Carpet and Flooring Reviews - Empire Today

We had a berber carpet installed throughout our entire downstairs a little over a year ago. Immediately following the installation, I noticed a section in the hall that looked as though the padding was missing. I also noticed that the carpet looked loose in a few different areas. I called Empire's customer service to get the matter fixed. They sent someone out and we were told that the padding folded over when installing the carpet, and that they reinstalled the missing padding.

A few months later, the loose sections of the carpet started to show signs of buckling and I called Empire again. Again, they sent someone out who had to restretch the carpet in one area of the room. In doing so, they also noticed that the original tack strips were not properly installed, and had to repair the tack strips.

After another couple of months I noticed the carpet showing signs of buckling in other parts of the room and also another section that looked like the padding had flattened out. I called and Empire then sent an inspector to my home. The inspector took pics and confirmed that the carpet was poorly installed. I called again after there was no follow up and was told that I needed to provide more specific information about the needed repairs. I noted that I thought that was the purpose of sending an inspector; to get specific information about the needed repairs. We eventually agreed to another date when someone would come to fix the carpet. I took a day off from work only to have no one show up. They did call later in the afternoon to let me know they would have to reschedule.

Long story short, the carpet was poorly installed from the very beginning and has been causing ongoing issues since. Although Empire seems willing to continue to return to "fix" the problem, the problem is ongoing and continues to cause me to take time off from work and be inconvenienced. At some point, they tried to blame it on the fact that it is a berber carpet (which was recommended by their salesperson), when, in fact, it was and continues to be the result of a very poor installation process. I continue to signs of buckling and still have no end to the fixes in sight.

On 9/13/18 Jamie came to our house for a consultation on hardwood floors for our downstairs and staircase. After much discussion we landed on LVP flooring. At that time we made clear that we wanted white risers to go with our LVP flooring. He indicated that wasn't a problem. I noticed that it wasn't in the contract and when I asked he said that he needed to place a separate order for that but not to worry, he would take care of it, so we scheduled an install date on 9/19/18.

The installers came and completed downstairs LVP installation but didn't have the proper materials for the stair installation. For one, they didn't have enough materials, and for two, they didn't have any record of the white risers for the steps. Downstairs flooring installation was completed on 9/20/18. Installers indicated someone would be in touch to reschedule the stair installation.

On 9/24/18 I called to inquire about the stair installations since no one called me. Was informed that it was scheduled for 10/1/18. I specifically asked if the issues with the correct amount of materials and the white risers was resolved and was told that it was. On 10/1 the installers showed and again had no record of the white risers and didn't have the correct materials. No installation took place that day.

I called the office back and again discussed the issue. Everyone I spoke to claims they have no record of me requesting this despite numerous conversations, but that it would be resolved. Appointment was rescheduled for 10/5/18. Installers came, still had incorrect materials but stated they would flip the risers they brought and paint them white before installing. Installation took place all day on 10/5/18.

After looking at the completed job, I noticed several issues. One of the risers was installed incorrectly and left several gaps in the wood. There are other gaps present as well. Inexplicably, quarter round was installed on the landing and is longer than the step it is installed upon. Many of the treads were poorly cut and even more poorly caulked. Several of the treads are uneven where the 'nose' of the tread is higher than the back part of the tread. There is stray paint and caulking everywhere.

Due to weekend and holiday, I called the office on 10/9/18 regarding these issues. I was told that they took detailed notes of everything and that I should email pictures, which I did. I also set an appointment for 10/18/18 for these items to be addressed. On 10/18/18 the installer arrived and stated he was just there to take pictures and observe the issues but wouldn't be doing any work that day. I said I already emailed pictures and he stated he never got them. After he left I called the office again and explained the issue to the same customer service rep I spoke to on 10/9. She rescheduled the install again for 10/25/18 and assured me that everything would be addressed and that the installation supervisor was now involved. On 10/23 I received a call from a different service rep asking why we had an appointment for 10/25 and if the issues were resolved on 10/18. I explained - again - what took place and told her I spoke to someone on 10/18 who assured me that this would be resolved. She again explained that she had no notes on any of this (a common excuse provided to me at this point) and confirmed my appointment for 10/25.

On 10/25/18 I received a call again from the customer service rep explaining that they would not be able to make the appointment for 10/25 due to needing to bring in a painter to fix the riser. At this point I have lost all confidence as I continue to take off of work while this issue isn't resolved. I asked how painters were going to help and explained that there are several issues that need to be addressed that I've brought up on two calls, and via email with pictures. After being placed on hold I was told that she found my email and it's the first time she's seen it. After asking to speak to a supervisor I was informed (again) that there are no supervisors in that day. In a way I'm not surprised because there must be no one in charge there the way things are run... on the other hand how can there never be any supervisors present ever?

I'm now rescheduled for 10/26/18. I have zero confidence that my issues will be resolved at that time. I have now had to take off of work on 9/19, 9/20, 10/1, 10/5, 10/18, 10/25 and 10/26 (and counting) for an install that I was told would take two days.

I should have heeded the negative reviews of this company. They don't know how to communicate between departments and the contractors they hire for installation are shoddy at best. The take poor notes and blame the customer for anything they don't know because they can't conduct proper record keeping. For $13,000 I expected my floors to look better than something I could have done myself. I will never use Empire again and will tell everyone I know to stay away.

I am not going to elaborate very much. The floor looks nice and we are happy with the hard floor and the carpet.

Extremely disappointed with the scheduling, timeliness, and speed of the crews. I moved most of the furniture myself after being told the crews would do it. I injure my back and was told they would get back with me on that. On a $13,000.00 project we received a $200.00 rebate for delays.

It took an extra eight days before it was totally done. Even the sal s rep said that was totally unacceptable. Of course he said a lot of other things too.

LOL! Bottom line I would advise a lot more looking around and comparing than we did and I would not recommend empire flooring to anyone i considered a friend.

I ordered laminate flooring and linoleum was installed. I was told by the men who installed the flooring that it was laminate.

The job took a lot longer because they said they did not order enough. Had to weight 2 more days plus weekend. The installers did not come back and put the wall boards in so I have the materials but they have not been installed. I would never recommend to my enemies this company.

I am very disappointed in the workmanship and the job not being finished. Also that I did not receive the laminate that I ordered and paid for.

For past week I have reached out to customer service! I would like to speak to a Vice President of this company!!

So very pissed told them I do t want those guys back out they left in such a hurry they didnt even help to put the furniture back in place.

And still know one has come to do the carpet. I called and they said was they would credit us back $200 for them not moving the furniture back yes but what about my wasted time off work man these people are freaking stupid.

Initially, I was somewhat pleased with my experience. I’d replaced the carpet in my entire house and had wood floor laminates installed.

No issue with initial scheduling. Paid for my pending service upfront, as well as, took a day off work for them to complete a two-day project. When my laminate floors were installed, they did not bring enough materials to complete the job. The installer was very apologetic and guaranteed I would be first to complete the job the next Saturday.

As a result, I’d scheduled some appointments for the afternoon to allow them time to complete the job that morning. I’d received a call around 8:00 AM that they were on the way and would arrive within two hours – between 8:30 AM and 10:30 AM. Well after me making four calls, finally on the fourth call now 1:50 PM, I’d learned that the installers who were to complete a paid job decided not to come to me first to complete an installation that should have been completed last week. They did not call to notify me of a change in my appointment nor apparently, did they care that I had other commitments for the afternoon.

Also, tried to email my salesman Howard Naylor but to no avail. This is totally unacceptable!!! Very, very poor customer service!!!

I guess they have my money, so customer service goes out the window. A very unhappy North Carolina customer!!!!

We had carpet, hardwood and PVC installed about two weeks ago and the carpet installers covered a floor outlet (mind you they took off the cover to the outlet and left it for me) but nonetheless covered it up. Who does that?

Then the hardwood floor installers stole decor kitchen towels when they knocked over a vase in the kitchen (where the flooring was not being redone so it never should have happened) and I'm assuming used the towels to clean up the spilt water but then never put the towels back. A section of the hardwood has a crack in it that we discovered while moving furniture back into the living room. In the basement (where I offered to move furniture but was told they would do it they lost one of my car key fobs. On top of all of this when you contact customer service they transfer you to a voicemail of management and left voicemail 4 times in the past week and still have not had a call back.

We are laying out over $8000 for the work we've had done and the lack of customer service is outright ridiculous. I'm honestly considering stopping payment on this until I get a response from a supervisor.

I definitely wouldn't recommend Empire to anyone in the future.

Well let’s see the installers Ana & Daniel are so beyond unprofessional. They showed up at my house at 1pm on Tuesday.

Took a lunch break at 4pm returned at 545pm. Said they had came back at about 5 but no one was home which was bs. Cause my son and girlfriend were here and they left their tool and rolls of padding at my front door holding it open. Anyways took them until 4am to not finish the *** job they did.

They ran out of carpet and have to return to finish one room. She told me they will be here today which is Thursday between 11-12pm to finish job. And it’s now 6:36pm and surprise surprise they ain’t here. I called her 2xs and they say they are close by and nope no show.

They left their piles of trash on my front yard and didn’t clean up after themselves on Tuesday. I was stuck vacuuming & sweeping up their disaster. And she said she didn’t know they had to move furniture so they used my son brother myself and son girlfriend to help move furniture!!! WTH!

I am in the middle of selling my home I have an open house schedule for Saturday & Sunday and my house isn’t presentable.

They didn’t finish carpet up to the walls there is a gap where u can see the uncarpeted flooring and the base boarders anywhere it transitions into another room the Carpet is lifted. A refund will be expected and ch 4 news has been notified and I am contacting better business Bureau.

Had carpet installed prior to listing our house for sale. The installers did not meet the original appointment time and when they showed up they didn’t have the proper materials and had to reschedule.

During the install furniture was damaged but no one took responsibility although the contractor offered to pay for the repair. They did not vacuum, there were staples left every where and left garbage all over our yard. We had to hire someone to come back and do a second cleaning before we could list the house.

No one from empire ever followed up to see how things went. I am now ready to replace the floors in our new house but don’t am very hesitant of getting a quote from them again.

Had to take the day off of work yesterday for our appointment with empire to carpet our bedroom, waited all day for them to come. First they tried to cancel because they had overbooked, but then they offered to do the appointment if we were able to stay all night for them to complete the job.

They finally showed up after 5pm and then promptly left, because they had not already cut the carpet with our measurements, refused to do it in our large finished basement, and it had rained earlier in the day so they could not do it outside. They gave us the number to their home office to reschedule, but they were already closed for the day. Called customer service and they had absolutely no ability to help. All they were able to do is attempt to reschedule for a few weeks away.

We have had to delay finishing our hardwood floors now for days until this gets figured out. This whole experience has been completely off putting and unprofessional.

We just ordered two runners for our stairs, and it is the worst experience I have ever had with a company. I have a page and a half of errors, too many to put on here.

Their subcontractors don't show and don't call you to let you know they can't make it today. Empire does not call you to reschedule, you have to call a customer service rep and they put you on hold. They can't call you back, and they can't e-mail you back, so you just have to wait. Best the rep can do is put notes in the system for managers, and they won't give you number to managers, who are the real people who make the decisions.

I wanted my money back but they said in the contract that subcontractors can make errors so there is no kind of money back program. Best you can do is yell at the reps but that gets you nowhere. It is a total scam with the worst customer focused business model I have seen.

We had used they about 8 years ago for simple carpet and they were good, but they have really gone downhill since then, and I would absolutely not use them. Go to a local place and spend a little more for better quality.

The quote was never written correctly from the first visit. Very unprofessional installation workers.

The manager of the Orlando market Joe never followed though and would not call back.

Joe offered a small refund for all the trouble but I never seen any refund. The installation to this day is not good quality and my carpet is not level due to poor installation.

Customer service just gives people the run around. Empire in Orlando is very unprofessional!

Would never recommend to anyone.

My family and I called for a free estimate back in February , we where told that ALL NEW customers would get $500.00 off their orders if they never order from Empire before. We had a very nice salesman named Tony come to our house and he gave us a price for the flooring.

I called back and was told that NO ONE AT EMPIRE ever heard of this offer and spoke to a supervisor named Jennifer and I felt like I was speaking to a stonewall and she promise to investigate this matter and get back to me and I never heard back..... I wrote to to the CEO Mr. Weinberger and my letter was thrown in the garbage. I must have spoken to about 10 lost souls at this lying company.

I spoke from executives down and never heard back. My advice to the public is stay away from this company of lairs and a company who will not back up their claims or products. Go to Home Depot or Lowe's you will have a company that will support their customers and will you never be treated like garbage.

My friends advised me to report this matter to the Attorney General's office of New York and the BBB and Consumers Affairs dept. Empire Carpets are crooks...

On April 2, 2018 I met with a salesman of Empire Today to select carpet. He was pleasant, professional and helpful.

Due to a busy install schedule the carpet could not be installed until April 13th. I agreed to the date and 1130 install time. I had to take the day off work for the install and it was important for them to be punctual. The scheduler called me at 10:30am and stated that they were on the way. At 11:30 I called and again, I was told they were on the way. I waited all day and did not receive a call until 330 from an installer that claimed he was at my house when in fact he was not! I continued to attempt to contact a manager and did not receive a call until 530pm. The manager identified himself as Chris Miori. Despite being a manager Chris was unable to provide me a reason why they were a no call no show. He was unable to provide me any information at all.

Chris claimed he was only able to offer me a $86 dollar credit. I was shocked after taking a day off work and a no call no show that $86 was his offer of resolution. After all Chris is the General Manager, he should be able to do more and must have some idea of what happened, but apparently not. I declined use Empire Today and told him we could cancel the contract. I told him I would go to RC Willey or another reputable company in the area. I told him I did not want to continue doing business with them and canceled the order.

The following day I received a call the following day from another manager. He was apologetic and stated that he could have an installer there on April 19th. An installer would be there between 300pm and 500pm. He explained that Chris was aware of this and was hopeful to retain the business. In addition I was told they would also give me an area rug, and an additional $50 off. Specifically the rug would be a piece of carpet that could be used as a rug but due to the company not having a binding machine it would not be binded. I agreed to give the company another try.

On April 19th I waited for the arrival and once again no one showed up at 300pm as Chris and the other manger promised. It was not until 800pm that the installer showed up after a plethora of calls to Chris. Once again Chris despite being the manager had no explanation of why they did not show up. The installer who clearly was unaware of all the issues began his work and was very polite. A few minutes into the job he alerted me that he was not provided enough material for the job and would have to come back another day, but he would finish what he could with the material he had. At 930pm I told him that my family needed to go to sleep. I attempted to call Chris but he did not answer. The following day Chris informed me that he was asleep when I had called. I was shocked by his response of sleeping when his customer and his installer were still dealing with the job.

The following day Chris explained that they needed to send the installer with more material. He was scheduled a third time for Saturday April 21st.

Throughout the process I spoke with a manager located in Chicago by the name of Angelica. She attempted to bridge the lines of communication and I was told since she was from corporate that she had more authority to help rectify the situation. I felt this was ridiculous for many reasons, she was in Chicago thus a time zone challenge, and second, Chris was a local General Manager of the area. Additionally the communication between the Chicago corporate office and local office was inaccurate, they were not communicating. This was evident after Angelica was able to provide me with an additional $50 discount, for a total discount of $130, when I was presented with the bill from the installer he was on the phone for 20 minutes because the discount was not reflected on the account.

It took four weeks to complete the job. One no call or show from an installer, and two additional trip to complete installation. Two days of work that I took off for installation and countless calls between local and corporate management. The rug they promised was a piece of uneven, odd shaped scrap that was left over from the my job, this piece would have been discarded after the job.

Upper management is clearly insulated by lower sub-par supervisors. When problems arise lower supervisors are neither empowered nor savvy enough to authorize compensation or solve the problems. Amazingly Chris the local General manger failed to even follow up or come in person to check the work that was performed after all the problems.

The company touts affiliations of reputable business agencies and services but in no way shape or form shares the levels of commitment and service. My hope in taking the time to share my experience is to prevent others becoming victims of Empire Today. I would sooner walk on a dirt floor before using Empire Today for any flooring needs.