Carpet and Flooring Reviews - Empire Today

I am throughly pissed off at Empire carpet, I had them come to give me an estimate which the estimate started at $1800.00 After dickering got the price down to $1000.00, which included moving furniture and hauling away the old carpet , if they could do the job at that price why try to gouge the consumer.

I chose them to do the job, on the morning of the installation I received a call from the installer advising me that he had no helper and asking if I could dispose of old carpet.

I called the salesman and also the company to ask them about it since I had paid for it.I told them I could not dispose of the carpet(which made the installer unhappy) and that one person could not handle the furniture and my husband wasn't suppose to be lifting which he had to help to maintain the condition of my furniture.

also on the last room the install stated the carpet had *** in which he had told them about in the am. there were scratches on my wood trim in many places Never again will I call them.

Two years ago (2007) I paid Empire Today $4,000 to have laminate flooring installed in my home. Once the job was complete, I was mortified with the results. Instead of mitering the corners of the quarter round, in certain area's they simply squared it off and the molding looked like a light oak on a maple finish. I told the installers I wasn't happy with the results and their response was "well, if you don't like it go buy real wood and do it yourself". Their product is nothing more than particle board, and if you want to know what your floor will look like if it gets wet- just pour water on particle board and you'll see what your floor will look like. I know because my floor is bubbled in several spots.

I decided to call the company and complain about the workmanship and they sent out another installer who took one look at the job and basically said, there was nothing he could do to fix it. Feeling duped, I just let it go and decided that when I had the money I would either replace the floor or fix it.

But then, in December, 2008 I had a carpet salesman come out from Empire Today and when I told him about my laminate flooring he said he'd take a look at it since he claimed to be the "guru" of laminate flooring. He pointed out all the problems and told me what they should have done.

Knowing now that I wasn't crazy or being picky, I called the office again and filed a third complaint. Only this time it had gotten worse. The molding was coming loose from the walls and while coming out of the bathroom, I stepped on a nail on the threshold. I reached down and was able to remove the entire piece from the floor. They told me they would send out a third party inspector to look at the problem. He came out took photo's and one week later Empire Today called to tell me they would come out and fix the molding problems but could do nothing about the bubbled flooring. At that time, I specifically told them I wanted new "darker" molding because I felt the current molding was too light. The day of my appointment I found out it was the exact same installer coming out who did the initial installation. I called the office immediately and told them I did not want him coming back to my home as he was the one who screwed it up the first time. They canceled the appointment with him and rescheduled for the following Monday. On Monday two new installers came out and brought with them 2 shades of molding - one was the same color I already had and the other was even lighter. I told them I wanted darker not lighter. They said they would have the office call me back to reschedule another appointment. It's been a week now and still no call back.

Today, I've sent them yet another email, and then found this site so I decided to vent my anger in writing and hopefully someone will read this and go somewhere else if your looking to purchase laminate flooring.

I contacted Empire to come in and do an estimate for us for 3 bedrooms. The first time they never showed or called.

They apologized, rescheduled and gave us $100 off our purchase. Two days later was our next appt. Again they never showed or called. When I called them back I was told they gave the appt to someone who no longer works for them and rescheduled once again with apologies.

Next appt. No show, no call. Called office asked to speak to a manager who never called me back, ask to file a complaint with corporate never got a response. One more appt missed.

They lose out! THey suck!

Don't use them! They must not need the business!

Called company,installed wrong color,blue instead of grey.Had another salesman come to address.Admitted it was wrong color.He called the company,they would not replace or compensate.They said I would have to pay the full fee to have it replaced.Had to repaint whole house for second time.costing us again time and money to match their sucky carpet,that we did not order..Do not use this company.Reported to BBB,they lied and said they installed the right color!You get the shaft with this company!!Go to a reputable place,that guarantees customer satisfaction!

First off we had our carpet installed and the crew did not speak English. Seams were left open and frayed, so I called back and told the Manager not to send the same crew.

Same crew came, same results. Sent 2nd crew, again no English and fixed 2 of 3 seams. Called, GM sent "best crew", 1 spoke broken English, didn't repair and still waiting response. Called today and I am supposed to get call in 24 hours.

Do not buy from Empire, the biggest and expensive mistake I made.

The only response I got from the GM about employing Spanish speaking installers is that "It's the only ones I can find". GM also stated that the first crew was fired.

I called the toll free number to schedule a free consultation and spoke to a very ignorant human being on the other end. I told her exactly what I needed 3 rooms of carpet the measurements etc..

She then informs me that I am not in their service area. I gave her the zip code of the twon 5 miles down the and she says, "oh yeah we service there". I then went off in a rage, with the condition of today's economy, unemployment at a all time high and she can deny a costly job five miles out of the COMPUTERS range. Bull *** Empire.

I will contact a local hard working person that deserves my business. Also, by the other reports on this site ai am glad it did not work out with these freaks...

We have only had our new carpet a little over a year

It looks worse then our 15 year old carpet we replaced. We don't even know if its the carpet we paid for because the workers brought the wrong carpet first. Most workers were non English speaking.

We can only vacuum our carpet in one direction in most places. It bunches up if vacuumed in other directions.

Every time I see the commercial on TV I want to scream! Believe me I'm telling everyone I know to stay away from Empire! I am very very disappointed Empire.

I had empire carpet come to my home for a free in home estimate. It was a total waste of time!

My home is 1949 sf and they were going to charge me nearly $14,000 for flooring then later lowered the price to almost $10,000. Empire also doesn't carry any vinyl for bathrooms or kitchens. I went to a local flooring contractor and he is able to put flooring in my home for $5200 with the same quality materials with a better carpet pad.

Empire is a rip off! Don't waste your time unless you need carpet the next day and want to pay double!

I made an one line apt 2 weeks in advance for measurments and sales pitch for one room and one hallway. Tuesday 33�9 time 7-9PM.

They e mailed me a confirmaton the day I made the on line apt.

So last night my spouse and I were ready and set to go at 7PM. I tidied up the house, made a pot of coffee and waited...

9:48 PM phone my rings; guess who?

The man identified himself, stated he was with a customer and the apt had ran late and he was still 40 miles from my home and would not be able to make the pre-schuled time frame. He was sorry and said I should call to make another apt.

Not.

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 (603-669-****) 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 (603-669-****) 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 (781-297-****). 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. (1-88*-588-**** 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,

TomNew Boston, NH

Last night we had a lady from empire carpets over the house to measure and give us an estimate. I have several complaints.

First, I asked her why in this day and age she would use a tape measure instead of a laser tool to measure. She claimed tape measures are more acccurate. yeah, maybe in a house of mirrors! Well... when I held the tape measure for her against the wall in one of my cluttered rooms and watched the tape measure sag greatly in the middle while she wrote down numbers I understood. She's overmeasuring!!!! I objected and she re-measured. After that she went out and got samples from the car for me and the wife to look at while she had roamed the house free of my scrutinization. I knew right then it wasn't going to turn out well.

So, we're looking at the samples and are not impressed. Of the syle we selected we were given only 12 that were of any decent quality to select from. They all had the same ugly speckles in them. There was only one that we even kind of liked so we told her we were interested in that one. We were told the selection is limited because they only warehouse the most popular styles and that's why their prices are so low.

Speaking of not so low prices... let's get to the estimate. So after playing with her calculator for about 5 minutes she starts writing down numbers. She starts off around 13k (this is for 150 sq yds of carpet). She adds various discounts. One of the discounts is $850 for fast installation. In other words, if we sign a deal right then and there, otherwise we lose it. Yeah right.. what a lame high pressure sales tactic. If I call back tomorrow in this economy they won't give me that price? Give me a break!

The final price is 7k. I"ve gotten estimates 2k lower for much nicer carpet. I ask her for a breakdown. I'm told they don't do that. That's how other carpet companies rip you off I'm told. They just give you a bottom line that includes everything. Here's the best part.... She told me she can't break it down because they're just given "functions" that they plug numbers in to and get a final price. In the same breath she tells me she factored in the fact that I ripped up the carpets already. How's that possible if their just given "functions"?

Listen people... if a company can't tell you what they're charging you for then they are scamming you. The bottom line on empire is that they have a terrible selection, are grossly overpriced, and shady.

Oh, and the best part was she couldn't tell us whether our credit would be approved until AFTER we ordered the carpets.. which we would have to put a deposit down for. LOL. *** off empire!

I had a sales guy out today. His price was 50% - 100% higher than 2 estimates I received from local contractors for similar quality laminate flooring and carpeting.

Here's the catch, the price guarantee is only for identical merchandise but you can only get the same brand of laminate from Empire. They are the only ones that carry it according to the sales guy. Therefore, no low price guarantee.

His claim was that you should be willing to pay a much higher price to buy from them (whatever) for a lifetime warranty. I'll get a 25 year warranty from anyone. Dont need a lifetime warranty, that's overkill.

Salesman was rude as well.

Also, you should know that you can only get the no interest financing if your credit score is 750 or higher. Not too many folks have that.

DONT WASTE YOUR TIME!! I cant believe people fall for this garbage.

If anyone was to ask about getting carpet from empire, I would sick to say, do not! I will never be able to pay my account off, rate is 23.99.

How is someone to pay that off with the economy now. I even paid a year before I had to and it didn't even dent the amount I ended up owing. I have call the credit card to ask if they could please lower the interest, but no way will they do that and not very nice the "escualtion specialist". Willing to still pay, wanted help to bring the rate down to help me.

Thanks for not being caring credit card.

Poor people all are able to get this cheap *** of carpet and then they get sucked into an account that is forever. The carpet isn't even that great by the time you pay it off too.

i purchased hardwood floors,area carpet and 2 rooms of wall to wall. when the area rug started to fray in the corner i asked for it to be replaced.

i called at least 20 times i was told it would be replaced this was in june it is now jan and it still has not been replaced.

the service is so bad that i intend to reach the better business bureau about them and maybe my attorney i have the manager on tape telling me that they would replace it.empire today does not keep their word. Arlene Feindt