Complaint Review: Empire Today - Denver Colorado

August 3, 2018

Complaint regarding Empire Today Flooring

Background:  I will start by letting you know I am 80 years old and caretaker for my 84 year old husband who has Parkinson’s Disease and Dementia.  In order to make it easier for him to get around the house with walker or cane, I opted to replace carpeting with hard floor surfaces.  Empire Today gave me the best bid and could install the flooring the soonest.  I chose hardwood for living room, dining room and hallway and vinyl planks for bathrooms.  Bathroom installation completed on  May 5, 2018. It all looked nice.

Discovery:  On June 12, my 17 year old grandson arrived to spend a few weeks with us.  Around 10:00 PM he noticed a leak through the ceiling in the finished basement.  We poked a hole in the drywall and a stream of water ran out.  We placed a bucket under it.  Early on June 13 I called Plumbline Services for a plumber.  He found the source of the leak to be from the toilet in the bathroom above.  When he removed the toilet, he found the flooring installer had removed, and then reset the toilet, first on the wax ring, leaving a groove and debris, and then placing it properly.  Flushed and contaminated toilet water had been running through the groove into the subfloor of the bathroom, then soaking the drywall ceiling of the TV room below and finally leaking through. ( I have documentation by the plumber of his findings, plus photos.)  The plumber recommended that I call a remediation service.

Contact with Empire:  On June 13 at 4:10 PM I called Empire’s Customer Service number to report the problem.  I talked to Reuben and was give ticket #1-324-283-3154.  On June 14 Empire’s Customer Service Rep, Latasha Wood called back.  I informed her of the problem and requested reimbursement for the plumber cost of $345.00 charged to my Visa card. I informed her of the need for restoration, she said to get estimate and call her back.  I contacted Team K Services.  Chris McLaughlin came over at 10:00 and reviewed the damage and gave an initial estimate of $3,050.66. (Estimate does not include cost of replacing vinyl plank flooring in bathroom)  At 11:50 I called Latasha to give her the estimate cost.  Message left in her mail box.  Call not returned.  On June 17  I still had not heard back. Over the weekend.  We were experiencing a musty, moldy odor in the basement.  At 10:15 I left another voice message for Latasha.  At 10:20 I called Chris with a request to proceed with repairs.  Contaminated toilet water that had seeped into subflooring and ceiling below contains many pathogens and can cause disease if left untreated.

Repairs:  June 18 at 11:30 AM two techs from Team K arrived, shut off water in bathroom, tore out new flooring and used gauges to determine areas of moisture.  This put the bathroom out of service making it very difficult for my husband to climb stairs to a different level for bathroom purposes.  They disinfected the wet areas. K Services said they would contact Empire. At 2:00 PM a tech showed up to test the ceiling drywall for asbestos before it could be torn out. –No asbestos -  June 19  K Service techs arrived and tore out a large portion of basement ceiling as indicated by the moisture found using their meter.  They set a large blower and heat unit (I have photos and video) in the bathroom and downstairs.  The bathroom was sealed off with plastic.  (My power  bill during the time these blowers were running increased significantly) At 3:55 PM Daniel from Empire phoned.  I informed him that I had authorized K Services to begin remediation due to the moldy smell and danger of infection caused by mold spores and pathogenic bacteria.  My grandson was staying in a basement bedroom and was exposed to this.  Daniel will have Latasha contact me.  4:15 PM I called Latasha and let her know the repair work was underway and the reason I started repairs without her approval.  Per her request, copies of K Services estimate and of Plumbline’s statement for $345.00 that had been paid by me were forwarded to her along with a request to reimburse me for the $345.00 I paid to Plumbline. 

Ongoing:  Friday, June 22, Latasha said request for payment was forwarded to corporate.  She will call with results on Monday.  No call received on Monday.  June 26 Call received from Latasha; she should have payment results for plumber and restoration later today or by tomorrow.  Request is now being reviewed by “top management”.  June 27  email received with an “accommodation agreement” .  I let them know that I would communicate with K Services to make sure this initial estimate was the final amount due before signing the agreement.  June 29 New detailed estimate forwarded to Latasha in the amount of $6,096.34  Per Latasha, due to the amount of new estimate, she will need Insurance people to review before payment.  Restoration work is to be put on hold until further notice.   At 2:35 PM Chris was notified of request to stop work.  Restoration put on hold.  On July 5 I called Latasha to ask about timing for Insurance Adjuster, could not leave a message because her mailbox was full.   At 9:15 AM team from K Service arrived and  checked flooring and ceiling again, said they were dry and removed drying equipment.  July 9 Called Latasha, left voice message.  Call not returned.  July 11  Email to Latasha, her reply said claim was sent to Insurance Company.  July 18   Email to Latasha to ask about claim.  No response.  July 19  Email sent to Empire Corporate per their website for Customer Service.   July 20  Phone call received from Latasha.  She will refer request for Insurance adjuster to “higher management” since she doesn’t  know who installer’s insurance is.

August 3, There has been no further contact with anybody from Empire.  My bathroom and basement room are still torn up. I posted a complaint on their Facebook page, it was deleted the next day.  I filed a complaint with the BBB and am waiting to hear back from them.  I have documentation;  emails, notes, photos and plumber and K Service’s written observations to back up claims I made in this letter. 

On July 31  I sent a copy of this complaint to Consumer Protection office of Colorado AG.  They may or may not respond to this.  I am not hearing back from anybody at this point, and don’t think it’s a safe situation for me or my husband.  Please help me.