Kelly McGowan

Review of Empire Today, LLC

If I could give less than 1 star, I would. My expe...

If I could give less than 1 star, I would. My experience with empire was awful. The only positive thing that happened was that the installer that came out to do the job actually knew what he was talking about. My experience started with the salesman arriving to my home asking if my husband was home to help me make decisions regarding the flooring, reason being he didn t want to have to make 2 trips out to the house with the COVID pandemic at hand. I explained to him that I am the one who will be making these decisions and that I will ensure to fill him in on all things discussed. The sales rep was still hesitant and insistent that he be present. Little did he know that my husband is a first responder and has had instances of contact with COVID + patients, so by not having him present I was actually doing him a favor. This came off as sexist and was definitely not a positive start to our meeting. Moving on to the actual appointment, I had brought up a few areas of concern near the staircase, where we are attempting to lay wood flooring to match existing wood on the stairs. The issues that I was concerned about, the rep said will be no issue and will be addressed as needed and is very straightforward. I was also having difficulty with the limited color section for a good shade match. I explained this to the rep, even told him that I have slight OCD about things like this, and he ensured me that the color selection we made will match very well and the difference will be minimal. I decided to go forward with the project and scheduled my installation. When the installation day came, it was pointed out immediately upon arrival that the shade match is way off. He brought in a few boards to lay near the stairs to see a true side-by-side comparison and it was not even close. He also mentioned that leveling off the floor near the stair is a big project, involving replacement of the first step and cutting into the existing boards and patching the area as best as possible. He also noticed that the measurements taken by the sales rep were short, which would not have be a huge issue because he sent extra materials but still annoying that empire is sending out sales reps to measure projects and they are doing so incorrectly. Also, the 1/4 Inch round trim that was sent was also going to match the floor color, when we have existing all white trim. This was never discussed with me, just a decision made by the rep. I would have never chosen this. I decided not to move forward with Empire as soon as I was finished discussing this with the installer. This is extremely upsetting seeing that I was very hopeful that the project would be done in a timely manner and done well seeing that I reached out to an established flooring company. All in all, pay the extra money and have things done right. Support the local guy who takes pride in his work and will ensure a good end result. I will never consider Empire again.