Empire Today - Auburn

No thanks

It was conveyed to me that the high price (almost double what I had mentally budgeted) was because the subfloor would be replaced in our kitchen. It is an older home and several prior renovations had done quite a number on the existing subfloor. Come to find out, when the installers arrived, they were putting down a new subfloor, not replacing the existing one. I spoke with customer service and the rep stated Empire "doesn't touch" the existing subfloor. Ten bags of floor-leveling cement were used, which dripped down into the basement, onto the boiler and furnace. The job was going to take more than one day, so the installer said (on a Tuesday) that he would return the following Monday. Come Monday, the installer is nowhere to be found. Upon contacting customer service, they advised the installer only comes up to our area on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They advised the installers would return on Thursday. On Thursday, the installers arrived around 11 AM and did not finish until AFTER MIDNIGHT. I inspected the floor the next morning and found many holes in the grout and a large bump in the middle of the floor. I also had to spend several hours cleaning splatter on the door, walls, and cupboards from the floor leveling cement as well as the grout. I had to scrape pieces of cement off my newly-refinished hardwood floors where the installers had been walking back and forth. This isn't even half of the frustration we went through getting this floor completed with Empire Today.

"In the end, the carpet that we received was lovely, and we are looking forward to enjoying our newly carpeted room. There were some issues with how the carpet was initially installed, and, eventually, they were fixed so all is, in the end, great. That being said, there are a few things you should know. Empire Today was prompt and on task when it came to giving us an estimate and scheduling the installation. However, the customer service experience after the installation was, in a word, horrible. We called them the day after installation to report issues with the installed carpet, and It took more than two weeks to hear back from someone. The salesperson, who was attentive when it came to getting us to sign on the dotted line, ghosted us rather than helping facilitate or escalate communication with the company. Perhaps Empire Today is having staffing issues because of covid 19? Nearly four weeks post installation they finally sent out an installer who fixed the problems in a matter of a few hours, and that person did a great job. Meanwhile, it took hours of MY time, on the phone trying to get in touch with the company, disputing credit card charges, talking to customer service at homeadvisor, et cetera, before I finally heard back from someone who was in a position to send an installer out to fix the problem. Several times the company said that I would hear back from someone, either within 24 business hours, or within 24 hours, but the timeframe would come and go without hearing back from anyone. However, when we were finally able to talk to someone, those people were courteous and helpful. The other thing that you should know is that Empire Today is NOT a local company here in Maine. While they are represented on the website as being in Auburn, they are in fact located in Massachusetts, and are part of a big national chain. We discovered this when we noticed that our contract included extra fees for traveling an extended distance. Unfortunately it was after we had already signed the contract. If you decide to use Empire Today, perhaps because they do have a nice product, or because they are able to do the installation in the time frame that you need, my advice would be as follows. First, make sure you read the contract before you sign it. Perhaps you can get them to leave a copy with you before you sign. Take an extra few days to get competitive quotes from local businesses. And, if you decide to go with them, make sure that they do not repurpose old materials in your home. Insist that they use everything new. In our home they repurposed old metal tack strips that make the transition from a concrete floor to the carpeted area, and these were primarily the source of our issues. If they had simply used new strips at the beginning, there probably would not have been any issues. Also, make sure that you look at the carpeted areas carefully for bubbles that need to be fixed through a little more stretching of the carpet. Try to ensure everything is correct before the installers leave, as it may take awhile for them to send anyone back to fix problems that arise after the fact. Empire Today, if you are reading this interview, know that customer service is EVERYTHING, and if your company had been more proactive in terms of reaching out to be transparent about the timeline for fixing our issues...or, even better, had simply made it a priority to quickly come and fix the issues, then this would be a much more positive review."

They were two weeks late and were supposed to be here in the morning and didn't show up until the afternoon after waiting two weeks. Delivery stinks, cost me more money because I had to scramble and get a plumber to pull toilets when they wrote it on the contract and charged me for the toilets to be pulled and reinstalled. Now I have to wait 7-10 days to get my money back after it says on the contract they would do it. Also on the contract it says check, credit card, or cash but the salesman wouldn't accept the case, where it says it right in the contract that they accept cash which is just another lie. And yet another thing I am seeing all these ads all over the place "pay full price for one room get next room for $99", I would have definitely done that on this home, it is a rental property and I selling the house I just wanted it to look nice. I am not happy, I paid $1500 for this.

From initial phone call to salesman visit and installers, all were courteous, efficient and professional. The process was amazingly fast and simple. We will be using them again.

We hired Empire to replace carpeting in 5 bedrooms and a hallway of our new home. The estimator was prompt and friendly. We were told the carpet was in stock and could be installed the next week before our furniture was moved in, which was fantastic and the only reason we signed up on the spot following our estimate. The day of installation arrived and no one called or showed up. I called customer service and was told the carpet was not in stock and we would have to schedule for a week later, after the furniture was in (no one called us to let us know!). I said we really needed it done ahead of the movers, so they rescheduled for two days later. I called the morning of the new installation, and was told no one had rescheduled us. There was an **open ticket** in the system, but no new date. We now have no new carpet and movers coming the next day. I have been on hold with customer service 3 times already. No one has offered a solution to get us our carpet, or offered a discount for the tremendous inconvenience and failure to meet the terms of our contract. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!

sale person did not do a moisture test on the basement floor, so when the contractor showed up the told us that if it did not pass they would not be able to lay the floor. Plus had to make full payment before they would start the work.

they were fast and accurate. They were very friendly and did a great job.

They did a great job in completing installation of vinyl planking were very courteous and provided valuable recommendations and were very flexible in completing a work order I needed to change.