Top 9,910 Reviews From Legit Empire Today Buyers (2024)

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Empire Today beat out the competition purely on the fact that they had a good selection for the kitchen. A guy came out to give me the estimate. It was 9,000 for the house and 5,000 for the kitchen. But when we got to it, it was more than that. I asked where my 75% off was which was the reason I had them come out. He brought his supervisor with him and she called the office. She told me I was gonna get my floors at 20% off. I got bait and switched there.

The installation was crazy. The first set of guys that came out to do the entire house flooring, not the kitchen, did an awesome job. They were quick and efficient. They took care of everything. They ended up moving the big, heavy stuff. But with the other guys that came out to do the kitchen, I ended up having to call the company back because they put the flooring down but I didn't have matching molding.

I had a dark brown color on the floor. The kitchen had all these dark grays and yellows on it with no grout. My cabinets are a dark oak so I matched the floor with that, but none of the molding and corners that they did under the cabinet were available close to that color. They didn't have enough to finish the job, so they mixed it with white, gray, and brown on my countertop. I have a big island in the center of the kitchen. That had some brown and gray, and the cabinet under the sink had white, gray and brown on them. It was a mix-match hodgepodge. It was not very conducive or pretty. I had it put in the last week in December. Even today if we walk on it without me sweeping it for a couple of days and mopping it, I still have residue of the sticky stuff that they used seeping out on the edges that I have to go through and elbow it out so it comes out.

One of the guys called and said, “I've got you on my list. I gotta close out this ticket.” I told him I'd send him the pictures which I did. He said, "I can't believe we did that. How can I fix this?” I said, “I'd like to have something that matches or have it stained." He said, “I'll have somebody come out and bring you some cornering so that you can at least practice on it.” That never happened. I ended up staining the ones along the kitchen cabinet myself.

When they were taking my tile out, they pulled the oven out my stove from the wall and disconnected the gas line. When everything was ready to be put back, they told me, “We can't connect your gas line. It has to be a licensed plumber to connect it because it's gas.” Now I have to wait and take out the money to have somebody come and put the gas line back on so I can cook.

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Initially, I was not very happy with my experience with Empire Today. The installers came in, started with tearing up the flooring, only to stop and called back to whomever their supervisor was. They didn't have the right selection that had been made. Additionally, they did not have enough product to do the entire project. They only brought enough product to do one small room. Their supervisor called me and said, "We have a problem. We have ceramic tiling in your house. We have to charge you an additional fee for removal of the tile and the backing board.” I told him the salesman knew that I had ceramic tile and backer board in the house that I wanted to have removed. That was one of the reasons I was replacing it with the wood flooring. The installers came in and started tearing up the floor before even addressing that that might be a problem for them.

Empire Today did a good job with resolving that situation where they owned up to their mistake of getting started and them tearing up, damaging my flooring then turning around and saying, "We've already started. We'll go ahead and do this and it won't be any additional charges to you." After having to make several calls back and forth, they offered me a comparable alternative that was better in choice. Once that was able to be delivered and the installers were able to get going, it went smoothly.

I expected more from a top-notch company that's been around for decades, but I wanna give big kudos and props to Sergio and his team for the quality that they put in with installing the floor. Despite any shortcomings that were experienced with the project, they did a fantastic job. I give them high praises for the craftsmanship and attention to detail that they had with getting the floor installed and figuring out small challenges here and there with making it look right. There were days lost initially to the project because of people not paying attention but they got it done by the time that was promised. I'm very happy. I only have one minor problem that I noticed last night. When they reinstalled the kitchen baseboards back after the flooring was done, there's this big section of the baseboarding that I don't think they got it installed right because it's starting to fall off the wall.

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Empire Today had the exact material that we needed to match what we had. And the other company did not have the same style and color. That's why we went with Empire. The prices were similar. I purchased a hardwood floor and they were installed in the two bedrooms and a large closet. We had a hiccup the first time. The installers came in, told us the subfloor was not properly level. We had a potential idea but that would not be the case because of the older house. I thought the installers also worked on the subfloors and could potentially just fix it or give us more ideas, but they said they were not allowed. So, that delayed everything for another week.

I had to find a contractor to fix the subfloor, level everything out. When looking for a subcontractor in a very crunch time, they probably charge a bit more than what they have to. They knew I was in a pinch so they might have taken slight advantage. It was more cost out of my pocket than what we expected because we had to fix that.

When they came the second time, it was a different team and they were very professional. They had the vision of what we wanted to accomplish, and were able to present us with those options and complete the job the way we wanted to from the get-go. So, we were very pleased with the second team. The second team seemed very knowledgeable. We were very impressed and thankful we got that second team.

The installation took two weeks from the day one we met. The representative came on a Thursday, and we had an appointment for that Monday. We thought, "Okay, everything should go smooth, should be good to go." But we had the hiccup and I couldn't find contractors. They said, "I don't have the time" or "I don't have any openings till next month." Some gave me a month later date. But we couldn't wait a whole month because we were in the process of moving to the new home. I was frustrated with that delay because I had to spend more money and thought the installers had a better idea of different options to level that. I wish they were able to do more for us and not delay the whole installation.

When the flooring was installed, the first team told me, "It should take us a couple of days." The second team took almost three and a half days, but they did it to what the standard should be. We had to wait for the seal, and they had to come in and put the floor. They had to be very fine with the cutting to match the other floor that was already there. They took their time and were very detailed. That's why we were very pleased with them.

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I checked with Empire Today first because of their reputation and they've been around forever. Then when I called to get information from them, they were right out and took care of all my questions and showed me what was there, and got it all rolling. I had carpet installed in three bedrooms, a den, a dining room and a living room. I went with the least expensive one because I'm not rolling in dough. And now I've got a big fat payment. The two guys who did the installation were great. They helped quite a bit. The hardest part of the whole thing was having to empty my house. But that's not their fault. Literally, it was like moving since I was doing all the rooms. The house was basically vacant but they got it done in good time and did a good clean-up.

My daughter and I had taken the closet doors down so they would be out of their way and when they were done, they asked if we wanted them to put them back up. And we said we could do it. When we put them up, we found out that the installers hadn't taken the carpet or padding out underneath the strip, so none of my closets would open or shut because it was too tight. We adjusted them all the way out, up at the top and at the bottom, and there was just no way. So, I ended up having to complain a little bit. If they would have installed them differently, they would be okay. They were trying to tell me how you need to trim the door. But this type of door is made out of metal. They had to come back and I suggested they cut the carpet just underneath the strip so the strip sets down farther, which was what they did. And it worked. They completed it and they all worked perfectly after they left the second time.

The customer service set up the appointments and did the kind of things you'd expect them to do. A couple of installers brought someone who didn’t speak or understand English. It was no big deal. It’s just that it was uncomfortable because I had to keep asking the other guy all the questions. But that's the way the world is now, so I didn’t take it too seriously. They were very professional and accommodating. When the guy came back the second time, there was a little bit of an argument between him and me. He said there was nothing they could do to fix the closet doors and that it was not part of what they do. I said I just paid $6,000 and I'd hoped he would do it. So, we started troubleshooting.

My daughter came up because she lives next door and she had to get the doors off. Because the guy was so short, he was having a hard time lifting it enough to pop it off so he could work on it. But once we got those off, everything was good. He even told me that he'd been doing it for 30 years and that he was thankful because now he knew something that he didn't know before. They had never cut that strip out. I got the idea from seeing somebody do it and I knew what it was. The customer service rep told me that, if necessary, they would give me the bottom strip that it guides in. I asked if the guy was gonna have them so that if something happens, he's got them with him. And the rep said the guy carries them on the truck.

The installers weren't planning on putting new strips on, only redoing mine. Mine were screwed down and he removed all the screws and nailed them down. I asked him why he would do that and he said it's because the screw head sticks up too much. It's been in there all these years and we're unable to adjust them ourselves because they're nails. He totally worked to please me. But there was a little bit of back and forth. I didn't appreciate him changing it over to nails because the reason you have screws is so you can adjust them up or down.

I started out saying the service was great and I made it sound bad but it wasn't. But there were challenges that I had. I had to pay extra but there were five items that we left in the house because they had a way of being able to move it around. And you pay extra to have the installers move anything that's too heavy for me to take out. So, that was helpful. I had three beds, one in each bedroom that they moved out of the way until they did the room and then moved it back in. The guy was very nice to save my room for last.

Verified purchase

We had used Empire Today previously. This time around, we got carpet for our daughter's town home. The sales rep was great. We didn't have any issues with the sales rep, but Empire hires third-party installers, and the installers were an absolute disaster. The process to notify you of when they're coming all the way through the installation process with an installer is not done well. I have already advised Empire that the process was poor. We specifically told them when we purchased, and it was on the paperwork. The sales rep did represent us correctly, but we were very clear that we needed to be present for the installation. So, we needed sufficient notice so that we could be there. We were 30 minutes away from where the installation was taking place.

We got no notice other than when they called and said, "We'll be at your home in 15 minutes." They woke me up out of sleep which is fine. I understand they start early in the morning but they could have called the night before and say, "We're coming in tomorrow." I asked specifically, "Are we the first stop, the last stop? Can you ballpark me a time?" They could not give me any answer. So, I accepted that and moved on. At 7 o'clock in the morning, when I got a call saying, "We're 15 minutes out" and they were not supposed to start until 8:00 AM, and it's 7 o'clock in the morning, I can't move that fast even if I wanted to.

When I spoke to Empire, they explained, "Well, we're very sorry. We didn't mean for that to happen. That happened because we do hire third-party contractors this, that and the other." I said, “Well, that's all fine and dandy, but you need to figure out a way to work that communication out.” My daughter is now in the town home by herself, and she was really hoping for our guidance. We were flying down the road trying to get there. We just told our daughter, "Don't let them start until we get there." We didn't know what else to do.

Then the problem got even worse because the installer showed up. He spoke very little English. He walked in the house with my daughter and said, "Oh, by the way, I brought my wife." It was weird and fine because his wife ended up being "his helper". But when you watch videos and you receive commercial reviews and other reviews for Empire, that's not the image that is portrayed to you when somebody shows up with their wife and says, "I'm here to install your carpet." It was just a little bit weird. It's acceptable if this particular installer's wife was his helper. Instead of saying, "I brought my wife," he should have said, "My helper and I are ready to get started." We moved past that.

All this took place while we were on the phone on our way to our daughter's town home. Our daughter called back and said they said they don't take apart furniture. That was when I really got angry because we had the discussion with the sales rep, and we specifically said there's no furniture in the home as you can see. It was literally the day after settlement. There was no furniture in the home. We asked the sales rep, "Is it okay if we put my daughter's bed up, just the bed so that she has a place to sleep for the next morning?" We explained the bed to him, and he said, they can move furniture. We watched the preparation video that Empire sent us, which clearly spelled out that they will move pieces of furniture. They explained how they do it.

The installer got upstairs with his wife and took a look at the bed and said, "Well, we don't take apart furniture." So now my daughter was standing there going very confused because she was there when the sales rep said it. It was written on the paperwork and in the contract that they do do it. Then the process was then delayed because now my husband and I were rushing to get there so that my husband can run up the stairs and take a bed apart. So, the installation went poorly because of that.

The carpet was installed beautifully. He did a nice job. His helper wife cleaned up everything. There was a couple little spots on the stairs where we asked him to make some changes to how the carpet was installed. But other than that, the installation in and of itself was done fine. The carpet is beautiful. There were no issues with that. The problem is with Empire hiring third-party representatives that come in and install. Empire has to work harder to get a communication system in place so that more feedback is given to the customer as to what to expect and when to expect it. Even the sales rep called me back after the install and said, “That should never have happened because your contract says they will do that.” That was very disappointing. They owned up to it though.

Verified purchase

Verified purchase

The sales rep with Empire Today was professional and had knowledge of the materials. However, the installation wasn't great. It was snowing at the time and I had to ask the install person to take off his shoes because I didn't want him coming in with the snow and going on my carpet upstairs to put the carpet. But he said he wasn't gonna take off his shoes and that I had to reschedule. He tried to talk me into going ahead with it. I had to put my own towels down all the way up the stairs. He did do a good job at the end of it but the interaction with him was terrible. I was very dissatisfied. Even the carpet that he installed got wet because of his shoes.

Christine, thank you for bringing this to our attention, and we apologize for your experience. We can assure you that we do not find this type of behavior acceptable. We will use your feedback to improve our services.

Verified purchase

Des, we’re so sorry to hear that your flooring concerns have not been addressed yet, and we’d love to have the opportunity to fix this. We’ve located your order, and we’ll be in touch with you as soon as possible to resolve this.

Austin, we appreciate your honest feedback, as we are always looking for ways to improve. Thank you again for taking the time to let us know how we can improve. We hope you will consider us again in the future. Take care.

Linda, we're genuinely sorry for the inconvenience. We will investigate this matter and work on a solution for you. Your satisfaction is important to us. We've located your account, and we'll be in touch with you soon to address this.