Empire Today®

It went very well. We had no problems. They were efficient and prompt. They cleaned up when they finished. They added a quarter inch round to the floor boards.

They were fine to work with and over 2 years later, the inherently stain resistant carpet looks really good, but we paid way too much money. We later had to carpet a much larger area and I pushed my wife to get more quotes. Air Base Carpet Mart blew them out of the water! I would definitely shop around. I liked the Empire sales guy, so I gave him the chance to match the price and he couldn't come close.

Had empire twice-once in my row home rental property and once in my primary home-both times the prices came in high and we were able to negotiate to something livable. Both times the crews called before they came and let me walk through and address concerns before they left. I also recommended them to my parents and they had tile installed in their kitchen and carpet in their living room and 900 sq ft in law suite for about 5k. Do note that the wood grain quarter round looks pretty cheap so take a look at a sample before you sign. If I can't clean my new property's floors to perfection I'll be calling empire.

It was a great experience. Their price was average and their responsiveness was great. I would definitely use them again in the future.

Staff was considerate and efficient. They called prior to arriving and arrived early to the appointment. My only complaint is that in the kitchen, the grout was not completely cleaned up. With the laminate flooring, the baseboard pieces look somewhat tacky. Some pieces are completely finished and others look like they were cut off mid section. You get what you pay for. They installed next day and that was the key to me choosing them.

My sales rep was outstanding. Joan Kamens was professional, intelligent, knowledgeable about the product line, and very helpful in assisting best carpet types for my needs. Joan was very patient and spent time showing various samples and colors. I received a call the morning of the installation at 8:30. I was given a timeframe as to when the installers would be at my home. Shortly after the call, I also received a call from the installers to tell me exactly when they would be at my home and they were right on time. The installers were very professional and polite. They worked very hard, cleaned up everything, took away my old carpet/pad and did a wonderful job. Over the years I have had other companies install carpet and flooring, but because of the wonderful service I received from Empire, I will use only them and would highly recommend them to friends and family.

They are horrible. They are bad quality and have pushy salesman. I have no choices. The installation itself was not done well. The whole thing was done unprofessionally. The salesman promised things that they couldn't do. He said 4 hours, but they took 8 or more. They did fix some of the problems. They were responsive. They were a little late. The installers were very professional at what they did and they worked very hard.

We had an in-home estimate scheduled during a two-hour window. No one showed up. When I called customer service, the sales rep was called and said he could still come, but maybe 1 ½ - 2 hours later because he was caught up at another appointment. If this is the case, why didn’t I receive a phone call about the delay? Unfortunately, the new time frame offered at the sales rep’s convenience did not work for our schedule. Customer service had nothing to say but, "I'm very sorry."

We just bought a new house, a fixer upper. We need carpet upstairs, wood on the main floor and a basic commercial carpet in the basement. The salesman was on time and brought plenty of samples. The measured and we sat down to talk. He was friendly at first, telling me about his family and then Empire as a company. But when we started talking price his tone changed. His invital price for 750 sq ft of engineered hardwood was more than $9200. That's approximately $4000 more than my estimate from Home Depot! Before responding to his price I asked how much for the upstairs carpet. He was surprised and even put off that we did not make clear we wanted carpet even though we were in the process of pulling the carpet off of the stairs behind him. The took his measure and quoted $2200. Keep in mind the house is empty and I will be doing all the prep work including removing the old carpet. I told him that the wood was way beyond my budget. He got much louder and wnt on to tell me what i need and what i should consider important. Then he said he could do the wood for $7300. I then asked him to look at the basement which is one big room. He came back with a quote of $3000 and said he would do the wood for $5,800 if I signed the deal on the spot. I declined. He then drew a line across the bottom of his estimate and wrote "I decline" and insisted I sign it. I did and he took it and packed up saying he would not be coming back as their operation works on one visit one close. After he left a family friend came in from the next room and said she was surprised I did not throw him out sooner. Two days later we sifgned a quote for $5800 for real hardwood and $1500 for the carpet plus the refinishing of our stairs with a private business that came highly recommend by multiple friends. We will not be calling Empire when it comes time to do our basement.

It went very well. They were great to deal with.

The salesman showed up on schedule. He had several samples of carpet and laminate wood floor. He said that the laminate wood flooring had 16 different patterns so the same pattern would not be duplicated. And said that the boards would be intsalled with at least a 6"-9" staggering pattern. Next day, the contractors showed up. They were very nice, professional, etc... .But the staggering pattern was at some places less than 3". And the same pattern was in some places side by side. And after a few months gaps began to show up between the boards. Called Empire, they sent the same contractor out, he nailed the separating boards down and said if I had any other problems, contact him directly and don't bother Empire. This didn't fix the same pattern side by side issue so I contacted Empire again and asked them to send a different contractor. The new contractor agreed that the staggering pattern and the board pattern were not right and said that my entire floor needed to be replaced. The new contractor fixed all the issues I had with the installation of my laminate wood floors. But now after 2+ years, the gaps between the boards are appearing once again. But my major issue with these laminate wood floors is trying to keep them clean. The salesman said to use a Swiffer wet jet mop for wood floors, but that has left a residue. Because of the "grain" on the floors I have to mop in the direction of the grain. Which is sort of difficult in the corners. I HATE these floors. I have tried several laminate wood floor cleaners and all leave a residue that shows footprints. The paperwork that i received from Empire at the time of instillation said to "use a non soap laminate wood floor cleaner". I have no idea what that is. I have contacted Empire several times and they did send me a "how to care for your laminate wood floors" package. This also says to use a "non soap laminate wood floor cleaner". I've emailed and called and asked exactly what is a non soap laminate wood floor cleaner and where can I purchase it. So far, no answer. I HATE these floors. This is the worst way to spent $5000. I am now on hands and knees using a Mr Clean Magic Eraser scrubbing in the direction of the grain, trying to keep these floors looking clean. I HATE THESE FLOORS!!

Overall we had a good experience. We contacted Empire for an appointment and a sales rep came by the next day, and two days later they had a crew come over to install the floor. The contractors were very efficient and did a great job. My only caution is to do your research before you call Empire, as the salesman we got seemed willing to say just about anything to get the sale. In the same sentence he said "hardwood floors are durable, hardwood floors are forever" followed by "hardwood floors are really delicate- you have to be really careful in how you take care of them." He also gave us information about wood quality and brands that we knew was incorrect based on our own research. He also stated the work would take only a day when, in fact, it took two full days. Perhaps the most frustrating thing was he refused to break down the price of his quote or even to tell us the difference in price between the two types of wood we were looking at. His initial quote was VASTLY beyond what we were willing to pay but he was willing to negotiate. Eventually we divided his quote by the square footage of the house and pointed out to him how much higher his price was over what it would cost us to get the wood from a wholesaler and hire a private contractor. We were eventually able to negotiate a price much closer to that figure. The contractors came early on the day of the job and worked steadily throughout. They didn't take any long breaks or goof around at all. I offered to get them coffee and lunch but they declined. They told me the salesman really should have said the job would take two days and that they didn't know anyone who could get more than 500 square feet of flooring installed in one day (we installed 870 square feet). There was some issue with one of the workers being unavailable the first day, which is probably why the job lasted two full days, but I have no complaints. They did a great job and the new floors look great!

We have used Empire at least 4 times, I will just talk about my latest experience. We had PVT flooring placed through our entrance and all through-out the Kitchen, then had the majority of our house done with new carpet (Living room, Dining Room, Family room, 4 Bedrooms) The sales agent was very nice, he did in my opinion come in a bit high on the intial estimate but from previous experience I knew we could work out a better deal and we did come to an agreement. I would also note they had to pull out hardwood flooring in one room and through the Foyer. The PVT installers came next day and ripped out the hardwood and Kitchen ceramic Tile. They did a great job, my only Complaint is when they put the Fridge back they must not have turned the water valve back to normal and now our ice machine does not work??? Next day the carpet guys came out and worked hard for at least 12 hrs, I like the fact they would not leave until the job is done, during their final room they noticed that a piece of our floor was rotted out and the previous installers tiled over the area, they told me don't worry we will handle this and next day they had two teams out, one guy fixed the area where the flooring was rotted out and installed new flooring then the other team finished up the carpets. I was Wowed that they fixed my flooring at no cost as they could of not said anything and layed the carpet down.

The sales rep came to the house and showed us a great selection of samples to choose from. The carpet installers came the next day and the hardwood was installed the day after that. All the installers were great and the work performed better than expected.

the salesman was very professional and very patient with us when we were selecting carpet the carpet layers were very competent, and we are very happy with the results very convenient to shop at home

They did a good job. They did it in 1 day. It was laid out nicely. The workers were very friendly. Happy with the job.

I was happy with the sales person who came out. They answered all my questions regarding hardwood vs laminate. She had her sales pitch but I did not feel pressured. They worked with me while I found someone who could be present while the laminate was installed. I was a little annoyed when I got a phone call that they did not have a piece required (and talked about during the consultation); however, the situation was remedied same day - so that worked out. I did not take a good look right away (my fault) and there are a few small things I would change, but that probably cannot be changed because of the nature of how old the house it. There are small gaps that only I would probably notice, but I wish were discussed when installing. Thanks

NEVER EVER USE EMPIRE TODAY -- IT IS A SCAM!!! THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME BUYING A CARPET SO I WAS NOT AWARE OF THE INDUSTRY NORMS WHICH I LATER FOUND OUT BY DOING SOME RESEARCH AND VISITING OTHER CARPET COMPANIES. I GOT ALL THE ADDITIONAL DETAILS NEXT DAY AS I STARTED PROBING THE SALES AGENT. SHE WAS WILLING TO CANCEL THE ORDER RATHER THAN HONESTLY DISCUSS ABOUT IT. 1.) She measured my 2nd floor at 907 sq.ft. while my entire house is 1,700 sq.ft., so after taking out the 2 full baths how can one floor be 907 sq.ft.? (1,700/2 = 850 - 150 sq.ft. for two full baths = ~700 sq.ft.) 2.) She will not share the dimensions with me and asked me to cancel the order if I don't go with her dimensions 3.) She put in 20% additional carpet needed vs. industry norm is 10%. Even Empire today customer and sales associate who cancelled my ordered agreed it should be no more than 10%. She ordered 1,089 sq.ft. of carpet to cover 700 sq.ft. 4.) She did not give the carpet, padding and install price per sq.ft. or yard. It was just one lump sum number @ ~$7,900 for 1,089 sq.ft. for a Mohawk carpet. Then when I told her that Empire Today has a promotion going on "buy one room and get two free", she deducted just $1,500. To me this doesn't make sense, how is it even possible. when the entire order for 3 rooms, steps and hallway is $7,900, how am I getting two room free with $1,500 discount? 5.) So then to make the deal look like it is reasonable, she arbitrarily discounted the carpet and lowered the price to $4000 for $1,089 sq.ft. But when I asked her to update the sq.ft. to 700 + 10% she would not lower the price accordingly and asked me to cancel the order. I CANCELLED THE ENTIRE ORDER. WORS'T EVER SALES EXPERIENCE.

Tuesday came and the installers arrived with the flooring. I had no idea what they actually had as it differed so much from what I was expecting. A flimsy 5' x 8" board about a quarter of an inch think at that. It looked like it had been painted brown. I immediately canceled the installation for that day as I thought some horrible mistake had been made. The installers tried to call their folks, I tried to call the salesman. They went on their way. Two hours later I got a call from the salesman who said he would be here in an hour. Two hours and fifteen minutes he shows up and finally explains to me just what is being installed. I finally see the light. He again states how more perfectly suited it is to the job. He left his sample case and my wife and I decided on a more suitable color/pattern, treating this more like a tile installation. Different installers arrived promptly the next day. I immediately asked about the carpet as I would have to move furniture if they needed to restretch it. There response was that they did not do carpet. On the phone with the salesman, he picked up this time. Said he would take care of it. The carpet remains unstretched. The installers got right to work. I asked about the leveling. They said they do not level. I asked what I had purchased the plywood for. They said OK. The floor went in and took most of the day. I had to leave and called my wife later in the day. The installer did do a good job with what he had to work with, but,..... You could EASILY feel the floor drop down along the edge of the higher kitchen floor. Nothing had been done. About a week later the trim strip between floor and carpet had popped up, and a snapping sound was coming from the ridge of the flooring. I called Empire and the installer came back and fixed the trim, he said that all they had done because the plywood wasn't enough to raise the height was to stick a bit more padding under floor to try and correct for the hight difference. I told them had they removed the existing tile from the kitchen it would have. They said they aren't supposed to do that. So much for doing things right. NOW two weeks after that I have laminate peeling up in two different spots and what looks like a whole chip of the floor that has come up. The latter from under a table where nothing could fall on it. Calling Empire for the third time on Tuesday, but, I have a feeling this floor will end up in the trash before too much longer. I hope it does not come to that. The salesman made statements regarding suitability of the product that has quickly been proved false. It's too bad. The floor looks very nice. You just can't walk on it. This saga is far from over, but, Empire is no longer on my Christmas Card list. 9/8 -- Empire complaint "official" came to the house, saw that there did seem to be material defects as well as some corners cut during install. Contractor set to come back on site on 9/13 to replace floor and properly level it. I do need to give kudos where they are due to the guy that came out, Tung Ngyen. Empire needs to hire a whole lot more just like him. 9/17 -- Contractor came and removed the new floor and prepped the existing floor down to the subfloor. Probably should have been done this way the first time. The floor was then replaced with new product. Overall the floor seems more secure and there is no "pillowy" feel. Seems to be solidly sitting on the subfloor. Only time will tell if the install method was at fault or if there still is a problem with the product itself. The contractor did handpick through the new boards, rejecting any that weren't perfect. Many came chipped out of the package. Will report again after 11/2012 with an update. I am hesitant to upgrade Empires rating, as I should not have been put in this position to begin with. I will decide when I update the post next if I can be less harsh. 11/24 -- Floor is holding up well. Poor installation and/or quality control of the product seems to be at the crux of the cracks and pops that occurred. Removing the original floor rather than just covering up the old was probably also of great help as the floor now sits solidly on the subfloor as previously mentioned. Trim is again a problem. Transitions all popped up at each end. I used a small finishing nail to reattach. Quarter round molding again seemed to shrink as time went on leaving gaps up to an eighth of an inch at each joint. I used filler to repair. Both these issues happened with the first installation as well. I do not know whether these trim products are of poor quality or just not suitable for my particular installation, but, they get a complete fail. I know you should never say never, but, unless price is my only motivation Empire will never be doing any work here again. It might be that a couple of bad eggs messed up everything for the company. I batted zero in that regard. It all made my summer far too long and stressful to take that chance again. I am not inclined to change my overall rating, although I did tweak down a couple of the more specific ones. .... and Empire if you read this please do NOT contact me. There is nothing left for you to do. I will not be picking up the phone or responding.

My review here is two fold... The Sales process and the install process. A friend of mine suggested I call Empire after i receive other quotes from Lowes, Home Depot and a few local carpet shops. I was carpeting my basement (450sqft and 6 steps)I was looking for a hybrid type carpet/loops and plush and received quotes up to about $1400. I decided to call Empire, the appt was made same day for an in home estimate. The sales guy was semi polite however was asking me all types of questions that went beyond your typical ice breaker questions. For example, I had to take a phone call from my bank about a refi, after I hung up he really asked me--what was that about?? I swear!! I said nothing, let's move on.. I could tell immediately he was sizing me up, learning about me, family, etc and try to give me the kabosh.. We went through couple samples, he "priced" out MSRP and then showed me MY price.. $2300!!!! for 450sqft..I told him that his price was silly and that I received a quote $850-- The sales guy asked me, well why didnt you take that price?? I said because I don't price carpet everyday and was anticipating Empire to be the same or below... and since you are about $1450 away from that quote I will call that other company when you leave!.... slam on the brakes, he had to make some phone calls now... After 20 minutes he said, I can do $1000.. I said I can do $850 and I want it installed in the morning... Long story short, DONE! $850.. I paid in full at that time via AMEX.Installers arrived at 9am next day, wrapped up around noon. Very polite, hardworking an professional.. 10 out of 10 for the sub contractor installer..Empire worked for me because I needed the carpet installed asap and the local shops and big box stores were 2 weeks out to get my install done.. Don't be afraid to negotiate based on other quotes you received! I am a believer that we all need to make money and we all try to save money, but don't take advantage of the consumer to the extent of complete price gouging!

The sales guy comes on time, between 9 and 11 am, as expected. So far, so good. He introduced himself and smiled. Again, so far, so good. From there, the appointment was a nightmare. He was pushy, loud, intimidating, and insulting. Pushy because he practically forced me to make a decision right then and there after getting a quote. I managed to haggle the price down a bit, but he laid a huge guilt trip on me, giving me this sob story about how he gets paid on how much sales he brings in. He was loud and intimidating because he raised his voice on a number of occasions when I asked him some simple questions (how does a certain carpet fabric wear versus another fabric; how the installation process works; what other colors are available) and gave me some pretty terse and insulting answers. The entire time I could tell he was wishing we were looking to spend more $$$ (our quote was $2500). There was absolutely NO need for his attitude and his lack of professionalism. I definitely would NOT recommend using Empire Today. That was the WORST in-home estimate experience of my life.

We used Empire Today to install carpeting in our basement. The workers came out and requested payment immediately so we paid before the work was even started. They started the work and never once said anything further to me until they were done. When they finished, they packed up and left. My husband realized within hours that they did not tack down the carpeting on the steps. As the days progressed the carpeted started to pull away from the steps and gap and the carpet on the sides that were not tacked down started to fray. I contacted Empire Today and they sent out a contractor to look at the problem. The contract started investigating but in doing so did further damage to the carpets. He advised me that it could not be repaired because there was a gap between the steps and the wall. I advised that we did not have this issue with the steps prior to this installation as the stairs were carpeted when I moved in 7 years ago and there have been no problems. He advised that whoever installed the carpets had pieces of wood laid down so that the carpet would be flushed properly against the wall, however that wood was no longer in place. While I understand their reasoning the fact remains that the workers should have stopped the work and discussed with me what I wanted to do. I may have opted to have the issue resolved prior to the carpeting being installed improperly. Also, I would have kept the wood and probably been able to fix the problem myself. Now the wood is gone and Empire will not repair the carpeting, even though their contractor did further damage, until I pay someone to fix the gap. All of this could have been avoided if the workers would have just said something to me about the problem. Instead they just wanted to get in and get out and didn't care about the problems they were creating. We were repeat costumers and this is very disappointing to see how poorly they handled this entire situation. Since Empire created the issue, it is their responsibility to resolve it. Prior to our using them we had no issues with the carpeting or steps or gapping. Very disappointing and I would NEVER use them or recommend them to anyone.

The sales person arrived on time and was very pleasant. My main complaint with Empire is on the sales end. After chosing a product, the sales person then did some crazy calculation, telling me that I was getting a bunch of discounts. Then he quoted me a price that was in the neighborhood of $2,000 for vinyl tile in a 10'x9' room. I said he was crazy and I could do the job myself for $600. After a half hour of haggling and fake phone calls to his boss, we settled on $950. The installation process was a much better experience. I already knew from having my carpet done before that Empire was going to send subcontractors. Two very nice gentleman from Brazil completed the job. Even though they didn't speak much English and we speak no Portugese, we communicated just fine. The men were quick, relatively quiet and did great work. The only problem I have now is that the tile is getting scratched from my son's highchair, but that is more of a product issue with GAF. Overall, I was satisfied, I just wish that the sales people would just level with you and give you a decent price from the start. I felt like I was buying a used car. If I do it again, I will probably just give those two Brizilian men a call and deal with them directly.

I really like their price. The salesman and installers were helpful and professional

The sales call to look at samples and arrange for installation was on-time. The sales representative was somewhat on the slick, fast-talking side. Carpet and flooring selection was sufficient for what we needed, and we found colors and textures that met our expectations. Even though the house is a small rowhouse, the installations had to be done on two different days - requiring either myself or my husband (both working full-time and sometimes on the weekends) to have to take time off work TWICE to wait around for the installers. Empire does not provide a window of time. Instead, they expect the customer to sit around all day waiting for the installers. The first day was the carpet installers. The carpet installation took longer than the installers estimated. The two man crew was very professional, even when someone tried to run over their carpet outside the house! They got right to work and completed the job in about 4 hours. It was annoying to have to wait in the house until past noon, though, for a 1/2 day job. The second installation was the kitchen flooring. This crew showed up early in the afternoon. Again, once they got there, the installation was professional and completed in a timely fashion. They had to do a bit of leveling work before laying the flooring. The whole job took about 2 hours. Again, it seems that Empire could have provivded a tighter window for the installation, so that an entire day wasn't wasted waiting. The work done was good. If you don't mind waiting, that is.