Complaint Review: Empire Carpet - Cinnaminson New Jersey

I am a sub-contractor for Empire-Today,currently working at the Cinnaminson,NJ division. After thirty years in the business,I no longer install carpet and my sole responcibility now is to do inspections and repairs of carpet installs. Having been at this division for almost seven years,I feel more than qualified to comment on the statements by "Magic Carpet". While there are many Hispanic crews;as well as other ethnic groups;working at this division,it is irresponcible to say that many,let alone any,are in this country illegally. Further,to infer that Empire has any knowledge;either tacit or otherwise;of the illegality of sub-contractors is blatantly wrong,and I am sure if this person had any factual basis for his comments ,he would have shared them not in this forum,but with the proper agencies. The tone of his statement sounds like that of a disgruntled installer whose workload may have been diminished not because of "cheap illegal labor",but because of the quality of his own work and resultant NPS scores. Michael

I also used to sub-contract for Empire LLC in NJ. They pay sub standard rates which are applicable of the 70's rather then 2008. The prices they charge are way higher then the norm because it is usually being financed and people tend to be laxed on not having to pay for something they are getting today. There are TONS of smaller floor businesses that would kill for your business, their reputation rides on it too. Their best business is word of mouth, therefor they do a bad job and they get no further recommendation down the road. I have seen people charged 7,000 dollars for a job that was costing Empire about 1,000 dollars in labor/material. I have paperwork to back it up! I absolutely hated working for that company and their management is the worst I have ever seen out of the 20 or so companies I have subbed for. I beg everyone out there to pass the word about this company.

I also used to sub-contract for Empire LLC in NJ. They pay sub standard rates which are applicable of the 70's rather then 2008. The prices they charge are way higher then the norm because it is usually being financed and people tend to be laxed on not having to pay for something they are getting today. There are TONS of smaller floor businesses that would kill for your business, their reputation rides on it too. Their best business is word of mouth, therefor they do a bad job and they get no further recommendation down the road. I have seen people charged 7,000 dollars for a job that was costing Empire about 1,000 dollars in labor/material. I have paperwork to back it up! I absolutely hated working for that company and their management is the worst I have ever seen out of the 20 or so companies I have subbed for. I beg everyone out there to pass the word about this company.

I also used to sub-contract for Empire LLC in NJ. They pay sub standard rates which are applicable of the 70's rather then 2008. The prices they charge are way higher then the norm because it is usually being financed and people tend to be laxed on not having to pay for something they are getting today. There are TONS of smaller floor businesses that would kill for your business, their reputation rides on it too. Their best business is word of mouth, therefor they do a bad job and they get no further recommendation down the road. I have seen people charged 7,000 dollars for a job that was costing Empire about 1,000 dollars in labor/material. I have paperwork to back it up! I absolutely hated working for that company and their management is the worst I have ever seen out of the 20 or so companies I have subbed for. I beg everyone out there to pass the word about this company.

I also used to sub-contract for Empire LLC in NJ. They pay sub standard rates which are applicable of the 70's rather then 2008. The prices they charge are way higher then the norm because it is usually being financed and people tend to be laxed on not having to pay for something they are getting today. There are TONS of smaller floor businesses that would kill for your business, their reputation rides on it too. Their best business is word of mouth, therefor they do a bad job and they get no further recommendation down the road. I have seen people charged 7,000 dollars for a job that was costing Empire about 1,000 dollars in labor/material. I have paperwork to back it up! I absolutely hated working for that company and their management is the worst I have ever seen out of the 20 or so companies I have subbed for. I beg everyone out there to pass the word about this company.

What you have gone through with Empire happens every day! Especially in this particular branch of Empire (Cinnaminson, NJ). I would say that at least 80 - 90 % of the installers currently working in this branch are illegal immigrants from Mexico. Very few actually speak english. How it works: An english speaking installer opens an account with Empire. Empire checks that person out, and then begins sub-contracting the work out to them. That installer hires a bunch of illegal immigrants to actually install the carpet. Since they pay these installers practically nothing, they can afford to put 3 - 5 "illegals" on each truck (sometimes more). Therefore, they can do twice the work, in half the time that it would take a crew of 2 (which is the norm). Empire has let go of most of their good installers in order to bring in more crews like this. They can pay out the same amount of money, but get twice the amount of work done. Most of the American crews (including myself) have left because all of the work was going to the "illegals". The installer that called you to try to work it out for $500, probably never even visited your home. Besides the fact that they hire inexperienced, non-english speaking, illegal workers to install your carpet... they also charge you 25 - 50 % more for their carpet than you could get from a much smaller company. The bigger name certainly is NOT always the best bargain!!

How did you know these people were even legal workers? Do you honestly think Empire does background checks on these installers? They could have been ex-cons for all you know. You and your children were placed in a dangerous situation. I would not have let them in the door, period.

Well i am glad that i could be of help to at least one person. If i can help prevent someone else from getting ripped off by these vultures, it almost makes it worthwhile. I received a letter today from Empire stating that they will pay me $900 to replace the countertop. As of yet, they have only refunded $200 to the credit card to compensate for installing the wrong color carpet. This still isn't acceptable but judging from the other reports that i have read, i should feel lucky that i am getting any kind of reimbursement. This experience has really opened my eyes. In the future, I know that I need to do a bit of research before hiring anybody to perform a service in my home. I still would NEVER reccomend this company to anybody and will continue to speak out on the shady tactics used by Empire. They will do and say anything to get your business, but the company does a poor job when it comes to standing behind the services that are offered.

My mother had an appointment to get a quote from Empire and while I was on the phone with her. just out of curiousity I looked them up on ripoffreport. I read a few of the posts to her but yours really caught her attention. She had decided at that point that she would not take a chance on a company like that. I also checked on BBB - really bad record there. I just wanted to thank you for possibly saving an elderly woman with a limited income alot of money and a lot of stress.

Steve Silvers is the President (I believe), Bridget Moscatello is the VP of Customer Service. The company is owned by a venture capitalist named David E, no one would give the last name. This company not only rips you off, they encourage it. I have seen bids to consumers of over $20k when the job is worth less then $10. The salesman make commission based on what they can get the consumer to pay, so it's in their favor if you overpay and they overprice. They do NOT have their own installers, all installers are independent contractors. They don't have anyone working for them who installs. If you cancel, or don't buy, someone will call you with a "Drastic" price drop in order to get you to buy. Trust me, the price drop is not all that drastic. These people who call you are getting commission based on what they quote you, they want their money too. You will never get the bottom line with this company, they will not let you. If you complain, they laugh it off. If you show they how overpriced they are, they ignore you. They sent a video about Home Depot around to all employees and required them to watch it, and the only comment the employees made is "that's what we do". .but Empire doesn't care. They manufacture excuses to not give you your money back, and then keep trying to get you to buy. Contact Stever and Bridget. . you will get some action then, if only because they are scared that you know their names.

Jessica Dont give up. That is what they want. They offered me 75% of my money back. I have gotten an attorney and will not accept. I will continue to fight this.

Well they contacted my husband again. Now they are telling me that they are willing to give us a thousand dollars towards repairs on the countertops and my husband finally just agreed to the figure because he is sick and tired of getting the run-around from these people. My guess is that these people who installed the carpet are not licensed or insured which is why the man is calling my husband in an attempt to settle this for peanuts. The problem is, a thousand dollars sounds like a decent amount of money but it still isn't enough to repair the countertop that these people broke. I guess I've come to the realization that we got burned. Plain and simple, we got scammed from a supposed "reputable" company who advertises a sweet old guy and uniformed employees. These people didn't even have any identification, not even a t-shirt that stated that they work for Empire. My husband is sick and tired of dealing with your company and quite frankly, six months is unacceptable. By the way, the carpeting on the stairs is now coming loose in some areas.

Well they contacted my husband again. Now they are telling me that they are willing to give us a thousand dollars towards repairs on the countertops and my husband finally just agreed to the figure because he is sick and tired of getting the run-around from these people. My guess is that these people who installed the carpet are not licensed or insured which is why the man is calling my husband in an attempt to settle this for peanuts. The problem is, a thousand dollars sounds like a decent amount of money but it still isn't enough to repair the countertop that these people broke. I guess I've come to the realization that we got burned. Plain and simple, we got scammed from a supposed "reputable" company who advertises a sweet old guy and uniformed employees. These people didn't even have any identification, not even a t-shirt that stated that they work for Empire. My husband is sick and tired of dealing with your company and quite frankly, six months is unacceptable. By the way, the carpeting on the stairs is now coming loose in some areas.

Well they contacted my husband again. Now they are telling me that they are willing to give us a thousand dollars towards repairs on the countertops and my husband finally just agreed to the figure because he is sick and tired of getting the run-around from these people. My guess is that these people who installed the carpet are not licensed or insured which is why the man is calling my husband in an attempt to settle this for peanuts. The problem is, a thousand dollars sounds like a decent amount of money but it still isn't enough to repair the countertop that these people broke. I guess I've come to the realization that we got burned. Plain and simple, we got scammed from a supposed "reputable" company who advertises a sweet old guy and uniformed employees. These people didn't even have any identification, not even a t-shirt that stated that they work for Empire. My husband is sick and tired of dealing with your company and quite frankly, six months is unacceptable. By the way, the carpeting on the stairs is now coming loose in some areas.

Well they contacted my husband again. Now they are telling me that they are willing to give us a thousand dollars towards repairs on the countertops and my husband finally just agreed to the figure because he is sick and tired of getting the run-around from these people. My guess is that these people who installed the carpet are not licensed or insured which is why the man is calling my husband in an attempt to settle this for peanuts. The problem is, a thousand dollars sounds like a decent amount of money but it still isn't enough to repair the countertop that these people broke. I guess I've come to the realization that we got burned. Plain and simple, we got scammed from a supposed "reputable" company who advertises a sweet old guy and uniformed employees. These people didn't even have any identification, not even a t-shirt that stated that they work for Empire. My husband is sick and tired of dealing with your company and quite frankly, six months is unacceptable. By the way, the carpeting on the stairs is now coming loose in some areas.

Ronald you typed this: " I hope that we can regain your confidence in our award winning customer service and you have a great day". I have read just about every post on this website regarding your company and your attempts at damage control. I would really really like to know with your terrible awful service, with installers who do not even speak english, who damage customer property, and the list goes on, What awards could this service possibly have won?

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Total customer satisfaction is important to us here at Empire Today. We take customer feedback very seriously and we are always striving to improve the customer's experience. We have reviewed your posting and are currently researching this matter. Unfortunately, we were not able to access any of your given information within our database that can identify you. Please email the given email address along with either your home phone number that is linked to your account or your actual account number with us that starts with a letter when you reply to the email that i am about to give you. The Consumer affair agent that you will be directed to will help you from that point on and will be your point of contact in resolving your issues the rest of the way. I hope that we can regain your confidence in our award winning customer service and you have a great day. The email address is [email protected] or [email protected]. The hours of availability are Mon-Fri from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm CST. Hope to hear from you soon.

Well someone finally returned my husband's calls. After repeatedly being assured that a check would be sent, they promised that we would have a definite answer by monday. It is now going on Wednesday and we were told that because it is such a large sum of money to replace our countertop, they would have to get the district manager involved. We were assured that we should would be compensated within about ten to fifteen days. They said that they will put a credit on the credit card that we used to originally pay for the carpet installation. That is all well and good, but because i had so many problems with these people, for some reason my credit card would not go through, I used my mom's credit card. So now my mom will get a $2100 credit on her card? If it even happens, i will be surprised. After reading all of the complaints on this site about this company, I am not holding my breath. However if this matter is not resolved by the end of the week, I will be contacting an attorney. I am so sick of getting the run-around by these people. I paid top dollar for a job that was done half-assed, the non-English speaking workers installed the wrong color carpet and they broke my counter! I do not want these people back in my house to fix anything for fear that they will destroy something else. I just want the money to fix their mistake so that i can sell my house. Instead of calling a local carpet installer from the yellow pages, I figured that I would go with this large company with a seemingly good reputation. I couldn't have been more wrong. In the future, I will take my chances in the yellow pages and hire a local company.