Complaint Review: Empire Today - Northlake Illinois

Empire Today has the worst customer service I've ever come in contact with. Last year(2004), they installed 7 replacement windows in my house. What a mess that turned out to be!

Now,(2005) I'm trying to get them to fix the broken glass in one of them. Below are the 2 letters I've sent to Empire today stating my disatisfaction with them, and the response I got from them was... NOTHING ! ! !

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Letter 1

06/29/05

Empire Today Customer Service,

The only thing I can say is YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE STILL STINKS. This goes back to April 2004, when I had 7 replacement windows installed. Now I've been trying for over 1 month to get the broken glass in one of them fixed. I've included a copy of the letter I sent to you on 05/03/04 about the poor install job, which apparently someone just read and ignored. I'm sure the same will happen to this letter to. That's OK, because I've reported my situation to the Better Business Bureau, and I'm also going to post my experiences with Empire Today on the website, WWW.RIPOFFREPORT.COM

On Monday, 05/23/05, I called 800-588-2300 to report that I have a broken upper sash glass on one of my 1 year old windows. The information was recorded, and I received an E-Mail with a Service Request # 1-60671767. I called back on Friday, 05/27/05 to get a status, and I talked to someone who told me there was nothing they could do until after the Memorial Day Holiday. What were they doing the 4 days in between my phone calls????

Instead of calling me back, I had to call Empire Today again on June 1, 2005 to get a status, and I was told that someone named George would be contacting me. He never did contact me until I called him from my job on June 13th. Empire Today gave me his direct phone number, 1-888-588-2315, ext 3610. George said he needed the serial number and size of the window in order for him to do anything.

When I purchased the windows, I was told that if anything goes wrong with the windows, all I have to do is call the problem in, and that all my information is on file.

I told George that when I get home from work, I'd call him with that information, which I did. He told me that Empire Today no longer deals with the manufacturer that made my window, and he will need to do some investigation on getting my window fixed.

I waited 2 weeks to here back from George, and as usual, I didn't get a call. Early Monday morning, June 27th, I left a message in George's voice mailbox that I wanted a status on my window. Tuesday, June 28th, George called back to tell me he had located someone who deals with the manufacturer, and that he will TRY to get there sometime before Friday, July 1st, to order my window. Why can't the order be called in??????????

I can't believe it has taken over a month, and I still have a broken window ! ! ! !

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Letter 2

05/03/04

Customer Service,

My experience with the installation of my 7 recently purchased replacement windows was AWFUL, to say the least. The main reason I won't use Empire-Today again is because I was LIED to several times by Mark, the guy who scheduled the install dates. It took 6 days to get 7 windows installed. The incompetence of Mark also cost me 3 vacation days to sit around the house and wait for somebody to show up. This type of business practice is totally unacceptable.

Here is how my experience with Mark panned out over those 6 days.

On Thursday, April 22nd, Mark notified me that my Windows are at the warehouse, and we need to pick an install date. We agreed that Monday, April 26th, 2004, would be the date, and that the install crew would be at my house between 08:00 am 09:00 am.

I waited until 10:00 for the crew to show up, but it never did. I then called Mark to find out what happened. He said he wasn't going to install the windows that day because Doppler radar was calling for rain.

I asked Mark why I wasn't called, and he said he was in a meeting. Shouldn't your customers be notified first before going to a meeting? We rescheduled the install date for Wednesday April 28th. This screw-up cost me Vacation Day #1.

Wednesday comes. It's a beautiful day, and I wait again for the work crew. I was told by Mark that they would be there between 08:00-09:00am. Around 09:30am, I had to call Mark again to find out what's going on. He said the crew should be there in 1 hour, 10:30am.

The crew shows up around 01:00 pm, and apologizes for being late because they just found out about the job at 10:30am. If they didn't find out about the job until 10:30, why is Mark telling me the crew will be there at 10:30? Somebody is lying, and I'll bet it's Mark.

The crew that installed the windows were fast, clean, and efficient. Bill was the install team lead. Bill and his team got all 7 windows installed in several hours, but would have to come back the next day to WRAP/CHANNEL the widows, because Mark failed to tell them they needed to bring the supplies. Bill said he would be back first thing in the morning, Thursday, to finish the job.

Here we go again, I had to call Mark Thursday morning at 10:30am to find out what's going on. He told me the crew was on the way to pick up the materials needed, and they would be at my house sometime after 02:00pm to finish the job. At 03:50pm, I get a call from Mark saying that the truck broke down, and the crew will be there first thing Friday morning to complete the job. VACATION DAY #2 WASTED.

Friday morning comes and goes, and no crew is on site. My blood is boiling, and Mark won't answer his phone. I left him a voice message, but he didn't call back. I tried calling the salesman who sold me the windows, and all I got was his voice mailbox.

Being totally frustrated, I called your 800 number, and was transferred to your customer service department. They then transferred me to the Manager of the Baltimore/Washington Area. I explained my frustration level with him, and that from now on, I wouldn't let Empire-Today take my garbage out. I explained that I wanted to be compensated for some of my lost Vacation time, and the bullcrap I've been put through this week.

The Manager said there was nothing he could do about it NOW. His priority was to get my windows completely installed. He contacted Bill and his crew, and Bill was at my house within the hour. I asked Bill what happen yesterday, and he said he crew was sent to another site. Mark has them jumping around to about 6 different jobs at a time. THERE WAS NO BROKEN DOWN TRUCK according to Bill.

Back to the windows... Bill and his crew are wrapping and chalking the windows when Bill informs me that Mark didn't order enough channel to finish the windows, and that Mark was going to stop by and drop off some more chalk within the hour. The crew did all the work they could, and now they're waiting on Mark.

Bill then called Mark to find out how long it's going to take him to get to my house, and Mark informs Bill that he changed his mind, and Mark won't be stopping by. What a piece of %&#@ ! Not only doesn't he communicate with your customers, he even lies to his workers. VACATION DAY #3 WASTED.

Bill told me he would be back on Saturday on his own time, get the necessary material, and completed the job. Bill stuck to his word! Thanks Bill!!!

Now the question to you... WHAT TYPE OF COMPENSATION CAN I EXPECT FROM YOU?... I EXPECT TO BE CONTACTED BY SOMEBODY AT Empire-Today SOON !

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As stated in the begining of the report, I didn't receive any type of compensation at all from Empire Today. They didn't even respond.

Rick

Baltimore, Maryland
U.S.A.