Empire Today®

We had to take out our kitchen floor and called empire to install a new floor. Overall it went well. We had a problem with the amount owed but the installers called the office and cleared it up right away. The only thing that irked me was that they would not leave any extra pieces just in case a piece got damaged. So far the floor looks great, time will tell how good it will look in years to come. The installers were professional and on time.

We decided to change our carpet to a hardwood floor, so we called Empire for an estimate (we had used the company previously for carpet installations). We met with their sales person, Nancy McKenna (Islandia, New York office) on February 20, 2014. With her guidance (as a flooring expert), we chose a Brazilian Cherry hardwood floor, matching moldings, plywood sub floor and moisture barrier. She asked us if we had radiant heat and we told her that we don't, however, our house is on a concrete slab with pipes running under the concrete. This didn't seem to be an issue. She wrote up the order and we set an installation date for the following Wednesday (March 5, 2014). The following is a detailed listing of what occurred next: Installers arrived on March 5, 2014 and lifted the carpet and found that there were linoleum tiles. However, under those tiles they told us that there were asbestos tiles and they could not put the floor in. My husband called Nancy McKenna and she checked with her manager and told us that they could not put the floor in until we had a certificate that the asbestos tiles had been properly removed. We were left with no other option at that point. We contacted an asbestos abatement company. The work was done on March 18, 2014 at a cost of $3,540.00 to have the tiles removed and air quality testing, My family also had to spend the night at a hotel because it was not safe for us to be in the house that night, at a cost of $138.40. As soon as the abatement was completed (March 19, 2014), we contacted Empire to let them know that we were now asbestos free and rescheduled an installation date for the following Wednesday (March 26, 2014). Once again the installers arrived and told us that they couldn’t install a nail down hardwood floor (sub floor, etc.) over a concrete slab with pipes running underneath. My husband contacted Nancy McKenna again and had her come back to my house (that day) so that we could pick a different type of flooring. We were told that we could have a floating floor with engineered hardwood installed. She arrived at 1:00 (I had to leave work taking a half day so that we could get this done, since we have been living with furniture all over my house for 3 weeks and concrete floors). We picked an engineered hardwood, only to find that the engineered hardwood we picked (which was on the display board) was no longer available! At that point, we had had enough and asked her to cancel our order and return our deposit. The following list is an example of the salesperson’s incompetence and lack of training: Measured my floor at 603 square feet. It is only 498 square feet. She ordered 39 boxes, we only should have had 20 boxes (that's allowing for excess planks). We never would have had to remove the asbestos tiles for a floating or glued down floor. She should have known that. We had to spend a lot of money because she didn’t know that you can’t put a nailed down hardwood floor on a slab with pipes underneath it. She also should never have let us pick an exotic wood because of the moisture and heat (from the underground pipes) that would cause cracking , warping and rotting of the sub floor and hardwood floor that occurs from putting that type of flooring on a concrete slab. I am sorely disappointed with the lack of professionalism we experienced with your company! I have lost a great deal of money because of the incompetence and lack of training of their sales staff. Since the Empire Today, LLC personnel incorrectly advised us, not only on the wrong materials we needed, but the removal of asbestos, (which did not have to be done on a floating or glued down floor) we incurred expenses totaling $3,678.40. We expect Empire to reimburse us the amount of $3,678.40 for the unnecessary expenses incurred due to the incompetence of their representative. I sent an email to the company detailing all of these issues and received a call from Venus Castro (a marketing V.P.) a few days later. She apologized, but could only offer to give me an engineered floor for $5,500. I explained that I had hired a different contractor because not only did they not have the wood I wanted available, but I no longer had faith in their company. I was also tired of living with 2 rooms of furniture scattered throughout my house. Plus, since EmpireToday, LLC was having a 50/50/50 off sale, she was not offering me anything that any other consumer couldn't get. She told me that that was what she was authorized to offer me and I said that it was unacceptable. I expected the money that I had spent on the unnecessary asbestos tile removal. She told me that she would check with her superior and get back to me. She called me a few days later to tell me that that was all that they could offer and that I wasn't working with them. I explained that as the consumer I had been mislead by their representative as well as, overcharged for 105 extra square feet of flooring. She told me that they could do nothing else. I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau as well.

Estimator was professional and timely; provided good suggestions for what could be done to prepare the space to minimize their time and expense. James and Kliblin of the installation crew were pleasant and professional; did an excellent floor prep for a very old and uneven floor and then laid tile perfectly throughout including fine detail cutting around pillars. Great crew, very competitive price, quality work. I am always pleased when I can make this sort of evaluation.

o I had intended to use this company in the future to install additional rugs but will not use them again.

Scheduled 3 different appointments and they failed to show up EACH time! Not even so much as a phone call to say they werent coming. I figured if they are that unreliable BEFORE they got my business, they'd have to be even worse afterwards (if I was so stupid as to hire them)

They were courteous and thourough. I haven't had any problems with the blinds.

The salesman was late. We were replacing carpet that had been stained by water. We wanted similar carpeting. We had a detailed discussion about colors and selected a Berber carpet in shades of beige. When the carpet installer arrived, he came to the door with a 3and quot; piece of carpet that had red and green fibers and asked if that was the carpet we had ordered. I told him, no, we had specifically told the salesman that we did not want the one with the green fibers. I went in to call the 800# and the installers drove away. I spoke to the main number and they said they would have the salesman come back with the samples. He was supposed to arrive between 5-6pm. I had already taken the day off from work for the installation that never happened. I had an appointment at 7:30 that was an hour away so I agreed to the 5-6pm window but stressed that I needed to leave by 6:30. At 6pm the salesman called to say he would be there at 7:30 because he was running late. I told him that wouldn't work and to just cancel the carpet. He said ok and hung up on me. I got a call from two different service people asking me to give them another chance. Reluctantly, I agreed to see the salesman on Saturday morning between 9-10am but stressed that I had another appointment and he could not be late. At 10am, the salesman called to say he was still in Brooklyn (I live on Staten Island) and would once again be late. I couldn't wait for him any longer and told him not to come. He kept insisting that he wanted to come but I was done with them by then so I just called the 800# and asked for my deposit back. They said they would send me a check for $50 - we had given the salesman a cash deposit of $100. When I told them we had given him $100, not $50, they said they would reimburse $100. Overall, the experience was awful and I would never use this vendor again.

My fiancand eacute; and I recently bought a new home and we called Empire in hopes of carpeting our 2nd floor. We had an appointment for this past Monday, they were late and went outside their window causing us to need to reschedule. We rescheduled for this Friday and the company never showed. We called customer service and they claimed no one was at our house, meanwhile there were 4 of us in the house the entire time. After speaking with two reps, who basically knew nothing, they told me that someone would come up the next day. The next day I called to make sure that they were coming, of course I call and they told me there was a problem with scheduling and they could only get someone in for Monday. My fiancand eacute; and I already took 2 days off from work due to the prior appointments, therefore we told them they would not be getting our business nor would we ever refer anyone to them. What was worse than the no shows was the customer service, or lack there of. They were rude and not helpful In the slightest. Instead of sending a rep out to us after their mistakes, they only wanted to keep rescheduling and refund us $150 on our next purchase. We were also put on hold repeatedly for over 20 mins. We were told twice a sales manager was going to call us...never happened. Stay away from this company. It's a wonder it stays afloat with customer service like this. Absolutely pathetic.

After my initial experience of having everything installed in June 2013 I have to say that the flooring installed is great, carpet - not so great. Within 3 months the carpeting in 2 of the rooms needed repair. Coming apart at the seams where the rooms met and needing re-stretching in many places. After contacting Empire and them coming to inspect they gave me new carpeting in the 2 rooms and carpeting of my choice. I found that the original carpeting has been discontinued because of faulty manufacturing. The new carpeting has just been installed and I love it (picked something very different from the original carpeting). I will let you know should that change in 3 months. I'm just sorry now that I didn't have more flooring put down and less carpeting because their "luxury vinyl" flooring is great. Has the look and feel of real tile and is so easy to keep clean and seems that it will wear very well.

You call ,make an appoinyment ask you questo\ion on what you would like to have done-on time will show you a sample of the products you are interessted in. MAke your choice give you prices and then make your decsion. Set up a date and time for the job to be done.They do call to see how the job went after completed .I do think it is a little more expensive then probably going to a store.But had no problems.

They canceled on the first appointment, which was a Saturday, which was fine because they rescheduled. They actually asked us to call back and reschedule. The second time around, the guy who came was very courteous and professional. He gave us a quote and was honest. He was trying to work with us on a deal, so it was negotiable, which made it a good experience.

I had them do the work on 12/22/2012. It was for a new carpet installation. First, they brought in the wrong carpet. Then, they brought in the right carpet. I am not happy at all with the installation. It was not done correctly. The carpets were installed around radiators and nobody was living in the apartment at the time. It was being renovated. They opened up a valve when they put the carpets in. I was not living in the apartment yet. When I turned the heating back on in the apartment, the steam escaped and water escaped and it was like a tropical rainforest in the apartment and the new paint pealed and bubbled, my sealing fan got warped, my Grandmothers furniture got wet, the carpet got soaking wet. Water leaked down to my Fathers apartment on the first floor. When I contacted them, more than once, nobody has returned my call. I am very dissatisfied I would give them the lowest grade you could give them. There is no managing director or CEO I can contact online. I went into the apartment the next day and it was like it was raining in the closet from the steam that had accumulated. It also caused damage to my Fathers apartment.

Empire Today installed 3 rooms of carpet today. We were told by the main office and the sales person twice the crew would arrive at 9am. I specifically asked for a morning appointment. After calling the sales person a few times the crew finally called me at 11am they said they would be there in 7 minutes. They arrived at 11:30 and told me they decided to make our appointment second on their schedule. At 4:30 they were finally finished. The carpet looks great but their service is awful. This is the second time I have used Empire Today for clients and the installation crew was an hour late last time, but at least they did not change my appointment from the morning to the afternoon. I will try another company next time

Of the four companies, one was Empire and the other three were small local businesses. I'm very glad that we went the route of the local business and we are happy with our outcome. There were two main reasons, outside of price, that I went with Empire. First, they did not accept my condition that we do part of the work ourselves (mostly the removal of the existing carpet) to save money. As a comparison, the company we DID end up picking let us do this and cut $400 off the price for doing so. Second, the financing piece felt really pushy. The sales guy said that if I qualified for some special financing we could knock a percentage off the bid, so of course I said yes. I truly thought, and maybe this was my failure for not picking up on it, that we were doing a pre-approval. End result of this was that two weeks later, after we decided NOT TO GO WITH EMPIRE, I get a Wells Fargo/Empire credit card in the mail for a $8,000 credit line which I had no intention of using. And an impact on my credit score for opening up this new line. It never occurred to me until I got the mail that day, that the credit account would be opened regardless. Will NOT be going with Empire again in part because of this shady financing thing, but also because our small business experience has been great and I'm glad to be supporting a family-owned company in our town.

Today, they were supposed to put the ceramic Tiles in our bathroom, and that really went bad, but the installation of the hardwood floors and carpet went really good. We had hardwood floors put in, and they came on time. They were very back and forth to tell us when they will be a little late. They stayed late and worked very hard. They came the next day. That was great. The carpet people came when they were supposed too. The floors were excellent. They got back to you. It looks great, and everything seems okay. The experience was ruined with the tile because they were supposed to come last Thursday, and they never called. We were sitting around till about 4:30. We called them, and finally the installer called about 5 o' clock and said he could not come. We rearranged it for another day, and again the same thing happened. Nobody showed up again, and they finally called and said they were not going to make it. Today is the third time, and I am not at the house, my husband is. So far I have not heard from him. Their price was fair. We would use them in the future.

Do Not waste your time and money by calling Empire. There is a reason for all the poor reviews.

They had already charged my credit card before they told me the work could not be done. I finally did get my money back and canceled the contract.

Get some popcorn, have a seat, and settle in. I am heading up a "spruce up" project at the Bergen County Y-JCC. Part of it is replacing the flooring in the main locker rooms. A generous member was able to get us a great deal on tile, but the installation cost was over the top so I needed a plan B, and fast! The need for speed drew me to the commercial department at Empire. The salesman arrived the next day, as promised, measured the space and presented us only with samples that were indoor outdoor carpeting that is appropriate for a wet space. We paid in advance and the delivery was set for the following Wednesday (8/29/12). When I called to confirm the installation, I was told that the special order carpet wouldn't arrive until Thursday. We knew it was a special order, so we set up for installation on Saturday, 9/1/12. That morning, the installer arrived with only enough carpet for 1 locker room, no glue and, oh yeah, this is important, THE WRONG CARPET! After hours on the phone with clueless Empire people, I finally got to installation. The fellow was apologetic and said they would come to install the carpet in one locker room on Wednesday, 9/5/12. Wednesday they again came with no glue, no cove base molding and, guess what...THE WRONG CARPET! More hours on the phone and the head of installation out of the Hackensack facility promised that he would personally oversee loading the van on Friday,yesterday, 9/7/12. Yesterday the installer arrived and asked that we sign a release holding him harmless from damage to the carpet from water, remember, this is supposed to be indoor outdoor carpet. We refused and, to show us the problem, cut a clipping, turned it over, poured water on it and it fell apart. We sent him back. Friday afternoon I called VISA and together we cancelled the order and arranged for credit. UPDATE: TEN DAYS LATER and I'M ON THE PHONE TRYING TO GET THEM TO REIMBURSE THE CREDIT CARD AS THEY HAD PROMISED. They are liars and thieves.

I called Empire Carpet in July 2012 to have them come out to give an estimate on having the downstairs carpeted. The sales person didn't want to give just an estimate but wanted to make a sale. The sales person continuously changed the estimate cost and telephoned her supervisor 2 or 3 times to give me a price. She also wanted a $200 deposit, which I stupidly gave her. After she left my home, I decided to cancel my carpet order. I did eventually get the $200 deposit back. The whole experience was aggravating.

This man was excellent, he name was Mario Mendes. He was an employee. There was no dirt and he cleaned everything up. They moved the furniture and we didn't have to move the furniture.

They were very professional and reasonable. They really did a good job and they stand by their reputation.

The original appointment was for a week ago for between 12:00 and 2:00 pm. I received a call that morning saying that the appointment needed to be rescheduled. I rescheduled for a week later. This morning (the date of the appointment) I was called and again told that the appointment needed to be rescheduled because "no estimators in were available in this area." I told the phone representative that I would NOT be rescheduling with Empire Today. If they don't have enough staff...or if they don't like going out on Saturdays...then why even bother to make the appointment? I'm moving on to another company...

They did a really good job. I would recommend them to others.

I don't typically write negative reviews, but the sales experience was so awful, people need to be warned about these tactics. Looking to carpet two rooms, some stairs, a hallway. Salesman came on time, showed us four samples and we were told these are on sale. So he measured, came up with a square footage amount if just shy of 1000 square feet and then quoted us $4200 - $4700 depending upon the type of carpet. I told him that was a crazy price, maybe there was an error in calculation. He asked me how much I wanted to spend. I tell him $2000. He makes a call to his boss, comes back and says they can do it for just south of $3000. I told him, still too high, he makes another call and says he can do it for $2700. I initially agreed to this, but then started thinking about it. So, you were going to gouge me for $4200 when the market price is no more than $2700? An uneducated consumer is their best friend. How many people do you think actually agree to the first offer? As I searched the internet for reviews on Empire, I saw dozens that spoke of the same experience. Then I began to read about negative installation experiences as well. Given that, I canceled the order. Gave a call to an Angie's List A-Rated member. Not only did he beat their price, but the square footage measurement was 20% less than the Empire one. So not only dd they look to gouge on price, but also overestimated the square footage. While what they are doing is not illegal, it's certainly a poor business practice. You should not tell the consumer it's on sale, quote a price almost double what you are going to and quot;settleand quot; for. It leaves a very bad taste behind, and I'm sure I'm not the only one to cancel because of this. I don't think I would have looked for reviews had the sales experience not been so unethical. Further update on 12/19: Although I canceled on December 12, Empire cashed my $200 deposit check on December 16. I was assured that I canceled prior to them even submitting the paperwork, but they cashed the check anyway. I now need to call them for a refund. This is disappointing.

High pressure sales tactics--we were told schedule for this tomorrow of it may be some time before we can get back to you. The biggest problem is that the team that brought the carpet brought the wrong product, which we did not detect when we looked at a corner of the carpet in the back of the van. This became obvious when it was installed, however. The color was wrong. In addition, the crew was not going to replace all the tack strips as had been promised by the sales rep, even though the existing strips were wet and damaged. They agreed to replace the strips at our prompting. The installers were also considerably late, but did call to alert us. The quality of the carpet is ok and the final installation is good.