Empire Today

Everything was perfect!

The process went very well. Our installers were prompt, efficient, skilled and left our home spotlessly clean. Empire's payment system is less than desired, but we ended up satisfied.

Horrible install. Damage to my carpet. Just left it until I discovered it. The edges all around were done very poorly. I now have to wait for the carpet to be re-ordered and have to clear my rooms again to have it re-installed and have all the edges re-done in the other rooms. They were in such a hurry because they book too many jobs in a day. They didn't care what their work looked like. They also only spoke Spanish except one guy and they weren't understanding anything I tried to tell them not to do. Very frustrating.

It was a very big job. I liked them! The tile itself, I believe was a bad package. They came right out. Being prompt, getting your job done, that means a great deal to me with my line of work.

The tile did not hold up to its expectations. They came out and replaced that whole floor for me in December 2016. They came out after they laid the carpet. They did an amazing job, because it was a very, very big job. They had to remove all my tiling, which was the kitchen, the walkway, the entry and I still had to run my business. They did a very nice job.

The carpet guys came out and busted their buns, best crew ever, did an amazing job. I have had them twice. I do daycare, so they had to really move swiftly, because I watch like 12 children. They did a great job, that crew was amazing. I priced several places and I got my best price from them. They came, they were prompt, they didn?t waste time, they got their job done and cleaned up well after themselves. That is a big deal!

I would tell people to never to go to them. They do not stand behind their work. In about a 4 ft piece around the edge where it comes to our linoleum, the carpet is shredding. I called them and they said they would come out. We set the time and they never called and never came. They guaranteed their work beyond that. That's why I called them. I wouldn't call them back to fix it. Price was high.

I set up an appointment to get an estimate and a sales rep was at our house within a few hours of the request.  The sales rep spent a lot of time at the house, was very nice, and patient with us but unwilling to negotiate on the price.   Although we were hesitant about the purchase we moved forward.  After the consultation we looked up reviews on Empire and suddenly felt very uneasy due to the bad reviews.  The following day we canceled our carpet installation and were contacted a few times by Empire after regarding the cancellation which even included price drops.  I still felt uneasy and went through with the cancellation.  After visiting several places regarding carpet quotes we realized with the new prices offered we could get the installation through Empire for about $500 less, including removal of the old carpet which many places charged an additional fee for.  We decided to take the risk because we had out of town guests coming later in the week and the price was now lower than anywhere else.  So despite hesitation, we called back and set the appointment up for the installation.
Carpet was installed two days after calling Empire back and we are very glad we went back with Empire.  The carpet looks great, price was right, and the installation was quick.  I don't like how we were initially quoted one price and after trying to cancel, the price was brought down about $500.  So if you decide to try Empire, make sure you don't go with their initial price quote. 

I contacted Empire and a salesman came out to quote laminate flooring installation.  On the day of the initial quote, this individual called to delay the appointment 2 times which made things very inconvenient for me.  When he finally got to my home in Battle Creek to quote the service, he neglected to measure and include a room that I specifically asked to have included in the quote, while quoting me a cost of $5500 for approximately 550 square feet of surface area.  After passing on the offer, an Empire phone rep called me up a week later and said that they could do the same service with a different style of laminate for $3900.  That seems like the kind of thing that a good salesman would include in the initial discussion.  I called the salesman up and scheduled another appointment, after which I reduced the amount of sq ft in the quote to 450 and went with the different style of laminate to reduce costs.  Once all the measurements were done and the product had been selected, the quote changed to $3800, which I found disappointing considering what I had been told by the phone operator (since the sq footage being installed dropped by over 15%).
Empire farms out their installation services to subcontractors, and the salesman was quick to advertise that they had 17 crews working in the Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek area at the time.  The installation crew is supposed to call your home on the day of installation to give you a timeframe for when you can expect them to show up.  After prepping my house for installation by moving my furniture and belongings out of the 3 rooms being serviced, I received a call on the Friday day of appointment from the service manager at 11 am.  He stated that over 80% of the boxes of laminate for my installation had been damaged in transit from their warehouse in Detroit, so I wouldn't be able to get the work done that day.  I took the day off from work, put my dog in a kennel, and was very disappointed that I was being inconvenienced further.  The manager further assured me that he was going to send a top notch crew out to my home on the following day.
When the installer arrived with his crew (it was a husband and wife team) I discovered that the laminate Empire ordered for my home was in the wrong quantity.  I had ordered 16 boxes of cherry for the living room/dining room, and 13 boxes of white oak for the master bedroom, and they switched the amounts.  Now I was in a position where I had to decide to just get the work done with what there was, or send the crew back causing a further delay.  I chose to just get the work done (after getting my wife's approval to move ahead with the botched color scheme) since I was sick of being stuck in limbo on this project. 
The one thing that Empire did right was subcontract the installation services out to Absolute Flooring (517-243-1765).  The owner/installer was very punctual, very professional, and did an outstanding job of removing the old flooring.  When the laminate got installed in the three rooms being serviced it really made my living space much more comfortable.  If I had to do a similar project to this one again, I would have ordered the laminate through a warehouse myself and contracted with a local company like Absolute Flooring.  Empire was an inconvenience and a disappointment, and I would not recommend their business to any of my friends, family, or acquaintances.

The price was reasonable. The crew was real good. They worked hard. They stayed steady at it. The warehouse did not give the crew everything they needed to true form. They had to go off and run an errand and try to find what he needed. The rest of the crew, even when the foreman wasn't there, was steady at it. They took longer than I expected them to but my job was bigger than they anticipated. They got the whole job done and cleaned up after themselves. They did a good job. I have no complaints with them. They showed up right when they said they would. The salesperson was very professional and easy to deal with.

We asked for a quote on Wednesday, July 3rd.  The sales rep was very professional and showed us a ton of great options.  We were going to have them do 3 rooms to take advantage of their buy 1 get 2 free sale.  The sales man showed us the price breakdown if we used different discounts, and we decided to just get 1 room done for cheaper.
He setup the appointment for Saturday, but it was going to be sometime between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m..
Having such a large window was irritating, but we hoped for the morning.  The installation crew showed up at 7:45 p.m. and the job was done by 10:30 a.m.!  
The job was done very efficiently.  The crew worked well together and got the job done.
Negatives:
The crew was very loud when installing the carpet.  Unnecessarily at times.  They were throwing their equipment around sometimes which was bothering our 9 month old.  
A few edges weren't tacked down like they should have been.  A few hits with the hammer took care of the problem, but I think they were in a hurry trying to get out of there.
They didn't install transition pieces between the dining room and the living room.  I expected metal strips to be placed between the rooms.  They said they could come back another day and install them if we wanted, but at that point the job was done.
Positives:
Overall, great price and very fast install.  I didn't think that with the 4th of July holiday I'd be able to get carpet 2 days after our initial inquiry.  I was very impressed.
Quality of carpet is just as good as the places we looked at like Home Depot and Lowes, but the cost was far less to have it installed.

THE MEN WHO PUT THE CARPET IN MY DAUGHTERS ROOM WERE EXCELLENT.  THE VINYL FLOORING WAS A TOTALLY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE.  THE SALESMAN SAID WE DID NOT NEED A NEW SUBFLOOR, BUT THAT CHANGED ONCE THE CREW TOOK UP THE CERAMIC TYLE.....TOTALLY CHANGING THE PRICE OF THE PROJECT.
SOME OF THE TILES DIDN'T STICK AND IT TOOK MANY PHONE CALLS TO GET SOMEONE TO COME BACK AND FIX THE PROBLEM.  BEWARE:  WHEN YOU CALL TO MAKE A COMPLAINT, YOU DO NOT SPEAK TO ANYBODY THAT EVEN KNOWS ABOUT YOUR JOB.  IT'S LIKE CALLING INDIA TO COMPLAIN.
WHEN WE SOLD OUR HOME A FEW MONTHS LATER, THE FLOORING BY THE BACK DOOR FELT AS IF YOU COULD PUT YOUR FOOT RIGHT THROUGH IT.....SO MUCH FOR PUTTING IN A NEW SUB FLOOR.
I WILL NEVER EVER EVER USE EMPIRE AGAIN!!!!

The sales rep came out to the house on a Monday and went over everything with us.  We made our laminate and carpet selections and were ready for installation on Wednesday and Thursday.  I received a call Wednesday morning that they were OUT of the laminate that we had selected.  Not too bummed, we got our second choice but that moved installation back a day.
The installers arrived on Thursday and said they were going to to both the laminate and carpet.  There were supposed to be four workers, but two got dropped off and two went off to do other jobs.  There were some major communication issues within the company.  Two of the guys were basically left here because of miscommunication and we were told that the carpet would be cut up and left for us to throw away when they were actually going to take it with them, but didn't have enough room in their van so now we have a HUGE pile of un-cut carpet and padding and scraps taking up a parking space in our garage.
There are a few spots where it looks like they were hurrying or not paying attention, but for the most part we are happy with the job and would use them again.  The "issues" weren't big enough for us to not use them again.

The carpet was scheduled to be installed on 5/31. Installers did not show up until 10:00 am. They would not start until we paid them in full upfront (our sly salesperson never told us that - I am used to paying 50 % upon start and 50% upon satisfactory completion. I was at work at the time, one of the installers told my daughter, that he doesnt really install carpet much. The results showed. They began at 10am and we had to ask them to leave 14 hours later at 12:30 am and the job wasnt completed. Edges were left ragged. a seam in the middle of the hallway did not match. they even left the carpet 1/2 of an inch short of one wall and just nailed it to the floor. The next day we awoke to this nightmare. We called the salesperson and told him we needed it replaced. He had to call his boss. Finally two days later the man installing the blinds reviewed the carpet. He was apalled at the mess they left. At two doorways they left the carpet untacked and frayed.  He agreed it needed to be replaced from the top of the stairs down the hall and into one bedroom. I asked them to be sure it was the same dye lot. Come the following week the new installers replaced the hall and one bedroom. Alas, it was not the same dye lot. Then they had to replace the second bedroom (another time to come back). Then we noticed the newer carpet in the hall was of a different texture and color of the stairs, so the stairs were replaced at yet another install day. It looks great now thanks to Isaac and his crew. And we have never heard from our salesperson or anyone else at Empire to see how it was going. Next step is we  are disputing the charge on our credit card. Sad fact for Empire? We are redoing our entire first floor flooring next month...they lost out on 1,200 sf of additional work. DO NOT CALL EMPIRE. PRICES ARE HIGH, SERVICE IS AWFUL AND THEY ARE HORRIBLE AT RESOLVING PROBLEMS.....go local like we should have done.

It went well.

The installers worked steadily without breaks. The company accommodated my needs very well, i.e. moving the piano, assembling/disassembling furniture. They were so good that I bought lunch for them.

THEY WERE VERY UNORGANIZED WHEN THEY ARRIVED. THEY DID DO A GREAT JOB OF KEEPING MY HOUSE CLEAN WHILE THEY WERE WORKING. THE CARPET STARTED COMING UP VERY SOON AFTER THEIR VISIT. WE HAD TO HAVE SOMEONE ELSE COME BACK AND FIX IT.