Empire Carpet? Anyone used them?

[carter_amy]

We need new carpet in our whole house. I would love to find 12 months financing so that I can spread out the money. Has anyone ever used Empire? How was the experience?

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

We used Empire Carpet about 4 years ago and to be completely honest, the experience was fantastic. The carpet quality sucks.

I am so lucky that we only had to carpet 1 bedroom with that crap. I had a little painting mishap and replacement was the only option. I didn't pick the cheapest carpet, in fact I chose the more expensive pile and when they put it in it was lovely, but once it was walked on for a few days, it got nasty and hardish. Sure, it looks great when I run the vacuumed over it, but when it gets squished down again... BLECH!

That's just my experience, though.

 

[sdarwkcabemanmy]

We only had one room and a hall done as that was all we could afford at the time.
When the salesman came out, he was very pushy (IMO) and after we'd discussed prices, financing, etc we said we would have to think about it. That's when he became even pushier and gave us an even LOWER price just so he could get the sale.
They came out the next day, moved all our furniture (except the electronics..they won't move those) and had it done in about 2-3 hours.

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

Run fast....

We had a quote last year even though I read many online warnings beforehand. I desperately wanted hardwoods floors so I was getting many quotes from different companies.

To make a long story short, please remember these key things:

1. One he gave us a quote that seemed too high, he got on the phone with his "supervisor" to see if he could get us a better deal. 5 minutes later, the quote was reduced by THOUSANDS of dollars. (I knew this was going to happen since I read about it online....)
2. I asked if the installers spoke English and he said NO (From what I read, English was not even a second language to these installers which made it impossible for communicatin to happen).
3. He wanted us to sign on the dotted line THAT evening. He said he could only guarantee that price for 24 hours. Surrrrrrre

All the "tricks" that I read online happened to us.

We went with a local company and I was happy to keep my $6000 right in my community. They also worked out a payment plan with me which was very nice and unexpected. I bet if you asked a local company if they could work with you, they certainly would! I paid no interest....and worked out equal monthly payments for 8 months.

Please google EMPIRE-you will find many interesting things!!!

 

[mrsv98]

We had a very nice experience with them. We had a budget, I told the salesperson that we would go no higher than $xxx. He immediately put away the stuff out of our price range and never pushed or tried to oversell. We chose a midgrade pile and did pick the waterproof padding since we have dogs.

It was installed the next day, the guys spoke English, did a nice job and were out of my house in two hours. Two and a half years and many cleaning later, the carpet looks great and I can steam clean it all I want.

I think the story here is that Empire can be hit and miss. We were one of the lucky ones.

 

[TaraPA]

I have no personal experience with Empire but my parents used them once in their rental property. My mom's exact words were "Bunch of scheisters....tricky & manipulative...the installation crew was skeevy & scary...carpet quality even worse!"

Just from that I won't go near them! When we built our house 3 years ago I compared prices between Lowe's & 2 local carpet companies...the local ones were priced much better & they were very nice. Lowe's couldn't fit any of the appointments into my schedule, and it would have taken weeks to even get an appointment. The local place that we chose showed up within a few days & did a great job. My only regret is that we didn't upgrade & get premium padding and carpet. We went with middle-of-the-line to stay on budget. With 2 kids in the house, the high-traffic areas already show wear after only 3 years. Live & learn!

By the way I have no idea how to spell "scheister" correctly! I'm sure someone will correct me!

 

[KDIPIAZZ]

By the way I have no idea how to spell "scheister" correctly! I'm sure someone will correct me!

Shyster ;-)

And I agree wholeheartedly about going local! My local carpet company did 4 rooms, 2 hallways and stairs in one day, was $750 cheaper than anyone else and came back 11/2 years later to fix a seam becasue I wasn't happy with how it was wearing.

 

[Binnie]

We used them to carpet the first floor of our house. I didn't like the salesman at all, but the price was OK (cheaper than Lowes) and installed at my convenience. And the guys they had install were so fast.

The carpet's holding up pretty well. I'd use them again.

 

[MassJester]

I used them--very unimpressed with the quality of the carpet. The next day service was nice, but the price not so special. I'd plan ahead and use someone else next time.