Empire Today®

They were fabulous! They started early in the morning, showed up on time and didn't stop until the job was done. They didn't even stop for a water break! They were both very pleasant. The carpet also looks great! They also took all of the old carpeting and padding with them when they were finished, so we didn't have to do so. After taking out the old carpeting, they also cleaned the floor underneath. It's good quality carpet and the perfect color. We couldn't be any happier!

My experience with Empire was absolutely wonderful from beginning to end. I worked with the fantastic Tara who was on time, extremely knowledgeable, professional, easy to work with, and very kind. She took her time explaining which carpet would work best with my home, and made sure that I got the best deal available. I was so pleased Empire and Tara's service, that I contacted her again when I wanted laminate floors and window coverings for my downstairs. Due to the challenging layout of my home, and small dimensions of the windows, we were not able to find a solution. However, I respect Tara's honesty and appreciate that she did not try to force a solution that I would not ultimately be happy with in order to make a sale. I realize that Empire is a national chain and may not always get the respect that they deserve, but I can say nothing but great things about my experience. I would recommend them to my friends and family. Great people, honest service, and the best deal. Thanks again Tara!

They did a good job with the installation. They worked fairly quickly. We were pleased with the carpeting they put in.

Very good service, floors look great, showed up on time and completed quickly and without any problems.I liked the all inclusive pricing and ease of picking out what I wanted with a sales person in my home. Much easier than a big box stores.

I would recommend them to other members. They were really good.

Last fall, I ordered carpet for six rooms, a hallway, and a stairway. The carpet was scheduled to be installed on two separate weekends last November. Seven months later, the problems I experienced with the carpet installation are still not resolved. Empire’s carpet installers installed the wrong carpet; left clumps of padding under the carpet; did not match the padding pieces together properly, leaving large dips in the carpet; left one of the closet doors unhinged so the doors fell on me when I tried to open them; broke the hinges on the other closet doors; came to my home without the sealant or rollers required to do their job; required me to take their installer to Lowes to purchase the sealant and roller; demanded that I pay the installer $100 on the side for putting on the sealant; did not install the sealant across the entire floor; incorrectly installed the carpet on the stairs; chipped the marble on my fireplace when removing the old carpet; and did not arrive at the times when they were scheduled on either of the first two weekends. After the local customer service representative and District Manager promised me I would be reimbursed for the multiple moving costs, the broken doors, the damage to my fireplace and the hours of time lost, Empire’s corporate customer service manager refused to honor the agreement or reimburse me for the damages caused. The carpets were scheduled to be installed on two separate weekends. On the first weekend, the carpet was to be installed on the first floor in the living room, dining room and office. I scheduled the installation for Saturday afternoon so I could have the furniture moved out of the dining room, living room and office areas Saturday morning before the carpet installers arrived. During the days preceding the installation, I received numerous calls and emails from Empire asking for confirmation of the installation time, despite having already scheduled the installation for a specified time. On Saturday morning at 7:45 a.m., the installer called to tell me he was on his way to my home. I told them he was scheduled to come in the afternoon and he could not install the carpet until the furniture was moved. He said he could not come in the afternoon. After numerous calls, the District Manager and sales representative finally convinced the installers they had to come in the afternoon. When the installers arrived, they did not have sealant for the floors so I had to take the installer in my own car to get sealant and a roller which I had to pay for myself. Even after buying the sealant, the installers only put it on in spots, not over the entire floor, and then proceeded to install the carpet before the sealant dried. The installer told me I needed to pay him separately for putting on the sealant, asking for $100 for putting on the sealant even though I already fully paid for the carpet installation. In the process of pulling up the old carpet, the installers chipped the marble in my fireplace. When the installers were done installing the carpet, there was a large bump in the carpet in the office and the wrong carpet had been installed (the wrong color and style). After bringing these issues to the attention of Empire’s local customer service representative, she assured me that the next weekend when the upstairs carpet was to be installed, the installers would come at the scheduled time, they would have the sealant and equipment they needed, and that Empire would send their very “best” installers. She also assured me Empire would correct the problems with the carpet already installed on the first floor. On the second Saturday morning, the installers again called me at 8 a.m. to tell me they were on their way to install the carpet. I explained that they could not start until the afternoon because the movers were moving the furniture out of three bedrooms. I reminded them that they were scheduled to arrive at 1 in the afternoon. The installers told me that they could not complete the job if they came that late in the day. Again, after calls to the District Manager, the installers arranged to come at the scheduled time in the afternoon. Interestingly, they finished they job by 3:30 p.m., having no difficulty completing it before the end of the day. They rushed through the job and had it done in less than 3 hours. There were dips under the carpet in several locations where they did not take the time to match up sections of the padding. When walking on the carpet, there were several indents that could be felt even with shoes on as you walked. When the installers removed the closet doors, they broke the hinges on the hall door but put the door back in place as if it were hinged. When I went to open it, the door fell on me. The closet door in the bedroom was not reinstalled at all because the hinges were broken off. New hinges had to be purchased to reinstall the door. After complaining about these problems, the local customer service representative and District Manager came to my home to inspect the carpet installation. They assured me the problems would be resolved. They told me the installer should have had the sealant and equipment with him, that he should not have asked me to purchase it and that he should not have requested separate payment. I was assured he was “no longer with the company” and that they would send out another expert installer—their very best installer—who could correct the problem with the dips and bumps in the carpet. They would pay me for the sealant and supplies and they would pay to have my fireplace repaired, instructing me to have me get estimates for the cost of repair. They also would pay for the cost of paying movers to move the furniture again so that the necessary repairs could be made. This meeting with Empire representatives took place during the week, requiring me to take time off work. The representatives confirmed that the wrong carpet had been installed and agreed to install the correct carpet. Again, I arranged for all the upstairs furniture to me moved in preparation for the third installer who again came on a Saturday. I spent hours boxing up personal items so the furniture could be moved. When the third installer arrived at my home, he observed the problems and confirmed that none of the carpet had been properly installed. He indicated he could not fix the problems with the upstairs carpet without removing and replacing all the carpet because the padding had not been installed correctly. He did not have carpet to install that day because he was told he could simply come in and “fix” the dips and bumps in the carpet. So, all the time and money invested in moving the furniture this third time was wasted—he could not fix the carpet without removing and replacing all of it. In the office, he found a wad of padding in the location where there was a visible bump in the carpet. He found that the sealant had not been put on correctly in any of the rooms. He also noticed that the carpet had not been correctly installed on the stairs. Another full day of my time was lost because he could not fix the problems he encountered. All the items I had boxed up so the furniture could be moved had to be unpacked so the bedrooms and office could be used. Once again, I had to pay the movers to move all the furniture back in place. If there is any doubt that all this happened, the movers can validate it all: the same movers moved the furniture five times. Customer service again came out to my home for another meeting and verified that the correct color and style of carpet had not been installed. In January, two more weekends were set aside to reinstall all the carpet on both floors. Again, movers were paid to move all the furniture upstairs and downstairs and I spent hours boxing up books, dishes, and personal items so the furniture could be moved. Two more weekends of time were lost. But finally, the carpet was installed correctly. Customer service assured me that I would be reimbursed for the cost of the movers who moved all the furniture three extra times. The local customer service representative informed me they could not match the marble on the fireplace that had been damaged by the installers but told me to get an estimate for repairing the damage to the fireplace and assured me that I would be paid for the cost of repairing the fireplace after I gave them an estimate. Customer service assured me that I would be made whole in every way for the hours and hours of time and frustration I experienced in this ordeal. The email communications with the local customer service representative and her district manager confirmed Empire would pay me $2,500 to compensate me for the moving costs, the fireplace repair, the time lost for having to move everything in my house three times, and the other damages. Weeks passed and I was repeatedly assured by email that it was just a matter of time until I would receive a check. After waiting for over a month for the $2500 payment promised to me by the customer service representative and the district manager for the damages caused by Empire’s carpet installers, I received an email stating that I could only be reimbursed for my losses if I signed a settlement agreement applying Illinois law even though the work was done in Oregon and including other terms that were never discussed with me and were not part of the agreement reached with the local office. Empire had one employee in this whole ordeal that was honorable and tried her best to right the wrongs that Empire committed. That person was the local customer service representative. She tried her best to provide excellent customer service, only to find out that the company would not stand behind her word.

They did an excellent job. The overall experience was excellent. We would use this provider again.

The sales contractor, Tara Loveless, did a great job explaining our options and getting us set up and the head installer, Luis Mercado, did an incredible job installing the carpet. He did it in approximately 8 hours and proudly pointed out how he kept the splices to a minimum, using a single roll of carpet in the large master and a very long and large hallway.

I think the estimate was right under $6000. I wasn't that crazy about them. I called them because of the TV advertisements; so I did my due diligence and checked out different companies and decided to go ahead and join Angie's List to get feedback and see what people think. The gentleman came out but he seemed a little high pressure for me in comparison to the other companies that I had. I just thought better about the other companies. He came out and checked the square footage of my home and I already knew what I was looking for as far as the quality of the carpet. He gave me the details on the warranty and the quality of the carpet. They come out and they only have few samples to choose from. Their quality of the carpets was not as good as the other companies and when he gave me his bid. They said that they can undercut anybody. He was the last one that I had come out to give me a bid; so I had all the other bids and they were all within $10 to $15 of each other. The other 3 companies were anywhere from $3080 to $4000 and his bid was about $5978, or somewhere in there. When he asked me if he was in the ballpark, when he gave me the bid, I actually said no. He asked what the other bids were; I told him that for a better quality carpet, it was $2000 less. He couldn't believe it; so he told me that he will rework his numbers. Then he said he could do it for $20 less than the other companies. I thought that was really interesting how he gave the initial estimate and then gave their absolute lowest which was the family discount, when I told him what the ballpark was. I just didn't like the whole experience with them. I realized that he was an independent contractor doing the bids. He came out immediately when I called him and he was prompt. He was professional but I wasn't crazy about his ethics.

We called Empire Today to arrange for an estimate to carpet the 3rd floor of our house. The sales rep. showed up exactly on time. He was polite, knowledgeable and not overly pushy to make the sale (which we really appreciated). We told him our needs for that floor. He measured the area and showed us a couple of options in different prices ranges. We found a carpet that we liked but noticed that it was the same price as a competitor we had out to our place a couple of days before. Empire's price also didn't include planing door bottoms, which the competitor did. We told the Empire sales rep this and called his manager. He then gave us a new price that beat the competitors and included door planning. We signed a contract and arranged to have the carper installed. The installers showed up on time and did a great job. We have no complaints would use Empire Today again and recommend them to others.

They came over to give an estimate and came with samples. They were prompt and nice. They had only a few choices and only two styles in the type of carpet I was looking for - two samples to choose from. Why would someone purchase anything to save a few bucks when you have no choice? I went with another carpet store with literally hundreds of choices and found exactly what I wanted. The difference in price was negligible. I understand their commercials now - because they only have a few styles they can be there the next day but the consumer has no choice. Not a good business model.

Overall, the experience was fairly pleasant. However, their deal at that time was for a 60% discount and even though she pointed out a discount, it did not equal to 60% and I did not see it ever taken anywhere else on my invoice so after the deal was finished, I was left feeling that somehow I'd been cheated. Also, after living with my new flooring for several months, I am now less than pleased with the quality of the laminate especially. Even though I specifically asked about the quality and padding for the laminate, it looks and feels cheap. There are places on the floor which have a definite dip to them and the floor squeaks in places when you walk on it sounding like you're walking on thin material that isn't stuck to the sub-flooring. I know I put another critique up on this company shorty after the work was done and I can't find it to see what I said, but whatever it was, I'm sure it was not a full picture. I am very disappointed in my flooring and I wish I had shopped around more and found a better company with better materials to spend, what was to me, a great deal of money. The vinyl, by the way, is ok. UPDATE: It has been three years now since I had this flooring put in and I like it even less now than I did at the time of this review. In fact, I am going to have to replace it because not only is it NOT padded as I was told it was, but it also can't be cleaned properly. Apparently it's so cheaply made that getting it wet causes the thin laminate to peel up off the base so there's no way to get it clean and it is now dull and ugly. I've tried everything and I've had it peel up on me. I wish I'd never gone to Empire Today and never done business with them. Cute little cartoon ads and jazzy jingles aside, this is not a company I would recommend to anyone.

Actually everything went just fine. It was good. I don't like the carpet what I picked out. I went with them because of their price probably. You get what you pay for. Their samples were real poor. I would go with somebody else the next time may be because they had better colors and samples. I would probably use their services again in the future.

We called 3 separate companies to quote us on installation of laminate flooring for our living room. The first was Lumber Liquidators -- they charge 10 bucks to mail out samples (which came a week too late to be useful),and they charge 25 bucks to do an in-home estimate which would be applied to the job if you selected them for the work. The second was a local Vancouver outfit whose sales person was punctual and professional; however, their warranty was not nearly as good as the one offered by our third and final choice, which was Empire Today. We made the in-home estimate appointment via their website which was easy. The representative, Ammon, was prompt and professional and took a ton of time with us and did a great job pointing out the differences in quality, construction and warranties in the flooring we were looking at. I have to say that this was a very nice experience and the flooring looks fantastic! We found the installers (Anton and partner) to be prompt and courteous, with attention to detail that made the finished product look amazing!!! We'd recommend this company to our friends, and would definitely use their services again in the future.

I made an appointment with Empire to get a quote for replacing about 800 SF of carpet. I had no idea that a seemly simple meeting could go so wrong. He measured the house, we discussed the various carpet grades, we choose a mid-grade carpet, he crunched the numbers and wrote down an estimate for $3,500. He could tell that was more than we were expecting so he called his manager and came back with a revised quote of $2,400 (a practice that always makes me weary). We thanked him for the quote and told him we'd get back to him after getting other bids - his estimate was the first we had received. He became very pushy and said the price was only good for that day, if we didn't sign up right then the price would go up by 50% (an additional $1200). I tried to explain to him that we weren't comfortable signing up the first bid without any basis for comparison which you think he would understand, that's how the bid process works. But, no, he became aggressively argumentative telling us how great the offer was, how great their customer service rating was (the irony was almost laughable), how at that price they wouldn't make any money and he would be working for free and not able to support his family. I tried to understand his rational as to why the price would change, after-all there were no changes to the services, his only explanation was that he would have to come back out to the house to sign the paper work (a $1,200 fee for paper work?). He continued his rant for what felt like 15 minutes. It was an amazing display of unprofessionalism. He eventually gave up, crossed out the "low" bid on his proposal, got up and left. I felt like we were just verbally assaulted in our own house. It was by far the worst experience I've ever had with a contractor, and it all happened over a simple request for a bid on carpet. Absolutely unbelievable.

I had wanted to put in laminate and new vinyl flooring in my home for years so I was really ready when I called Empire Today. That may have been a disadvantage as I didn't compare their prices or shop around to see what other products were available. That was a mistake. Overall, the experience was fairly pleasant, their deal at that time was for a 60% discount and even though she pointed out a discount, it did not seem to equal anything close to 60% and I was left feeling that somehow I'd been cheated. Also, after living with my new flooring for several months, I am now less than pleased with the quality of the laminate especially. Even though I specifically asked about the quality and padding for the laminate, it looks and feels cheap. There are places on the floor which have a definite dip to them like there is nothing underneath and the floor squeaks in places when you walk on it sounding like you're walking on thin material that isn't stable. I am very disappointed in my flooring and I wish I had shopped around more and found a better company with better materials to spend, what was to me, a great deal of money. The vinyl, by the way, is fine.

I am thrilled with the work. They came out the very next day to give me an estimate. They were there within the week to install it. They moved the furniture to install it and put it back. I am totally happy with it. They cleaned up after themselves and were very courteous.

They were punctual. I got a better quality and a better price; so, I didn’t go with them. They were knowledgeable and they were very good. They were able to do it the next day which nobody else were able to do.

The job went well. They did the work within a week after we decided. We haven't found any problems. The installers were very courteous and informative. They asked us questions on how we would like certain things done. Overall they gave us pretty good service. They came right on time. The installers were very professional and kept us informed as it progressed and when there were things that could be done in two certain ways, they asked us which way we wanted it. They moved all the furniture and all the large stuff. They do contract out but they said they thoroughly screen the contractors and installers. We would use them again. They also do laminate and hardwood besides the carpeting.

Received 4 bids for new carpet. Prompt scheduling and on time for appointment. Their measurement quote for new carpet required 12 percent more materials than the other estimates I received. They did not have the particular product I was looking for. To purchase a product of similar qualities would have cost about $3000.00 more than the service provider I chose.

Excellent. The installers worked hard and fast. Did all my heavy lifting and cleaned up everything when finished. Great job guys, thank you.

There were 2 sub contractors who came out; one to do the carpet and one to do the flooring. They were both very professional and they cleaned up after themselves. They gave advice on the way I thought the flooring should go. They gave another opinion which was actually a lot better. My only criticism is that the job took longer than they said it would take. I was not able to work my day around it. I can definitely say that it was not in their control.

They definitely put the carpet in, in one day. The padding was very slight and did not provide much cushion. I mentioned that to the installer, but he could not speak or understand English so it did not go through. Two years later the carpet is worn to a frazzle. Did not even last 2 years. I have no pets, no children and people take their shoes off at the door. I also have it regularly cleaned professionally every 5 to 6 months. The Sears people who cleaned it mentioned that it was not wearing well at all. I reported it to Empire Today and they sent a person out (not working for them they said.) He inspected it and then reported back that the carpet was not cleaned well and wore normally. The last time I will be hijacked by Empire Today. I decided to call Marion's Carpet, got twice as much carpet for 1/2 the price and it is guaranteed for 10 years.

The installers (2 workers) arrived at about 9am, as they said they would. A third person arrived a little later to fix the hole in the floor. They moved all the furniture from the room and put in kitchen temporarily. This included the following: - Sofa with built-in recliner (very heavy) - Loveseat with built-in recliner (also very heavy) - 36" TV (about 170 pounds) - TV stand - recliner They removed the old carpeting and padding and had the floor swept up (including removing the stapes and old carpet tacks) in a very short time (1/2 hour). The hold was repaired in 15 minutes. I was getting tired just watching them they were moving so fast. When finished, they moved all the furniture back. The entire process took around 2 hours from start to finish.

The morning of the first appointment I got a call saying the person who was supposed to come was sick, and could the other person come out at a time after the scheduled time frame (2 hour time slots). I had another meeting so I rescheduled for the following Saturday. I was told there was no one else on the schedule. The morning of my Saturday appointment, I got a call saying that there were three appointments ahead of mine and that he would be late, and was that OK or did I want to reschedule. I said I could try to do it later, after the scheduled 11-1 time slot, and the guy said he would call around 130 or so. I received a phone call at 3:00 saying he was ready to come over to the west side to get started. I declined the service and went elsewhere.