Empire Today®

My husband I and had Empire Today install carpet in our home in February 2010. The Carpet is so cheap and of such poor quality that we are already having to replace it. We saw a significant traffic pattern within the first year. I would NEVER use Empire today again. I would never a recommend Empire Today for any product. It's just not worth it.

It went excellent. The workmanship was very good. They were in and out quickly and you could not ask for any better work.

I originally had carpet put in in 2010. It had to be replaced because the glue was coming apart so the fibers we coming out. After that I had a horrible experience. Long story short I was sent an angel named Tiffany Awsumb from the Minnepolis Market. She spent over an hour here going through each carpet with me. She is absolutely wonderful and very attentive to the customers needs and wants. She knows her carpet and wants to make sure that the customer is completely satisfied. She is hands down the FACE of Empire Today. I will be recommending her to all of my friends for their carpet needs. After meeting with Tiffany my opinion of Empire has gone back to a positive instead of a negative. THANK YOU TIFFANY AWSUMB. Your name tells it all!!!

The salesman was very punctual and dressed very nice. He came in and we offered coffee and chatted what we were wanting to do and showed him carpet samples we had picked up from other carpet vendors. He then proceeded to take measurements. When he was done he quoted us over 300 square feet than carpet we had in the house. When we asked why there was 300 square feet of wasted carpet. Well, I understand that there is waste for seaming etc but I have never seen a marketing plan like this. Most companies just build it in the cost. So we let that subject go and proceeded to discuss carpet. He brought samples to show us and the quality of carpet was way lower than the samples we had for less cost per square foot. Then we asked about the 50%off commercial and he let us know that is not good in the Minneapolis area. So why are they plastering the advertising all of the Minneapolis area. We were very disappointed and told him that if the 50% off is not available he could leave and not waste his time and ours. The salesman did tell us that they would match price but that means we go do all the homework etc etc. No thanks, I will use the company that has the best price upfront with NO games.

The installer was very professional and I was very satisfied.

My salesman came to my home within the window I had specified, but that was the only positive thing I have to say about my experience with Empire. My salesman was at my home only about 10 minutes- and more than half of that time was spent measuring my rooms. He couldn't wait to be done with our appointment and was very clear with me about that. I need more than 1600 square feet of carpet, so I was expecting some kind of service. The minute my salesman stepped in my door he acted completely disinterested and made me feel like I was inconveniencing him. He offered me only a few carpet choices, and I had to ask him for any and all information about the carpet. He just sat across the table from me and said nothing about my choices. When I did ask questions, he acted as if I was irritating him, so I learned basically nothing about my choices or what Empire offers. I had to ask about the padding, ask about moving furniture, ask about everything. I got short and irritated answers, so I stopped asking. He was really irritated when I asked him to write up a quote- but he did it. The quote was not at all clear- I had to ask about extra charges he had added below the quote amounts. His writing was very unreadable, so I'm still not sure what cost he added for doing my stairs. He treated me like I was an idiot. Our quote came to around $5000, which I think is a significant amount of money. I deserved answers and to be treated with respect. Needless to say- we will NOT be using Empire for our new carpet, or anytime in the future.

The salesman came to the door dressed professionally, and was friendly. He was fairly new to the business and the man who was supposed to come with him to help did not show, so his driver came in with him to help. The driver hadn't planned on being part of this presentation, and was not dressed professionally, but he did act like a professional. The two were completely unprepared to present any estimates, didn't seem to take exact measurements and seemed to do a lot of "guesswork". There were lots of promises, and the prices changed at least 5 times while they were in my home. They followed up with numerous phone calls in the following week, again changing prices every time. We chose to go with another company based on the price variances, and they were unable to work with us on a number of factors such as taking out the old carpet.

We had Empire cme out to our house to give us a quote on carpeting our basement rec room. The salesman showed up as scheduled. He was friendly enough until after we received what seemed like a pretty high quote and we told him that we only wanted the written quote we asked for when we made the appointment. Not only would he not give us a written quote, but he pretty much huffed out when we stuck to our guns and refused to be bullied into signing a purchase agreement. He kept insisting that he had many other appointments and could not come back out when we finally made our decision. Instead he pushed us to sign now, and cancel within three days if we changed our minds. We refused. After he left I measured my room only to discover that he had overstated the square footage by over 15%. We talked to several other carpet companies who were all prepared to give written quotes. So, I'm not sure i would call it a scam, but clearly Empire's marketing strategy is to pressure people before they have a chance to compare quotes. I will not call them again.

They reset the toilet, and it's been leaking ever since. The floor is beginning to buckle under it. I called them to report this, and they never returned any of my phone calls.

I'm sure many folks use and love Empire Today. I was not a fan of the sales rep's prosthelytizing, telling us all about his church and how we should go, switching from super friendly to super pushy when it was clear he was only going to give us an estimate if we agreed to sign on that evening for a redo the next day, talking down to me as if a woman cannot be in charge of a home improvement project, etc. It got so insulting that I took my son out of the room and let my husband deal with it, and even then it was another hour of shenanigans and serenading my husband with prog rock singing, then trying to sell my husband his own brand of BBQ sauce. ??? I was looking for a company or individual to work with me, not twist my arm into fitting an already existing corporate mold. Thank goodness I found Bill Coleman from Coleman Hardwood Floor who worked with me in finding wood at Lumber Liquidators and did an excellent, artisanal job on our remodel. Avoid Empire unless you're in a rush.

The job went extremely well. They did a good job.

I called Empire as they widely advertise next day installation and their commercials seem to suggest they are cost competitive (I got "this" much flooring, but only had to pay for "this" much), and so on. I was under a time crunch between switching out tennants and and an upcoming business trip so didn't really have time to competitively quote multiple companies, so I trusted a company I was familiar with through their TV advertising. (should have used Angie's List!) The sales rep came out at around 3:00 on Friday, 1 June, and quoted 3 options as I had requested. 1st floor only, 1st and 2nd floor or all 3 floors. The premium on the price for doing more than just the first floor was very overpriced in my opinion (as was just the 1st floor but within my overall budget) so I decided to go with only the 1st floor work and accepted their orginal quote of $1,300. Replacing the 1st floor was my priority - the rest was "nice to have". I was in a time-crunch and just wanted to get it done. The sales rep stated that he could lower the price if I added the 2nd floor - I declined. My price of $1,300 equals just over $6.00/sq ft for vinyl flooring installation - installing on concrete floor. I'm not in the industry, but it seemed pricey to me. I asked about the next day installation, and the product I picked could not be installed next day. I asked about a different style and was told no vinyl can go in next day. I asked about the 60% off sale I saw advertised on TV the previous day and what I had chosen didn't qualify for that either, nor would any vinyl product. I asked to see a break down of the laber/material and was told they only quote lump sum - they don't provide a breakout. The red flags started building... but by now it was Friday at around 4:30 - I was out of time to get this done by Monday with someone else - or at least that is what I assumed. I accepted option 1, 1st floor only and the installation was scheduled for Monday, 4 June. I paid up front on Friday with my credit card. I took a day of vacation (I am not a full-time landlord - I do have a day job) to be present for the installation, which per Empire's paperwork, stated could be any time after 8:00 AM. I received a call at 10:45 that morning informing me that the order did not make it in on time on Friday and I will be "first out the chute" tomorrow - Tuesday the 5th. Tuesday - 5 June - wasted vacation day #1, plus 70 miles wasted driving. I again arrived at my house at 8:00 AM ready for the installation - assuming I was to be "first out the chute." 9:15 arrives, so I call Empire to ask what the status is - I am told the supply truck was late delivering material and the installers will call me when they are on their way. 11:00 rolls by - I call again and am told they are on their way. They show up around 11:45 - they look in the house, take some measurements and inform me they don't have enough material to do this job correctly. There would be too many seams which risk pealing. The sales guy had apparently drawn out the job incorrectly, but they will call Empire to see if they can have correctly sized material delievered tomorrow, Wednesday, 6 June. They left, called me back about 20 minutes later to confirm that material in the proper dimensions is available for tomorrow and I will be first in line. Wednesday - 6 June - wasted vactaion day #2, plus 140 miles wasted driving. I arrived at my house at 7:45 AM, preparing to receive the installation crew early. Surely Empire would see to it that a job, twice delayed would receive priority treatment. 9:30 rolls around, I call Empire to check the status of the installation. I am told they will call the installer and have them call me. The installer called a few minutes later telling me they had a repair job to do and will be at my house around noon - 1:00. I called Empire back to complain that I was told I would be first in line, and had made some late afternoon appointments assuming the floor would be done by 2:00ish. Their installation coordinator informed me I did not have priority placement on my order and they don't guarantee installation times - so essentially telling me, they'd get to it when they get to it. They arrived shortly after 2:00. It was then I discovered from installation crew #2 that the material they brought would result in more seams than the previous installation crew had said (2seams vs. 1) and the color of the 1/4 round was wrong. I called the installation manager back and he informed me that (after 15 mins on hold and me hanging up and calling back) that their coordinator would run the right color out to the site. As for the seams, I agreed to have 2 seams. The job finished around 9:30 PM with very good results, although on the close out paperwork, the "original installation date" was listed as Tuesday, 5 June which I changed to Monday 4 June. I spoke with the installation manager on 6 June and let him know all of my issues with Empire, at least up until the point I called - and he offered a $250 discount, which is laughable given the delay and money I was out - not to mention the frustration. When I told him what I expected to make it right, his reponse was they can't do that - it's only a $1,300 job and they won't make any money. In my view - if I fell down this badly on a job, making a profit would be a secondary consideration to customer satisfaction - writing off a few hundred dollars to maintain customer relations should be nothing for Empire.... unless this happens a lot. To add insult to injury, when the installer finished my job, he gave me a $200 off coupon for my next order through Empire - confirming that the $250 offer was, in reality, nothing. I think the most frustrating things are their lack of customer service, their lack correcting a prior mistake and apathey when the mistakes start adding up. It was always me calling them, they didn't put a twice delayed job on a priority track and their offer to make it right is laughable at best. I don't expect a job to go perfectly smooth - the true measure of a company is how they fix their errors. Empire, based on my experience, fails miserably in this area.

Everything started off fine. The sales person came in sold us on the carpet. I made a huge mistake and didn't get estimates from other places and found out later that I was severely overcharged. But I added premium padding (or so I thought). The installers came in and it looked good. Then when they left, we started walking around on it, little sharp objects stuck out (tack strips I guess) and would stick into our feet (3 kids as well). The installer told us to just take a hammer and hammer them down. But it still didn't do very the job and we still get our feet stuck. Now about 5 months later, the padding has worn out in areas of high traffic, the edges of the carpet are coming up and the sharp items keep sticking out. I spent the last month calling to get someone out here. Today, someone is coming to take a look, hopefully it is resolved and they replace the padding (which is inferior) and I think the cause of the problems (although it will be a huge process pulling everything back out again). My advice is to stay away from this company, and do your homework, it was an expensive lesson for us. If it's not fixed I'll also file a complaint with the MN attorney general.

The sales rep came out to measure and show me samples of the laminate flooring. He was prompt and courteous. I asked about the "buy one room of flooring, get two rooms free" deal that they advertise hourly on tv. Unfortunately, I was told that that deal meant I had to "pay full price" for the one room which means it's a "much worse deal" than buying three rooms at the discounted price they could offer me (left me feeling that "buy one/get two" is just bait and switch). I picked out the flooring color/style I liked (which was limited to their own one brand of flooring - but available at three different price points/quality levels - good/better/best?), and then he measured the space. I was immediately given a quote but it was not itemized and I was not told what exactly I was paying for - what was the price per square for product? No idea. What was I paying per square foot for installation? No idea. All I knew that it would be roughly $5,300 for laminate flooring to be installed on my 350 sf basement flooring and stairs. I told the sales rep I needed to think about it a few days. He said that if I signed up for flooring that day, he would take $200 off the price....but I HAD to decide that day. No thanks.

It went great. They showed up on time and the installers were very good and capable. We ended up with everything happening up to our expectations.

The previous owners of my new-to-me house had left me a smelly, dirty carpet that was severely limiting my ability to enjoy an otherwise well-built, finished basement. I contacted Empire Today when I finally couldn't take any more of the questionable carpet situation, and the following day a friendly sales representative came by to explain my options. I decided on one of the high-end carpets for my two-room, 500 sq. foot basement, though it is worth noting that I never felt pressured into choosing the expensive carpet. I scheduled the day of the installation with the sales representative, but because I never received a call confirming the appointment, I had to call and confirm it myself. The morning of the installation, they called me to tell me they would come from 3:00-5:00PM but then came at 2:00PM. I had just returned home, so I'm not sure what they would have done for an hour had I not returned early. They worked fairly quickly and were finished by 6:30PM. Overall, the carpet looks fantastic and they really improved the stairs leading to the basement. One complaint I have, however, is that they damaged quite a few items. Having paid for them to move the furniture, I expected they would take more care. My office desk has a large gash across the top left drawer, they knocked a large piece of ceiling spray completely off the air conditioning ductwork, and a significant portion of the paint on the corner between the rooms has been scratched off. I certainly recommend Empire Today for the carpet installation, but I strongly advise you move your furniture yourself lest it not look the same after they leave.

Amazing how quickly you can get a salesperson to your house and get the carget installed next day. We literally met the salesperson at 6pm on Friday night and carpet was installed on Saturday. A couple of quick notes to think about. Know your square footage, carpet types, and general costs. Be prepared to negoiate. Otherwise you will overpay. Installation itself was great and any questions were quickly answered with follow-up visits. Note that installation is done by a sub-contractor. Also don't be surprised if the carpet comes unwrapped. Check the invoice to confirm type. I only gave them a "B" since I didn't do a lot of the pre-work mentioned above so I always wonder if I could have gotten a better deal. Hard to beat next day service though.

I actually love the floor that I now have but the install process was not exactly smooth so Empire gets a B- rating from me. Throughout my purchase and installation ordeal, I talked to about a dozen different Empire employees(or people that Empire contracted with). The install techs were the best because that communication was always face-to-face and every installer verbally said that they wanted me to be 100% happy with the floor. Things just fell between the cracks and I was frustrated with Empire because the job was not completed in a single appointment. !) I contacted an Empire for an initial in-home estimate in March 2011. I promptly got a appointment setup. The salesman #1 was on time, provided very helpful information and while he talked about current "deals" that he could give me if I signed "that day", I did not feel pressured. He informed me that I had asbestos flooring tile to deal with. 2) I planned for several months to line up 2 vacation days in August to get the carpet, carpet strips and old underlying asbestos tile removed by abatement on a Monday and on Tuesday to have laminate installed by Empire. I was planning for a 2 day job from start to finish (in my dreams!). 3) A different Empire salesman (#2) came in early August to show me the laminate samples. He was on time and very low pressure with the sales pitch. The in-home experience was fine. Scheduling installation for Tuesday (a few weeks away) was no problem at all. Empire sent out email installation reminders about the appointment (very nice!). 4)The install crew #1 arrived on time 8am on Tuesday but looked over the prepared floor area then said the floor was not level enough in a doorway area. He said that I needed abatement to come back and remove subflooring. I had talked to the install manager on Monday during the abatement process and even the abatement person talked to the flooring install manager when we had questions. It was a surprise that this installer walked away without doing any work. 5) Tuesday afternoon (same day) the installation manager #1 and the salesman #2 both arrived at my house to look at the flooring. The manager gave me precise details about what portion of subflooring needed to be removed by the abatement group. At this point, I was already disappointed with the installation process. If the manager had come out on Monday when we had called him, my install job probably would not have been delayed. 6) After taking care of the removal of a small piece of subflooring, a 2nd different installation crew showed up 4 days later (my second appointment day - and nice email reminders again) and installed the laminate. This crew #2 was on time, very professional, and cleaned up the area, including sweeping the dust off the sidewalk and the plants . They were apologetic that they could not finish the job without having the wall base materials. But, they explained why and gave me instructions to call Empire. I had laminate flooring with no baseboards and a pile of uncut quarter round that needed to wait for the baseboard. 7) I contacted the install manager to ask about the baseboard , and he said "We don't sell baseboard" and "I'll get back to you tomorrow". I had a materials form where salesman #2 had checkmarks next to "wall base, primed". (He said they would be white.) There was a misunderstanding about baseboards being ordered and my existing baseboards were removed and trashed by abatement, as directed by the install manager #1. 8) I never heard back from install manager #1 directly again but the next day, my answering machine had a message from his office that "your materials are coming in tomorrow". I don't understand exactly why they did not call my office number to talk to me directly. 9) Installers were dispatched the next day to show up at my doorstep but I was *unaware* of any scheduled installation so wasn't home. I found a note on my front door "We missed you" and I had a message on my answering machine to call another installation manager (#2) . This appointment was not scheduled with me, definitely not confirmed and I was unavailable. 10) I contacted the manager #2 to arrange a 3rd installation date. This 2nd installation manager was great to deal with. He arranged for installers to show up (without much leadtime) on a day I was available. Actually, on the same day, I called. :) That was extremely nice for me and greatly appreciated. 11)The install team (a 3rd different crew) came promptly on time, the install proceeded smoothly, they cleaned up after themselves and there were absolutely no further problems with the installation. I wanted to kiss these guys for finally finishing the job because I was relieved and happy that it was both well done and looked good. 12) The base board cost me an additional (relatively small) fee above the quote and the wood color is not a 100% exact match with the laminate - the crew politely pointed out this color difference to me before starting this finishing job (photo coming!). I accepted the color difference as something I would not lose sleep over. 13) Empire customer service phoned me later that day to get a job satisfaction survey about this job. I had a hard time understanding her because of her heavy accent so emailed surveys would be far better. I had to keep asking her to repeat the survey questions because of the accent. I could tell that she was angry at me for asking her to repeat her questions but she needed to speak more clearly.

The contractor that is going to replace our subfloor, suggested that I contact Empire Today for an estimate on vinyl flooring that we would like in our home office. When the sales person arrived he seemed very friendly and professional. I explained that we are going to have the subfloor replaced and that I would like a one sheet of vinyl flooring in the room. He suggested that they(Empire) would replace the subfloor, but said that he was not sure if they would replace the subfloor in a mobile home. Then the hard sale started, he would not answer any of my questions on price. He would only give me a price if I agreed to have them do all of the work on Empires "Next Day" basis. I explained that he was in my home to give me an estimate. He would not give me any prices until I became upset and just randomly picked a color of vinyl. He then scribbled out some numbers on a piece of paper and started the 10% off today speech. He then place the paper that he wrote the numbers on back into his folder. I said " So your not going to give me any kind of written estimate?" He then wrote 3 numbers on Empire's "Pricing worksheet" , a worthless piece of paper with no breakdown or explanation of product or instillation cost. When the sales person realized that he was not going to get a "Next day Sale" through his used car salesmen hard sell tactics, he couldn't care less about my questions or a potential new customer. If he would have listened to me and answered my questions, he would have had my business in this project. After all, he was referred my another contractor.If Empire Today cannot get you to purchase by using the next day hard sell, they have no interest in you as a customer.

The salesperson was able to come to the house, discuss options, take measurements, show us samples, and arrange delivery and installation within days. This was very time-efficient for us and a huge help for working around our busy schedules. They were extremely responsive to any concerns or questions that came up during the process. However, in the end, it turned out there was an inaccuracy in the measurements and insufficient flooring had been ordered, so that the installation had to be paused for several days while the remaining material was ordered and delivered. That said, the installers did an exceptional job otherwise.

I liked mostly everything about them. Their price was good. I was quite impressed with the workmanship and how speedily they did things. I was happy. I would use their services again in the future.

Everyone was professional. Mark, the installer adjusted to our schedule and put the flooring in in a very timely manner, was supposed to happen the next day, like the commercial, but Mark noticed a flaw - returned the flooring and came back the following day to install. First, we went to Bloomington Linoleum and Carpet, but they clearly didn't want our business - "haughty" as my wife described the owner/estimator, Mike, who also reeked of tobacco, (he didn't even remeber doing the estimate twenty hours earlier), when she looked at samples in the store the following day. I thought Empire would be much more expensive because of what they must pay for advertising, but they were nearly $1,500 less than Bloomington Linoleum and Carpet for virtually the same flooring installed. Caveat though - the commercials, "buy one room, get two free ..." ... just a gimmick, the sales person talks you out of that pretty fast - "well if you do that, we can't give you the 70% off ..." and then he kept saying, "You need to lock into this in two days to get this deal." But that's what sales men do. The guy was nice.

See above. One added point was the estimated time of completion. The sales person indicated 1 1/2 days. It took four days. The time was because of the size of the installation, if time is important, make sure you get a accurate time frame.

Saleswoman showed up on time prepared to measure and give me an estimate. Seemed knowledgable regarding Empire today and the carpeting. They do seem to offer above average carpeting products. After she had an initial estimate, she informed me that they were having a "sale" and so the price would be 10% less. Then she said "if I put a deposit down today" I'd get another 10% off. This 20% total discount would go away if I did not put a deposit down before she left. I felt like I was in the middle of one of those infomercials on TV.. "but wait! There's more! Act now!" Very unpleasant sales push. About a week later some other person from empire today called me and said if I made a decision right while on the phone with him, I would get 15% off. By providing inflated initial estimates followed by seeming endless "soon-to-expire" discounts, Empire today portrays itself as a fly-by-night organization that is either desperate to sell its products or is seriously underestimating the intelligence of potential customers. Either way, Empire Today's pricing structure is so unappealing I would never buy any product from them. I'm getting my carpeting from a company that provides one price and stands by it. Much more pleasant. :)

They did a really good job. It was the first time I had them out. They were very good. There was a stairway they couldn’t do which I wanted done so they referred me to someone who could get it done the same day and I really like that. I wanted all done. I plan to use them to do tiling work in the basement.