Empire Today
Reviews and Complaints

This is the 2nd complaint I have put in on Empire Today. They required me to put down a deposit of $50.00 which the salesman said was refundable if I had to cancel. Well, I did cancel within the allotted time period and was told my deposit would be mail within 10-15 days after that date. It has been a month since that call. I contacted them again twice after that and was told the check had been mailed the first time and that someone would call me the second time. I have received no check and no one has contacted me. What a bunch of losers! I will discourage anyone from ever getting involved with this bunch of crooks. I will be filing complaints with the BBB and consumer advocates in our local area to get my refund back.

Just the other day I had Empire Today come to lay my kitchen floor...To start...the first installers came and did not know that we had decided for them to do the sub-floor...we were advised that it was an additional cost...Spoke to the salesman...It was a misunderstanding and there is an additional charge...ok...so we settled on a price...another set of installers came the next day... they did the sub-floor and the vinyl flooring... it looked great... the other day I noticed that a section was uplifting...the installer came back today...tapped on it and said it was fine...I came home from work and it looks the same as when I left...Have not gotten the satisfaction as of yet...and have a kitchen floor that has a bump in it... DO NOT trust this company..they have sub-contractors do the work

I saw their ad on tv and decided to get an in-home estimate. Sales person came out the next day, he was very friendly. He measured my space (700 sq ft) and sat down to give me a quote for laminate floors. I should mention here that it took a total of 4 hours to give me a quote. I picked 3 different laminate floor samples. First they give you the "retail" price --- how much you would pay if you went elsewhere. Then you're shown all the different discounts you get, and finally your price. I was quoted over $9, 000 for a laminate floor that was on "clearance." That $9, 000 did not include installation since it was free. I talked him down to $6, 800.

The next day, I price shopped A LOT of companies in the area. I asked for the most expensive, high end laminate they had in stock. The reason I did this is to see how the competitors most expensive/high end laminate would compare to Empire Today's laminate. The quotes that I was getting from competitors were no where near $6, 800. And certainly no where near the $9, 000 that was originally quoted. And definitely no where near that first "retail" price that I was told I would be charged if I shopped elsewhere.

This company plays a number game with their customers. They try to make you believe that you are getting a great deal since you are paying way below "retail." Don't believe them. Price around like I did. None of the competitors are charging the "retail" that they claim. And all of the competitors charge way below what they will quote you. This company is very dishonest and deceiving and are ripping people off. I'm glad I shopped around if not, I would have been ripped off.

I spent over an hour on the phone with Empire today concerning a missed apointment. 46 of those minutes were spent on hold .. listening to crappy music. I hung up the phone feeling more annoyed and upset then I started. There was NO record of an appointment for an additonal estimate. The appt that they had set for installation was 2 weeks down the road!

No one had answers for me. No one knew how to get someone out there ASAP. No one cared that we had cancelled ALL weekend plans in order to be home for the rep that NEVER showed.

Needless to say ... i canceled the order. I want a company that stands behind their product and cares about customers ... Empire didnt do either thing for me today. I received NO answers an NO compensation.

Empire Carpet rep came to give me an estimate. For a 12 by 14 bedroom and a 10by 5 closet, they gave me an estimate of $5400 to install ceramic tile! I QUICKLY showed the lil rep the way to the door. Told him that he couldn't tell me anything else! He started the number talk with "What is your budget for this project?"! I told him that he didn't need to know that! When he gave me the price, I gave him a few words and showed him to the door! I even carried ALL of his samples to the car! Basically told him to get to stepping! I can buy the tile myself and find someone to install it!

I was in need of a part-time job badly, I answered the ad in the Sunday paper for in-home sales people for Empire Today. I've dealt with them before (they put carpet in my home) and I really liked the sales person, so I decided to give it a shot. In my interview, the guy Gary told me I could make over 100, 000 dollars a year working for them and would I like to become part of the 'Team". I happily accepted, and began training the following week.

About twenty minutes into my so-called training I was told the following: 1) Empire does not have any sales people..you are required to become an 'independant contractor' and pay over 200 dollars to incorporate yourself. (in all fairness, they give you 300 bucks a week for the first month to help you out) You also must have a cell phone, that has internet capeability on it, a fax machine, a computer and a car that can handle a ton of mileage. 2) of the twelve people who were supposed to be in the class only six of us showed up. 3)we needed to fill out fifty pages of paperwork including background checks, persoanl information, and a form that lists empire on your insurance coverage.

We were also told the training is a four week process, but they will do it in a week! (needless to say, we didnt learn 80% of what we really needed to know) the general manager "Brett" introduced himself to us and immediately congratulated us on our "new businesses" (insert red flag here) he told a bunch of stories of how we will make hundreds of thousands of dollars and how Empire has been around for over 50 years (it has). He told us of the top salesperson who owned her own business and made over two hundred thousand dollars a year (come to find out this person works 21/ 12 hour days straight, and needs to take off one week a month due to burnout) also, she is SO good at what she does she has her own driver that drives her to her appointments (come to find out she lost her liscense due to multiple traffic tickets and failure to pay them)
we were supposed to fill out papers to get liscensed in Nassau County and NYC to work. They do reimburse you the 200 bucks it costs to get licesed in NYC, but the office girl failed to submit our liscense information for three weeks, and we were forbidden to get sales leads in all 5 boros and nassau county for over a month.

We didnt receive our 300 check for the first week until three weeks after we started. I, myself got two sales leads in Queens (I live in Suffolk county) for 5pm and 7pm in the projects in the ghetto part of queens. (not a place you want to be after dark) and that was it for two weeks (they said it was unusally slow). i needed manager assist on one of these calls, and the managers who all crammed down our throats in training that we had to call them while at every stop no matter what, not one of them would answer their phones. (three of the four voice mailboxes were full and could not accept messages) I left an angry message on the one that would take a message, and just left the persons apartment after they informed me they really had no money, but wanted to see how much the carpet would cost.

I returned my samples and told them that I no longer wanted to be part of this joke, and i could not figure out for the life of me how they managed to stay in business for over 50 years not only with their piss poor management skills, but with the highest prices in the world.

DO NOT WORK HERE OR BUY FROM EMPIRE TODAY. THEY ARE A RIP OFF, AND SET THEMSELVES UP TO OVERCHARGE YOU ON EVERYTHING THEY SELL! DO NOT FALL FOR THE 'NEXT DAY INSTALLATION' GARBAGE.

Note I did not indicate my name or the empire office I worked for, in fear of retaliation.

If you want a good sales job/sales careeer, stay away from empire.

I worked for empire as a sales rep for a number of years and the company has zero regard for you as an salesperson or even as a human being. You mean nothing to empire. I had worked for some aloof and even nasty bosses before, but empire is the only company i've ever worked for that doesn't value the people that feed them. You are like kleenex to them. They blow their nose on you, then toss you away because in today's economy, another like you will "pop up."

Empire probably has the highest sales turnover in the sales industry: 70%. Everyone on staff when I was fired was there less than a year. Some only weeks or a few months. Every week they're hiring and training because no one stays very long. When a company can't retain salespeople, there's something very, very wrong.

Not surprisingly, the regional manager was not phased at all — he took a perverse pride in it. Me? I would be embarrassed.in my brother's company, the turnover rate is less than 10%. Few salespeople last more than a few weeks or months at empire. It's like baseball... If they don't like your stuff right out of the box, you're outta there.

First, you mean nothing, and I mean positively nothing to empire as a human resource. You are forced to not only be a private contractor with no benefits, but the company also makes you incorporate so as not to be liable for anything regardless how they mistreat you.

Leads are given to you which is good, but god help you if you don't sell most of them. You will be berated and reminded "each lead costs the company $400 in overhead to set." even after seven good weeks of selling, if you have a bad week, empire considers you a bad salesperson (!) and stops giving you leads. How ridiculous is that?

Oh, and the lovely weekly sales meetings! They are no more than berating sessions, with only destructive, not constructive, criticism given. You walk in six feet tall, you walk out three.

Furthermore, empire's tv ads are deliberately misleading to the public. They promise an additional two "free" rooms of carpet when you pay in full for the largest room. But what they don't tell you is you pay through the nose for that one room, and labor and pad (Just not carpet) on the second two. So it's a shell game. And you have to go in to the customer and put a good spin on the lie that got you in the door.

The hours are atrocious. Up to six two-hour appointments: your gas, your car to carry the samples. By the time you finish your drawings and fax them it's 11p - 12a and you've just been up 14-15 hours... Then it starts all over again the next day.

I was the longest serving sales rep in my office. But if I can be canned, there's no hope for security or longevity for anybody. This isn't sour grapes. It's the opinion I had of empire all the years I sold for them.

So be aware: there is positively no job security at empire. It is one of those companies you're glad you're no longer working for. Take my advice and find a company that values your labor as a salesperson, as a human resourse, and as a human being. If you care about your health, your car, your family, your income, your social life and your self-esteem, stay far, far away from empire. Empire as an employer is a disgrace.

I work with senior citizens in Brooklyn. I am well aware of how companies take advantage of seniors. When you read this you will never use Empire for anything. I went to one seniors home and she was very happy. She told me that she was getting all new carpets and new tile in the kitchen. The carpet went in with no problem. The next day they came to install the tile. I checked in on the progress at the end of day 1 of the tile job. All the equipment was gone. I asked when they would return to finish. She said they were done and paid in full. Being very old she did not see what they did...or did not do. There were 3 corner tiles missing and the tile was too far from the wall. All they had to do was cut 3 tiles and put in baseboard molding (which was there before). I called the company because she was afraid to cause problems. The crew came back to fix the problem the next day. Ready? Instead of putting in the 3 tiles and baseboard, they painted the 3 squares to look like there was tile there! They actually painted the floor the color of the new tile. Then they painted the space between the tile and wall the same color. So she saw the floor all one color and was happy and even tipped them. I saw what they had done and called many many times but they never called back. Ripping off an old lady? Trust me...NEVER NEVER use this company! The sales people are great, then you never see them again and the sub-contracted crew that can't speak English shows up to rip you off.

On a Friday, I asked Empire to come out and give me a quote on getting the floors redone in my house. I ended up deciding to only go with the kitchen and have laminate put in. The quote was for 2900 which seemed really steep, but I figured, the laminate looks nice and they're taking out the old floor for me, so maybe it's worth it. The install was supposed to be the next day. The installation manager called me the day it was supposed to be installed to say they didn't have enough installers so they rescheduled for the following Saturday. I called my sales rep and left a message letting him know, but got no response. So, the following Saturday, they call me and say they'll be there in 1.5 hours. After 2 hours went by, I left my sales rep another message. No response. They finally showed an hour late. Then they say that they need more material because they need to replace the subfloor and that they can't do it with the "Luan" the sales rep quoted me. Also, that the warehouse is closed, so they can't get it today and need to reschedule again. I called my sales rep and this time got through. He claims that the first rescheduling is news to him, even though I left him a message the same day they rescheduled me. I told him that at this point, I want nothing more to do with Empire and they can keep my deposit. He still tried to push me to go ahead with the install saying that his quote was right and he doesn't know what the installer was talking about. I told him thank you but no. I found this site of complaints, and after reviewing them and the lack of response on his part, Empire was not a company I wanted to do business with.

Do not buy into these tv commericals. I don't understand how they have gotten away with what they do. If your in the miami/fort lauderdale area you will deal with their company rep named ''carlos varquez''. I may have his name spelled wrong. I paid in advance (Big mistake) and was told that the carpet would be instaled the next day, it was. It looked good. But ni've had to vacume it every day for the last 8 weeks, still thread or fabric comes loose. But I can live with it (What choice do I have). I bought venitian blinds, and window treatments as well. I am still (8 weeks ago) waiting. Don't worry about them keeping you in a loop, they won't. I have decieded that I have to drive to miramar fl on march 30 and swear out a warrent against the company. I also need to go to miami and sign a complaint against "carlos" for theft. This is the kind of company you will buy from. Sounds great, they come to your house, help you pick out the products, install nex day, or in two weeks. Trust me on this one, call a company from your local area, go to lowes, or home depot. Do not buy anything from empire. There tv ads are hogwash. Learn from my mistake

I had an empire sales person come out to my house and I decided to purchase a kitchen floor from them. At signing, they emphatically inform you have 3 days to cancel with no obligation. Today, my husband and I decided to cancel and I called and was completely bullied and told off by the customer service cancel representative, his name is rick. He would not listen to me. He kept asking me and kept asking me, why do you want to cancel? What don't you like? At first, I was going to buy into their marketing and let the sale sit for a week or two so I could shop around but when he would not give me in writing his promise that the sale would pend, I decided to cancel all together. (My contact I signed said 3 days to cancel, well this rick wanted me wait for 1-2 weeks and leave the sale pending - I was willing to but he would not send me any email or documentation) well, this is when it got ugly. He said things such as, " well, we spent our time on you at least you can tell us why you want to cancel? Why? Well, we don't even want your business anymore. I then asked to speak to his supervisor and he would not transfer me until I told him why I wanted to speak to him. He was so rude and fast talking it makes me sick. Funny thing is, my co-worker who was sitting next to me also booked a 3 room job with them this weekend and he called immediatly and cancelled his order after witnessing what I just went through. Never again. Don't do business with empire. Go to home depot or lowe's or anywhere else. It feels like they are scam artists or something. Gross feeling. I hope this helps you make your decision.

I had an empire sales person come out to my house and I decided to purchase a kitchen floor from them. At signing, they emphatically inform you have 3 days to cancel with no obligation. Today, my husband and I decided to cancel and I called and was completely bullied and told off by the customer service cancel representative, his name is rick. He would not listen to me. He kept asking me and kept asking me, why do you want to cancel? What don't you like? At first, I was going to buy into their marketing and let the sale sit for a week or two so I could shop around but when he would not give me in writing his promise that the sale would pend, I decided to cancel all together. (My contact I signed said 3 days to cancel, well this rick wanted me wait for 1-2 weeks and leave the sale pending - I was willing to but he would not send me any email or documentation) well, this is when it got ugly. He said things such as, " well, we spent our time on you at least you can tell us why you want to cancel? Why? Well, we don't even want your business anymore. I then asked to speak to his supervisor and he would not transfer me until I told him why I wanted to speak to him. He was so rude and fast talking it makes me sick. Funny thing is, my co-worker who was sitting next to me also booked a 3 room job with them this weekend and he called immediatly and cancelled his order after witnessing what I just went through. Never again. Don't do business with empire. Go to home depot or lowe's or anywhere else. It feels like they are scam artists or something. Gross feeling. I hope this helps you make your decision.

I had a sales person come to my house to give me a price to have myliving room and dining room. Marty was the salesmen. He was very rude and angry. He had my granddaughter help him bring in his samples of carpeting because he didn't want to make an extra trip out to his car. He does not like to be called Martin as my daughter found out when she called him by that name. He told her don't you ever call me Martin because that is what his father called him, and he HATES that name. He let me know that my livingroom was very depressing. I have been in sales for 15 years and I would never talk to anyone the way he talked to me. As he was showing us how the lamenate flooring was scratch resistant with a coin he hit the flooring so hard that it broke into. I will never use your company to do any kind of work in my house. And i will also let my friends know not to work with your company. By the way( Martin)
works out of the Monroeville Pa. area so just be aware, you don't want to deal with this person.

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THESE PEOPLE! If you read their fine print on the back of any offered contract, you are required to go to a private arbitrator to settle any complaints, so forget the BBB. Instead, for you older folks, you might check your state's Attorney General's Office, which may have laws against preying upon senior citizens. Empire's square yard estimates are far more than other carpet companies, and their caprpet quality in the samples shown to most homeowners are vastly inferior. No, I don't own a competing company, but was taken for a financial ride by one of those slick salesman at Empire. There's a reason that they don't advertise in the Denver area yellow pages and don't even have a local business address except for toll-free and local phone numbers and a website.

This is the kind oc company that gives Free Enterpriose a black eye.

Having read through all of the complaints on various sites against Empire Today a.ka. Empire Carpets, I realize that my story is not unique. It seems that Empire has a long history of fraudulent sales practices, and selling inferior products. My story is long, but please read through all of it if you are even considering ordering anything from this scam outfit. Please read my report and any others on here before you think about giving this rip-off company a dime of your money.

Back in September of 2007, I was planning a party at my home scheduled for Saturday, October 20, 2007. I had recently remodeled my kitchen, which made my carpets in the remainder of the first floor look rather worn out. These carpets had been installed for about 10-12 years, and while not in dire need of replacement, certainly were in need of updating to match the rest of the recent renovations.

Having purchased carpet and had it installed by Home Depot at one of my rental properties (a VERY high traffic installation), I was familiar with their service, and quality of their carpets. They had done an excellent job at a very reasonable price. I decided to bring my business back to them for my needs at my home. I visited the local Home Depot in Manchester NH, and they came to my house on September 30th for an estimate. After selecting the same carpets and pad I had installed in my rental property, they gave me the price...$1, 400. I told them I was very happy with that, and asked it to be scheduled ASAP. It was explained to me that they were very busy at the time, and could do the job around the 3rd week of October.

Since this was very close to the date of my party, I decided I did not want to risk not having the carpets completed by that date. I told them that I would have to find someone who could do it sooner. Later that evening, I saw the Empire Carpets commercial on one of the local channels. The idea of "quality products and next day installation" sounded great. I gave them a call and set up an appointment for a salesperson to come to my house.

On October 2nd, 2007 Janice Arel with Empire Carpets in Manchester NH arrived at my home. She came into my home and introduced herself. She met my 6 year old daughter, 8 year old daughter, 3 year old Chocolate lab, 5 year old Black lab, and my wife. I showed her the areas I wanted to have carpeted. After a few more minutes of exchanging pleasantries, we sat down at the kitchen table to discuss my carpeting needs.

I started by explaining to Janice that I needed carpeting that would hold up to a very high traffic condition. I further stated that having 2 children, 2 dogs, and 2 adults walking on the carpet daily, I needed a good quality carpet that would hold up to this type of use. She told me “we’ll fix you right up”. She went back out to her car and returned shortly with her sample book. We started reviewing my choices.

Having previously had carpeting installed by Home Depot in one of my rental properties, I was somewhat familiar with what I was looking for. The carpeting installed by HD has been in my rental property (a very high traffic application with 4 children and 2 adults) for 4 years, and still looks new. I wanted to have the same type of carpet installed at my home.

After a few minutes, I found a nearly identical carpet and pad to the one I had selected from the Home Depot salesperson a few days earlier. It was very similar to what I had installed in my rental property. Immediately after I selected this carpet/pad combination, Ms. Arel told me “Oh no, you don’t want that combination, it will never stand up to the traffic”. I again told her that I had installed the same thing in my rental property 4 years ago and it still looked great. She again assured me that this particular combination (estimated by her at $1, 450 installed) would not work out.

She stated that I definitely did not want a thick pad or carpet because it would show wear sooner. She directed me towards a carpet/pad combination that quite honestly looked much cheaper than my first choice. I AGAIN reiterated that I did not want to be changing the carpet in a few years. She assured me that this carpet pad combination would do the trick. I said “OK, you are the expert”. I did not know how soon I would live to regret those words.

I asked her about the pricing. She told me it would be $2, 150 installed. She told me it was the best she could do. Since it was $700 more than the carpet I wanted, I immediately told her to forget it. Strangely enough, her “best deal” suddenly got better, and she dropped the price to $1, 950. When I again asked if she could do better, she told me if I signed up for THEIR credit card, she could drop it lower. I did so, and the “best she could do” suddenly dropped to $1, 840.

Since I was desperate to have the job completed in time for my party, I agreed. Before signing the paperwork I again asked her if she was sure the carpet she recommended would stand up to my needs. She assured me that this would definitely do it, and if I went with my first choice I would likely be changing the carpets in a year or two. How prophetic of her, because I am now faced with changing them after taking the advice of Empire Carpet’s “expert”. It is clear that Empire’s salespeople are trained to milk the customer for the most money, and not to take their best interests into account when recommending carpet.

I signed the paperwork, and prepared to have my carpeting installed.

NEXT DAY CARPETS? NOT. This is another integral part of the scam. You see their advertisements every day promoting next day installation. They do not provide it! The only reason I went with Empire in the first place was because they could have the job done before my party. They assured me that it would be done in time. Were they done in time? Yes, by 1 day. The salesperson was at my house on October 2nd, and the carpets were finally installed on October 19th, one day before my party! There was a litany of excuses why it took over 2 weeks to have them installed, but once again, Empire’s fraudulent sales tactics shined through. If I wanted to wait until 1 day before, I would have had Home Depot do the job for a lower price with better quality.

So, on October 19th, 2007 two young gentlemen arrived at my home to begin installation of the carpet. Both of these young men were very polite, professional, and efficient. They did a very quick job of installing the carpet, and removing the old carpets. When they were done they asked if I had any questions. I said no, tipped them $20 each and said goodbye. These subcontractors (NOT Empire employees) were the only part of my Customer Service experience with Empire that was remotely professional.

After only about 1 week, the transition strips between the new carpet and my living room, bedrooms and bathrooms were bending and pulling up. The nails that held the strips in place were popping out daily. One morning one of my dogs was lying on the floor choking on one of these nails that were supposed to secure these strips. The strips were made of a cheap, inferior gage metal and the nails used were too short to hold them in place. This was just the beginning of my nightmare with the quality of their products and services.

I spent the next week or so walking around with a hammer pounding these nails back in place. After 2 weeks of doing this, I went back to my local Home Depot, and bought heavier gage strips and the proper length nails. I replaced all of the strips, and just wrote this off as a “fluke” and since it did not cost much to repair, I did not call to complain. I simply decided to move on and not worry about it.

My problems continued for about 6 months, as the carpet was shedding like one of my labs in the hot humid New Hampshire summer. I called the 800 number to complain about this, and was told that this was “perfectly normal” and would subside after time. Well sure enough, it did subside after about 6 months. Unfortunately not only the fuzz of the carpet fibers had gone away, so had the original shine, luster, and 2 tone color of the rug. I again called to complain, and was again told by an “associate” who refused to identify herself that this was “normal”.

We continued to maintain the carpet at normal intervals, vacuuming 3 times a week. While the carpet was certainly not dirty, it did NOT look like a carpet that was only 7 months old. I thought that perhaps it just needed to be professionally cleaned, and contracted a commercial cleaning company to clean the rug. $125 later, the carpet still looked like it had been in my house for 5 years. Around this same time, I noticed yet another problem with the carpet. Anywhere where there was traffic, the carpet was compacted down so that there is literally no cushion between the rug and the plywood below. By contrast, anywhere that was not walked on still looked new. This carpet that I was told I had to have by their “trained salesperson” was falling apart below my feet.

Since I travel on business 30 weeks a year, I simply learned to live with it. It was not until my wife urged me every day for a month that I decided to call and try to file a formal complaint with Empire Carpets. The carpets were badly worn anywhere that there was traffic, and the pad was completely compressed. I began calling in November of 2008. After placing 3 phone calls and being promised I would receive a call, I was finally contacted in December by yet another “anonymous” associate who took my complaint, and explained that they needed to send someone out to see if it was installation related.

On December 29th, 2009 Empire finally sent a representative to check the installation. He was very polite, and friendly. He looked around for a few minutes, and then told me “it’s not an install problem”(big surprise, huh?). I asked him how long he had been in the carpet business, and he said 25 years. I told him that I realized he could not comment on the cause. I asked him directly “off the record, should this carpet look like this after only 14 months?” He replied “no” and walked out of my house.

On January 2nd, 2009 I received a voice mail from someone named Eleanor [protected]) who stated that the results of the first inspection proved the issue was not installation related. She further stated that I now needed to allow an independent inspector (who in reality works in conjunction with carpet manufacturer) to come to my house to see if the issue is related to a defect in the carpet. I called Eleanor back 3 times that week, but did not hear back from her. Apparently Eleanor is the rep in the Manchester NH area.

On January 5th, I received a call from a Ron Assante with Inspect Solutions. He informed me that a gentleman by the name of Dana Masters would be contacting me to arrange an appointment to check the carpeting for defects. On January 12, I received a call from Mr. Masters who told me he would be at my house on January 14. I explained that I was in Dallas on business, but that my wife would be home and for him to go to the house. He did in fact show up on January 14.

Mr. Masters spent a total of about 10 minutes in the house. While the sub-standard carpeting showed signs of extreme wear throughout the living room, hallways and stairways, Mr. Masters took pictures only of an area in front of where my couch had once been. When asked why he did not inspect the hallways or stairways, Mr. Masters replied that he didn’t need to. It is actually comical that in Mr. Master’s “independent” report he only stated there was worn carpeting in the living room. Since he didn’t even look at the hallway or stairways, he could not report on that. Sure enough, when the report came out, he ONLY discussed the living room. He only spoke of 1 area in front of the old couch location, and made no mention of the rest of the badly deteriorated carpet in the remainder of the house.

On January 21st, I received another “anonymous” call from an Empire rep. She explained to me that the damage was (drum roll please………) Consumer Related! How convenient that the “independent” inspector whose job it is to make sure the carpet manufacturer does not have to pay claims on their shoddy carpet came back with a report stating the issue was consumer related. I immediately told the woman I wanted to speak to a Supervisor. I was told none was available, and that I “needed to learn how to take care of my carpets” and I would not have this problem. I again asked for the name of a Supervisor, and was told that they do not give that information out.

On January 27, I got another voice mail from the elusive Eleanor stating that she heard that I was upset with the report, and wanted to review the report with me. I called her 4 times [protected]) over the next 2 days, and got voice mail every time. I left her 4 voice mails telling her I wanted the name and number of the highest person in the Empire organization. I never heard back from Eleanor.

On February 2nd, 2009 I received a call from a “Darlene” from Empire calling from a Massachusetts phone number [protected]). Darlene (who also would not give me her last name) started the conversation by stating that she wanted to go over the results of the report. I told her I was fully aware of the results, and that the results were BS. I told her the same long story I’ve laid out here, clearly explaining that it was an Empire employee who told me I HAD to get this particular carpet and pad combination if I wanted it to hold up. She told me that there was nothing she could do (unless I wanted to pay to upgrade the carpet) about the situation. I told her that their sales practices are fraudulent, and that I was convinced to buy a much more expensive carpet based on false promises in an effort to increase the amount of my sale.

I asked her if she thought they owed me something for outright lying, and supplying sub-standard materials. She said “Tom, if we gave out money every time we had a problem, we would have been out of business a long time ago”. I replied back to her “if you didn’t use fraudulent sales practices and provided good quality products you wouldn’t need to worry about giving out money, would you?” She did not speak for about 10 seconds. I went on to tell her that I am not someone who is looking for something that I do not deserve. I told her all I wanted was to get what I paid for in the beginning, nothing more, nothing less. She thought about that for a minute and then said “Tom, you sound sincere and I think we should do something about this. I am going to have Helen Brown call you.” When I asked for Helen Brown’s email address and phone #, I was again told that they do not give that information out and that I needed to wait for Ms. Brown to call me.

On February 5, I received a call from Ms. Brown. [protected] X 7782) If her name sounds familiar, it should. Her name is all over the consumer chat boards, generally because she is the one who they send the angry consumers who have been ripped off. Sadly, if you read the other stories she never does anything to resolve the situation.

I once again told my long sad story to Ms. Brown. Ms. Brown listened very politely while I talked for about 20 minutes. At the end I again told her that I felt that there Sales tactics were fraudulent, and intended to rip off customers. I further stated that I was not as upset that the carpet DID wear, I was upset because the Empire sales rep purposely defrauded me out of additional money to sell me inferior carpet that could never stand up to my needs.

After listening to me, she again reminded me that the report stated it was consumer related. I asked her if she had listened to anything I had said in the previous 20 minutes. She stated that they would replace the carpet, if I paid to have it installed. I asked her “let me get this straight, you want me to pay to re-install the same junk carpet so that I can be in the same situation in 6 months?” She immediately replied “well, if you want to upgrade to a carpet that will suit your needs you could pay the difference and pay to install it.” I immediately replied back “now you want me to spend another $1, 000 just to get the carpet that your salesperson assured me I was getting in the first place?”

I told her this is unacceptable, and that I wanted the name of the president, VP, or whoever is the highest up in the company. Once again, I was told that this information could not be given out, and that I would have to speak to the “Regional Manager” a Charles Edwards of Philadelphia. I asked her for his name and phone number and (you guessed it…..) she could not give out that information. I told her to have him call me. Today is January 9, and I have still not heard from Mr. Edwards.

My question to anyone who is thinking of giving this scam outfit one dime is this: If they were truly an honest and forthright company, why would they go to such lengths to hide any means of contacting people there? I have scoured the internet for email addresses, phone numbers, or physical address and come up with nothing. It is obvious that they do this for a reason……….if they didn’t their email and phones would be blowing up with inquiries from ripped-off customers like me.

In summary, please do not even think of using this company for anything. You WILL end up just like every other person who has posted a similar story to mine. Nothing will ever be done; they will take your cash, and leave you wondering how you could have fallen for such an outright scam. They train their people to lie in an effort to increase sales, and use low quality materials to do the job. They do not care about repeat sales, all they want is one shot at you……….it’s all they need.

Please, spread the word about these thieves. Don’t let this happen to you, your loved ones or friends.

Thank you,

Tom

New Boston, NH

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.