Flooring at Empire Today

Empire Today - False advertising/sales gimmick

The first time I called Empire Today before the holidays, they were offering all kinds of promises and a "free turkey" with a free estimate. I needed carpeting, so I made an appointment, took time from my work and waited all day for their arrival. They never showed up. Apparently, they were short of salesman that day. Well, I'm glad that someone was out making money that day, because I surely wasn't making any salary that day.

After the holidays, I saw numerous commercials advertising a "Big Spring sale" and "50% off Flooring" sale, both on TV and on the internet. The people on the commercial were smiling and gleaming and so was the professional looking man who seemed to be advising the people on choices to fit their decor. At that time I needed a kitchen floor, so once again I called Empire Today and asked about the sale and was informed that they could not give me any information about the sale and/or prices, and that I would have to make an appointment to have a salesman come to my house. The woman on the phone insisted that "all decision makers" must be present when the salesman arrives (we all know what that means... another time consuming, high pressure sales gimmick).

Again, my husband and I waited all day for the salesman to arrive. We had worked the night before and were struggling to keep our eyes open to wait for this salesperson. Upon his late arrival, the salesman brought in several expensive wood floor samples and several expensive laminate floor samples that were overpriced. He knew nothing about decorating choices and provided absolutely no help with colors, choice of materials, etc. When I asked about the advertised "50% off sale", he said that he knew nothing about the sale and that 'maybe' it was for carpets only. I persisted that the sale was on flooring also, and at that point he mentioned that he 'might' have less expensive laminate samples in his car (but seemed reluctant to bring them in). I repeatedly insisted on seeing the less expensive samples and he reluctantly went out to his car and brought in inferior quality samples, giving me a slightly lower price. Being in a hurry to get the floor put in right away, I purchased a floor and had it installed. The installation went okay, although four non-English speaking immigrants in an unmarked van arrived late in the day. Fortunately, my husband was there to supervise them since it was on a Saturday. Oh, and by the way, they knew enough English to tell us to pay in full with our charge plate before they could start the work.

Sure enough, the next morning the fairy tale Empire Today commercial with the smiling people were on TV advertising their Spring sale/ 50% off flooring sale. I called Empire the next day and asked if I had been given the sale price and was told that the only floor that was 50% off was called "American Dream" and that I had purchased the "American Way" flooring. It sounded like she had practiced this explanation before. I told her that the salesman never even told me which product was on sale and in fact, according to the salesman, there was no sale going on at all. He gave me a choice of either the very expensive floor or the inferior floor for a lesser price. (he never mentioned the words "American Dream" or "American Way". What kind of "sale" is that? The woman on the phone also stated that the 50% off was only on the product and not on the installation (big deal, I hadn't gotten 50% off on either). She said that the prices are already reduced and preset. I told her that I was not given any of that information by the salesman and I had no way of knowing which product was on sale and what the original price was. She basically told me that I should take their word for it that it had already been reduced. (In actuality, I had paid full price for the inferior floor). She was quite arrogant and it sounded like she had rehearsed the "Is there anything else we can help you with today, Ma'am?". (i.e., "we got your money, we're finished with this discussion, too bad, you are out of luck, no sale for you!")

As far as I am concerned, the telephone representative's explanation confirms what I suspected... Empire Today uses sales gimmicks to get in your door and then they take advantage and overcharge the consumer. They made no attempt to rectify their false advertisement. Even if they had offered me a discount on my next purchase, I would have accepted that offer since I planned on having carpeting and windows done. Instead, they had a bad attitude and took the money and ran. I would not waste my time again with this company. They hire subcontractors in your area anyway, why does anyone even need them as a middleman when you can go directly to your local store and get a better price? Next time, I'll visit a local store on my own time. Between the time I took off from work and the extra money I paid for the product, this whole ordeal cost me more than just the pseudo sale price that they advertised.

C.L. in New York