn't be able to do the job for that amount. To our surprise he called a day or two later and said that his manager said they would do the job for that price and he would set it up for our windows to be offically measured by the installer. The same day Reid's manager called us to let us know that we had received a very good price and the job would be done. I thought maybe I received this pricing because we had used Empire to carpet our 2 previous homes in the suburbs and Reid was aware of it.

The installer came, offically measured and said it would be probably about 2-3 weeks before the window treatments would be installed. Reid called and said he needed to have us sign the contract. We never heard back from Reid, which was unusual as he was always very prompt about calling during the selling part. We finally got ahold of him and he preceeded to explain all of the personal issues he had going on and he was never able to make it over with the contract. Needless to say he never showed up.

I called and spoke to Reid's manager who had the original quote of $3097.00. He said he was not the right person and would transfer me to the correct manager and I got his voicemail. After numerous calls, someone finally responded and said they were not going to honor that price.

I would not even be writing this complaint had Reid not called us back and said his manager approved it. We called customer service numerous times and were connected to the voicemails of supposed supervisors. We never received any phone calls back from anyone. To conclude what has happened, we made another phone call to customer service and was told by the gentleman who answered that our order was now around 4, 600.00. This is saying our original order was possibly misquoted but has become very confusing since Reid's manager called and said this is great pricing and they would be going forward to complete our order.

Hopefully you be able to address this and honor what was agreed upon. If not, you can assume that I will never use Empire and advise against anyone using them. What was originally ordered and agreed upon, has suddenly turned a complete dismissal of a client interested in purchasing your product. This is extremely poor customer service which we have never experienced with your company before. Several more calls have been placed to your company in reference to this order and no one ever calls us back.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Donald & Phyllis Holly

I purchased blinds from Empire in September 2007. The biggest "home improvement purchase" I have made. I have experienced repeated problems with these blinds. The strings end up sliding so far that we have to use a step ladder to reach the strings or either have to close the blinds in the opposite direction. We have called Empire over and over again over the past two years trying to get our blinds fixed and they were never fixed to our satisfaction. There are still gaps even with the blinds closed. Recently (over the past three months) we have tried unsuccessfully to have our blinds fixed. We have been given the run around and still have defective blinds. I am trying to figure out how to take Empire to Small Claims Court in N.C. because the business in out of Chicago. I will never, ever use Empire and will spread the word to family and friends not to use them.

My 72 yr old aunt had work done by Empire (floor abd carpet co.)It was financed by their finance co. Then she refinanced her house and paid them in full ($2950.00) We send copy of front and back of the cancelled check twice. They insist they did not get it. They have taken my aunt's homesteader tax rebate, her federal income tax & continue to threaten her.

She's afraid they'll seize her Soc. security. Bank that cashed the $2950 check won't give me any info.

We shelled out alot of money for carpet and thru our entire house and hardwood floors in our dining room. At the same time we ordered custome sun shade blinds for only 6 windows thinking ok, the carpet and floors went in in two days, cool. We were told since they were custome made it would take two weeks. Ok, not thrilled but its ordered so we wait. That was august 1st and its now Sept. 17th! still no blinds. We have made many complaint calls and then were told they would be here last friday, they could be installed on saturday. The installer shows up and only has 4 of the 6 blinds...the other two were on back order... ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? AND they wanted full payment on the order...We told them to leave and come back with the whole order, now we cant even get a return call. Hmmmm 3 Day Blinds is lookin real good right about now!

We purchased Easy Living Laminate flooring and carpet from Empire back in February 2009. The price we agreed to at the time the sales person was here did seem high but we were told we would be getting a 30 Year TRANSFERABLE warranty on the flooring. After the supposed to be Empire employees; they were subcontractors, installed and left I realized they never gave the warranty papers. There was a number to call on one of the brochures the sales person gave me to get warranty info. So I called them right away and was told it would be in the mail. Weeks went by and no warranty papers. I made several of these calls and then made a complaint to the BBB. I was finally told by Empire that the warranty was being CHANGED and I would receive one when it was done. About a month went by, I called again and again was told they would mail it. Just last week (9/2009) I noticed what looks like a chip and peeling area in the floor and a couple of other areas that don't look quite right. So I called to get someone to replace the planks. While on the phone I ask again about my warranty...she said it would be mailed. She also gave me an appointment to have the floor planks replaced. No one showed up, called rescheduled and again no one showed up...they called me this time and scheduled again and never showed up! I did get the warranty paper in the mail. Yes, indeed they did change it. It states that it is not TRANSFERABLE and that nothing the sales persons tells you is true basically. Now I am in the process of taking legal action. Hopefully this company will be held accountable for their actions.

I am totally disgusted with Empire Today. My husband and I decided to shop around before we bought carpet. First we had Mercer Carpet from Hamilton NJ come in and give us a wonderful estimate. As the salesman from Mercer Carpet came walking through the door the Empire salesman "Paul Sherlock" came walking through our door; knowing as he arrived that we were doing our homework. After giving us the sales pitch for a while he told us how we could get these wonderful discounts...etc. Needless to say he said they could beat the competitor's pricing. He also said Mercer Carpet wasn't quoting us for the correct amount of sq. yards. Of course Empires being much more than then competitors. Not only was Empire able to "match" but they were able to "beat" the competitor's price by $100.00. Everything sounded good...Until we started writing out the contract...

The salesman "Paul Sherlock, from Empire" said that because of the low cost he proposed, he now would be charged a kick back. So if we could write a check out to him for $275.00 we would then be charged the balance the day the carpet was installed. My husband and I actually thought that he was a contractor for Empire, when in fact he is actually an employee for Empire. So we didnt think too much of it. We then looked at our contract for Empire and it made no mention of our $275.00 check. I checked with our bank and this gentleman indeed signed the check and had it deposited into his direct account.

After making Empire aware that they have a salesman who is ripping them off and the customer off, we were told they did a thorough investigation and despite the cancelled check(showing the deposit), the contract from Empire (w/out the deposit included) and our credit card receipt(showing full payment), Empire doesnt seem to think that there is a problem and plans on doing nothing about it. I will get my $275.00 back!