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Empire Today review: Steer clear of empire today! 102

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12:00 am EST
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Empire Today just started doing business in NC, and have started a huge t.v. ad campaign. My wife saw the commercials and we figured we'd give them a try. I called and set up an appointment and they sent someone at my earliest convenience. So far so good.

The estimator shows up and immediately put us off by assuming that my wife and I weren't southerners because we didn't have drawls and proceeded to make fun of southern accents.

He immediately started his salesman schmooze by complimenting my wife, playing with the baby, asking to pet our dog, etc etc. He measured the rooms we wanted carpeted and went back to his van to get samples. He immediately started trying to steer us towards the most expensive carpet he had, and told us to not "make the mistake of buying carpet based on price." Um... yeah. Price is not an object to a salesman, is it?

After measuring he gave me an estimate that was about $2000 over what anyone else gave us. He kept going on about how it included EVERYTHING from padding to moving the furniture, to removing the old carpet and padding, etc etc. I was able to talk him down a measly $200 which he immediately tacked back on with sales tax. We really needed the carpet and in a hurry, so I signed on the dotted line. I asked him for an itemized bill so I could see how it all broke down, and he said, "We don't do things that way. We figure it by the job." Red flags then went off...

After he left, I started thinking about how completely wrong I felt about the transaction. I reviewed the paper work and saw where he failed to mention all of my options as far as padding, moving my own furniture, etc etc.

I called and canceled within 30 minutes of him leaving my house. They asked why I wanted to cancel and I told them the salesman wouldn't give me an itemized bill. The customer service rep asked, "Well if we knock something more off the price, would that help?" I told him it might if he could promise me an itemized bill, but he would NOT do that. He gave me my cancellation notice and said that my $25 deposit would be refunded in 10-14 business days. I told him the salesman required $100 from me and he said, "Um... really?"

So then I called to cancel the credit line that was opened with GE and got a call center in India and they refused to help me cancel the account. Why wasn't I smart enough to trust my gut instinct? I'm still in this mess and I will warn EVERYONE to steer clear of Empire Today. Take your money to a reputable local dealer or a national chain of home improvement stores.

Update by glosson
Mar 26, 2007 1:25 pm EDT

Just FYI, they're comment says they were going to call me within 24 hours. They never called. They're just trying to do damage control on these message boards because they have so many complaints against them.

May 14, 2014 10:07 am EDT
Empire Today customer support contacts
Address

333 Northwest Avenue, Melrose Park, IL, 60164, US

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Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention, Susan. We can assure you that your experience is not what we expect for our customers. We regret that your concerns have not yet been resolved, and we will be contacting you shortly to discuss the situation in more detail. You can also reach us at 888-588-2315 x4195 or customersupport@empiretoday.com. Thank you. Jeanette Ramey, National Customer Service Manager
Resolved

The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer's satisfaction.

102 comments
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JEFF KENNEDY
Columbus, US
Oct 23, 2014 8:56 pm EDT

hey SR who withheld your name I bet you have never been in flooring or bought flooring before joining EMPIRE which is what they want because you haven't got a clue as to pricing or the actual lies about installation of ANY TYPE FLOORING DONE IN ONE DAY!
Do yourself a real favor and learn the flooring business from a true Professional. The only reason your not embarrassed about what your doing is because you don't have a clue! Empire Today is NOT a flooring company at all!, oooo an they KNOW IT! Any company that expects their Reps to give a customer a price that's lets just say 15, 000.00 for flooring that should( if you actually know the business like you should) cost 5000.00 an if the customer says know then you make one phone call its down to 12000.00 two calls down to 10000.00 three calls down to 9200.00 four calls down to 8000.00 five calls down to 7000.00 but on the sixth call if you pay for it now and do an (impossible install correctly) tomorrow it will be 5000.00 WTF! YOU JUST LOOKED LIKE THE UNEDUCATED LIAR THEY WANTED YOU TOO LOOK LIKE ! TRUST ME I WAS A REP FOR ONE DAY ! OH AN MY NAME IS JEFF Kennedy [protected]

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Dorothy Clark Henry
US
Mar 14, 2018 12:57 am EDT

Empire did a terrible job installing my floors. After five months they started
separating. Had gaps all over them. I called empire and they sent an installer out
to look at the floors. He said they could not be repaired because they had too many gaps
in them. Empire refused to redo the floors on their own, wanted me to pay them an additional
$950.00's to fix their mess. Wish I had never had them in my house to do my floors. Had guest over
Thanksgiving, said my wood floors were the worst looking wood flooring they had ever seen in
anyones house. Of course I let them know who installed them. HORRIBLE looking floors!
DO NOT USE EMPIRE TODAY!

Empire Today
Empire Today
Northlake, US
Mar 14, 2018 3:07 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Dorothy,
We're sorry to hear this, and we'd like to further address your concerns. Please email us at customersupport@empire-today.com with both your street address and phone number, also be sure to mention Yelp in the subject line. We look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you.

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Ann Lind
US
Aug 16, 2018 12:42 am EDT

For over 3 months now, I have attempted to get Empire today to repair or replace the faulty vinyl wood planking they installed in my home. Additionally, there are issues with baseboards (they installed) and transition pieces. They installed one plank as a replacement, wrong color. CORP told them to stop, now refusing to respond to calls or emails.

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EmpireIsTerrible
US
Aug 20, 2018 11:54 am EDT

THIS IS THE WORST COMPANY! The carpet quality is poor and cheap. The installation is horrendous! The customer service is terrible. The call center is unprofessional and poorly trained! I am contacting the Better Business Bureau! Do not buy carpet from LARRY! March 13, 2018
DO NOT CALL [protected]!
I REQUEST FULL REFUND!

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Leslee Lengyel
US
Aug 20, 2018 11:04 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Flooring was not completed. Trim was left off and blue padding is showing all over the place.

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PY Davis
US
Sep 18, 2018 6:58 am EDT

I requested a refund in a timely manner per the notice to cancel page of the contract and I still have not received my refund. When I call them, I get no where. My next step will be to file a complaint with the consumer division of the Secretary of States office.

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Laurel Elting
US
Sep 18, 2018 8:37 pm EDT

When workers dragged stapled corner guard of my box springs across the top, they caused Damage to my desk.
The corner guard on the box springs got dragged across desktop, exposing staples that pulled chips of wood off the top of my Mid-Century wood desk.
$250.00 quote to repair.

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antuca
US
Oct 31, 2018 7:13 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I want to cancel an installation due to the fact that I decided to sell the property. I tried calling but they could not help me.
10292 Missouri Meadows St, Las Vegas, Nv. 89183

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Zanya Miller
US
Feb 02, 2019 2:01 pm EST

I wish that I would have done my homework on the company as well but we saw the television ad as well and jumped. They put tile down in my bathroom and now the toilet leaks so bad I can’t use it. After seemingly arguing with them for two months they nastily told me to hire my own plumber and submit the bill to them for consideration, after telling me that they’d only cover $150 of it when the average plumber charges $175 a hour and would take a minimum of three hours to complete.

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RudyTuten
US
Jun 25, 2019 1:08 pm EDT

I called Empire about my gutters being clogged. They refused to send anyone out to honor their no clog guarentee. False advertising on how they will clean out for free. Empire can not be trusted. Water poors out over my front house door. I'm in a wheelchair and the rap to my house gets full of ice. Empire dont care about handicapped people.

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Hernie
US
Nov 02, 2019 9:48 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Bought new carpet from empire two weeks ago. The carpet keeps snagging and they scratched my hardwood floor. Contacted empire a week ago and still no results. Would not recommend empire to anyone

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Bob Whittaker
US
Nov 11, 2019 4:02 pm EST

We were way over charged for underlayment, wrong product ordered then charged again for new product. We were ripped off bigtime.

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LSamuels
US
Dec 14, 2019 9:28 pm EST

I had my kitchen re-floored in February of 2019 with Empire Today's "Engineered Hardwood". The seams are starting to fail already and pull away from the subfloor. I was told this flooring was literally indestructable. I can't imagine what it's going to look like a year from now.

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Patrisia
Oakley, US
Apr 19, 2022 4:43 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Long story short, got a quote for the best carpet for pets stain resistant. GUARANTEED . Signed and scheduled installation. Installation day came NO CALL NO SHOW. Called to verify what happened, they didn’t have the carpet yet is what they said and said they would get it a specific date and scheduled me another installation date, I called the day before the 2nd installation date to confirm and yes the had the carpet all is good and on track for installing. Well that Incorrect 2 more appointments later they install it half a room short. Fast forward 10 months carpet is coming apart. Called it in and a rep by they name of Virginia asked to send photos, to support replacement. so I did along with videos she said she didn’t receive and but replies back on the same email thread. I went back and forth with her for a few not getting anywhere. Request to speak to her Manager Cinthya . Provide me her number, so I called her and left a minimum of at least 10 calls NO CALL BACK. I stop reaching out to them for about 4 weeks. I reached out to Virginia, her voicemail now belonged to a Samuel let him 3 different messages NO CALL backs. I started calling the 800 number speaking to multiple reps who would open a incident # and I should get a call back within 24 hours, needless to say NO CALL back, I continued to call and the would give me a new incident number, reason being the last one was closed, I asked how and why was it closed if no one reached out. They would say not sure but, will open a new incident number and FINALLY ( do I thought) I get a voicemail from Cinthya leaves me a message she has been assigned to help me. I call her back ASAP no answer , after like a week I finally get a hold of her let her know I originally felt with Virginia and requested to speak to her manager which I was told it’s you! , i asked why no one has called back. Took 4 months for you to call back. Fast forward again another month calling and leaving messages, new incident number others closed multiple emails with photos. This has been goi g on now for 5 months and NO CALL back.

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Mr.Allen
Jamestown, US
Aug 29, 2022 1:35 pm EDT

Amanda Andersson called late July, insulation was 7-11

Told her the 1/4 round was laid bad. She asked fie picture and I sent a sample .

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A1Crjh
Diamond Bar, US
Sep 14, 2022 6:45 am EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

Yours salesman lied as to what work I what done around my door entry and fireplace. I thought I was receiving a credit for the work that was never done. Then some manager claimed what I done was possible, I had another flooring guy that came in and did the work, I wanted and repaired area that where poorly cut. See you in small claims court.

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Bravebird Cindy
St Louis, US
Oct 03, 2022 1:19 pm EDT

My carpet has not been installed after three previous appointments. The last appointment was a no call no show. I have gotten no urgency from the install manager or market manager although there is a 24 hours policy of calling back from someone in the agency.

The salesman, Wesley, sold me a bill of goods and has not been supportive or responsive to post sales concerns.

1st appointment - wrong carpet

2nd appointment was rescheduled by Empire

3rd appointment no call no show

4th appointment was made by Empire I wasn't consulted and feel pressed to keep the installation appointment that they scheduled without consulting me.

In the meantime I have moved furniture back and forth 8 times and no carpet on my steps!

The St. Louis Empire Today made work real hard to get what I paid for months ago. I was going to be a return customer but clearly they don't value my business.

Just talked with Edie... let's see what happens now. So frustating.

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Faith D Wilson
Glen Burnie, US
Oct 29, 2022 6:12 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

The installers did not complete the job, and I cannot get them to return. I was assured that the prepayment which I was forced to make would stay as a pending charge on my credit card however it was processed. I now am filing a case in small claims court regarding this

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Alicia Wilhelm
US
Jan 11, 2023 10:54 am EST

Absolutely horrible customer service they put my husband’s name in route from the beginning. We got denied financing because of it. The lady that came after like [censored] every idea what she was talking about so we wouldn’t need new subfloor. It was already have ripped up so she can see it was under we didn’t end up meeting subfloor. They install the hardwood instead of our Tile first and then we have a hump every entrance. Our carpet has already pulling up at every entrance underneath a hard one I called to get help and they wanna charge me $650 just to talk the carpet under the hardwood and fix the grout chunks that are coming out. Obviously these shoes are happening because it wasn’t done while they do nothing to help their customers that I talk to to to separate people and they told me the exact same thing no help at all and I do not care about their customers.

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Thomas Walter
Port Jefferson Station, US
Jan 21, 2023 9:47 pm EST
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I had new laminate flooring installed throughout my home. Within 4 months the floor started shifting. There are now big gaps in numerous spots and it is dangerous when a piece of flooring moves when you step on it.

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luis luna jr
US
May 08, 2023 11:53 pm EDT
Verified customer This complaint was posted by a verified customer. Learn more

I signed the contract for tile work on Friday April 28, 2023 called to cancel on Sunday April 30th they put me on Hold it’s been 1 hour 20 so far on hold

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