Empire today/laminate flooring

I'm located in Hoboken, NJ and have had a horrible experience with

Empire. =20

We are remodeling our kitchen. We removed the kitchen cabinets and

appliances. The flooring in our kitchen is hardwood, but there was a 6 X

9 foot area that was ceramic tile. We wanted to remove the ceramic tile

and replace it with matching hardwood flooring. We called Empire Today

and they sent a sales representative (Tilal) to meet with us. He brought

samples of hardwood and laminate flooring. He said he would not be able

to fill in the area with hardwood because the planks are 3/4 inch thick

and it would make the flooring uneven. He said that he had a laminate

that would match and he could use that instead. He said that it was

better for a kitchen area anyway and that laminate and hardwood floors

are essentially the same in appearance. He showed us the sample (a 2

inch by 2 inch square.) I asked him if he was sure that it would match.

I was adamant that it looked seamless. I said that if they couldn't

match it that we would replace the entire kitchen floor instead. He

assured me that it would be a perfect match and that they do this all

the time. I figured he was the flooring expert and he understood what I

wanted, so we said we would like it to be installed 8/11. He said that

was fine. We signed, paid 100$ deposit, and waited for them to install.

On 8/11, 2 workers came to install the floor. They didn't speak very

good English. They began by putting down some sort of cement or grout. I

went across the street to grab some lunch. By the time I got back, they

were 3/4 of the way done. It's a small area so it didn't take them very

long. I tried to explain to them that this is not what I had expected.

The color didn't match at all and it seemed like it was raised higher

than the surrounding hardwood floor. They had started installing some

sort of molding around the area. I asked if that would be flat or if it

would be raised. They said it would be flat. Again, I don't know if they

didn't understand me but it was definitely raised. Not only was it

raised, it was a different color than both the laminate AND the existing

hardwood floor. Essentially, the 6 X 9 foot area looked as though it was

a raft floating in the midst of our kitchen floor. It was not at all

what I asked for, or what I thought I was paying for. The workers were

very agitated that we were unhappy so they checked the work order and

insisted that they did what they were told to do. I signed their work

order but left a note in the comment area that I was not satisfied, that

the color didn't match, and the sales person did not deliver on his

promise. The installation was a Saturday so I waited till Monday to call

Customer service. They got a hold of Tilal who came over to inspect the

work the following evening. He said that he did what he said he would

do. I disagreed. He said that we should finish installing the cabinets

and he would come back and make the situation right and he promised he

would work with us until we were satisfied. We did as he

asked...installed the cabinets. He came back. All of a sudden, he is

saying that he did exactly what he said he was going to do and there was

nothing he could do to fix the situation because there was no way to

make the floor level. My husband said he was disappointed and that was

unacceptable. Tilal basically said, if you don't like it, call customer

service. We did so on August 20th. They had me explain everything again,

and then I spoke with another "customer service manager", Michelle. She

said that it was my fault for not watching them install the floor and

stopping them as soon as we noticed the problem. She said also that it

was our decision to go with that floor and that Tilal only stated his

preference. She said that the floor (which is CLEARLY 3 different colors

now) may look just fine to him even if I don't like it. She also asked

me if I would let someone else pick out my wedding dress. This is a

preposterous analogy and is completely inappropriate. I told her it was

more similar to a situation in which I hired a tailor to make me a

dress, described what I wanted and told them to fit it to my figure and

instead they gave me a dress that's 3 sizes too small and is the wrong

fabric. She said she'd have someone else call me back later that day. No

one did. I called customer service again later that day (around 5pm.)

This customer service representative was very helpful. She told me to

leave a message for the president of the region. I left him a voicemail.

on 8/21, Mark Jeffers (the manager of customer service) called and left

my husband a voicemail. Here is a transcript of the voicemail he left:

"Good morning, this is Mark Jeffers from Empire today. I'm calling the

Arti Acharya household in Hoboken, NJ. In regards to your flooring that

was installed that you say doesn't match your hardwood flooring and that

the rep promised or ensured it would match your existing floor. I'm

sorry, you chose the floor. The rep doesn't have any bearing on that

choice. He offers samples to pick the closest color. I can't do anything

for you on this order. If you want to call me back to address it, that's

fine but the signed COC is in your folder. Please call me back if you

want to discuss but I'll be out of the office till Monday." The signed

COC order that he's saying he has in my folder has a note that this

flooring is NOT what I expected or asked for. They are saying that they

can't do what we asked. however, if they had said that to begin with, we

would never have signed a contract and moved forward with this company.

I feel lied to and duped. They are saying they cannot refund any of the

money and if we want, they can put back ceramic tile but we will have to

pay for the difference in price. This means that in addition to losing

846 dollars, I will have to pay in order to go back to the floor we

started out with. I find that this is an unacceptable offer and am

sincerely shocked that such a large company that has been around for so

long can treat its customers this way. I am extremely dissatisfied and

would like to receive my money back. They can tear up their floor and

take it back. I don't want it and it's not what we wanted in the first

place. In the meantime, we have not had a kitchen for 2 weeks and we

can't continue construction of our kitchen until the flooring issue is

resolved. I've called customer service again and they are in the midst

of figuring out what they can do. I'm <javascript:void();> not at all

hopeful that this will be resolved.

=20