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Empire Carpet Consumer Reviews - Page 3

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Bait & Switch
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

EAGAN, MINNESOTA -- We ordered carpet from Empire a few months ago. The sales experience was great; lots of choices, differing price points and felt like we made a good decision. But on the install date, they showed up 2 hours late AND WERE AT OUR HOUSE FOR NINE HOURS. They didn't leave until after 11:00 PM. The installers were clearly inexperienced and complained that they had to move furniture (which we had paid for as part of our package). Moving furniture took about 15 minutes total, by the way.

Around 8:00 PM I tried calling the sales guy to say they needed to leave as my kids had to go to bed. I couldn't get a hold of him so I told the installers they needed to leave by 9:00 PM. They argued with me and told me that if I didn't let them finish, they would leave the carpet unfinished and wouldn't be able to come back for at least a week. I let them stay because I had already missed a whole day of work. Eventually they wrapped up and left without cleaning up all the spare bits of carpet fuzz they left all over the house.

Last, there was something about the color of the carpet itself that was slightly off from what I remembered. I couldn't be positive, so I sent an email to Empire telling them the color seemed off. The next day the sales guy called me back and I asked for a discount due to the poor service. He hemmed and hawed and about 4 days later I got a call from the regional manager. He said he'd offer me $100 off but that they couldn't do anything more. I was ticked. He wouldn't even talk about the carpet itself not matching what I ordered. Again, I wasn't 100% positive myself.

Now, three months later it is apparent they installed the wrong carpet. What is supposed to last 15 years has already matted down completely on our stairs and in high traffic areas. Vacuuming it helps, but then it immediately lays back down. We called Empire to do a service call at our house as we wanted them to verify for certain what was actually installed and to figure out why it is matting down so much. Guess what? They just called and said they couldn't make the appointment today!! I've decided it's time to take action since we've done all we can trying to work on this issue locally. Great jingle... horrible service.

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Installers will not show up in Maine
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

PORTLAND, MAINE -- My review is for Empire Today in the state of Maine. I have had one of the worst experiences dealing with them over the past few months. I could go on an on about all of the cancelled appointments and excuses for not showing up but there are plenty of those on this site. I just want to warn anyone in Maine that Empire does not have local installation crews that live in the state. All of the work is farmed out to contractors that live in Massachussetts. I cannot get their service people to admit this but here is my assumption of how things work.

You are given an installation date that is either on a Tuesday or Thursday (the only dates they install in Maine). On the day of installation, the crews show up at a warehouse and are shown the list of jobs for the day. Based on my experience, it appears that If the crew does not feel like driving 2-3 hours to do your job, they can pass on it and take one closer to home. I have had a carpet install scheduled on 3 different days and each time I was called the morning of to be told they could not find a crew to do my job. How can that be if I was on the schedule? I even had a service representative tell me that I was put on the VIP list to ensure my install was put at the top of the list. Still ended up getting cancelled.

After the 3rd cancellation, I called to ask for a manager. Spoke to a shift supervisor and he apologized and said that I would hear from a local services manager and regional executive. That was over 2 weeks ago and I have not heard from anyone. I have also tried contacting the sales person Jim Lawlor and he just keeps pushing me off to service. Not at all willing to step in and make this right.

Take my advice like others have given here and use a local flooring store with their own installation crew. In the end, you will probably pay about the same and have a much better experience.

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Poor Quality Carpet, Poor Customer Service
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

ILLINOIS -- I purchased carpet in 2008 for my 2nd floor. 1 year later the carpet showed signed of delamination and ripples. I called their 800 number and they sent someone over and said it needed to be restretched. I had it done. Over the years it has come back. I filed a claim this October, and the millions of things they requested included pictures of my vacuum, receipts for cleaning, and do I have pets, or is there high traffic in the room? I was waiting for them to ask me for a urine sample. Lo and behold they decided they will not honor the warranty for the carpet.

I have numerous jobs for them during the year that I have supplied to them, as I do home repair on an emergency basis, and to be delayed and treated this way is very poor customer service. I am better off having Home Depot to do it moving forward. Even their numbers supplied by them are not working, and you have to go through the entire call in process to get to the customer service area.

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No Follow Up
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA -- We had flooring installed and we noticed that if we went barefoot our feet would become black. I called Empire's customer service and kept getting a runaround. Finally they sent a crew over. All they did is look and photograph my feet, and conduct no other tests. They concluded that the floor was dirty.

I then called and they send over a very professional third party source that took white rags and ran them across the floor and he found black residue, not dirt on the rags. He then cleaned a few areas with acetone and still found the rags had black residue. He indicated he could give me no final results or a copy of his report because Empire was his customer. Almost a month later Janet from Empire called but I was not available. I called back an hour later and then again, but no response. I have called at least twice for four days and have not gotten a call back.

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Pushy, Unprofessional Salesman
By -

We requested a 'free estimate' from Empire Carpet to install berber rugs in our 2nd floor bedrooms and hallway. The salesman showed up on time and was friendly and personable at first. After he took the measurements we sat down at the kitchen table to look at samples. Before he went out to the car he asked me which kind of carpet I wanted. I said berber so he brought back a book for berber that contained 9 different colors and a book for plush (which is the complete opposite).

The samples only have Empire Carpet's logo on them and not the actual manufacturer's name. In the commercials and on the website, Empire claims they carry all of the popular brands but won't tell you which one is which. The salesman starts writing down a bunch of numbers on a blank sheet of paper. He starts by telling me "Here is the regular price and here is the deal I'm going to give you". The regular price was around $2000 and his price was $1600. When I asked him if "His Price" was part of the 60% deal that is always advertised on the website, he wouldn't give me a straight answer.

This was the first quote we had seen and we weren't sure if it was fair or not so we wanted to continue with seeking other estimates. He explained to us that the process is very simple. The installers will come on the day we schedule and all we have to do is hand them our credit card before they start their work... Oh and we have to cut him a $100 deposit on the spot to secure the deal and the appointment, all before anyone does any work. Is this typical? He assured us that we would get our deposit back if we cancelled within 3 days.

As soon as we said "no, we're not committing today," he flipped a switch and his nice guy salesman attitude turned hostile. He started yelling "You're going to make me drive back here again to collect my deposit?!" First off all, what makes you think I'm going to call you back after that outburst. He might have had a chance with us if he didn't have a reaction like that.

So after he started talking in circles for several minutes to get us to change our mind and he realized we weren't going to, he angrily gathered up his weak samples and stuffed my estimate in his briefcase. When I asked him for a copy of my estimate he snapped at me and said "You know what the price is, it's $1588!" And then he let himself out. He then sat in his car in my driveway for another 4 minutes thinking that I was going to run out there with a check after all that.

I became obsessed with the experience and searched the internet to find that hundreds of people around the country had the same experience. How is this company rated A+ with the BBB? I've read other reviews about people who have actually used Empire and the installation quality had a lot of issues too.

I ended up going with a local flooring company and the salesman took the time to explain to me that since I'm putting carpet down for the first time (over hardwood) that I would need to shave the bottom of my closet and bedroom doors because of the padding and carpet will elevate the floor making them difficult to close. He also explained the difference of going with carpet that comes off a smaller roll which means I'd have seams that could come apart over time vs. a larger roll where I'd be paying for more due to a lot of waste.

I will always stick with local small businesses in the future and will gladly pay an extra couple of hundred dollars if I have to, to know that my money is going to an honest hard working professional.

Company Response 12/21/2010:

Thank you for bringing your sales experience to our attention. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. We are dedicated to service and satisfaction; please contact us at 800-588-2300 to assist you.

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Faulty Carpet Installation
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

WEBSTER, MASSACHUSETTS -- I ordered installation of carpets for 3 rooms. their agent came and quoted me about $2800 +. When I said I had better quote from some one else they agreed to match their price of $1600+. Paid $400 advance on that day by check over the phone.

Installers come to install, ask for $2400+ for payment, in spite of me telling them that we had agreed on a different price, it took an hour for them to figure out the correct price. They kept threatening to leave without installation. Then I had to give them ( 3rd party contractors) the check for balance amount and ALL MY PERSONAL INFORMATION LIKE DRIVERS LICENSE ETC as they called their boss and had to process the check over the phone. I FELT VERY UNSECURED PROVIDING MY PERSONAL INFORMATION TO A 3RD PARTY CONTRACTOR.

On 09.26.19 I called in and talked to Rebecca complaining that the installation was not done properly as a result the carpet has started peeling off within a week of installation. I was provided a complaint confirmation # 1-4115766325 and was informed that someone will contact me within the next 48 hrs.

Today it is 10.1.2019 and still nobody has contacted me as yet.

They are NOT TRUSTWORTHY SO I WOULD RECOMMEND TO AVOID USING THEIR SERVICES

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Customer Service Department Sucks
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

FORT GRATIOT, MICHIGAN -- Purchased carpet with Empire a couple years ago. My girlfriend was vacuuming our living room where we had 1 out of 4 rooms of carpet installation done. She immediately called the customer service line. Long story short, the back of the carpet had came apart. There's a line in the middle of the living room from where this happened. Told it would be covered under a manufacturer's warranty, that we would have a service coordinator come out, and confirm what we were told over the phone. My girlfriend has called since JULY of 2018, and nothing has been resolved in the 7 months that my girlfriend has constantly nagged this customer service department.

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Completely Dissatisfied
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

CLEVELAND, TENNESSEE -- First, Empire rescheduled my free home estimate 3 times, and only a few hours before my appointment time. When the estimator finally came out he walked in and said we would have to remove our carpet ourselves because it smelled like a dog had peed on it and that was a health hazard. When I told him he could leave if they wouldn't tear up the carpet because the three other companies who gave me estimates didn't have a problem with it and I wasn't doing it myself he said they would do it. At the end of measuring he only brought in 1 flooring sample in three colors for me to choose from because it was a "really good deal" but wouldn't tell me what the deal was. He gave me the quote and told me if I didn't sign the agreement today the quote would go up. I asked why and he said if I spoke to someone else later they wouldn't know the discounts he was giving me. I told him I wasn't signing anything right now and I would like him to email me the quote. He said he couldn't email it to me but I could take a picture of it. I then asked for him to give me a break down showing the cost of material, installation, flooring removal and other materials. He said it was an all inclusive quote and he couldn't give me a breakdown. I told him I couldn't compare it accurately to my other quotes without a breakdown. He said "that isn't how we do things" and left...

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Horrible Product!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

SAINT CHARLES, ILLINOIS -- The carpet product that I was sold was described to me by the salesperson as the "gold standard", a ranking of 47 out 10 (I know, hilarious). It's HORRENDOUS! It feels like there is no padding whatsoever...like someone threw done a piece of carpet directly on wood. I can even hear the boards creaking underfoot when I walk. At least 10 people from my neighborhood have all walked on it and can't believe how awful it is.

I'm so disappointed in the product and the customer service. I had to hound them multiple times to get a call back and finally they send an "inspector" which was just the foreman from the installation company. Then they communicate back to me that nothing was faulty with the product so there is nothing they can do. I can't believe I got duped into buying this. It makes me want to cry... I would assign negative stars if I could. BEWARE OF EMPIRE!!!! STAY AWAY!!!

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Horrible Experience!!!!
StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarEmpty StarBy -
Rating: 1/51

MELVILLE, NEW YORK -- Horrible Experience!

1.Subpar Materials/Carpets--Carpets shedding, and bold
2. Mediocre Installation--Edges not properly secured throughout
3. Under Staffed -- Sent only 2 installers for a job that probably required 3-4 guys, it took them all day from appx. 9am to after 7P
4. Non_Existent Customer SErvice once they've pocketed your Money--Empire does not call you back if you have a complaint unless you fill out the survey and given them a bad review
5. They don't really have specialists that would come back to "inspect" the areas of complaint. they send the same installers whom will then tell you that they did a good job and that the problem is what's below the padding (ex. your concrete or wood).
6. Empire gives you the run around
7. They want you to pay the balance prior to the work being done. NOw I see why they ensure payment is made PRIOR to them even touching the cutter! they want to ensure that they're paid regardless of what the outcome of the work is (ex. dissatisfied customers and/or work not completed satisfactorily)
8. They do not stand by their product nor their service promises

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Empire Carpet Rating:
Star Empty star Empty star Empty star Empty star
1.2 out of 5, based on 75 ratings and
131 reviews & complaints.
Contact Information:
Empire Carpet
333 Northwest Ave
Northlake, IL 60164
1-800-588-2300 (ph)
www.empirecarpet-flooring.com
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