Empire Today®

Installation was punctual,. issue is one week after warranty expires the caulk starts failing and the molding is all coming off. They were no help and basically said they would fix it but tough no more warranty. Crappy product doesn't make it a year without failing.

It went wonderful. The man who came to measure wanted to work with us and he was willing to find a product and a price that would work for us. That was Clint. He knew what he was doing. He was respectful and he was willing to go the extra mile to find a way to help us. He was able to set up the work to be done quickly. On Monday the kitchen floor was done. It was done with excellence. The flooring needed to be fixed. They fixed it with a small charge. They worked diligently and with excellence. Brenda led the work. We were very well pleased. Friday the carpet came and the men worked very hard and with great excellence and respect. Freddy was the lead. He was very good. I felt respect all the way through. They did not add extra things. They did above and beyond all we expected. We were pleased on every side and part of the work and in dealing with Empire. Certainly, we would use them again to work for us.

I recently placed a call to Empire Today on my mother’s behalf to get an estimate on having repair work done on the wood floors. My parents had the floor installed throughout most of the house by Empire about eight months ago. There has since been a toilet leak which seeped under the wall from the bathroom into the master bedroom and caused water damage to a few of the flooring panels. I explained this situation to the Empire representative. She told me that they still have that particular flooring in stock and the damaged area could be repaired. She quoted me a price of $2,600 to replace the bedroom flooring and some of the flooring in the hall leading out of the bedroom. I said that really the entire bedroom floor did not need to be replaced because only a part was damaged and she informed me that their estimator would take a measurement and the cost could be less if not as much needed to be replaced. Either way I felt okay with the $2,600 quote and planned to have Empire do the work. I explained to the Empire representative that my mother is elderly and not fully aware of things. I am calling on her behalf and can they please call me back with the final price estimate. She said certainly we can do that and she took my name and phone number. A few weeks later I give my mom a call just to see how she is doing that day. She said everything is good and that the flooring people were there replacing the floor. I was very surprised because I had heard nothing from them. She told me they gave her a new estimate of $6,349 the day before and arrived that morning to start the work. They replaced less than 200 SF of flooring and were not even required to reinstall the molding. I called Empire and couldn’t get through to anyone that could help. They said we will leave a message for this person or that person to call you back and they did not. Finally, Jessica the manager of the Charlotte office called. I started to explain to Jessica what had happened and she cut me right off. She said I know what is going on. Your mother signed a new estimate which voided the one you were given. I again tried to explain and she rudely cut me off with saying the same thing over and over; my mother signed the estimate. The phone call ended with Jessica hanging up on me. My mother is 75 years old, lost her husband about three months ago, and is fighting cancer with weekly cancer treatments. I feel that Empire Today took advantage of a vulnerable elderly person. No one in their right mind would have paid that amount for the small amount of flooring repair. I think they saw that she was not in her right mind and took the opportunity to cash in. Update- Empire refunded $1184.00 for “services not rendered”. A manager explained to me in a phone conversation that the services not rendered were due to no sub-flooring having to be replaced as originally on their estimate. Empire stands by the final cost of $5,165.00 for the flooring repair. They claim that 1/3 of the wood floors in the house were replaced which is a false claim. To have replaced 1/3, all the flooring would have had to be replaced all the way to the dining room and living room (over 300 SF) which was not done. I was encouraged to review the documents of the work which I have done several times and reinforces my frustration with Empire.

It's been about four months. I got three quotes and Empire was by far the lowest quote. Professional staff that knew their job. Four staff finished within four hours in carpeting the entire house. As I mentioned to them - Details Matter! They need to take the time to angle trim up to the molding. Small section where carpeting needed stretched (noticed by a staff person checking on the vinyl installation). He replaced a small piece of molding missing after the vinyl was installed. Also, insure the trim is pounded down (walk over it without shoes). Was told carpeting and vinyl would be performed the same day but had to schedule a different day for the vinyl in the bathroom - different staff. Didn't notice the issues until after they left but follow-up with Customer Service to correct issues was within 24hrs. I would advise you go room by room with them before they leave. Overall, they did a good job and would use them again.

Company gave me the runaround, I could not obtain a quote at all to present to my insurance company. We haven't had floors for 3 weeks and Empire Today is what is holding us up. They are extremely unaccommodating, EXTREMELY expensive, 15k for our flooring is crazy, other companies quoted us 10k for the same quality. DO NOT USE.

Everything went well, they came in and showed samples of the carpet and the flooring. I chose the ones that I like, we scheduled a time that their guys would come. They were prompt, they came in and got the job done in a pretty decent time. I would say it went well. It was a good deal.

As stated did not show up for appointment

We purchased flooring from Empire today based off false promises from the salesman and installer of the flooring. Our house is on a slab foundation and the sub-floor has some uneven spots that we specifically addressed with these 2 individuals. We asked if we should fix the issue before installation. We were assured by the salesman that the installer would determine if they needed to be leveled out before installation and would take care of it if needed. The installer said it was not needed and that we could call customer service if we ever had problems with it sagging and it would be covered under the 30 year warranty. The salesman also told us in his sales pitch that the laminate we were looking at was better than tile (which we were considering) because if we dropped a heavy pan on it and broke the floor then it was covered under warranty. Well, it was all a pitch and all lies because when we call 4 years later with settling issues, we were told that that kind of issue is an installer issue and only has a 1 year warranty (this was never mentioned when we were purchasing). We also asked about the pot issue and they said no...that would not be covered either. Their offer was to replace the floor for us at a great price. Really?! So the solution is for me to pay more? No...that is not an acceptable solution based off the promises we were made. This is false advertising from what we thought was an A+ company. We are very disappointed.

It was OK until they ran out of 3/4-inch round moulding. I have no problem with the installers, but when they ran out of moulding, the trouble began. The installers, customer service reps and the home office supposedly ordered more material on more than 7 occasions. Even though they stated they receive shipments at least 3 times a week, there was always an excuse why the material I needed at my house didn't arrive, was missing, or another contractor took the order, etc. I made numerous requests and complaints by phone and email. The contractors came out one additional time, but once again did not have enough moulding (still missing it in a bedroom, 3 closets, part of the den and master bedroom). Almost a month later, my floors aren't finished and I have been left with most of my furniture still not put back in it's original place. I scheduled numerous days for the installation to be completed and took time off work only to have them call that same day and cancel because the order didn't come in. I have estimated a loss of over $1,400 dollars in lost wages, sitting around waiting for them to keep their appointments with me. I called the salesman when the problems first started, he never returned my call. A customer service rep told me she would send one of my complaints to a supervisor and mark it urgent, and he would call me back within 2 days to discuss how to "make this right" - I never received a call, not even 2 weeks afterward. I requested that they finish the job this week with no excuses and they should go to Lowe's or Home Depot if they have to in order to obtain the moulding and finish what they started - guess what, they canceled again! I will be warning all my friends, family, neighbors and co-workers to stay far away from this company. I've worked in retail and customer service in the past, I've never seen such horrible follow-through. I'll probably have to pay someone else to finish, if I ever want my house back in order. What a waste of my time and money!

March 17, 2016 Update: Forgot to mention that after the final work was completed, I signed their document which had lots of writing on it. They kept the written copy and gave me a blank copy??? Good business - undoubtedly no! Jan 8, 2016: "I sat down with Empire Today's salesman, Sean Owen and decided to go with their 50/50/50 deal for installation of laminate floors in my master bedroom and office. After researching several other local companies, I believe this 50/50/50 deal is a scam. My fault for not searching prior to going with this awful company. They were still more expensive than other quotes. With that said, the company arrived on a cold January 2016 day. Two of the three Mexican workers did not speak English. Therefore, it made it difficult to communicate at the onset. They kept leaving my front door open after asking them to close the door multiple times. In addition, the electric saw was just outside the front door and was extremely loud. After the work was nearly done, the English speaking worker came to me and said they did not have enough boards. I was flabbergasted. I immediately called Sean and he said, "I have some personal contacts and I will call you back." It has been several days and no one from Empire Today not even Sean has called me! Not one! Not even the salesman. This shows how much they DO NOT care about their customers and how they only care about getting their money. Today, I receive an automated appointment via email and that I am scheduled for completion this Saturday! I won't be here and it is a "noreply" email! Now, for their work. The quarter round work was awful. One section of quarter round came to a "point??!!" The transition boards were awful. There were gaps and overcuts. Here is what they did. They filled the transition board gaps with white caulk! Unbelievable! They left my bedroom door dirty with their black gloves and dirty hands. It was awful. Never ever use Empire Today due to their salesman's lack of professionalism and their workers lack of English speaking workers and more importantly, the extremely poor craftsmanship. It just goes to show that companies like this boast about they have been in business for so many years and great customer service - NOT! NEVER AGAIN Empire Today! And, all of my facebook family and friends will know! I will use the power of social media!" Update Jan 12, 2016 (also see review on Yelp dot com): Sean the salesman has yet to this day ever call me back (POS). On Jan 11th, I spoke with JT (customer service) and told her not to send out the same crew since they did a bad job and left my front yard dirty with saw dust and pieces of wood flooring. She spoke with the installation manager and they said they would send a different crew out on Jan 12th. On the morning of Jan 12th, I receive a call from the same crew! OMG! I told them not to come out and I called JT back. The installation manager John Judge wanted to talk to me and he wanted me to take a third day off from work so he could find another crew! Ridiculous! He did not want to spend extra money to gather up a new crew. This just goes to show you how they do not care about their customers. No problem making a client lose wages from being out of work for 3 days due to their unprofessionalism, terrible customer service and complete lack of respect. If you have any intelligence whatsoever and have read this, I will only have to say that you are an idiot if you use Empire Today. Update: 1/28/16: Empire Today never called me back after their response on 1/8/16. This just goes to show their total lack of care and lip service they will type in on a review and then tell consumer affairs that this has been settled. They got their money and are moving on. From the top down, CEO Keith Weinberger of Northlake IL, sales people and customer service, they are dishonest, uncaring false professionals. So for the readers out there, all they want is your MONEY! And, you are paying for their TV commercials and false advertisements. DO NOT USE "EMPIRE TODAY!" DO NOT USE EMPIRE TOMORROW! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

The Empire sales person came to the house and sold us the flooring telling us that a "team" would come to the house and move all the furniture in the areas that needed service and then would put all of our things back in place. He said that the carpet "team" would do the installation on one day and the flooring "team" would more than likely have to come another day to do their work. We said ok and signed the contract. Our first mistake was believing this guy. So a caller from the local Empire office called the day before we were to have the "team" show up and said we were responsible for moving anything breakable or of value that we did not want stolen. Yes, I said "stolen". My confidence just went down the toilet. So the day of the install the same Empire caller gave us a jingle and said that they would be at our home between 2 and 4 pm. I thought it weird that they would come so late for such a large job but I then assumed a "team" was coming. Big MISTAKE!!! One guy in an unmarked van showed up with his girlfriend and rang the doorbell. He said he was the installer and wanted to know what area we wanted done first. I was shocked and freaked that this one tiny man would move all the furniture and install all the carpet in a few short hours. My second mistake. It took him 2 days and many hours of back breaking work to install not only the carpeting but the flooring as well. I have to say this guy was so good that it kind of made the fact that my husband and I had to move all the furniture ourselves not so horrible. The Empire division here in Charlotte contracts out the work and we really got lucky with our guy. His work was nothing short of a masterpiece. The guy he works for on the other had was a nightmare. On the second day this guy Ben McCoy just walked into our home without knocking or ringing our doorbell and started b******* out our installer for taking so long and not being "done yet". When our installer said he could use help moving our fridge and stove this guy just flat out refused. When he told him he needed a certain glue for a small area in the kitchen he told him to go buy it himself. He was a real jerk. Just the guy we would NEVER want to work for or with EVER. Our guy finished the job and had a small area that required special glue and said that he would return and finish as soon as possible. He came yesterday which was a Sunday at 6 pm in the evening . He was on his "own" time. This guy really needs his own company or at the very least a better job. Diego was "FANTASTIC". I called the Empire 800 line to complain about the contractor who sent one guy for a 3 man job and the local Empire office still has NOT contacted me. It's been 6 days. They were suppose to call within 24 hours. I'm not holding my breath.

As stated above I was impressed with this Company and particularly Brion Kennelly, sales representative.

They sent a salesman that was there to sell me carpet that day. I'd say medium pressure. I saw the reviews on here and was able to negotiate down 2k. Installers came within a couple days and installed it. Everything looks good. It it is decent carpet for the price. I'd buy from them again.

I paid $5,700.00 for my carpet and vinyl tile from Empire Today. My sales rep roped me in by telling me if I wasn't happy within a day of install- they would "come back and rip it up...but hopefully you wont do that". The entire install was to be done on Thursday 12/4. So I took 2 vacation days on 12/3 to prep and 12/4 for install. I am a single female who lives alone and I had alot of things to move. While the carpet was being installed on 12/4, I received a call from another Empire employee about the tile- who stated they had no idea I was getting carpet layed and they couldn't do it that day! Very upset, I took a third vacation day and missed 2 important events at work. They were to show at 8 on Friday. They showed at 9:30 and forgot the requested transition pieces. Those transition pieces were ordered by my sales rep the day before. I requested the grout line to be larger than what they showed me. So they started and I stayed downstairs. Near the end I came up and the grout was thin and the wrong color. I immediately told them this was wrong. I called my sales rep who came over 30 minutes later. He brought his color samples in and confirmed on phone with another Empire employee the color was wrong. I also showed him where the transition pieces had been installed, that the carpet was bunched up and bubbled. He then made another appointment to that employee over the phone for 8 Saturday morning. I told him I didn't have a 4th vacation day and they would need to be gone by 11:30. He stated it would be quick. Saturday I woke up and they never showed! I finally called, and the Installation dept. had no idea they were supposed to show up- their own employee had made the appt! So...there went my opportunity to have my floor "ripped up" within a day of installation. They failed to comply with their own promise by failing to even show up within their stated time frame. I am very disappointed with my floor and wish I had used someone else who could give me the grout width and color I asked for. Fortunately the other two workers who did my carpet were great, on-time and hard workers. They should get commendations. Unfortunately I will not recommend Empire Today to friends or family. An expensive venture turned wrong. I was so excited to have my house looking good, I had saved up money for my down payment and financed the rest. I don't have any more options- since they won't help. Every employee I have been passed around to stated they can not help me any further with my requests.

EMPIRE CARPET ? CHARLOTTE, NC SERVICE AREA This branch of Empire Today which serves a large area surrounding Charlotte, NC seems to have serious issues with their installation department. The products we chose have been as promised but that is where it ends. The actual installations have been sloppy and sub-par. There have been many attempts to correct the work but every time it was only made worse. The installation department as a whole seems to be very disorganized, i.e. sending installers without the correct materials for the job, sending the wrong installers for a specific job, setting appointments that nobody shows up for or are extremely late, not returning phone calls in a timely manner when promised, and fabricating stories as they need. We endured numerous repair appointments, with each one consuming an entire day, only to be left with the same problem (or worse), plus damages and a huge mess. With each appointment, we spent a considerable amount of time preparing for, moving furniture ahead of time, waiting for installers, and cleaning up after each one. We ended up making concessions and settling for less than what we were promised each time, just to have this over with. And even then, although it has been a full 6 months and the repairs are still incomplete. We have used other Empire locations in the past with good results but apparently this location has lower standards and does not stand up to their advertising. IF, after reading this, a person decides to use Empire Today anyway, pay by any credit card other than theirs, that way when you are left disappointed, you will be able to put the entire transaction in dispute and your credit card company will withhold payment to Empire until everything is settled to your satisfaction. BUYER BEWARE! UPDATE - August 5, 2014 - Empire has not contacted me since I declined to sign a release/non-disclosure. The release was allowed Empire to pay us a small sum relieving them of any and all responsibility, liability and warranty. The non-disclosure section would prevent me from ever discussing the situation. It was not about money, nor was it our intent to high jack them for money, we just wanted the work/repairs completed as they agreed. We paid up front in full as we agreed. UPDATE - February 6, 2015 - Regarding Jeanette Remey's response dated July 14, 2014. Empire has not contacted us regarding any of the above complaints. There has never been any resolution. We are well past the 1 year warranty, the problems that orginally existed remain and continue to deteriorate. I guess their strategy is to post what ever sounds good. UPDATE - October 6, 2016 - The sloppy install job continues to need repairs. Contrary to their post, we still never heard a word from Empire. (I was signed into my Angie's List account to update a good review so I figured I update this one too.)

Empire Today was absolutely fabulous! At the initial estimate appointment, the gentleman showed us several options and did three quotes for us based on the different materials we liked. He measured everything and was very precise in his explanation of what would happen during the install. He listened to all of our questions and concerns and recommended we go with hardwood based on our home and our lifestyle. We ended up choosing a beautiful medium oak hardwood floor. They quoted us next day service, which shocked me since we were getting so much work done. However, we decided to wait a week so that we could finish painting the downstairs, and they easily accommodated our wishes. Once installation date came, they sent us three guys who have been doing hardwood flooring for over a decade! They were quick and efficient, respectful, and just pros at their job! And they floored the whole lower level in just one day! I was ecstatic! I would highly recommend Empire Today to anyone! They were professional, and courteous, and hard working from start to finish. We've already had so many positive comments from friends and family on our beautiful new wood floors. We are definitely going to use Empire Today again when we're ready to do the top floor!

The saleperson was on time and did a good job at explaining their products to me and why they feel their products are better than their competitors. I thought they would have more samples to choose from for laminate so I was a little disappointed. When it came down to getting the price for everything is where I have a problem. The price started at $8451. When I said I wasn't paying that, he called his manager. Within one minute he cut the price in half to $4226. I told him that was still outside of my budget and gave him the my budget. He called again and the price was now $3926. This went on 2 more times and the final price was $3250. I just dont understand why they would put potential customers through all this. I was not impressed nor did I think they were giving me a heck of a deal. Is this reverse psychology to start off really high so the customer thinks they are getting cut a break? Do people really expect people to pay the first number they throw out there? So what is your product really worth?... I say the starting price should have been around $3000- $3250. I just felt more and more annoyed with every call he made to his manager. Not a good way to do business.

The service was excellent. The company named Exceptional Floorcovering Inc. performed the work. Mr. Eddie Peterson and his team did an outstanding job. The sales representative Brion Kennelly was also outstanding. Thank you for the great service. Daryl & Cathie Solomonson 140 Shady Cove Road Troutman, NC 28166

I have spent thousands of dollars with Empire Today over the years. I never called anybody else. Well there have been some changes in the Charlotte division and they are not good. I called the main number a month ago to replace carpeting on two stairs of a twenty-two stair Berber carpet runner they installed in 2009. They scheduled a pick up and install of my remnant carpeting. A man came and measured and cut it down. Asked for payment and I said I would pay when it was installed. Another man picked up the cut down carpet and said he would try to bring it back bound and install it same day, but that they were busy at the warehouse. He did not know that it was a runner and I had to remind him. He was quite unprofessional in my opinion. I cannot detail the pain that has followed (too many phone calls) but for sure there is a bunch of lies going on. It is now February 27, 2014 and nothing has happened. I got a call that they were too busy and would come the next week. Then I never heard from them again. I called the main number and complained. I then got a call from a manager saying that the runner was on his van and he wanted to install same day. I got the message too late and returned the call. Nothing. The guy never called me back. Another two weeks go by and I call the main number to complain. A coordinator then says that my carpet was so hard it and quot;brokeand quot; their binding machine and they could not bind this carpet. They did not have the same equipment that handled it previously. I am so suspicious at this point and want a resolution. Another woman at the office says that she will try to reach another place in Gastonia that may be able to bind this carpet. They were supposed to follow up with me three days ago and nothing. I called Monday and somebody was supposed to call me yesterday and nothing. Now I just want my remnant back. Calling today but not sure if I can EVEN get my Berber remnant back. This is the WORST experience I have ever had with ANY vendor. BUYER BEWARE!

Empire installed laminate in 3 downstairs rooms and also installed carpet in the family room, stairs and hallway in October 2013. The laminate chipped in one area and so I contacted Empire to get it fixed. The original installer came out within 3 days and removed the damaged board. He was very knowledgeable, remembered our home and was able to quickly fix the floor. It's always nice to deal with a company that doesn't ignore follow up issues. I have been very pleased with our purchase and the company. Thank you.

It was fine. They did a great job and delivered as they said. Everything was like clockwork like they said. They showed up when they said they would and they were right on time. They did a beautiful job on the floor. They were in and out. I don't have anything bad to say about them. They were great. I am thinking about calling them again.

The salesman, Steven Hupfer, was very professional and knowledgable. We managed to come to what I felt like was a reasonable price for the work, and it looks great. I liked that they were able to get it done so quickly (the next day). We'll use them again.

The salesman showed up on time and was very professional. After he presented three different options and pricing each of them out ($1400-$1600)., I explained that this was the first estimate I received and that I was going to shop around. The salesman seemed surprised that I wasn't going to just hand him my credit card. He said he had to let the office know that he was done at my home. When he called his boss to tell him he was leaving, the boss came back with an offer of $871 if I would give them the business that day. I explained that I had not done any shopping and that I didn't know if $871 was a good deal or not. Therefore I was not going to take the offer. They were kind enough to extend this offer for 2 additional days. So after thinking about this 'generous' offer, it really upset me. Do I really want to do business with a company that was willing to charge me almost 100% more than they were willing to do the work for??? I am a man of principal, so the answer is no. Also, in the salesman's pitch he mentioned that they had an A+ rating on Angie's List. I should have done my homework first, because obviously from the feedback here, that is not the case, My mistake there. Also, for those of you in the Charlotte area, there is another carpet/flooring company Called Empire Carpet and Blinds. They are not relate to this company and from what I can see they have a better rating.

I felt that the representative was more focused on selling me than explaining the options. They were not very knowledgeable about the product. After they quoted me a price, they called their sales manager and offered a discount if I signed immediately. The next day I received another call from another sales rep. They wanted to know how I felt about the call and then offered an additional discount to sign now. I felt like I was at a used car dealership. They told me to check the BBB website because they had an A+ rating, when I checked it was a B.

We were very disappointed with our experience with Empire. The salesperson who met with us to give us an estimate was very friendly and knowledgeable, but once we'd signed on for the service the people who actually showed up to install the carpet seemed to know very little about the job they would be doing, and asked us questions about how they should do the installation. In addition, they rescheduled because they did not have the adequate materials, then had to come 3 different times to do the installation. On one day, the installer disappeared to go buy materials he needed, then reappeared several hours later (after I had waited around for him) to let me know he couldn't find the materials he needed and would have to come back another day. We would not use them again.