Empire started charging me finance charges two months early on my balance due. When it was brought to their attention through the better business bureau empire said they would correct it through GE. They have not fixed it yet and will not return my calls and emails. I am in Iraq and I don't get many chances to call,and when I do I always get the Answering machine of Charles Whipple 1-781-408-9247. Charles knows I am in Iraq and I have been since Sept 06, he has ignored me for one year and my credit has been affected. I have no other way to contact him and it is hard for me to pursue this in Iraq. He is a coward and I want him to know I will be home soon and standing in front of him if thats what it takes. Charles Whipple promised me he would fix this a year ago. What else can I do to resolve this if the company Empire and the company GE will not stand by their word. He should be working in the New England area Boston, Mass... Good thing some of us fulfill our commitments...

On 8/1/07 I called Empire Today to have a salesperson come out and give me an estimate for carpeting and hardwood flooring. The customer service rep told me she could send someone out that afternoon - how convenient I thought! When Gary arrived, he came in to the area that I needed wood floor. He measured, and gave me a ridiculous number - $3000.00 for hardwood for a hallway! I haven't checked out other places but I had a whole condo done for a lot less! I told him that I was not expecting that price and he said that my expectations of the cost of wood were not realistic and obviously we weren't going to do business for the hardwood. He proceeded to measure the bedroom for carpet - he then gave me a price of $1000.00. That was $300.00 more than the other estimate I received from a local carpet company. I told him so and he said, "what price were you expecting?" I replied, around $700.00. I asked him the best price and he told me $912.00 including all taxes and an upgraded pad. I wanted to call my finance at work to see if the price was acceptable but Gary told me that he didn't have time to wait for me to talk with my finance and that I could sign the paperwork and cancel within 3 days if my finance didn't like the price/carpet/color. I thought that was fair (what was I thinking?!) and signed the paperwork. Gary left and I called my finance and explained everything - he was furious with how Gary treated me and told me to call him and cancel the order and return my check for $25.00. I called Gary and he told me that I should call the 1-800 number if I wanted to cancel. I told him that he just left 5 minutes ago and I wanted my check back - he hung up on me. My finance called him when he got home from work and told Gary that he wanted the check back and told him that he didn't like his sleazy sales tactics. Gary said - I don't know who this is - stop calling me... later that night, we heard a knock on the door - it was the police - the officer said that my finance threatened Gary and Gary was afraid... trust me - your thinking there must be more to this story - there isn't! My finance never threatened - just told him that he had sleazy sales tactics! I did manage to cancel my order and the rep said that my check would be returned within 10-14 days... I will be calling the BBB. This is a very sleazy company and I feel that I was taken advantage of. I wasn't using my best judgment when I signed those papers. DO NOT USE EMPIRE TODAY!!!

My husband and I requested a free estimate from EMPIRE TODAY on 06/27/07. We are pregnant and wanted to have laminate flooring installed throughout our home so our baby would have a nice home to live in once she arrives. The salesman came out the next day to provide our estimate. The estimate was 8 times the amount of an estimate that I received from another company. I told the salesman the price that I was expecting to pay, that we could not afford those kind of prices, and that I was very sorry for wasting his time. He told me that he was "teaching me the facts of life" and that I "was delirious in my thinking to believe that I could get that kind of pricing". I told him that we were done here and asked him to leave. He did not leave; instead, he called his "manager" to tell him about the quote we received (this time it wasn't what he said, it was his tone). I had to leave the room for a moment because I was so disrespected by this salesman in my own home. I came back and told the salesman that "I am not trying to be disrespectful, but you need to leave my home." He still would not leave. Instead, he passively agreed with me as he sat on my couch. I had to leave the room again because I was so angry that he was disrespectful and belittling of my decision and research. Thankfully, my husband was at home and politely escorted him to the door. Yes, I am pregnant; however, I know when I am being disrespected, ripped-off, and belittled. My purpose is to warn future consumers: DO NOT ALLOW EMPIRE TODAY TO COME INTO YOUR HOME!

We had our laminate floors installed 01/2007. Having just purchased our home, there was no heat. The salesman assured us this was not an issue (he had just called the office in front of us to make certain). Within a month the floor began to buckle.

They came out 2x to fix small areas and I asked to have the floors checked out for defects. They sent an "outside" inspector who did not seem interested to hear about the background of the floors and how they were installed with no heat in the home. His report stated that the floors were fine and we must have applied moisture and used the issue ourselves!

I paid for my own inspection, my guy was an engineer for 20+ years. He concluded that the floors were improperly installed due to the heat factor and could cause damage to my sub-floor. Empires own warranty on these floors and the contract state that the floors should be installed at a temp. of 65-80 degrees. It was probably 50 in the house on the day of installation.

This company wont refund me or replace the floors. The installation manager says I cannot prove that the salesman called into the office and got the okay to go ahead. What kind of business is this!! Bad customer service and obviously shoddy workmanship.

We ordered carpet in December 2006. The price was expensive but we took it for the convenience of having it installed that week. The carpeting selected was their “top of the line” Berber. Within two weeks the carpet began to unravel at seams and along walls where it had been cut. When we called the 800 number to complain we were told that the warranty would not cover Berber unraveling but someone would call us back. We called several times and each time was told why the carpet was doing what it was. No one ever acted concerned or promised to fix the problem. At one point we called and asked for customer service and were told that the individual we were talking to was customer service. After we finished explaining our ordeal the individual told us that he would pass it on to customer service. This was just 15 minutes after he told us that he was customer service. About a week later we got a letter from customer service acknowledging our complaint.

Two weeks after our initial complaint a representative came out to inspect the carpeting. The representative for Empire pulled at the carpeting, making it unravel even more. He told us that the carpeting would most likely not be covered because he saw seam sealer in the seams. He told us he had seen this happen when people have parties “and it is the holidays”. He even insinuated that perhaps we had too many people living in the house, we used the stairs too much since it is our only set. He also said our vacuum cleaner was too strong and that our dogs were probably responsible. He took a few pictures in the dark with his cell phone and left.

Needless, to say we were not happy with the manner of customer service or the lack there of. The next day which was a Friday my wife called and was told by Mr. Robert Butler that the carpet was defective and that they would come out Monday and replace it. I called back twice that day to discuss it with Mr. Butler and my calls were not returned. On January 13 we called and requested a copy of our warranty. They don’t give you a copy when installed. You have to call and request it. We still have not received that.

On Monday morning Empire called to reschedule the carpet replacement. I told them that I did not want it replaced at that point. I asked if the carpet had been cut yet and was told no. Shortly afterwards, Jason Fowler from Empire called and said they would be out that day to replace the carpeting. I informed him that I was extremely dissatisfied with Empire and that I wanted the carpet returned.

Rick Burke called me later that day and told me that the replacement carpet had already been cut and that my original carpeting was defective and that the roll had been sent back. I indicated that the carpeting should not have been cut since we had not agreed that the carpet would be replaced or by what style. The carpet that was installed was supposed to be their best Berber and it only last three weeks. I told him I wanted the carpet returned and my money refunded. Since he had already indicated that the carpet was defective and that they had returned it to the manufacturer they should be able to return the carpeting installed in my home. Mr. Burke informed me that the best they could do was refund one fourth of the purchase price or replace the carpeting. I later talked to a Tim Sherwin, VP Eastern Region Customer Service Manager and was told that they still believe we caused the carpet to unravel and that they would not refund the carpet and the best they would do is replace it and give me a 10% credit but I had to move my furniture.

I was later told by the Maryland Attorney General’s office that my situation was a common complaint and their reaction was standard procedure. To provide unprofessional installers and when something goes wrong blame the customer and hope that the customer gives up. We been lied to and treated rudely by everyone at Empire.

I suspect that Empire will response to this posting saying that they have attempted to make good on their poor customer service and their poor product but don’t believe it. They are just liars.