We had Empire Today install carpeting and tile in our living room and dining room in January 2008. The estimating and installation processes went well, so we decided to have them come back to do our three bedrooms. We called and were given an appointment for between 5 and 7 PM that same evening. At about 6:30 PM we received a call saying our saleman was running late and would be there in 15 to 20 minutes. By 7:30 he had still not arrived, and we had not received any further calls. We called to cancel the estimate and were put through to the salesman who said he was just fininshing with his last appointment. Based on where he said he was and knowing what traffic is like in our area we knew it would have probably taken him another hour to get to our house. We told him we would reschedule, but we will now have someone else do the job. Between getting the house ready and waiting for the saleman to show up we wasted an entire afternoon and evening. As potential repeat customers we had expected better service. Empire Today needs to be more realistic in scheduling its sales appointments.

EMPIRE TODAY INSTALLATION 9/21/06 DIANE GRAHAM HOME ELGIN, ILLINOIS

Agreement was signed by salesman Jake Ryan and Diane Graham on 9/20/06 for a hardwood floor to be installed at 1029 Polly Ct. Elgin, Illinois on 9/20/06.
The family room, hallway and master bedroom was to have carpet removed and hardwood installed for the total charge of $6656.00. Jake Ryan also gave an estimate of
$2300.00 for the living room and dining room floors to be done at a later date. The special financing was no interest no payments until 1/01/08. Diane Graham advised salesman
Jake Ryan that there may be tile and carpet under the existing carpet to be removed. He explained that after determination by the installers, there may be an extra charge for underlayment.

On 9/21/06 the installers arrived late and with the wrong trim and no underlayment. Upon further inspection during the removal of the old carpet, it was determined
that underlayment was needed. Denise Dering, Diane Graham's partner was on site for the installation and was constantly on the phone with both Jake Ryan and also
Tom Joy, the installation manager, at installer Bob's request. It was determined that we would be charged extra for the underlayment, which we agreed to. Not only
did we agree to the extra charge, but we had to drive to Home Depot with the installers following us so they could get the underlayment and the right trim, which was
brought to the home.

On the first day of installation, most of the morning and afternoon hours were spent with installer Bob on the phone with Tom Joy to determine how to proceed without proper
underlayment and wrong trim. The workers that accompanied Bob were removing old carpet and tile while Bob was on the phone. Floor underlayment was started on 9/21/06
and wood floor inspection found that the wood flooring delivered to the home was wrong. Bob was again on the phone with Tom Joy until the installers left for the day. We were promised
the floor would be installed in one to two more days.

The second day, 9/22/08, the installers started on floor installation after a delay having a different floor delivered to the home. The installers proceeded to install the floor on the
second day and asked to come back a third day to finish some minor details. After having finished up the third day and moving furniture back in place, we were to call if there
were any problems with the floor.

Upon inspection of the floor while down on hands and knees cleaning the floor, we noticed several areas where there were large gaps between boards and also some boards were scratched
and chipped. We called Empire about these areas and the same installers came out with saws and flooring and removed the areas and replaced them at several intervals in that first year. Installers never tried to fix the gaps in the floor, stating that was the best they could do. Every time we called Empire about a problem with the floor, we documented the calls and the results. Dee Brown in customer service was most helpful.

Upon further inspection after several attempts to rectify the problems with the floor, Tom Joy, the installation manager, visited the home in June of 2007. He told us that an inspector from
Shaw Flooring would be out to look at the floor to determine if the floor had quality control issues or the fault was with the installers. That day in June 2007 Tom Joy reassured us that he would be
the last person we had to talk to about this matter.

Tom Joy was in contact with us about having a representative from Shaw Floors come out, but that never happened. Tom was frustrated as were we. After several calls to customer service and
Tom Joy, we finally had an inspector come out in the fall of 2007, but he was an independent inspector, not from Shaw. He took several photos with a magnifying glass, took samples of the floor
that were left behind by the installers, and said we would be contacted by Empire about the determination. After several attempts to call Empire: Dee Brown in customer service and Tom Joy, we
were told that the inspector's report determined that we were to get a replacement floor due to both the installation and the product. This, after several months of calls to Empire was determined at the end of 2007. Almost one year to the dateof the original floor installation.

At that point, we were called by someone from Empire asking how we liked our new floor. Of course, we had no new floor. The communication throughout all of this has been so horribly poor between
customer service, the installers, the sales department, Tom Joy and his management who never returned our calls that we are so disappointed about what could have been a great experience.

After it was determined that we were to get a new floor, Tom Joy said we were to get a call from his manager. He said they would replace the floor and we could re-start the financing without any problem.
We never heard from his manager, nor did we get any information about when we were to get out floor replaced. After exhausting several more months of no action by Empire's part, we were
also questioning the financing and asking for a deduction. After all, we had intended to get the living room and dining room done at a later date. With all of these problems caused by Empire we
were having serious doubts about the integrity of the company.

In the months that followed the promise from Tom Joy that he would be the last person we would have to talk to about this matter became a joke. He asked us to call his manager, we got no return calls from him.
We were then contacted by another gentleman from Empire, who forwarded us to Troy Pringle. Mr. Pringle has taken our calls and called us back on a few occasions, but mostly we are playing phone tag,
leaving messages. He has told us that we will have a new floor installed and was to make sure that would happen last Fall of 2007 after originally being contacted by Tom Joy. Mr. Pringle also stated the floor would be discounted and the financing restarted along with an inspector on site during the floor replacement. This conversation took place in the first week of December 2007 and still nothing has been done. Delays in this matter have been further problematic by the fact that we now are being charged interest on the floor and this is ruining our credit. We were promised this matter would be rectified by the end of 2007 because the 0% financing was to end on 01/01/08 ansd we would have the new floor installed and also the financing re-started by then. None of what we were promised has happened.

We are so disappointed by the outcome in this matter and have tried to be patient and understanding about Empire's role in getting this matter resolved. Not oly has our patience run out in getting this matter
resolved, but now the credit we have worked so hard to keep in good standing is now in jepardy because we had trusted Empire to take care of this matter as we were promised. GE Card Services has called
on the phone with threatening messages and we have exhausted all avenues to reslolve this matter with Empire. Promises were not kept, floors were not replaced, and we are now in a battle not only with
Empire but with GE Card Services. All we wanted was a new floor. We have had new windows replaced in the time since the floors were replaced and have paid in full due to the satisfaction of the product and
of the professional installers and customer service. We were willing to be patient and reasonable, but after 18 months of this problem not being resolved, enough is enough.

We have been in contact with the Better Business Bureau, our legal representative, Empire and GE Card Services and want this matter resolved without any further time or effort on our part. 18 months since the
floor was ordered, we still have no resolution. We have been patient and understanding and tried to resolve this matter. We feel Empire must rectify this situation as soon as possible. Promises by Empire in the past
18 months have not been fullfilled and we feel that we have every right to be very disappointed with the lack of integrity shown by Empire. We must hear from Empire as soon as possible to rectify this situation.
We have been advised by our legal representative to try to resolve this matter without a lawsuit. At this time we are running out of patience and time

In December 2007 Empire's installers spilled a small can of stain which ruined some trim boards and splattered on a stone front bar. I have left several messages for a Donna (no last name known) x3169 to no avail. I have emailed pictures of the damage, faxed receipts for proof of cost of products damaged and as of 2/29/08 still do not have this rectified. I was not able to stay for the installation and my wife was not aware this was done by the installers as they did not report spilling the stain to us.

I booked an appointment on line and the Sales Associate arrived on time to measure my entire house which needed new carpeting. She even measured some areas twice to make sure of the footage, as we had the original specs on our home from 1996. She made two diagrams, one for the upstairs and one for the downstairs and then gave us two different prices for two different quality of rug. Since we were putting the house up for sale, we went for the lower estimate and signed a contract along with giving a deposit. This was 2/9/08. We were to have the rugs installed on 2/22/08. Five days after our contract we received a telphone call on our answering machine to contact the Sales Associate which my wife did. She left her a message that we would be home after 6 PM and she could call back. The next day she called our home again left another message, which my wife returned and said we would be home all weekend to discuss whatever was concerning her regarding our contract. Instead of using the alternate number which is my cell phone she proceeded to call again on 2/18/08 at our home, knowing that we both work. She finally got my wife at 5:30 PM at home on Monday the 18th and proceeded to explain that she mismeasured and that the cost would now be $1,800 more than the contract. My wife told her that I would call her back but not to expect that I would go for a higher price since the contract was firm. I proceeded to speak with six other supervisors, regional managers and even the office of the president, but the woman at that office would not give me the president's name - she didn't know it. After Empire trying t0 tell me for $1,000 more they would complete the job, I said I wanted them to honor their contract, I was told that on the back of the contract it states that Empire has 30 days to cancel a contract due to delays, shortage of material or incorrect pricing. So convenient this would be on the back of the contract and not on the front. The consumer gets a 3 day cancellation option, but Empire gets 30 days. What is wrong with this picture? Empire has sent a certified letter cancelling the contract and return of our deposit. But now I must try to cancel their credit card and get it off my credit report because the Sales Associate I know didn't measure incorrectly but most likely gave us the wrong price. But twice - for two different grade of rugs. This sounds very suspicious to me. I have sent letters to the Better Business Bureau and the Attorney General's Office of North Carolina who my wife deals with at her job so the higher ups are familiar to her. I want everyone to know to steer clear of dealing with Empire Today, you most likely will get a better deal with your local merchants who will most likely be more honest with you.

On Friday Jan 18th I entered into an agreement with Empire Today for carpet for my home. I paid a deposit and financed the remainder with GEMB. Friday was the only good day in the entire experience. On Thursday Jan 24th the installers arrived at my home. They did not have the measurements or drawing of my home; they did not have sufficient carpet and the carpet was in one large roll (per agreement the carpet was to be precut at the warehouse). The installer wanted to re-measure the house and take the carpet to a friend's storage center (not Empire property) and cut it there. He had no idea of what was stored at this location nor could he comment on the cleanliness of the facility. In addition his work order showed minimum furniture to move when in fact the specification paperwork was marked for considerable furniture including a piano. Frustrated I call the Empire facility in Baltimore and spoke to the manager Leroy. As we were trying to work through the issues with the installer Leroy's response was "quit wasting my time - we have other work to do". I immediately canceled the order. As noted by other disgruntled customers trying to get my deposit back and trying to cancel the account with GEMB is another disaster. STAY AWAY FROM EMPIRE!!!