I worked for Empire Today for several years. In the last couple years it has been hard to get paid for the jobs you sell.

When a sales person comes out to your home, they are given a price range that they are allowed to charge. The sales person may be able to charge $24-$50 a yard. If you get a salesperson that can really sell you may pay more than 2x more then the people next door. Now the salespeople have to sell area rugs. It they don't sell a certain amount a week they are not given work the following week. The salesperson is taught how to charge for the area rug and make the customer think they are getting it for free. You can get the same area rug at Lams plus for a lot less.

When they do their 50% sale it is only on 2 carpets; the cheapest carpet. They pay only about $4 a yard so when they have the sale you are only saving $2 a yard. For example you might pay $26 a yard vs. $24 a yard. The sales person is only allow charging you $24-$50 a yard. There is really no sale.

The reason why Empire always miss their appointments is that they only give appointments to the salespeople that are selling over 50%. So a salesperson may have my 6-8 appointments a day where they can not get to everyone and another salesperson is sitting at home with nothing to do. One of the general managers said at a sales meeting he would rather us miss the appointment (he used the word "burn) then give it to someone who is not selling at 50%. That is why they miss several appointments.

When a salesperson finally leave Empire makes up every excuse not to pay them. I had some sales that they gave to someone else. Salespeople have left the company being owe $1000-$5000 and they never pay them. They can't file a small claims because they don't register in the state and small claims will not let you file a case that is out of state unless it is an auto accident or tenant/landlord problem. You can't go to the labour board because you are an independent contractor. Since the sales people are i.c. Empire does not have to pay unemployment taxes or benefits. If salespeople are fired they can to collect unemployment. If Empire goes through 1000 sales people a year (which is a very low count) and don't pay $2000 to each of them they are saving $2, 000, 000 a year.

Please don't do business with them.

I called and spoke to their representative named William. I scheduled the appt and then proceeded to ask questions about the company. He became very rude and sarcastic. Stated he did not understand why I was asking questions about them. Then I asked if the representative that would come out to my home would have samples of carpet and give me final quote and he responded very sarcastic "That's why you have an appt". I asked him why he was so annoyed with my questions and he said he did not understand why I was asking questions and I should ask the representative at the appt. I told him that I just needed a little more info and I would like to have an idea of what to expect so I told him to cancel my appt. I am GLAD I did not do business with this company after reading all the complaints on so many websites!

Empire Today installed carpet in my living room about four months ago. Besides the inordinate amount of fuzz constantly being put out by the carpet, spreading out all over my house, and clogging my vacuum cleaner, I've noticed that certain higher traffic areas of the living room are beginning to "pill" or mat. That's not something I expect of practically brand-new carpet that I paid a not-so-cheap price for. I began to suspect that I'd been ripped off, so I googled the phrase "Empire Today Carpeting consumer complaints" and was not too particularly surprised by the many other similar complaints about their substandard carpeting.

I'm not really sure what I'll do next...I don't really want them replacing this crummy piece of carpet with another equally crummy one; and somehow, I doubt that I'll be able to get any kind of a refund or even any sympathy, based on the horrible customer service stories I've just read...best thing I can do is to warn others who are thinking of using Empire - PLEASE DON'T !

We need new flooring, so my wife got me to contact Empire Today after seeing one of their advertisements on TV. We set up the appointment online and the sales rep came by in a very timely fashion. Pretty cool, I thought... set up an appointment on the web and presto, the sales rep is there on time the next day. I figured we were going to be in for a hard sell since the web site wanted us to ensure that all decision makers would be present, but figured I could handle it since I am a professional salesperson myself. Ted, the sales guy, shows up and agrees to take his shoes off (my wife is from an Asian where culturally it is taboo to keep your shoes on in the house). Very nice, I thought. Some people don’t like to take their shoes off.

Upon entering, Ted immediately says he can have the flooring installed on Monday despite not even having shown us a sample yet. He then starts speaking pidgin English to my wife (who has a Masters degree and, although accented, speaks English very well). Ted proceeds to lay down a sample board (not bothering to explain anything about the quality or style... simply, here are three colors – choose one) and starts writing up a quote. I ask him about other styles and he stops, looks at me, and asks “look, am I making a sale here today or not?” I responded that we are in the process of looking and getting quotes (he wanted to charge us $9, 000), so probably not, but given the state of our floor we will likely be buying in the near future. He proceeds to stand up and tell me that he’s got to go to the car to get other samples, but he’s not coming back in and certainly won’t take his shoes off again if we’re not buying today. He then puts his shoes on, walks all over the living room floor to get something he forgot, and leaves.

Are you kidding me? The guy wants to make an $9, 000 sale just by showing up? The sad thing is, if he had simply gone through a professional sales process there is a high likelihood we would have bought something. As I said, we are buying (all you need to do is look at our floor and you’ll know what I mean). I sell for a living and while what I sell typically requires us to be more strategic with clients, we still do need to roll up our sleeves and get transactional at times. That said, I was stunned, truly stunned, when he refused to provide basic sales services when he learned he wasn’t making the sale today.

Beware when engaging this company... your experience may differ, but this is not a quality company and you would be better served buying from a local dealer or one of the big chains.

I called Empire Today (800-588-2300) for carpet installation. A salesman came to my house for the ordering. First of all, the measurements that he quoted were almost twice of my husband's (160 vs 89).But he told me that b/c of the way the carpet is cut, you have to do it a certain way. He added that since i have stairs, that's another thing that could cause a difference in the measurements. He insisted that my measurements were false. Now i stressed the importance of having a carpet as thick as the current one in the bedrooms ;he reassured me that it will be the same - "You have nothing to worry about. we sell the best carpet and offer 100% satisfaction. I was convinced. He presented a sample attached to a board with no info provided. I asked for a sample (meaning one that is not attached on a board) so i could feel it and assess the thickness since there is no info provided regarding the carpet, he told me he does not carry sample with him but only this exhibit. I pointed that there was no written info about the carpet like any other store would regarding the thickness, density, type of material or fiber, brand etc (usually displayed for the customer's awareness)- no evidence here, or visual info to convince me of what i'm buying, but he told me "that's why you have me". and reassured me about the quality and thickness of the carpet, and scheduled for next day installation. The next day was such a disappointment. I truly wished i had kept my old carpet which is by far a better carpet than the "garbage they have installed - a very thin one, low pile, low ground cheap carpet - (that was very deceptive!) around the steps you can see the bare carpet and upon touch the fiber strands come out easily. Plus the installation is not great and they left the same tax strips that i had under my previous carpet for more than twenty years. The same sample taken to home depot manufactured by the same company (Mohawk) is $13 per square yard with the difference that the carpet sold at home depot does not shred like this one. a better one for a better price with $ 200 installation for whatever the amount of bedrooms. They claim to have better price b/c they eliminate the middle man and they provide excellent quality of carpet, even Home Depot does a better job at all levels. I give Empire a zero. They are dishonest; they purposely do not provide any visible info about the carpet . Attempts to communicate with managers are unsuccesful. the manager is never available. Bill Mara scheduled an appt for someone to revisit ; i waited an entire day, but no show and no phone call to cancel the appointment. when you call, you get voice mail. you leave tons of messages, no return call, no follow-up. They do not care, they already got you. Zero professionalism, poor service, dishonesty is their trademark. I kept calling with no result. I had to go to my lawyer yesterday to help me settle this. I do not want to deal with them anymore. I wonder how many elderlies or naive people like me have been victims of their tricks. I did not request such a cheap carpet and i did not expect such a poor service. For this amount, i would have had a much better carpet from any other store. Have i known that this was such a cheap carpet, i would not have made the deal.. The installation problem regarding the strips was reported to manager Peter Brocha and numerous messages left on Bill Mara's voice mail regarding the quality of the carpet. No follow-up with the client. I do not want to deal with them anymore. I am going to send my complaints to their finance or billing department. an investigation needs to be done to close down this store. Otherwise, hundreds more will be cheated. I kept a sample of my carpet - even the installer admitted the difference between my OLD carpet, and their cheap one. This is definitelynot a smart way to do business. You treat your client well to keep them coming and refer others to you.