Empire Today

I had an appointment yesterday for an estimate. My time frame was 3:00 — 5:00 p.m. No one called to say they were running late. It was 4:45 when I finally called them to find out if they were close. The girl I spoke with on the phone, called the estimator (Stephanie) and she was still almost an hour (50 minutes to be exact) away. That’s ridiculous. If you are running late, the polite thing to do would be to call and let the customer know, not wait for the customer to call your company 15 minutes before the end of your time frame to be there. Of course they want you to reschedule immediately; not going to happen. I hesitate to ever give them a second chance as customer satisfaction is clearly not their concern. Will be looking elsewhere for an estimate.

DO NOT USE EMPIRE! I wish we had looked at these reviews prior to using them — they are unfortunately one of the worse vendors I have encountered. In the past we have always used Avalon or Lowes and never been disappointed — but our realtor recommended Empire so we followed her guidance (wrong move!!). The rep was initially friendly, then things changed and I became quite uncomfortable. He was EXTREMELY pushy, overstayed his welcome — and I felt like I was haggling with a car dealer! (come to find out he use to sell cars!) we had two vendors measure the room, both came up with 270 total square feet. Empire measured the room and quoted me of 380 square feet (For the SAME room) — how does THAT happen! Lowes quoted us a number — Empire (for the same carpet grade) quoted us 3x that price… and actually said «wow, that’s a great price!» Net-​Net after I pushed back SEVERALLY… and said I wasn’t interested (at least 4 times) and told him thanks and he had to leave. He refused — I told him to give me his number and I would think about it — he refused, said the ‘deal’ was only good for today and that there was no way to contact him. But then SOMEHOW. he and his ‘boss’. were then able to match the price. So — carpet is suppose to arrive/​be installed the next day… they give you a window… 10 min prior the the expiration of the window I CALL THEM… and they tell me that they are running late — don’t know when they will get here… and that it could take 3 hours to install the carpet (the room is TINY)… AND because I requested furniture removal (which I didnt — but was told NOT getting it wasn’t an option) it could add more time… REALLY!!! I took time off of work (unpaid) to meet them here — they don’t show up, their dispatch can’t find them — and then when they do they are running ‘very’ behind schedule… they couldnt call!!!
Lowes was in/​out in 2 hours for my den — a room 2x the size! Lesson learned — go with what you know! DO NOT USE EMPIRE — Go to Lowes or Avalon carpet! We are in the process of closing on a new house — and were going to put all new floors in — I can assure you that we will NOT be giving our business to Empire nor will be recommending them to ANYONE!

Never never never
Irresponsible
Disrespectful
And incompetent
How dare this company make an Appointment? Their rep didn’t bother to cancel. Just left me waiting… until I called in. Try getting a manager on the phone… almost impossible.
And once u get someone, they want to know if you’re ready to reschedule.
Ha!
Fool me once. How can they be in business? Don’t bother supporting them. They won’t support u.

They are in the business of selling but not delivering. They like to collect deposits but never rerun them when they satisfy the sale

If I could give LESS than 1 star, I would.
We had the Empire rep (Stephanie from the Cinnaminson, NJ office) come to our home in March. Like Kayleigh’s rep, Stephanie was polite and friendly, but overstayed her welcome. She arrived at 6P (on time), but didn’t leave until close to 8:30P. It was overly salesy and drawn out (and I work in Sales). I have a toddler who goes to bed at 8P. That was fun. I didn’t mind limited options, in a way it makes it easier for me, but I do wish I had a bit more to choose from.
We selected our items and scheduled the install for ⁴⁄₂₀ (hardwood) and ⁴⁄₂₁ (carpet). Stephanie indicated we had to do hardwood first THEN carpet. No problem!
The Saturday prior, I received an email from Empire saying *I* had to call to confirm my appointment. I thought that to be a bit strange considering the amount of $ I was spending. I felt they should call me to confirm like most places to do, but I shrug it off and call in.
I call in and placed on hold for about 15 minutes. I then tell the operator I was confirming my 2 installs. He indicated I couldn’t confirm the carpet install (on the 21^st) as their system didn’t go «that far out». I asked why, but he couldn’t say. I asked if there was a way he could include a note on my file that I confirm so I don’t have to call back in. Nope. Not an option. I call back in Monday and after being placed on hold again, confirm. I was told they could call me the morning of my installs with a time frame.
Please keep in mind my husband and I both took time off from work to sit home and wait for the project to be complete.
On the 20^th, they call me at 7:50AM. Debbie tells me that we have the best installer and how fantastic he is. Our time frame is 11A-​2P, but he’ll be there earlier because he’s so fast and amazing! Wonderful. Debbie says the installer will call me on his way over. He was working on a job about 30 minutes from our home.
11A rolls around, nothing. 12P, nothing. 1P, nothing. 1:55P, crickets. As I’m calling Empire to see what is going on, they’re calling me on behalf of the installer. He was held up on his morning job and running very late as he was still working. He said he would like to give me a new time frame of 3P-​5P. I’d asked the operator how he could possibly be there at 3P if he was still working and 30 minutes away.
Long story short — the call with the operator was a slight battle. They wanted to do the install that evening after I made it clear 1.) I have toddler and 2.) I work full-​time. You’re not working until 11P outside of our rooms. Sorry. He claimed he was trying to work with me, then got annoyed we couldn’t take more time off of work to get this done. I’m sorry — we don’t have that luxury, sir. He then tells me the installer guaranteed a morning install for us on Thursday to get the floors in before the carpet, then when I repeated what he’d say, he retracted it saying they never guarantee installs. He told me *I* had to call in to see where the installer was at 8A the next morning…
The outcome of the call was the install would take place the next day, Thursday, when the carpet was due to be installed anyway. At that point, I didn’t trust them, but threw my hands up.
(We call our rep to see if she can assist/​provide insight at 2:30P on Wednesday. We’re still waiting on her call — it’s been almost a week.)
The next morning, Debbie calls me at 7:20A while I’m driving to work to say my window is 8A-​11A.
8:09A — my phone rings. The installer is there.
My husband arrives home 2 minutes later from dropping our son at school to find the hardwood AND carpet installers there. The guys go in to get to work. The hardwood guys pull up the carpet. Lo and behold we have hardwood. Our rep, Stephanie, NEVER PULLED UP THE CARPET TO CHECK TO SEE WHAT WAS UNDERNEATH. This is our first home, our first install. We wouldn’t have known what to check for. Now, the hardwood installer had to call CORPORATE to get a quote on hardwood floor removal. SEETHING.
The installers were fantastic. I’ll give them that. They worked quickly and efficiently — communicated everything to my husband the entire way. But my rep? The main office? HORRIBLE. They are overpriced and don’t give a hoot about the consumer. But boy were they quick to cash my checks!
DO NOT USE THEM!

Had Empire rep out for free in-​home consult. Although very nice, rep stayed way past his welcome and we were very disappointed with the extremely small selection they offered. They only really offer the standard stuff, and nothing different. Maybe good for if you are flipping a house fast and just want kind of «builder grade» stuff, but they don’t offer anything high end or different. We ended up going with Avalon on Rt. 202 and were very happy with our selection and experience there.

Needless to say the people never got back to me. I never even received reimbursement for the installers cutting through the wires of my home security system. They asked that I send a receipt and, which I did, and nothing. Lisa Martin was the alleged Manager that was to help — nothing! I recently had a guest tell me that my tiles were not lined up properly; asking who did it. Embarrassing!!! It reminded me of the very poor service along with the cheap unmatched carpet replacement. DO NOT USE THEM. IF I WERE NOT INUNDATED WITH MINE AND MY MOM’s HEALTH ISSUES, I WOULD HAVE CONTACTED THE BBB SOONER. JUST HAVING ANOTHER SURGERY 14 days ago, I AM ON IT. I PRAY ITS NOT TOO LATE

God awful customer service. I called to schedule an appt. for ²⁄₁₃ between 11 AM and 1 PM three weeks in advance. I received an e-​mail confirming this appointment. I ended up having to cancel the original appointment and reschedule for ²⁄₆ between 9 AM and 11 AM. They sent me an email with an updated confirmation for ²⁄₆ between the times I had chosen and then no one showed up on the rescheduled date. I called about 20 minutes after the appointment window and the girl on the phone told me I scheduled the appointment for ²⁄₁₃. I explained to her that I had called two weeks prior and rescheduled it for ²⁄₆ and even received a confirmation email with the corrected dates and that I could send it to her to prove this. Now, I feel that I am pretty understanding person and am sympathetic to the fact that sometimes these things can happen as I too work in customer service. However, rather than admitting that they got their dates confused and just apologizing for the mix up she was extremely rude and told me that I was wrong about the dates. At that point I was fed up and told her to cancel any future appointments that were still in their system and that I would not be using them. If they can’t keep their dates straight or at the very least offer up an apology for a mistake on their end then they are not worth my hard earned money or time.

Empire installed a carpet for me Friday. First the installers put carpet underneath the sink in the laundry room. I asked them to put a square next to it. Therefore they knocked the sink off balance and messed up the plumbing. 2. After they installed the carpet in the basement the sliding door to the closet doesn’t shut. In the closet there was not carpet. All they had to do was trim it in front of the door and it would shut. They did not want to send someone out to correct it. They asked my wife if they could use her charger to charge their phones and they took it with them. I used Empire for 75% of my house and they will not get my business again because they do not stand by their work anymore.

Empire today is the most horrible company ive ever used. The sales guy was awesome but the the install guy showed up a hour before the appointment and when i took longer than 30 mins to get there to a half hour early appointment he refused to come back. not only was i patient with them rescheduling me twice after he didn’t show up twice but then the company victor #2836 refused to credit my account any futher but they reschedule my date with out telling me forcing me to miss two days of work i will never use them again.

Used EMPIRE a year ago and the install was pretty good for the most part. Less than year later having multiple issues and all the wonderful warranty that salesperson mentioned doesn’t exist anymore (per my wonderful conversation with their customer service this morning). Also learned the hardwood floor the salesperson sold me for my kitchen apparently is not suitable for an environment that can get wet. They tried to sell me a visit to inspect the issue for $ 95.00. Never using them again.

3 calls to say when they’d come never happened. Our «Guaranteed morning appointment» became «we’ll try to get there in the morning». Nobody can reach the installers, no management is available on the weekends, «printing problems have delayed the ability to call customers back» (actual quote), being told to wait 10 hours on a Saturday isn’t convenient, something they touted in their sales process. Salesman **Name Redacted** thank you for «not being able to do anything» but being happy to sell the carpet.
(message me if you’d like the salesman’s name)
Morning appointment, its 2:21PM currently, no carpet.

Buyer Beware don’t Buy from Empire Today!
Six months ago I purchased my first home 1 month before I was due to give birth to my first child and wanted everything done before my baby arrived.
I purchased 1,200 SF of Laminate Flooring from «Empire Today» to the total of $ 14,000 for my new home. (I’m still trying to figure out where the ½ price discount was applied, at $ 11.66 /​sf. Wow!)
My sales representative Terry in the NJ area swore to me that their laminate flooring was high quality and is treated with a protective coating to make it resistant to scratches.
Terry also made the claim,
«Its so durable you could take a screw driver to floor and it will not scratch».
Being pregnant at the time, I knew I needed something very durable to hold up kids and baby toys. Well 6 months later there are scratches everywhere.
I was very careful to install felt pads under all of my furniture so it wouldn’t scratch the floor. The reality is any thing that rests on the floor even a plastic baby walker will scratch the floor. I cant even keep a plastic kitchen trash can on the floor because it scratched the floor.
At this point I’m afraid to get a family dog because the flooring is such LOW quality that the dogs nails will scratch the floor.
After having a service rep from Empire come and inspect my flooring, Empire said there was nothing wrong with the floor and there was nothing they would do to resolve the issue.
I’m so furious «Empire Today» will not stand behind their product and is refusing to do nothing for me.
Please avoid Empire Today Flooring, don’t get ripped off by this company. There is NO customer support from this Company what so ever.
If I had done my research I would have realized after reading all of the customer complaints on the Web
Empire Today is not a company I should have done business with.
Here is a sampling, just to pick a few.
I hope this helps the next person looking for flooring. Do not purchase from Empire Today, tomorrow, not ever!

I would not recommend EMPIRE TODAY to anyone. Their services is very unreliable and installation is horrible. I’ve never been so disappointed after spending a large amount of $$.

OMG – we made an appointment for a «free estimate,» but what we got was an ordeal. The guy took FOREVER to get to the point, had a total of 8 styles of laminate to choose from (no examples of hardwood, which we had also indicated we were interested in), and quoted us $ 8k for a living room and hallway. This «deal» was available ONLY if we agreed right then and there and had the installation the following morning; otherwise, the price went up 20%. When we weren’t ready to buy, and said we wanted to get other estimates as well, as his was the first one, he acted extremely offended, and asked why we had wasted his time by having him come out at 8:30 at night if we weren’t ready to commit. He acted as though we were being ridiculous to want to get more information about his and others’ products and services, and actually asked us (my elderly mother and I) whether it would take «God himself to tell you this is a good deal.» I asked for his card, saying that we’d call him if, after we’d compared his and other offers, we decided Empire was the best choice; he declined, saying that we weren’t going to call, and even if we did, Empire wouldn’t contact him anyway. I don’t know what that was about, but the whole experience was disturbing. I wouldn’t trust ANY business that insists I buy their product on the spot without any comparison shopping. If a product or service is good, the seller is not afraid of comparison. Thank goodness I was there at the time, because my elderly mother was ready to sign; what a way to do business – pressuring old people! It goes without saying that I would never do business with, or recommend, a company that uses manipulation to sell and discourages potential customers from comparison shopping.

Avoid at all costs.
Salesman showed up — seemed pleasant enough. He insisted on giving us an extensive spiel about his company’s greatness before he would measure (three rooms plus some smaller areas). Then, after measuring, he brought in a few sample books; none of them had the type of color we wanted.
He wanted to work us up a quote anyway, telling us all the high-​pressure sales tactics like «This price is only good until I leave» and «You can’t call to accept this offer, it’s now or never.» Then, after a long time punching numbers into a calculator, he gave us the price.
We’d had the job priced at about $ 3,000 by another national carpet installer. The Empire guy said «This is the list price» and wrote down $ 9,000. Then he said something about special discounts and wrote a number around $ 4,500, asking if we wanted to place an order. When we objected to that price, he muttered that if we had it installed right away, he could bring it down to about $ 3,300, because some installers had an opening in their schedule (which might not be true later). We told him we already had a $ 3,000 quote; he wrote down $ 2,850.
We said none of the colors was what we were looking for. He said «So, even if I could bring it down to $ 2,250, you wouldn’t be interested? I could call my manager about that.»
Sigh.
To sum up:
*scummy must-​buy-​now sales tactics
*astronomically inflated price, which was still very high after the «special deal»
*kept dropping price substantially — in other words, they would have made a killing if we had taken the first price offered
*the old call-​the-​manager game
*etc. …
In the end, we gave the job to a local installer who had us pick out carpet at a warehouse store with a great selection. The total (for good-​quality carpet, plus nice pad & installation) was $ 2,200. I recommend finding a local installer with good references and avoiding the high-​pressure sales snow job.

I was a little apprehensive when the 8:30am start time got pushed back to noon, and then the guys couldn’t find my place… but once that was ironed out and they were actually in my vicinity: the experience was wonderful.
Two dudes knocked out a wood laminate floor faster than I would have thought possible, and it looks BEAUTIFUL.
Rough start, but I couldn’t be happier with the final outcome.

Wow! These reviews blew me away! I purchased a custom marble mosaic piece for my entryway. I called Empire about installing it and replacing the wood with tile. The consultant and I matched a simple tile that worked with the marble and other flooring in the house. It is awesome. The installer stayed to complete the job and did everything himself, including reworking original floorboards for a smooth, finished look. It was resonable and still looks as good as the day it was installed.

When we were carpet shopping, I made an appointment with Empire Today after we’d already done some research. We had a good idea of what we wanted, and one of our neighbors had recently had Empire Today at her home and had a great experience.
The guy showed up at the very, very end of the window. He started out with the super slick «wow, what a big, lovely home» crap, and then it went downhill from there. I told him what we were looking for, and he went out to get some samples for us to look at. Nothing looked remotely like what I had just described. He said that the first two options were their «best selling, best quality» carpets — but that he’d bring in some more. He dropped another pile of samples while he went upstairs to measure. He was literally upstairs for over 50 minutes measuring! I’d had two other estimates done, and neither of those estimators took more than 15 minutes. He grumbled about their «new software» slowing him down, but holy cow!
When he came back down, I physically showed him a sample of carpet that we’d already liked from another vendor. He then began to tell me how crappy the high end Shaw carpet in my hand was, how it would never last, how no one would ever want that kind of carpet. This is right after he’d told me that they sell tons of Shaw & Mohawk. And what we picked out was all over every carpet store we visited. Then he told me what a bargain he could give me on this super high end carpet he wanted to sell me. It was even more than any of my estimates (despite being 50% off) and having a subpar warranty (though he swore it was the best warranty they offered — and wasn’t so happy when I pointed out three other boards he brought into my home that showed better warranties). And then the dollar game started… he kept dropping the price until he was close to the price we’d found on the carpets we liked. I told him I wasn’t going to pay the same amount money for carpet that wasn’t what i wanted and had a lesser warranty, and then it was the «let me call my manager.» At this point, he’d been in our house for nearly 2 hours and I just wanted him out of our home. I finally got him to just give me his card & go. I’m sure that the carpet he was trying to sell me was just fine, but insulting me and a carpet manufacturer whose carpet they sell, while monopolizing my time and trying to play pricing games with me… sorry, Empire Today, I don’t have time for that. Then add a full week of 3x a day calls from Empire Today, saying that they could give me better pricing.
We ended up buying our carpet from a local dealer — sure, I couldn’t have it installed next day, but I didn’t need next day service. I got a better price with much friendlier service. I wish we wouldn’t have wasted our time letting that man in our house.

I’m going to start this review off by speaking about all the wonderful things that Empire has to offer:
Booking the appointment was simple & easy.
Meeting with the representative however was a completely different story. Within the first five minutes my companion and I knew that we didn’t want to buy anything from this guy. I guess he felt like he had to «relate» to us by referring to our home as being «tight» and when he gave us estimations he decided to use terms like «cheddar» and «G’s», he used profanity and called me «girl», then after hearing what my companion’s career was he referred to him as «stacking that paper». Oh and he mentioned Lil Wayne somewhere in between him trying to «relate». If someone is representing a company that I am interested in receiving a service from I would expect a certain level of respect. Sorry sir, but not all black people talk like that, especially since we’re not in the 80’s any longer. I will not/​nor will I ever buy anything from Empire.