Before choosing Empire Today~ LOOK AROUND! I called in Feb 09 for a person to come out and give us a quote. They were VERY late and were suppose to show up around 3-4pm-they got there at 830pm!! We then chose carpet and laminate flooring for our home. We were told both floors would be placed the same day since the rooms are all conjoined. Well, that morning I was told the carpet would only be done. So they came and had it ripped up and new in within 2 1/2 hrs. Very half-ass job! Carpet seam is now showing, you can see where they cut pieces too short around the base of the wall.

Next day, the laminate people were suppose to show first thing at 9am! Well it got to be 11am and so I called. I was told they should be there by noon. I then got a call from the driver, saying he had to take care of some "personal" stuff and wouldn't be there until 1pm. At this point i was already irate. They arrived and said "oh this is going to take two days b/c we have to rip out the old flooring." At this point I was done holding everything in. I told them that I didn't care how long they were going to be there, IT WAS GOING TO BE DONE TODAY! They installed the floor after being there until 10pm!

So, days went by and I saw the seam in the carpet show, the moulding underneath the kitchen sink wasn't nailed down, and now there is another moulding piece lifting up which is dangerous since I have a toddler!

I called customer service for over a month and STILL nothing! I will keep calling and complaining until I get something done and also a discount for what I paid for this!!! I asked for the office which is going to be servicing me since the one which I was through closed, she said they didn't have a number. I worked in customer service for MANY years and I know the tricks which they couldn't pull it over on me!!!

So, now I sit and wait for someone to call me as i search for the number to the office which I'll be "helped" out of!

DON'T GO WITH EMPIRE. You hear good stories and bad! I see it all depends on whom places the flooring in, but customer service is very rude, talk over you, and not helpful at all. They want you off the phone as they pass your issue over to someone else!!!

Had a guy come out to give us a free estimate. I was warned by my co-workers that Empire Today is expensive but I decided to go with the free estimate to see how much they really cost since their commercials always say they're like 50% off.

So they guy came out gave us a quote of about $2600. He said they couldn't finance the carpet that we had to pay upfront. He also said we wouldn't qualify for financing even if we had exceptional credit. He suggested that if we couldn't pay the total upfront then to just do one room first and that came to about almost $1100. The estimator was really pushy trying to get us to purchase the carpet even after I told him we'd think about it several times. He said that we lived far and he drove 40 miles to come out, etc. He also kept saying how Home Depot give incorrect quotes and they're more expensive.

I was really upset with Empire. I hate people that try to push me to buy something I don't want to.

We then had the Home Depot estimator come out and estimated the same area. It came out to be $1400 ($1100 less than Empire).

In the end we went with Home Depot. I don't recommend Empire to anyone. I should've listened to my co-workers in the first place. I hope you don't have a nasty situation like I did. Boy, was it hard to get rid of the guy. He was turning red and sweating right before he left, which told me he was mad.

Empire Today has the worst customer service department I have ever encountered. A representative came out to my house to measure for window treatments. I gave her a check for $328 as a deposit. She never told me that they would be cashing it, she led me to believe they would hold it until the order was actually placed. Since it was evening, and I called first thing the next morning to cancel (after checking online and discovering that the blinds they were trying to sell me could be found for a third of the cost, including installation, and they were a better quality). A few days later I discovered that they had cashed my check. I called right away and they said that they would be issuing a refund that day. Well, it's almost 2 weeks later and I still don't have my money. I've called the customer service/refund department several times only to be treated very rudely and put on hold for over 15 minutes at times. They also, 3 times, told me that they would have someone call me to discuss the issue and I never received even one phone call. Their customer service representatives were EXTREMELY rude; they just kept repeating the same thing over and over and wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise. I will never, ever do business with them again, and I encourage anyone considering them to think twice. It's not only the money, if they were to apologize or offer something in the way of satisfaction or compensation, that would be a different story. But they were extremely rude and discourteous. This company is a total ripoff. If you do go ahead and go with them, I would also check with their competitors on prices and selection, as they may advertise low prices, but that is mostly because they use their own brands so you can't compare.

BBB Complaint about Empire Today

No, this is not acceptable. Empire has not addressed the complaint made to the BBB. We paid for a professional installation of a custom-fitted bath liner. We got a bath liner installed that has a 1/2" gap that extends 8" to 12" in length along one side of the liner. We have acknowledeged removing the caulk and the new caulk not holding. By removing the molding caulk, we uncovered a mistakenly measured product and/or major installation error made by the Empire Today installer. Empire Today refuses to acknowledge and address the problem of an inaccurate measurement or poor installation of what is supposed to be a bath liner that fits perfectly over my existing tub.

Empire is offering to replace the liner at the discounted price of $938.47.

January 2007 I had a salesperson come to our home to give us an estimate on laminate flooring for our family room, Hallway and Bathroom. Her name is Marcia.

She started out by Showing me the different style of hardwood and laminate flooring telling me that the price was the same for either. Then she began to tell me that type of product used, the quality and warranty. On the laminate flooring, I was told that it is the top of the line, only sold through Empire, scratch resistant, waterproof and resistant, with a 25 year warranty.'water can stand on them for up to 5 days'. I shouldn't of believed her but wanted to see what the price would be for my living room and hallway. She promised she would give me the bottom line price for our products. She pumped up the company's reputation, their superior quality products and service. She proceeded to tell me that they NEVER used sub-contractors or day laborers and could have the floors in the next day.

I loved the look of this sample she had it was 4in wide planks that looked like they came out of an old library in europe somewhere and even had indents in the top as if they had stood the test of time and had scars to prove it. They were a deep dark warm color I picked for the living room and hallway. For the bathroom I picked a square laminate that was a sandy marble look with a hint of lavender to go in my small 5x5 guest bathroom. I told her my concerns about putting the laminate in the bathroom and if it would really hold up. She said jokingly that unless there was a flood the floors would be fine.

She also assured us that when they started the install, if we were unhappy with the product, to call them and they would make it right. That and the scratch resistant, water resistant qualities of the product. I have cats and two children who does spill things. She assured us it would be fine. That was the assurance I needed to agree to the sale.

She then measured the rooms and gave us our quote. $9000, 00 for the laminate. I was shocked to say the least!!! The price of the laminate was extremely high, in my opinion. She told me that with labor costs and the carpet removal then they have to move and replace our furniture it is a bit expensive. So I said fine I'll move the furniture and keep the carpet. She said that would bring it down to $6, 700.00. I told her that was out of my price range. However they had the financing options we were looking for, and as my family would be in town next week so them being able to install the product quickly was a benefit. We decided to only go with the laminate for now. We agreed on the pricing, and She checked with the office on the financing.

They came to Install the floor and non of them spoke a word of english and they all spelled bed. But I needed the flooring done ASAP. I had removed all the furniture the night before and even the toilet and sink. All they had to do was install the floors. It was fast and when they were done I inspected the bathroom. The trim wasn't on the wall behind the sink I pointed and asked why. He they don't have, someone will fix. That was the best english I could get out of him. He told me to sign the papers and that someone would come fix. So i signed then they left. I was already upset that I was spending so much money of floors that wouldn't be done when my family got here. Then I would have to find someone with a truck to help me take the carpet that was now taking up my garage space, to the dump.

As my friend and I was putting the furniture back in the couch scratched the floor 4 inches of a scratch. Now I was really pissed the floors weren't even an hour old and they got a scratch how would they hold up to my kids. Well a month later the classic glass of water on the dinner table spilled on the floor. I grabbed a towel and got it up right away but the trim got wet and started to swell looking like a swollen piece of cardbord with a sticker clinging to it. I went around inspecting the other parts of the floor and sure enough the floor in the bathroom was swelling and the trim was ruined even after all my best efforts of keeping it dry and clean. I followed all the instructions in that manual they gave me with the floors.

I called Empire to see if I was correctly quoted the correct price for the product I received. The woman said she didn't know she would have to forward that question to the area representatives that did the service. But she could make the appointment to have the floors fixed. A week later a english speaking guy came out to replace the pieces of the trim and floor then shook his head saying that the other crew never chalked the bathroom to seal it. I got a call from Jackie due to my concern about the pricing. She said that I was quoted the correct price for the floors and got a good deal.

I asked her if she felt good about them charging me $200 a box for cardboard with pictures of a tree glued on it. She said they used 30 boxes. I then asked her where. Then she asked if there was anything else I needed. I asked to speak to her manager. She said he was sitting behind her and wouldn't talk to me that I was quoted the correct price and I would get no refund on the product. Then I asked what about the warrenty? We can send someone out to fix the floors. So I asked Every 6 months? She said no after a year they fall under a different warrenty.

So I told her to make the appointment to come pick up the floors I don't want them and to get them out of my house. She said she could do that but I would get no refund. So I called the # on the tv asking for a number to the district office. Brian said that there isn't one and that if there was a problem with the floors that I would have to talk to the local people that put them in. I told him I wanted to speak to the person above him that I felt I was being lied to and I was riped off about the floors. He said he could not help me.

We all need to get together about this and START a class action Lawsuit about Empire Today. This is crazy that they can charge what ever they want for a crappy product then threaten us to keep it. Email me lets get this taken care of.