I had the unexpected pleasure to install carpet from both Home Depot and Empire Carpet in the same week. Here is a summary of the experience.
Home Depot
Home Depot’s carpet installed first. The measurements were done electronically, sent to a measuring company and a computer laid out the carpet to leave the fewest remnants. Home Depot often runs “$99 installation” specials, so the installation cost was fairly small. The carpet cost ~$4.22/sqft, and I upgraded the pad to the 8lb pad for a few cents per sqft. Overall cost was about $4.80/sqft with the upgraded pad and installed. The carpet we installed was a plush carpet. It was slightly more expensive than average, but we wanted it to be soft. The result is gorgeous – a very soft, thick carpet that looks great. It’s an off-white color, and looks beautiful.
We had to wait 3 weeks for the carpet to arrive, as Home Depot ships it from Georgia. The installers were great, and did a very nice job.
Empire Carpet
Empire’s sales model is to come to your house and use a full-service salesman. They are very nice, pleasant, and don’t pressure you much. The salesman measures manually on a piece of scratch paper, and somehow those measurements get back to the installers. Despite the lack of technology, they got the right amount of carpet.
After measuring, they do try to gouge you on the price, so you have to be careful and it is a requirement to negotiate. Taking the list price would be silly. In our case, we were trying to pick the closest match carpet to the Home Depot carpet listed above. We found the one which was closest in terms of texture, softness, and color. We knew it was a slightly different color, but it was hard to tell from the small samples how close the texture would be once installed. Initially, he offered a price of $3870 for the carpet. I suggested $2000, and we settled at $2600. This worked out to a price of $4.44/sqft. I don’t know if I negotiated well or not – I wasn’t trying very hard. He said all the usual salesman things, but you just have to be persistent. I’m pretty sure that I could have had the carpet for $2000.
Empire can install the next day because they use local warehouses. In our case, they installed 2 days later. The installation was very good, although I didn’t think that their edge cutting was as good as the Home Depot installer (there was about 1/8″ gap which I didn’t think should be there on one wall).
In terms of quality, Empire’s carpet is not as good as the Home Depot carpet we picked out. It is noticeably thinner, doesn’t feel as good or as soft, and doesn’t look quite as nice. Don’t get me wrong, it looks good, just not quite as good when side-by-side to the Home Depot Carpet.
Conclusion
Home Depot is easier, cheaper, and has slightly better quality carpet. But with Home Depot they take longer to get the carpet installed. In our case, Home Depot also made a big mistake with the carpet which is why we had to have Empire finish the job. If I had more time and could do it again, I would probably go with Home Depot.
Cool that you had a good experience. It really depends on the luck of the draw of contracted installers.
Someone I knew nearly kicked out the installers as they ended up banging up the corners of the walls. They also didn’t a very good job of securing the carpet.
Why didn’t you ask a local company to join in the competition? Carpet King, for example?
They carry the highest quality of all your “contestants”. Carpet that is branded as the real styles from the mills themselves.
Installers that install only for the company they represent.
A Company that will do more than all your “contestants” individually and collectively.
A company that stands behind everything they install for the life of the products it provides.
73 years in business in the Twin Cities, and expanding every year!
You might try a local company. You might find that they are at very least competitive!
I am so happy I found this blog!!! I have HAD IT with Home Depot…it’s been since Memorial Day and I still do NOT have my carpet installed….duh..they are so lame with the measure/re-measure appointments….but after reading this I am going to hammer them over the head and get them to get the job done! Thanks!!
We “just” got HD carpet installed, and the communication between HD and their contracted installers was AWFUL! I just requested an estimate from Empire (5 min. ago), and now I’m nervous about that. HD was NOT easy for me, and I have NO intention of going through that again. I think their way is very flawed, at least here. So, is there any better solution than these?!?
If you have trouble with Home Depot try special services or contact the store manager. I use Home Depot carpet and installers for all my properties (a lot). I am really pleased with the product and the level of service I receive. I had 7 houses that needed to be measured for carpet and could not be at every one for each measure so they really worked with me to get it done. If you have problems with products or services at Home Depot just keep going up the management ladder for resolution.
You have to be crazy to use Empire or Home Depot for your carpet installation.
They charge retail prices and there installers are all Minority work rooms which pay very low wages so you will most likely not get a professional job. Deal Direct with a small Company so at least you know the Sub Contractors they use do quality work.
I have been installing carpet for over 10 years so take my word for it, use a smaller Company or Deal Direct. DO NOT BUY FLOORING AT EMPIRE OR HOME DEPOT.
P.S ALL THAT CARPET YOU SEE ON THE RACK IN HOME DEPOT IS SECONDS QUALITY.
So what companies do you suggest
Tony – getting more quotes is definitely a good idea. But I don’t believe you.
My suspicion is that there are only 4-5 major carpet manufacturers in the US. Retailers are *all* selling the same carpet under different brands, prices, and gimmicks. This includes Home Depot, Empire, and obviously the little guy.
The little guy clearly doesn’t have a manufacturing facility, clearly can’t compete w/ Empire on volume, and hence *will pay* a higher price for his carpet. You might be right that he is cheaper, I don’t know. But it seems unlikely given that a little guy pays more for the carpet to begin with.
I recently had carpet installed by Empire. The salesman came on time for the appointment to measure the floors and gave good service. The installation crew came on time also. I received good grade carpet/padding and I was pleased with service and installation that I received. The installation crew did break a lamp and told me about it…! It wasn’t a major problem. Overall I’m happy with the carpet and the service!
AND JUST FOR TONY’S INFORMATION……THEY WERE ALL MINORITY WORKERS!!!!!!
Listen I have been installing carpet for 10 years , So unless you are a professional yourself. You have no idea what you are talking about!!!!!!!
Empire Carpet and both Home Depot are a disgrace to the flooring industry.
Empire will try to rip you off and Home Depot sells carpet for the same price as a normal carpet retailer. You are helping yourself and the Integrity of the flooring industry not to use either.
Regards,
Perrotti Flooring
Quality , Value & Customer Satisfaction
You sound like a racist who hates the fact that the big boys are cutting into you business. Stop bitching!!!!!
Hi, Tony,
Well, with your contribution to this discussion so far, you have yet to say anything specific other than name calling. So, it sounds like sour grapes to me.
Good luck!
I had beautiful hardwood oak flooring put in and Empire did a great job… and let me pay it off no interest over the year. That is a great help when the budget doesn’t allow all at once upgrades. It has been my experience the little guys too hire others to do the actual work, and charge MORE not less and want it all upfront… to pay those other workers of course. For quality , timing, and financing… I choose Empire Today. It allows me to do one room a year, pay it off no interest, then do the next room!
🙂
R
Toni,
There is no way that a small local carpet company can even compete with the price of either Empire or Home Depot. They haven’t been doing carpet like empire for 50 years and that is completely a liberal local view, support the locals! 9 out of 10 business’s fail in the first year, then over 90% of the ones that made it will be out of business within 5 years. California is even harder on the small business owner than that. Good luck trying to get customer service of any kind from the small guy, if he’s still around.
Go to home depot and see if they don’t have minority workers standing in groups waiting to get picked up to install. Keep searching on the net or just go into Home Depot or Lowes and see how they operate, poorly all around. Nothing but disasters when I have ever dealt with them on anything, carpet, windows, blinds, tile …….. and I own a carpet cleaning company and had heard nothing but complaints from HD/Lowes customers. Climbing the management ladder to get anything done, plan on it. Is it really worth saving a hundred dollars, not for me! I can’t stand even going into those places.
I have had two floors installed by Empire and they did a great job. One laminate job in TX and one hand scraped glue down floor in Huntington Beach and they were great. They buy in such volume and that’s the advantage of getting better prices for their carpet, laminate,etc.
Called the day before and had them installed the next day. Had two transitions pieces come loose and they sent someone to fix them the next day, twice.
Empire for me and my customers until they prove me wrong!
Agree completely!
Ok keep using empire or home depot. I am just telling the truth. How do you think Empire pays for all there advertising, salesman, overhead etc. They will truly try to rip you off. If you are getting a quote from Empire make sure you get a square yard installed price and then get another one with a comparable flooring product . As for Home Depot they are at least honest with there pricing, but you are rolling the dice with the installation. Good Luck to All.
I work with Empire Carpet in Indianapolis. I have been with them for 6 months now and I am very happy with what I do and the service I provide. I have read all the comments here and I am amused. The guy that owns the carpet outlet wants to tell you what we are.
Well, I can tell you that I used to be in the mortgage business and the customer service, pricing and quality we provide is wonderful!
I go into homes on a regular basis and Empire has installed carpet for their relatives and friends and they are all very happy. I have only recieved one complaint from a customer and we were out there next day, got him taken care of. Indianapolis is the number one office in the country when it comes to customer service and I can back that up!!
If you know someone in the area that needs excellent service and great pricing on next day service please have them give me a call 317-514-3499..Larry Shaw Empire Carpet
I chose to go with Home Depot and I am very happy with the service I am receiving. I saved around $900 going with them over the “little guy” in town. You can’t beat the install price.
PS. Tony, I looked at your website. Anyone can cut and copy pictures and then advertise them as their own. You sound like an a** anyway. Who would want to invite you into their home?
At Home Depot you are required to put 90% down before installation. Once you are happy with the install you sign the papers and pay the rest. Have you signed off saying they did a good job? I can see them giving you a hard time if you signed off on it. If you did not sign the papers go back to HD and start talking and keep talking until the job is done right. These installers are contracted through HD and HD doesn’t want to get a bad name because of someone elses bad work. Sounds like any problem on this board isn’t with HD but with the installers.
Almost everyone here has it wrong. I worked ..that’s work-ed for Empire and though it was my job to sell a job for the max I could get, most jobs are in the same ball park as HD, but Empire offers much more. Only 50 bucks down! next day install, great customer service, great warranty and no questions asked three -to- ten day cancel right. You can cancel your order and get a full refund before it’s installed and there is no hassle getting your money back.
I’ll correct some of the misstatements I’ve read.
Empire DO NOT have local warehouses full or product. Carpet, etc is trucked in every morning as per costumer orders.
The installers make GOOD money, the ARE NOT Empire employees but rather contractors who make more on average than sales reps.
The carpet Empire carries IS the SAME EXACT carpet you’ll find at HD, just under a different line. There is no such thing as Empire carpet. Empire carries the most well known carpet and flooring products from manufactures such as Shaw, Mohawk etc.
Empire carpet IS NOT cheap or inferior. Again, it’s the same exact stuff everyone else sells. The cheapest line is 28 ounces, which is there for budget minded customers who refuse or can’t buy the better stuff. Everything else is better, all the way up to the best carpet (Stunning plush) at 57 ounces which a savvy customer can get installed for 40 bucks or less a yard. Expensive, yes, but you won’t get it much or any cheaper anywhere.
Empire DOES use a Sizer, like HD. When the sales rep turns in his paper work, the room dimensions go to the sizing dept in order to size and layout the carpet for minimal waste and location of seems. On top of that, Empire WILL refund any extra money should the amount of carpet ordered be excessive. One must remember the sales reps ARE NOT installers and NEED to make sure they order enough carpet for the job so when the installers get there they have what they need and there are no hold ups which only pisses both the installers and customers off.
You can’t try to match by color/style two different carpets from two different manufactures and compare them and say “Empires carpet is cheaper than HD’s”, that’s ridiculous. They both carry the same exact carpet. If the Empire carpet is cheaper, so be it, you didn’t pick the better line. But know that HD has cheaper carpet that Empire as well. It’s not Empires fault if you pick a cheaper line! or perhaps picked a Nylon over polyester etc etc etc.
Carpet is not sold by the square foot but rather the yard.
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You say HD was easier, cheaper and slightly better quality carpet. Cheaper and quality go hand in hand. You get what you pay for. You can negotiate with a sales rep in your house to get the best price. You pick the quality. HD and Empire both have carpets ranging from good to better to best. The easier is what really gets me. How is HD easier. Empire came to your house and did all paperwork, measuring, pricing, etc…while you sat on your couch. 2 days later they installed it correctly. For HD they came to your house to measure, you went to the store to get your quote and then paid in full. It took 3 weeks to get your carpet and then they screwed up the install, causing you to call a different company to finish the job. Your conclusion is ridiculous!
Yes and they never said what exactly mistake HD made on the carpet that made it necessary to go elsewhere?!
Empire seems better in all categories by their own account!
To add, you get what you pay for. Empire cost slightly more, but then again you did not have to wait 3 weeks for a bad installation.
To Tony, the small guys are all going out of business because they can no longer compete. Empire employs the best installers around. Why you ask? Empire, because they are a giant keeps their installers busy and pays them well. Small mom and pop shops take the scrap installers that are left over. If you are good then you are working for one of the bigger companies. Also, from a consumer’s point of view, you want the piece of mind that one of the bigger establishments can offer. No worse feeling than calling to complain about your carpet a year later and finding that mom and pop are out of business.
To Mike:
You must work at Empire 🙂 No, my conclusion stands. As a customer who is not an expert in carpet, the Empire experience is harder. While it is nice that the salesman comes to your house, it is very difficult from his tiny 4inch by 4inch samples to tell which carpet is best. At the end of the day, the carpet I picked was lower quality and cost more with Empire.
Further, the Empire model is to try to get you to pay “whatever you can pay”. The price I paid ended up being about 50% of his initial price quote. Had I not been smart enough to haggle, I would have paid a lot more. Did I haggle enough? Probably not! Why should I have to play those games?
The haggling also makes it nearly impossible for the customer to be smart about “you get what you pay for”. Sure, both HD & Empire have the same carpet, but until you start haggling, how can you know that the $5/sqft carpet at HD is actually the same quality as the $12/sqft carpet that the Empire guy is pushing?
Yes, Home Depot made a mistake in my case, but the superior, straight forward sales approach is worth a lot to me. And it was their straightforward approach which led me to being able to pick a higher quality carpet for the same price.
Dear Readers, Let me help you with some basic facts about Empire carpet, home depot carpet, Lowes, Carpet Exchange. carpet mill outlet or any other well advertised store. No matter what state you live in, they all use the same pool of installers. 50% of you will get a good experience with your installation and service and the other 50% will have problems.
There is no formal training for Carpet installers in any State, especially with customer interactions and service.
I have been an installer for 26 years and have seen it all. I have owned a successful small flooring business for 13 years now and am amazed at what these places charge for their flooring. If you believe you are getting a better price and service because they are bigger you are so wrong.
I guarantee you that if home depot charges 99.00 for installation it is a gimmick and it is written in the price somewhere.
All flooring companies big or small get their flooring from the same manufactures . The big stores Private label their products so you can’t price compare.
The best thing to do is to find a smaller floor company in your area get an estimate from them and then take the sample to a bigger store and compare there price to the same carpet.
To check out small companies ask for references from the last few jobs they have just completed. Try checking references from home depot -it will never happen. They have a good amount of volume in sales so they will hire just about anyone to install, where as a small shop will keep only the best installers because most know the good from the bad.
Small companies will work harder for your business than the bigger stores. You should be wary getting your carpet directly from installers . 80% of installers may know how to install but they will not know the difference between nylon and polyester.
Bottom line is if you want to save money and get a good job that will last . You have to do your homework and learn before you buy
good luck Al in Denver
Empire today will meet a real estimated price by a local competitor… soooo take that estimate to empire meeting to push the price down…! And use the no interest financing to make payments over the year…! That is my plan…
I love that Mike says: you get what you pay for….and then argues mindlessly that the small guy CAN’T buy better bc he doesn’t have the volume. I say mindlesly bc you only have to do a nominal amount of research into the industry to know better.
#1) The “little guy” is often part of a large co-op, which pools the purchases of 1000s of other “little guys” —Carpet One and Flooring America are a few that spring to mind. Home Depot only has a flooring section, these stores buy more.
#2) Like Denver said, you are FOOLING yourself if you ‘buy’ that old hacksaw that “they are bigger so they must be cheaper” B.S.—big companies KNOW you think this, and they use this to their advantage—there is so much comparative evidence of this documented by unbiased 3rd parties.
The big stores (not just flooring) price a few very popular items low, knowing you will take that PLUS your assumption that they’re cheaper bc bigger and assume EVERYTHING is cheaper. I’m in advertising/marketing and have had a number of retail, including flooring, clients. I know THE GAME. I am always shocked that this is not, apparently, common knowledge.
#3) The “little guy” (insulting phrase I think) is almost certainly a) more experienced b) more expert c) more eager to please and d) has seen a lot of ‘special flooring circumstances” and knows how to deal with them—and values your business enough to go to the extra mile. In general, their install is better, their customer service is better, the quality of their staff is better and they have better warranties that they honor more than the big guys do—these all add up to VALUE and, to me, are worth the few pennies more I may pay in price IF the price is even higher!
Of course, not ALL Independents have these qualities! That’s why shopping for flooring is such a hassle! Asking someone who has had a god experience for a reference is usually the best, but be warned: if they say: Home Depot, you need to have: the same store, the same salesperson, the same installer, the same product, etc. to increase chances you’ll have the same positive experience. These are not VARIABLES at smaller stores, but GIVENS. Personally, I’d go with a Carpet One store or a Flooring America store (they are competitors) if I couldn’t get a reference from a trusted friend….mtc
Exactly what makes purchasing flooring such an anxiety-producing and often disappointing process is that customers don’t know how important things like informed staff, excellent service, skilled installers, owner with ethics, etc ARE until they’ve gone through the process and gotten burned. Until then, they think the only thing that matters is price.
The flooring industry is a real dinosaur as a business model, and it’s the customer that suffers for it, Unfortunately, you have got to do a LOT of homework to assure you’re well-armed and can get what you really want.
As for Home Depot: As a corporation, they have been trying to do to the independent flooring retailer what they did to the hardware stores—and keep failing. Their business model simply is not designed to provide customers with the sort of information, knowledge, and service they NEED when purchasing flooring. Gotta give them credit, tho: they don’t give up! Maybe some day they’ll figure it all out and revolutionize the industry. Until then: buyer beware!
As for Empire: just google Empire Carpet and see what top hits you get: http://www.complaintsboard.com, rippoffreport.com, pissedcustomer,com and so on. ANYONE who buys from Empire gets exactly what they deserve. ANYONE who thinks “they spend a lot of money in advertising they must be reputable…”hahahaha! I am a frelance writer and spent quite a bit of years as an advertising writer. Flooring, appliances, home repair, etc. are where the scammer’s go because it’s almost impossible to “return” it, and once you’ve made such a purchase, you won’t be in the market for it for a number of years, so it’s not like they lost your “repeat” business! Empire advertises a lot because they DO NOT and CANNOT rely on word-of-mouth for their business, like independent retailers. The commercials generate a ton of volume, sales is a presure cooker, gauging is the order of the day (so the people who get screwed the most are little old ladies) the quality of the carpet is clearly inferior (just ask the 200 plus people on complaintsboard.com) etc.
Do you homework, challenge the cliches in your head (they are big, they must be cheaper) do your homework, and don’t listen to just one man’s opinion
If you like the quality of the Home Depot but not dealing with them. Call them and ask who there insatller is Name, number,lic number… They will give you the info. And you can just buy from the installer direct. I have done this on several homes I have built.
I have just purchased my first home and after closing, when I was in the house for the first time with no furniture, I decided I needed to replace the carpet. I called Empire, they came the next day, I picked out a carpet and I am scheduled to get it installed next Wednesday (4/16).
I currently have a contractor in my house painting and doing some minor renovations. He works with a number of local contractors as he has been in business for 30 years. He called his local carpet guy to see if I could get a better price from him and I couldn’t, and I also couldn’t get an install by 4/16 (since my carpet was a last minute decision, I am under a time crunch as I move in on 4/17).
I work in online market research, so I know that people are more likely to comment when they are mad, and the people who are happy just move on to the next thing and don’t think about commenting in an online forum. That is why sites like pissedconsumer contain tons of bad reviews about EVERY company.
I enjoyed reading the spirited discussion on this board, and to hear some positive comments from people who have actually had Empire install carpet. I have my fingers crossed that all will go well next Wednesday…I will let you know after how it goes.
Spirited discussion…I purchased from Empire about 2 years ago…great install great carpet…I LOVE my carpet. I just called them again yesterday, finished my quote getting which landed me on this site to determine what I should be paying for carpeting. No one seems to be able to answer that question…They are quick easy and if I pay alittle more for the convenience than so be it…they get over on me…2 years ago I got a quote from HD of course the carpet I couldn’t compare or the padding…bottom line HD was more expensive and I didn’t like having to measure see them get a quote they come out and measure, etc…it just all seemed silly. Bottom line..I really don’t have answers to the price question, but I really like the job and the carpet so I’m going back. If someone can give me a quote on a 12’5″x15 room and steps..no padding except on the steps Mohawk berber that would be great.
I had a consultation with Empire last night after reading this entire blog and several other consumer websites that talked about bad experience with the company. More importantly, i read consumer guides to carpet purchasing, including the key factors to consider when buying carpet.
I found the Empire sales person to be a bit of a used car salesman. Based on my research I knew i wanted Nylon carpet, adn i wanted to understand the carpet’s construction (importants metrics are the ‘threads per inch’ and the twist ratio of the fiber as well as the stain resistance application). I found carpets i liked in H.Depot, of 5.00 twist and approx 60oz weight and i wrote down the prices and figured i’d compare that to the quality of carpet Empire brought to get a comparable based on similar carpet construction. I looked at the 4 carpet samples (3 of which were Polyester) the man brought, flipped them over to the back and that data was not shown. I asked him about that and his response was….. “Empire doesnt tell us that. In fact, i couldnt find that out if i wanted to… other people have asked before and I’ve never been able to find out”.
He kept trying to have me feel the carpet and was saying that in 10 years you will not remember the fiber construction anyways. Ummm… Excuse me but I was a ‘textile design’ major in college for 1 year studying fibers, and Carpet is ALL about the fiber. I mean, seriously what ELSE is it but fiber? The twist ratio and the way that is formed helps to define how well the carpet fibers will stand-up over time….. the “oz” of the fiber helps to define how dense it is…and theres 1 more factor i forget.
Needless to say I was not impressed. I seriously felt like i was watching an infomercial, and everytime i asked an informed question he would distract me to try hide that he never answered my question. While I believe Empire might be an OK company for some to use, but I would not feel comfortable using them based on the fact that they refuse to disclose important metrics that are essential to understanding the carpet construction and comparing products. I would also say that based on my brief testing of the carpets at H.Depot versus what Empire brought to my house… Empire’s carpets are not nearly as good.
I plan to go to H.Depot and ask them to give me their installers name so i can do BBBureau research, and also checking with another local flooring store for another opinion & further research. I’m a bit sad that this process has to be so drawn out & if i had been happy with the selection & information Empire had, I could have settled this process last night.
The Empire guy did a rough estimate (I told him my room dimensions, I never got to teh point where i wanted a detailed estimate) and he told me that i’d spend $4-5 per sq foot no matter where I bought carpet, or about $2500 for my sq footage. If i’m going to spend around $2500 on such a purhcase, and if the price will be about the same wherever i go, I plan to make sure I get the best value and quality of carpet for my money and I suggest you all do the same.
Mike, thanks for this blog posting, its entertaining and also informative !
Any comments about Lowes?
Sorry to hear about your experience. I get so upset when I hear what home depot lowe’s and Empire today, and others do, and the prices they charge. But they need to pay a middle man and still need to pay their installers the standard per square yard fee, (which is around 3.95 square yard here, so dont let the 99 dollar thing fool you. Its just an added charge to the very high price of their carpet. I never charge more than 30 dollars a square yard for the best carpet, padding and includes the installation fee, thats (3.33 a square foot, but most are much lower charged for us, because we don’t pay a middle man, and we do our own installs) I looked at what you paid and I can’t beleive they can charge that much! Try to find a wholesaler like becklers carpet and find a local carpet iinstaller, you will save a lot of money that way!
I have been in the flooring business for 18 years. I have and still installed for Empire, Costco, S&G, and many more small and big companies. As Far as Empire they pay the lowest to installers and you have to call at 4:30 am to know if you are working. As far as I know I’m the only licensed Contractor there. All the other companies that I work for require a license, insurance, and workmen’s comp, but for Empire all you need is a driver’s license. Empire does cheat the legal system by hiring mostly illegal labor and that’s against the law. .
Home Depot I have never worked for. I have tried but had no luck. What I heard was that one guy or one company does all the installs for home-depot and I have heard form installers that he pays very badly and has been reported to the labor board in many states for not paying. This is what I have heard form different people so I can’t say this is true are not but the story the same all around.
Home Depot is very clever in how the price thing to make you feel like you are getting a good deal. Here is there deal if you by carpet and pad for them you pay $199.00 for the install. Lets say you where look for a Shaw Carpet Tactesse Nylon at home depot. The cost would be $45.00 a square yard and $4.00 SY for 6lb padding. Lets say you need 100 SY Your total price from home depot would be $4900.00 +199 = 5099.00 plus tax. This is what you don’t know for the same carpet I get it for $27.00 a square yard and the 6lb padding I get it for $1.45 a SY my labor is $6.00 a SY and most likely I would mark up the product $10.00 a SY to make money on the sell. My price $44.45 a SY and no tax total price $4445.00 compare to home depot price $5099.00 plus tax and I make $1600.00 and if I had to I could lower that price too. So the small guys can offer a better price then the big guys. We have less over head and a bit more flexible. I know that $199.00 for install sure makes us feel really good though. On the average Home depot is charging you $12.00 a square yard for install plus the $199.00. they just put the install price in the product. Also Home Depot does not have a big selection and the qualities are seconds. They have what you need but nothing you really want and that goes with everything there.
I love what home depot is doing though because it allows me to charge a higher price too but just come below there price to save you money. I love it because I’m making a killing off there scam.
As an update to my discussion above, I auditioned Empire, H.Depot, and a local flooring store (Avalon Carpet, Tile in NJ) and I ended up going with Lowe’s for my carpet. It was just installed last friday and I’m very happy with my decision on carpet quality, the price i paid as well as the installation.
The carpet I chose was a Mohawk brand (I think “Nantucket” is the specific type) around $3 per sq ft including installation. When you compare that to almost $5 per sq ft which was offered by my local private flooring store ($2.50 for carpet + $1.25 installation + $0.50 ‘removal’ of old carpet + $0.75 carpet pad or something) , I think i did pretty well. Based on the fiber-content (nylon) high twist ratio and high density as well as built-in stain protection, upgraded carpet pad etc i think i did very well.
The Lowes installers were professional, did a great job as far as I can tell (considering i’ve never had carpet installed before but it looks great)…. were in & out of my house in under 5 hours which is pretty good for installing all upstairs plus a staircase and of course they moved & replaced my furniture for me.
Related to the post above, I dont care if Lowes or Hdepot bakes the cost of installation into their carpet price. I knew it wasn’t just $99 to install. There’s NO WAY installers would spend 5 hours at my house to make $99 total. There are some installation costs in the per square foot fee as well of course. But I think that Lowe’s isnt’ using their carpet & flooring department as their sole source of covering the overhead, salary of employees, store costs etc so they don’t have to swing such a high profit margin on their carpet. I do think Lowe’s is cheaper for their all-in price on carpet compared to local private sellers.
A friend of mine also used Lowe’s and was quite happy. The only reason I chose them over H.Depot is i liked their carpet quality better, and I had a 10% off coupon for my purchase.
Oh, and one more thing…..
Empire cost estimate : $2500 (bad quality polyester carpet)
Local store estimate: $3400 (overcharge on labor inmy opinion)
Lowes final cost: $2150 (after 10% off coupon, would have been $2300 or so w/out coupon)
I did not read all the resposes but my opinion……..
Every Home Depot is different and all carpet stores are different. It would be ridiculous to use this comparison unless you wet to the same two stores. Carpet is very hard to determine which one is better unless you are a professional and understand the differences and even then it is a hard thing to do. The Home Depot in my part of the country is horrible and a quality installer is not going to work at this home depot because the pay is very poor so you get poor installation. Just stay out of that big orange box and support your local retailer who generally cares about their business vs an hourly employee whom also sells a 2 x 4. The only way for a home owner to tell if they got a good job is (unless it’s obvious) is how the carpet performs over time. A good install on carpet should never get wrinkles, a proper stretched carpet will perform to the manufactures specs a carpet not installed properly will not perform and the mill will call it an installation problem. Get a few referrals from a friend or co worker.
Yes, I own my own store. I don’t advertise my work is on a referral basis.
Floor covering is the 3rd largest purchase someone makes, I can not imagine letting Home Depot be in charge of it.
The prob with Home Depot and Lowes is not the price or quality of the carpet, it is with the installation. You’re totally rolling the dice. You have no idea who is going to show up at your house and neither does the sales person selling you the carpet. I own a retail flooring store in south florida and can absolutely guarantee that the person installing your carpet is a competent professional. Also, God forbid you do have some issue down the road, good luck getting HD or Lowes to take care of you.
Before anyone uses any Home Depot Home Service they need to understand something very basic – Home Depot uses subcontractors, usually the cheapest ones they can find – and they absolutely, totally do NOT stand behind their work. If you have a problem, they will keep throwing it back to the subcontractor. This is not what they tell you when they sell you the services, of course, but it is the experience of hundreds if not thousands of dissatisfied Home Depot Home Services customers. It was our experience when we put on a roof and it leaked and had it fail independent inspection three times. Home Depot only would send the subcontractor – who subsequently disappeared – and would not pay for the work we needed done to repair it. Using a Home Depot Home Service is a total throw of the dice – if you’re very, very lucky (as the author of this blog was) you’ll get a decent job. If not, you’re on your own.
Now that I know about Empire, HD and Lowe’s, does anyone have an opinion about Smart Carpet? They are coming to my house 7/5/08 and I would like to know if anyone has used their service and if pleased with the price and results
Before I retired 2 years ago I spent many years in the flooring business. Most Mom and Pops are alligned with buying groups giving them the same power as HD or Empire. Most research showed a 10% difference in the cost no matter where you purchased. The big difference came with the service. Smaller companies have local owners who put their name on every job they sell. For the big companies it is about numbers not quality or satisfaction. Someone said that in 3 or 4 years they will be out of business. Most problems happen in the first year and try to go back to HD with a problem after 6 months and they will send you a form letter explaining why your concern is not covered. I always enjoyed buying from a local company and dealing with professionals not employees in plumbing one day and carpet the next. If you get the wrong flooring for your project, It doesn’t matter what you paid for it.
A word about Empire. I read in a trade mag that Empire had the highest profit margin in the flooring industry. So, if you are a great wheeler dealer go for the NEXT DAY pitch, if not, you are one of the many giving them record profit margins. The reason they pitch next day is so you are rushed into a sale with very little time to think it through. Who really needs carpet in one day? Surgery yes ! Carpet, give me a day or two to think about it.
HD may seem cheaper but if the cheaper labor they use is worth the time and effort to have it replaced GO FOR IT. I don’t like to fight with large companies that have no owners and lots of form letters saying “Your concern is not covered”
I may be old but I have seen the industry change and not for the best. Faster and Cheaper doesn’t always mean better. This formula works with computers not flooring.
Sam
I just had both Home Depot and Empire come and give me a quote. Home Depot used the electronic tape measure and was a nightmare, the man was here late, for over two hours, lost all the measurements in the computer, stunk of cigarettes and sat his butt on MY BED! I told him to leave, I found out this man doesn’t work for Home Depot, and what FREAKED me out (ladies) is I have no idea where this man came from. Empire sent a man, yes a sales man, but he did the measuring, correctly by hand in 10 minutes, did the math, gave me a price, we did negotiate and I signed on the dotted line. They do not line item the moving of the furniture, the disposal of the old carpet, they just come and do the job. I get the work done in 8 days (my choice) and I hope it will all be as nice as the sales experience was.
I will say I am happy about Empire Today (first fake wood, later real oak when I could afford it) however… WATCH the installers!!! They did try to install a rather dark out of place with the rest of the oak floor, in an obvious spot in the room… I pointed it out and insisted they remove and replace with lighter matching piece…(the dark was part of the wood but was not replicated anywhere else in the room!) I pointed that out… not elsewhere in the room so stood OUT… and they grumbled… I said hold the job while I make a call to Empire… oh no, don;t call we will take it out… they had to remove a few boards to do it 5 or 6, but they did and I watched like a hawk the rest of the install… SO… no matter WHO installs anything WATCH the whole install process and speak up about anything off…. and call the company if they do not accommodate… the installers are VERY eager to get 5 star rating for their install an zero complaints about their work and behavior on the job…. they will work to make it right… don’t be crazy, just point out if something is wrong and be firm… fix or you will stop the work and call!
I had the unfortunate experience of using Empire. I wish I had considered Home Depot. Empire had all the small carpet samples and it was very hard to choose a good quality carpet from such small samples. I really was not pleased with the quality of the carpet I choose. I paid way too much. But I was selling the house anyway.
My complaints center around the installation. The two installers showed up on time. However, one guy seemed real hung over.These 2 guys that installed the carpet where amatures. I had just finished painting the doors and the walls.When they where done I could not believe the damage they had done to the house. The walls ,the ceiling ,the doors had all been damaged and needed repair. The base board needed sanding and restaining from all the gouges they made in the oak wood.
The carpet was about half an inch from the wall in some corners. The bathroom tile had a crack from the installer when he broke it with his hammer. And it was not laid straight at the transitions between carpet and flooring or tile.
I called Empire and told them I don’t want those guys back in my house. And they need to come fix all the problems they caused. Next day,guess who showed up. The same 2 guys that didn’t speak a lick of English came back to fix what they messed up.Problem was all I could do is point to the problem and they tried to fix it. But they could not do anything about the walls,doors,ceiling,and tile.
In the long run, Empire did not care about anything except to get their money. But,I will never use or recommend Empire for anything.
Mike M
I just want to say that most carpet comes from Dalton, Georgia. Therefore, if you’re in the Southeast, carpet will be cheaper than if you live in, say, California. You’ll have shipping charges. Whether it’s in the price per square yard/foot, you’ll have shipping charges.
If you want to locate a certified installer, go to http://www.cfi-installers.org. They are a nationwide certification organization. But regardless of who you have install, check their references first.
And previous posters are correct. All flooring companies have access to the same styles. If you just simply do your research (internet is the easiest method), you’ll find the best price/quality relationship, and come out a satisfied customer.
I USED EMPIRE TO BUY AND INSTALL OUR CARPET AND FLOORING AND WAS VERY SATISFIED. WE HAD A LEAK IN OUR BATHROOM DUE TO THE INSTALLERS LOOSENING THE TOILET LINES AND WE HAD A BAD LEAK. I CALLED EMPIRE AND THEY CAME OUT AND REPLACED THE FLOORING FOR US FREE OF CHARGE. NO QUESTIONS ASKED! I FEEL THAT WE GOT AN EXCELENT PRODUCT AND SERVICE FOR THE PRICE.
I bought carpet about a month ago at Home Depot and it has been shedding like crazy. They told me it was normal(?) and to just keep running the vacuum cleaner a couple of times a week for a few months and it will stop. It’s a mess and running the vacuum only makes it worse- the more I sweep the more it comes up. This is not normal is it? My vacuum cleaner gets stopped up every time I use it. I have called HD back several times and asked for the manufacturer to come out- Alladin Mills but they won’t come. They say it takes 6 months to stop shedding. I have never heard of such a thing- has anyone had this experience?
Well, since no one seems to be defending Home Depot, here it goes!
I’ve worked for HD for a little more than 4 years now in the flooring dept. I need to clear up some of the criticisms on here.
First, we charge $199 for install ($99 through special promotions occasionally). This includes installing the carpet and pad, removing and disposing of your old carpet and pad, and replacing damaged tack strips as needed. What it does not include is moving furniture, tack stripping a whole room with no previous tack strips, or removing flooring other than carpet. All of the things I listed as not included are available at an extra charge, but most installs I deal with do not need them anyway (besides furniture moving, but customers are usually willing to do that themselves, otherwise it is about $0.20/square foot I believe). There is a $50 deposit that is required for a measure (although there are promotions to waive that now and again) that gets applied to your install price if you decide to have HD install. If you decide not to have HD install AFTER being measured, you lost the deposit.
Second, our carpet prices ARE the best available. We do not increase the price of our carpet to make up for the low install price. To Evan, using a carpet that is $45/sq yd as an example is ridiculous. We don’t carry more than one or two carpets even priced that high. You can get a 75oz solution dyed nylon for about $28-$38/sq yd., or for a lower price/quality a polyester for about $20/sq yd. Of course HD carries a lot of other carpets inbetween, both poor quality for the price and great quality for the price, but I and all my fellow salespeople always let the customer know if the carpet they are looking at is a good deal or not.
Third, the price comparison thing everyone seems to be mentioning is confusing to me. At HD the way it works is that if you find a carpet that is similar in quality (+- 5oz face weight, same fiber type-nylon, polyester,olefin, etc) but cheaper than one we carry at the same quality, we WILL beat the price by 10%. I have had this happen only a few times as, like I said, not many are cheaper than us, and it has not been a big deal at all. I call the manager for approval, and that’s it. We do not pay attention to the name of the carpet brand, because, as we always inform our customer’s of this and has been stated numerous times above, everyone carries pretty much the same carpet under their own brand. To testify to the straightforward approach Mike mentions, I had a customer come in about a week ago. She was debating between HD and Carpet One (considered a “small guy” in our town of 50,000 with a Lowe’s and HD to compete with). I gave her the price on a carpet she chose after going over all facets of carpet quality and type with her, and the price was around $3400 out the door. I asked her what Carpet One quoted her, and she said around $3000. So, wanting to find the best deal for her, I requested that she bring in a written quote and sample of the carpet from Carpet One. When she came in the next day, I found that she was indeed quoted $3000, but this price was after a huge discount given over the stickered price on the carpet she brought in. The original quote, she eventually admitted, was $4400 from Carpet One. However, since they assured her that her out the door price for the carpet she had brought in to me was $3000, I let her know that she was getting the best deal by going with Carpet One, and I let the sale go. Before leaving, she thanked me greatly for my help, and said that I was MUCH more helpful and knowledgeable than the Carpet One salesperson. Then the customer left. This may seem like a dumb thing for a salesperson to let happen, but next time that customer goes shopping for flooring (or blinds, as that is my dept as well), where do you think she will come first?
Fourth, our installers. My district and a number of surrounding districts use a single installer. It is a subcontracted company based out of Fresno, CA that is licensed and bonded with our company. We DO back their work 100%, and I have seen a few instances at my store where we have sent our installers back out to fix seams or transitions, etc. I have only had a few complaints about our installers, and overall I receive positive feedback. I even have customers come in with photos after their install to show me how great their flooring came out.
I will conclude this long defense of HD with a personal thought. I am not a carpet installer, but HD trains their salespeople very well. It depends on the individual salesperson whether or not they will take their job seriously and genuinely care about customers. There are a few people I work with (and I know other HDs also have this problem) that just don’t care about anything, so our customers receive horrible customer service. Many of you will have a bad experience at HD, many will have a good experience at HD. My advice to you is just pay attention to the person selling you the flooring. If you go to HD and the person/store seems lacking and disorganized (and yes I admit there are HDs out there like this) then go somewhere else. Do your own research for carpet based on fiber type, face weight, density, and twist, among other things, and get a specific idea of what you want before you walk into any dealer.
I am not a fanboy of HD, as I am just working there part time to put myself through college. However, I am seeing a lot of inaccurate information and unfair criticism of HD that needs to be defended against. None of my statements are biased-my purpose is not to sell you on Home Depot, but just to inform you of your options. As previously said, HD is not always the best choice, but do not shut it out based on a few people’s bad experiences. Judge each store and each salesperson individually and without bias, and you will be happy with your flooring job.
p.s., HD associates do not work on commission, so you do not have to worry so much about being upsold on your choice. HD makes about the same amount of profit on the cheap carpet as the expensive carpets (sometimes more on the cheap carpets actually!)-believe me, I’ve checked cost vs retail on almost every type of flooring we carry.
I would NEVER use H D again. After 3 months of endless mistakes, misorders, accidents, and a talk with their VP, I told them I wanted everything they did on our house removed. He refunded all install moneys and I let them proceed…but NEVER again. Bozos!
Can anyone tell me what I should expect to pay for a good carpet and pad installed per sqr yard or foot (all inclusive)? Also, I am looking at some hardwood flooring. Does anyone have any comments or thoughts on having Empire do this for me? I have Empire coming out tomorrow and would appreciate being informed before I make any decisions. I have read all the comments and greatly appreciate this sight. Thanks Clint
A good medium grade carpet will run $26.00 +/- installed with 6# pad.
Ive risen through the ranks from installer to commercial estimator/ specifier and have 35yrs experience. Ive seen great stores and poor stores, both big box and small independent. It is not about the store name. Essentially everyone is selling the same or similar products. It is about the individual people selling and installing your floors. Ask around about your local floor-covering vendors . Ask your friends if they know anyone in the business. Ask for references and “actually call them”.
If you are flying (buying) blind. Most of the information you need is on the back of the sample. There is also plenty of info on the web about selecting the right flooring for your needs. Eg. a 7+ year wear warranty, a texture retention warranty, and an “active wear” or “3.0+” wear rating are usually signs of a good carpet for most situations.
A good flooring experience can vary not only from store to store, but from salesperson to salesperson and installer to installer.
Flooring is an expensive purchase. Do a little home work before going into the store .
Ed
In response to Patrick about HD…this is what my local store told me:
$199 install is basic install only – installing carpet and padding, it does NOT include tearing up old carpet and hauling it away. If you need that done, you pay the $6.44 sq yd install AND $3.06 sq yd tear up AND $1.89 sq yd haul away. For me…this was $199 vs 989. Did they misquote me? Huge difference from what you are saying. That also does not include moving furniture.
I have used SMART Carpet twice and everytime they have done a great job. Had Brazilian Cherry installed just three weeks ago and it looks beautiful. They beat both Home Depot and Lowes prices.
These big companies are the biggest rip off’s ever….Answer me this. Why is the salesman and the company making more money than the installer…..Everyone gets the carpet from the same manufactures , its the installer that makes the differance, and none of these companies care at all about installers: especially theses stores in question….These companies go through another company that hires installers, so how many people do you really need to pay for one job….Word to the wise get smart and buy from the installer…No middle men, less people to deal with, cause noone knows better than the installer
I used Empire last year. I was happy with their fast response and install. (I have used Home Depot in the past and so many people and steps were involved it could be frustrating).
One year later, just past the Empire warranty, the ‘high end’ carpet I purchased is rippling horribly and the hardwoods floors which were glued to a slab are popping. Empire informed me that I would have to pay to have it fixed because it is outside of their one year warranty.
With Home Depot, I never had a quality problem after installs…even after three years.
I’ll never use Empire flooring again. I’ve called them to them know, but obviously, they don’t care.
I purchased Empire carpet for my house several years ago. The customer service is excellent, but the carpet quality isn’t good…and I bought their higher end carpet. After more than 1 year, the carpet still pilled and needed to be vacuumed frequently. I know nothing about carpet…after reading this blog, I will definitely look into it further…I need new carpet in my living room in a new home and I was thinking of going with Empire again simply for convenience…but now I’m not going to.
Don’t rule out the little guy. I just had a full basement carpet install and ended up using a small local flooring company and received better quality carpet for significantly less $ and had it installed 3 business days after receiving the estimate. Empire quote was ridiculously high for inferior product. I refused to budge on price and their sales guy left my house, but what do you know, a manager called me the next day to try to resurrect the deal- too late! Do not EVER pay what Empire wants from you initially. Better yet, shop around locally, it is well worth it.
I own a small carpet store in the upper mid west. I have worked for home depot, lowes, & empire if anyone knows them better take a shot. Empire is the highest priced & they pay about $5.00 per sq yard to the installers they don’t pay for extras but still charge for them .
Home depot & lowes do everything the same just keep changing sales
tacktics. Free pad, not true. At that time you purchase the carpet they would mark up the install rate to make up the differance. Now it’s $199.00 for your install. You can ask 100 installers. They will all tell you that’s not true better yet ask the installer from Home depot if every job he gets $199.00 and almost every carpet store sells the same carpet. There are only 3 major manufactures for the we’ll beat it by 10%. Not going to happen they all pay for private labeling they say not the same name not the same prouduct . They both do not have in house installers they hire a few companys to farm the work out to then those companys farm it out agin and agin im sure the last installer on this food chain feels awsome about sharing his pay check with everyone before him.
Any more qwestions.
I have used several flooring companies over the past 19 years in our home. I have used HD and Lowe’s and some small local ones as well. I do think Tony is right. He might want to express his opinion a little nicer. He is just trying to save you some grief. He is saying that you should shop around and compare. Get references. I agree that the installer is one of the most important parts of the experience. I actually had the crew from Lowe’s show up 4 hours late and drunk. I had to have their supervisor come to my home to deal with them. He was there within 30 min. I am glad to hear about all of your experiences. It gives me a lot to think about. We are needing some laminate wood floors installed. There are a lot of the smaller local companies that I will check out. Thank you all for sharing. And thank you Tony. It sounds like I might need to check into “Full House Flooring”.
Thanks again,
Carol in OKC
Won’t even consider empire until they change their obnoxious jingle.
I just had Empire install some carpet. We are very satisfied with both, the installation and carpet.
However, I would never use them again nor would I recommend them to anyone. The reason I say this is we called because they were offering 60% off. When we picked out the carpet we wanted, the guy gives us the price, and it was way way higher than the other quotes we received. When I asked if the price included the 60% off, he tells me that discount only applies to a few select carpets, and of coarse the one we selected was not one of them. So I said OK thanks for your time but your not even in the ballpark. That’s when he calls his manager, and gets special permission to lower the price, by over half. That tells me if I didn’t ask about the discount, they would have happily gouged me.
It gets worse from there. After thinking about it, we called him back and say OK, let do it. He comes back to the house and after filling out all the paperwork asks for payment in full. So I say, what do you mean payment in full? You haven’t installed the carpet yet. He says that’s just how they do it. So I tell him forget it then. I’m not paying you in full before the work is done. I just had $10,000 worth of windows replaced in my house, and they didn’t ask for payment in full. I’ll give you half now and the other half after it’s installed, otherwise, have a nice day. Low and behold, his manager gives special permission to pay half now and the balance after the installation is complete.
The lack of trust was unbelievable. He actually sat in my dinning room calling his office so they could run some kind of check approval, making it very clear to me that they did not trust me to write them a valid check, yet I was supposed to trust them and pay it all in full before the installation.
I think I got lucky. Most of the time if a company wants to be paid in full BEFORE the work is done, they do very very poor quality work, and know they won’t get paid after, so they need to get it up front.
Like I said earlier, I do not recommend using Empire for the simple fact that they were not straight up with me from the beginning.
I bought laminated flooring from Empire 2 years ago and now it is warping. I have several issues with them They call you back if they want too, they call you back after hrs when you tell them what time you leave, You may get a call and maybe not, The kicker is they blame me for moisture getting in the floor. I damp mop my floor and (on my knees) and dry. We take our shoes off and never take liquids in the room. They said I let water sit on the floor more Oh no thats impossible its your fault. What happened to the 25 yr warranty???????DO NOT BUY FROM EMPIRE PASS THIS ON
ok people, here is the nitty gritty on buying carpet, it really is simple. how long it will last depends on if it was made of nylon or not. anything but nylon will only last 2 -7 years. nylon will last 10-20yrs. how it was made is important too, this will determine if it will shed or not. they can either STAPLE the fibers on the backing…….. or use a continuous filiment construction (when they weave it through the backing). if you dont want your carpet to shed like the ladie above, make sure it is continuous filiment. the back of the carpet should say bcf or continuous filiment. if it doesnt say, its STAPLE.
SO KNOW YOU KNOW ALL THERE IS TO KNOW ABOUT CARPET. 1. IS IT NYLON OR NOT, 2. IS IT BCF OR NOT.
good carpet (nylon fiber, bcf construction) cost 4-8 bucks per sq.ft including pad and installation. the price depends on how thick (heavy) it is.
……..to be continued
part II
home depot versus empire
empire gouges old ladies, nuff said. if you buy from them you support them, and your as bad as them, there is no good reason to buy from them.
home depot vs the little guy.
1. home depot has no price advantage as all the little guys team up in buying groups and pay the same for the carpet as home depot.
2. pick out what you want from the little guy or home depot, make sure its a nylon bcf thats in your price range. use this sample and tell the folks that you are getting bids from that you would like a bid on that carpet or something very similar in quality and weight (thickness).
3. get an out the door written estimate from at least three people. you have to pay 50 bucks for the home depot estimate but its worth it, to get thier final “real” price. and if you use homedepot they will discount it from the price. also, the small guys will give you an additional 50 bucks off if you go with them, just tell em i said they would (and they will).
NOW YOU CAN COMPARE PRICES LIKE A PRO.
i think you will find that most places are pretty close in price.
the diffrence is the quality of the service and the installation. the homedepot will be a pain in the butt, and the little guy will fall all over you. if you have a problem the little guy will jump to help you, homedepot is a pain in the butt, nuff said. the little guys installer is better. the little guy will measure himself, order himself and schedual the install himself, when you call, he answers and can help or answer any question you have about the order on the spot. home depot…pain in the butt. it only takes 5 days to get carpet to california from georgia, the most you have to wait with the little guy is one week. home depot….3 weeks …pain in the butt. installation warranty with the little guy..well you just call the little guy and he comes out himself and checks on it and fixes it. home depot….pain in the butt….they didnt install it….the contractor that they hooked you up with did…you gotta find him to fix your problem not homedepot…pain in the butt.
also one last point. the most import person in the whole deal is the salesperson. he/she runs the whole show, make sure you like them and work well with them, they ultimately determine your price, how smooth things run and they are who you call when theirs a bump in the road, they make all the diffrence. a great salesperson is more important than the store you buy at. wether it be homedepot or the little guy. you will know them when you see them because they will always under promise and over deliver
and one last final point. if homedepot gives you the lowest bid (and its possible this could happen) but you would like the great service of the little guy. just take your quote to them and ask them to match it. they will. then you get the best price and the best service. Thats how you do it!
Tony-
A grammar lesson:
T-H-E-I-R = ownership. Their business.
T-H-E-R-E = location. There it is.
T-H-E-Y ‘ R-E = they are. They’re buying carpet.
My Empire Sucks story:
I had to replace the carpet in the hallways/staircase of a three story three family in Boston. I had used
Empire before, so gave them a call and got an estimate. The price was $4.53 per sq. ft. installed. To
say that the salesperson was incompetent would be generous. He had to measure everything three
times, could not do simple calculations. He made so many mistakes on the order crossing things out
two and three times that it was unreadable. He told me that I had to put down a third of the total cost
because it was a special order and would take 10-14 days to get the carpet. Then in the next breath
said that it could be installed the next day.
Came up with an estimate of $3,692 based and 774.26 sq ft. I said that seemed high. He said: no,
and that this was a big area. I asked if there was an additional labor charges since this was a
staircase. He re-iterated: no, it’s a flat fee. I agreed to remove and dispose of the old carpet to save
$200. He called the office and the lowered price for $3,001 was agreed upon. When I ripped up the
carpet I looked at them and concluded that there was no way that this was close to 800 sq ft. I
measured it and came out with 304 sq ft. I am an architect with 30 yrs experience and an expert in
this area. I had a third person measure it and he came up with 305 sq ft.
Granted it was a staircase with more waste than normal, but over150%. I called the office and
complained. A manager came out and first he said was that in the order was written for 680 sq. ft.,
not the original 774.26 sq. ft. that the basis for the quote. He also confirmed that the price included
installation and that there was not a separate labor charge. When I asked why there was no
adjustment and that the price still reflected the original 774.26 sq. ft. he had no answer. He also
confirmed that it was in stock. No one has ever explained why I had put up $1,000 deposit instead of
the standard $25. A question that remains unanswered to this day.
He measured and came up with 502 sq. ft. Not sure how using the same equation they came up with
three different sizes for the same square footage of floor space. He told me that he would give me a
$500 credit. I said OK and the installation was scheduled for the next day. I really didn’t have much
of a choice, as I stood to lose the $1,000 deposit.
The installers arrived with the work order where the price was still $3,001. There also was a note to
call after the work was done. When I told them that this is not the right price, they called to the
office before they started, but the manager didn’t want to talk. I took the phone and reminded that we
agreed to lower price by at least $500. He answered that he would discuss the final price after
installation. The installers installed and I called to manager again. This time, he said the bill was
$2,800. I reminded him again that he had agreed to a $500 credit from the $3001. He denied that he
had ever having agreed to that. Among the scrap was a single piece 12ft x 6ft =72 sq.ft and I tried to
get a credit for it. I tried to pay for 430 sq ft instead the 502 sq. ft. (502-72=430), the amount actually
installed plus waste. He said: no. So I said that I would pay for every sq in that was in the truck. I
took out my calculator and computed: $4.53 x 502 sq.ft + 5% (taxes)= $2,387.76. He said: no, that
$2,601 was the best he could do. I reminded him that the contract was for $4.53 per sq. ft. for 502
sq.ft. not for 545 sq.ft. (There was a total 502 sq. ft. of carpet in the truck). I still questioned the 58%
waste (based on 502 sq, ft., not the 545 sq. ft. that I was charged for), but have decided to drop it
He pretty much demanded the new higher price even though he could offer no explanation as to how
he came to that price. He also told me that I had to pay it since it had already been installed even
hough the new higher price had never been discussed. So, I paid $2, 601. Very expensive carpet for
the 305 sq. ft. of floor space!
I am a installer. I have installed for 30 years.
What people miss and don’t understand is that lowes, home depot charge by the square foot.
Installers charge by the square yard.
Carpet at a carpet dealer is sold by the square yard.
Lowes and home depot charge .55 cent per square foot for padding.
That converts to $5. 50 per yard.
carpet supply stores sell padd for $1,75- $2.25 per yard
Lowes and home depot will charge .99 cent per square foot
That converts to $9.00 per square yard
I install locally for $3-4 per square yard
out of town for $4-5 per square yard and
if the job is big enough will go anywhere in the country for $3.00 per square yard (bulk yardage discount)
you do the math and see for yourself if lowes and home depot is the cheapest.
their is 9 square foot in a yard of carpet, vinyl,.
take their price per square foot and times it by 9 and you will get what they are charging per yard.
Then call an installer or carpet outlet and get a price, priced by the yard.
You will be amazed at how much of a differance there is..
Having carpet installed by Empire today. NOT happy so far, although the installers themselves are fine. They showed up without enough carpet, this was the warehouse guys fault. They said theY will come back tomorrow to complete, this we were not happy with. Our contract showed carpet would be delivered today, the salesman told us it would be compeleted in one day. We called Empire and were told it not so many words, too bad. Although they would knock a whopdie doo $75 off. Then when installers were laying the pad we asked about it, they said it was 6lb padding. Again salesman told us it was 7 lb. He did not write it on the contract, but we had written it in our notes. VERY UNHAPPY WITH EMPIRE, WILL HOT USE THEM AGAIN.
I agree with Tony. HD has the price of install built into the material. I work at a flooring store and the carpet at HD is the same as the lowest quality stuff we are willing to call “residential”. Also both HD and Menards sell junk terracotta tile and name it slate or porceline based on the color of the glaze. Bring in a sample from a big-box to a mom and pop and I bet they can beat the price with something similar.
I will tell you I read a lot of reviews before going with Empire and I will tell you I made the wrong choice. The carpet is horrible quality!!!!!!!!!!!!! You can see the backing through the carpet as if your carpet was balding. Then the installers were late and none of them spoke English. They started at 4:30 PM on a Saturday and did not finish until 10pm. The carpeted over vents and put in two different lots of carpet which were different colors. The customer service is sucks and no one returns your phone calls. Word to the wise stay away from this company!!
I need carpet for the my whole house in the suburbs of Cleveland, OH. I will move all the furniture and tear out the old carpet. My house is on a slab, so I need good padding, as well. I’m very flexible on the install time – no rush.
I need a great price. It’s a lot of carpet.
Contact me @ [email protected] if you can give me a great deal.
I just had carpent installed by home depot. My rooms are seamed in the middle, I am outrage, because you can see the seam in plush carpeting. They gave the excuse that it was because of the grain. I am not going to let this huge mistake go away. Pissed Off
Home DepotEmpire are basically the same. JD, although he can’t spell, had some good points.
Actually the two types of nylon to look at are called staple and continuous filament.
Staple – Short strands twisted together. Some fuzzing, but not much. The staple yarn system produces textured plushes.
Continuous Filament- Extremely long strands that don’t fuzz(pill) at all, saxonys, plushes, etc.
Empire usually stocks a lot of polyester because its cheaper than nylon, so their inventory doesn’t cost as much.
The Depot sells a lot of carpet, as well as Empire. But both also have a ton of overhead. They buy really low, most of that savings is plowed back into overhead. Both stores have no REAL flooring people because they pay so little. Honestly, any positive outcome is usually luck. What did your grandfather say?, “even a broken clock is right twice a day”.
I had a customer that was moving, got a price from Home Depot. A friend told her to call me. She wanted it done right away. I bought the carpet from Home Depot(she was buying a cheap instock piece for speed from them) and installed the carpet for $325.00, Home Depot was $550.00.
Moral of the story. If you live in the Oakland county part of Michigan, email me. I’d love to help.
I just got quotes from Home Depot and Empire. Empire was a lot more than Home Depot. HD wanted $1480 and Empire quoted $2508. The thing that upset me about Empire was the sales guy tried to get me to sign a purchase agreement, but he was calling it a quote. It even said on the agreement there was a penalty if I cancelled. He told me there was a price match garuntee, but they would not match Home Depot’s written quote. The Empire guy was really nice and there was no pressure, but he was really sneaky trying to get me to sign the sales agreement without reading the form. Be careful with the Empire sales people. I didn’t sign and I’m not going to use them. I found a local independant company in my area and I think I will use them. Just a couple of reviews on-line from the local people, but they beat HD’s price. This is in LA.
I had three rooms of carpet installed by Empire about a year ago. Service and Installers were great. Several months later I order more of the same carpet but I had to cancel my order. Refund was immediately given. Now I want to replace the
Sorry, accidently pressed submit. Anyway…now I want to re-place the order and get three more rooms of the same carpet that was previously installed and I just learned that Empire today no longer provides service to my area in St. Louis. How do I find out the name of manufacturer of mycarpet so that I could get the same carpet. I know it is a berber carpet with the series name Treasure and the style name Honeycomb. Any suggestions.
Signed,
Desperately seeking matching carpet.
I just went this morning to HD and looked at carpet and wood flooring. I liked the sales lady. She was knowledgeable and very nice. We had to pay $50 for the guy to come and measure the home. The $50 we will get back when we buy the carpet.
On Monday between 8 and 12 I will have someone come to my home and measure. The carpet should be installed before Thanksgiving.
I read a lot about the people who measure the sqft wrong to make a few extra bucks. I am afraid to get ripped off here, however, I will be open minded and watch the guy. Computerized layout sounds really great and there isn’t much room to gauge the customer either. My only concern is that the installers are not done on time and my Thanksgiving will go bad because of not having carpet in the dining room and or the wood flooring isn’t installed in the kitchen and working area of the kitchen. Wish me luck…..
I am very dissatisfied and angry with the treatment that I received from Empire representatives and installers. Between the missed appointments by the carpet installers, incorrect order processing by customer service, and total lack of communication between the customer service and the carpet installers, I eventually cancelled my order and stopped payment on the check for the $100 deposit that was requested. They do not deserve my business!! That nice little Empire commercial about next-day service and convenience is totally false advertisement!!! I will advise anyone thinking about using Empire to find another company.
Just had carpet installed from Empire and it has been a terrible experience. The first installation crew was less than professional and only one guy spoke broken English. They damaged a heat vent by severely bending it in with their stretcher and then claimed it was like that when they got there. They tried bending it back and anyone knows bent metal cannot be returned to its original smooth finish. It will have to be replaced
The upper hallway was pieced together in three pieces which I was never told would be done. They cut the carpet around the mantel when I specifically asked that it be placed underneath it. There was a gap between the carpet and the mantel. They left a mess in the hallway and never put the furniture back as I was promised. I thought they were taking their tools out to the truck and were coming back in to move the furniture but they just left.
I had a second crew here yesterday to fix the carpet where there was a gap by the mantel. The customer service rep told me they would replace the whole strip since that is where the seam is and they would only need a strip 4′ x 20′ and it was from the same roll so it would match. When the crew got here they said they couldn’t guarantee the color would match and that the seam may not meld well since the carpet had been in place for 3 days. I told him it really hadn’t been walked on in that area and he said it didn’t matter. I didn’t want to take the chance that the color wouldn’t match so they stretched the carpet by the mantel to eliminate the gap. The carpet does look better, however the guy took several gouges out of the oak mantel with the tool he used to tuck the carpet edges back under the trim and the mantel. I called customer service and now they need to send someone out to repair the mantel.
The second crew knew nothing about the carpet in the hallway being replaced so after talking with customer service again yesterday I am now waiting today for yet a third crew to arrive and replace the piecemeal job in the hallway. The customer service rep guaranteed that I would be the first appointment of the day and it is 11:00 and they haven’t arrived. I called the general customer service number to find out where they are. After being on hold she told me that the driver left his phone at home and she couldn’t get in contact with him (how did she know he left his phone at home if he didn’t have a phone to let her know that?). I am tempted if/when they show up to tell them to just go away as I am worried what they might damaged today.
I think it is ridiculous it has taken 3 appointments and things still may not be right. In addition I have to schedule to have a furniture repair company come out to fix the mantel. I would recommend anyone considering new carpet stay away from Empire unless you have a ton of free time to sit around waiting for them to keep coming back, trying to get it right. Needless to say, I will never use Empire again.
I love these people on here babbling about things they dont know anything about…for starters you will find bad experiences with any company especially a multi million dollar company like home depot or empire today…some people have bad experiences and when you do over 1000s of jobs a day its going to happen. Empire (i personally can speak for) will do everything ton rectify a bad experience..that is an advantage of using subcontractors..the installers are “the little guy” but thy are forced to play by the rules of the big company so if there is a problem the contractors fix it or they pay for someone else to fix it. so its in there best interest to do it rignt the first time. my favorite statement is the one that empire doesnt pay the installers well.. they are all contractors, that are incorporated, with insurance and back round checked, I do payroll for empire..they are paid very well. As for those who say that empire doesnt pay alot on advertising why dont you try to get one of the TV stations to do a “shame on you” or “help me howard” on Empire..see how far you get…i wonder why that is???
To HomeImp,
Your pathetic lack of English grammar and syntax leaves me with no other conclusion than to simply avoid Empire. I was already leaning that way after I read *every single post here*. However, after your post started with “I love these people on here babbling…” and then continued to devolve, I am left with one question: did you actually think you were performing anything but a disservice to Empire?
Have a nice day. I’m going to get some estimates from “a little guy”, HD and Lowe’s. I won’t even waste my time with Empire. And I have you, HomeImp, to thank!!
“The best thing to do is to find a smaller floor company in your area get an estimate from them and then take the sample to a bigger store and compare there price to the same carpet.”
That is an impossibility. The industry makes it impossible to compare carpet from one store to another. From what I can tell, the only places where it’s relatively easy to get the technical specifications on any carpet is at Home Depot or Lowe’s. I have had zero luck getting technical specs outside of these store, doesn’t matter if it’s Empire, Carpet One, or the two local shops I tried. The stores always claim that they would have to call the mill. Really, does it change that frequently? Why don’t they have that information on hand already? None of them get back to me with the proper info either, but phone calls to see if I’m ready to order are in no short supply. One store showed me “Painter’s Pallet” by Mohawk. Google provided some wholesale prices, but nothing in terms of specs.
As an engineer, I’m hung up on knowing the “specs.” Sure, some might not find it that important, but I don’t intend to buy any carpet when I don’t have that info.
That’s why my experience has been frustrating so far. I need just over 1000 sq ft installed and have all the furniture out and have already done the take-up and prep (as I knew I needed to do some sub-floor repairs). Rolling the dice with a HD or Lowe’s installer is not something I care to do and in addition I know I’ll be paying an arm and a leg for labor. It’s plain silly to think that either store will only pay an installer $199 to carpet 1000 sq ft. The cost is buried in the price of the carpet. Since my install is simple (very basic, three seams, existing tacks, no steps, no furniture, no take-up) I would like to limit the cost of install to the basic average of $4 sq yard (that’s the research I’ve done anyways).
HD and Lowe’s won’t break out their hidden labor costs, and the small companies don’t like to pony up carpet specs. It’s a lose, lose for the customer.
I have used Empire twice and very happy each time. Measure one day and install the next—you can not beat that.
I did ask HD to give me a quote and they had a week delay before someone could come measure, then 2 more weeks after than before they could install.
Its very interesting to note that small installers always try to point out that home depot uses seconds and your going to get ripped off. They use that to justify their higher prices, never mind that you can’t tell whether the carpet you got is seconds or not, and in fact in many instances, they’ll use the same carpet and suppliers as home depot and maximize their profit on your install.
I’ve dealt with Home Depot on the business side and they have low prices because they squeeze their suppliers. They have buying power, like Walmart, and get the best deals from suppliers. Mom and Pop shops simply can’t get the same deal. So what do they do? They make claims about the quality of the carpets coming from Home Depot and tell you to trust them because they have been installing for so long. And installation isn’t rocket science…it doesn’t take a PHD to install carpet and certainly not 10 years of experience.
The bottom line is that its a business and those small shops can’t get the same deals from suppliers that Home Depot gets. Because of that, they’ll give you cheaper materials to try to match the home depot prices. If they can give you the same “seconds” at the same price as Home Depot, go for it! I told my mom and pop shop that I don’t care if home depot sells seconds, I’m carpeting a basement have pets and kids, and I WANT seconds if it gets the price down. But they couldn’t match it… instead they just point out how bad home depot is. Put your money where your mouth is- offer the same products at the same prices and that will lend some credibility to claims like Tony’s. Offer us seconds, we’ll take them.
If you want to save money do your home work. I did! Nylon is the best fiber… Period. You folks that fall for HD or Empire have spent 40-50 % more money than you needed. Remember you the end user are paying for the massive ad campaigns put on by these two companies. There are smaller companies out there that have lower overhead. If you get a bid from them you’ll find they are very competitive. Look in the phone book and check out a company called ” Carpet Direct” . I saved 40% over Home Depot and got the “same” carpet from Carpet Direct for $18.99/sy and Home Depot was selling it for $32/sy. Even with Home Depots $97 install Carpet Direct beat them. It broke down to be installed $29/sy with Carpet Direct and $46/sy with Home Depot.
Empire is a rip off!!!
They came out to my mom’s home and WOULD NOT give her the square footage of her house and the carpeting price per square foot! Then when we insisted they finally, DAYS later, gave us the info. We measured the house ourselves. THEY OVER MEASURED BY OVER 700 SQUARE FEET TO JUSTIFY THEIR NUMBERS! They lowered their price from over $6,000 down to just over $3,500 but it was too late. They are crooks! Never buy carpeting from ANY company without knowing the square footage and measuring you’re home YOURSELF.
30 years ago I had a small chain store carpet my house for $3,000 (living room, dinning room, 3 bedrooms, hall or 155 yards). 10 years ago, I had the carpet replaced by a minority company for $2,000 (carpet holding up well and service was terrific). I compared the cut pieces of the new and old carpet and they were nearly identical. Empire came over today, July 9, 2010 to do my small recreation room (the rest of the floor would be ceramic tile), 14 x 18 ft with very similar carpet for $1,877. Replace the hall way carpet up stairs for $799. He never mentioned taxes, type of padding, or the merits of different carpeting because I told him I would not buy until I finished remodeling the the recreation room. The salesman was a bit miffed. I can have nice ceramic tile installed for about $6 a sq. ft. (wood floor kitchen and hall included screwed on 4 inch centered cement board and glued) as compared with the Empire $7.66 (not counting tax etc. and I did not think of negotiating) and get a very nice area rug for a few hundred bucks. Then I won’t ever have to worry about moisture on the concrete floor either. By doing the math, it is obvious that the salesman gets you for what ever he can. In my case, I think he could high ball me because I have a very expensive looking kitchen with counter to cabinet granite back splash, ceramic tile floor, stainless appliances, etc. By shopping for the expensive kitchen, I paid 1/2 of what a cheap kitchen would cost. This is a buyers market. It pays to shop and they get you on what you do not know. Also, it is very hard to compare apples to apples. The real killer is not the materials but the labor. For example, I had a contract for my kitchen itemized where they wanted $195 to “disconnect stove, sink (no disposal), refrigerator. To be removed by others.” If I did not have it in print, I would not believe it.
I can comment on Empire carpets. At least in the North East Ohio area. I have been in the industry for over 30 years. I did work for Empire with in the past year just to learn about all their gimmicks. The sales gimmicks that they want you to use are not good. they were very hesitant about hiring me but I am glad that they did.
They said that they wanted fresh minded people that knew very little about carpet and floorcovering. Know one should ever call Empire first. You should call at least 2 other retailers then call Empire or visit HD. You should hold out until the in home sales person makes at least 4 calls to his boss. They will offer to give you a discount by taking photos for their photo album or put a yard sign in front of your home. They carry gift certificates that will magically appear. If you hold out you can get a great deal. The sales person will get a real ear full at the next sales meeting but that sales person will move on and you will be satisfied.
I deal with local distributors that can cross reference any style out there.
One way or another all the private labeled carpet comes from the same place.
I did sell to many people during my few months with the company. I always gave the bottom line best price and made very little. The company did not like it but I could not see ripping off the people.
I am certified many times over and have sold and installed thousands of jobs for over 30 years. It is sad that times have changed to the point that large big box type stores and in home retailers with old Kirby sales tactics confuse the average consumer.
If people would just shop at their local retailers they would get good service and fair priceing. The local stores know that they need to compete and will give you the best deal.
Empire did not like that I broke down all of my own measurments. I was able to cut out all the waste on a job that they wanted to charge money for. Also we were not supposed to give out the job size or leave any samples.
I gave the company only one of my personal customers from way back.
The job was a carpet job valued at just over $1400.00 my commission was less then $35.00. My customer got a great deal but was unhappy with the installation. I went and fixed the job myself.
BUYER BEWARE. SHOP AT YOUR LOCAL RETAILER FIRST!!!!!
I bought carpet from H.D, it was installed by Carpet-Pros. The job was ok but one of the worker’s stole my check book and a box of check’s also credit card’s and some important paper’s. No one else was in the house. When I called the business center manger, Jennifer Hardy, it was like, too bad, you can file a police report if you want. I was also not left any of the unused carpet. It has been a busy week getting everything canceled and closing bank account’s. Don’t use Carpet-Pro’s…
I’m very glad I found this blog as we just ordered from Empire last night. We had a local small company come out, and while A LOT cheaper – it was a crap quality carpet. (Husband was the only one home during that meeting – so sandpaper carpet was ok with him for the price he was quoted.)
I called Empire, they were on time to the appointment and I feel as if we got a good deal. Not only will the installers pull up and dispose of the existing carpet, they are removing baseboards and reinstalling, tack strips are included and they are moving all of the furniture… Yes, it was more that I had intended to spend… But it is always nicer carpet than I had planned on putting in an upstairs game room and 2 bedrooms for my children. (oh, and stairs that WE built – which are not perfect in the least)…
I’ll come back to this blog once it is installed on Thursday, but I am quite confident that I’ll be happy with the install – and the carpet.
Don’t fall for Home Depot’s $199 deal. First there are hidden costs. In the final bill, they will charge you $45 for “removal of shrinkwrap that the carpet comes in”, and even if you ask, the installers will refuse to leave the shrinkwrap (which may at most amount to a plastic shopping bag, ridiculous) because it’s part of their cut from HD. Plus, they oversell you carpet, by as much as 30% (on top of the regular 10%-15% ). Plus the installers have a deal with HD that they charge you for the same amount of underlay as the carpet, no matter what (esp with stairs and irregular installations, actual underlay is much less than carpet, as it doesn’t need to be cut from a single roll as the carpet plus not all areas are underlaid). Not only that, but the installers refuse to leave you any leftover underlay (which you paid for) because they go around and use it in another job. It’s a scam arrangement between HD and installers. Quality of job depends on installers, but outfits like HD usually deal with the most incompetent installers that cannot find jobs other way. All in all, stay away, in the end, you will pay 3 times as much for a half assed job.
I can’t speak for the Home Depot, but I just carpeted 700 square feet in my house with carpet from Empire Carpet. The price installed works out to about $3.70 per sq, ft. The carpet is a 65 ounce, very dense, plush premium carpet. They threw in an upgraded pad. It has a 20 year warranty and is supposed to last 7 years before showing any signs of wear. When shopping around, it is important to know the weight and density of the carpet, wear warranty, and stain protection. If you don’t know this, you could be comparing apples to crab apples. The Empire salesman started out very high, but I talked him down to about 35% of his original quote. I told him that I had an appointment scheduled the next day for another carpet company to come out and give me a quote. I did not have intentions on making a decision right then, but the salesman just kept lowering the price. I had already done some research and had a budget in mind. I think I got a very good deal on the quality of carpet I purchased. The kids and the dogs have already had a few accidents, and the carpet cleans up well. When negotiating with Empire, it is important to stand your ground. I have read a couple of posts that said Empire salesmen are not pushy. That wasn’t true in my case. They can be quite intimidating, if you let them. They tout themselves as the largest carpet outfit in the country, and look down on all their rivals. They say they can offer low prices because they buy up millions of yards of carpet and warehouse it so that it’s readily available. Make them eat their words. Do not take the first offer, and if necessary, make them call you back at a later date. If you don’t negotiate, you will NOT get the best price from Empire. Oh, and the installers were very professional and fast. They were like machines, working very efficiently. Overall, I am very satisfied.
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I am a small flooring business owner and can state emphatically that we work harder for your business, with more product knowledge and hiring only the best installers, and yes, we can compete price, we just can’t install the product next day, I order from the mill and it takes about a week for material to arrive ( as long as there is mill stock ), with every job I install bearing my companies name and reputation, I strive for complete customer satisfaction, depending on referrals more than the corporate giants, we definitely care more about you the consumer than the big guys.
Sounds like secret is to get price from Home Depot, then tell them you just want the carpet, that you have son-in-law that will do the installing. In this economy there must be many installers you could get to measure and install for you, then you get best carpet price, installer cuts out middle man and gets to keep all the installing money and you get the carpet you want and get a good guy to install it. Maybe too naive, and you’d have to know someone who knows someone who actually can install for you and do a good job.
I USED TO BE AN ESTIMATOR IN NORTH GEORGIA. I WENT UP AGAINST ALL OTHER LOCAL COMPETITORS AND HEARD A LOT OF HORROR STORIES ABOUT EMPIRE, AND EXPERIENCED A FEW TOO. CUSTOMERS WOULD TELL ME OF THIER EXPERIENCES WITH HOME DEPOT, LOWES, AND OTHER LOCAL SMALLER COMPANIES, OUR COMPANY AS WELL AS THE OTHERS WILL HAVE A SMALL PROBLEM NOW AND AGAIN U WETEN TO RESOLVE THEM AND LEAVE THE CUSTOMER SATISFIED AND HAPPY TO RETURN TO US IN THE FUTURE FOR MORE FLOORING. I WENT TO THE HOME OF A YOUNG WIDOW WITH A YOUNG SON. HER HUSBAND HAD JUST PASSED AWAY. SHE WAS LIVING ON HER INCOME ALONE. SHE NEEDED LAMINATE FLOORING INSTALLED IN HER HOME, HER SON HAD ALLERGIES TO THE DIES IN CARPET SO SHE WANTED IT REMOVED. EMPIRE WAS THE FIRST TO QUOTE HER AN ESTIMATE. THE YOUNG LADY SHARED WITH ME HER EXPERIENCE WITH THE SALESMAN. HE COMPLETED HIS MEASURING AND PRPARED HIS ESTIMATE ON SITE. HE PRESENTED HER WITH A QUOTE OF $12,000.00 THIS PRICE INCLUDED REMOVAL AND INSTALLATION AND QUARTER ROUND, ALSO MOVING AND REPLACING FURNITURE. THE YOUNG LADY TOLD THE SALESMAN THAT THE PRICE WAS TOO HIGH FOR HER, AFTER REASSESING HIS QUOTE HE CAME BACK WITH AN OFFER OF AROUND $10,500.00. SHE KNEW SHE COULD NOT AFFORD THE JOB PRICED AS IS. THE SALESMAN KEPT HOUNDING HER STATING THAT THIS WAS A VERY GOOD PRICE AND THAT SHE WOULD HAVE A HARD TIME BEATING IT. SHE REPEATEDLY TOLD THE SALESMAN THAT SHE COULD NOT AFFORD IT. SHE EVETUALLY AKED HIM TO LEAVE. HE PERSITED ON GIVING HER QUOTES FOR LESS AND LESS, SHE FIGURED OUT THAT HE WAS TRYING TO GALGE HER AS HE EVENTUALLY GOT HIS QUOTE DOWN TO $9000.00. BY THIS TIME SHE WAS IN TEARS BECAUSE THE SALESMAN WOULD NOT LEAVE. SHE FINNALY HAD TO DEMAND HIM OUT OF HER HOME. I CAME OUT A DAY OR TWO LATER AND MY QUOTE WAS AROUND $6000.00 FOR THE SAME QUALITY MATERIAL AND LABOR CHARGES. SHE WAS VERY SATISFIED WITH THE PRICE AND MY DEMEANOR AND GAVE US THE JOB WITHOUT GETTING ANOTHER ESTIMATE. I HAD SEVERAL OTHER EXPERIENCES WITH CUSTOMERS THAT HAD SIMMILAR EXPERIENCES WITH EMPIRE. AS A FLOORING PROFFESSIONAL I WOULD HIGHLY RECCOMEND YOU GOING TO LOCAL SMALLER COMPANIES AS YOU WILL FIND BETTER PRICING AND BETTER SERVICE. EMPIRE USUALLY USES HIGH PRESSURE TECHNIQUES TO SELL YOU AS THEY ARE COMMISSIONED SALES PEOPLE AND THEY ARE CONCERNED MORE WITH THEIR BOTTOM LINE AS OPPOSED TO SERVING YOU.
Sounds like Empire = high pressure sale, if u like to haggle this is for u. HD = hit&miss, install$ built-into carpet price so what? as long as you are happy with the total$, I actually like that they make it simpler. I also like that HD’s showroom has the carpet details on the back, you know what you are buying. I went to a local Century Carpet today and their samples don’t tell you what weight their carpets are am I just going to take their words for it? I suppose if you are the type who value personalized treatment and have lots of time, go ahead find a local dealer you like. Me, when a vendor is “too nice” to me, the cynic in me asks what am I giving up? I guess I am just the left brain buyer, the more number you show me the better, the rest am going to assume you are not giving anything for free. Repeat customers, how often does one shop for carpets anyways in one locale? Great if u know a good installer then concentrate your effort on purchasing the carpet, if no installer, tougher. In these days of outsourcing, am questioning how many shop owners can afford to maintain their own installers rather than contract out.
Called ET for quote during their “70%” off sale. Dude pulls up in his slick black Cadillac, blabs on a mile a minute, makes measurements, punches on his calculator for a minute, writes down incredibly high numbers. “Do you want good, better or best carpet?”, “Do you want List Price, Sale Price, or Install Tomorrow price?”. His quote started out between $5500 and $8500 for ~60 sq yards…. I laughed. He crossed those out and wrote some more. I laughed again. He said blah blah blah let me call my boss. Keep in mind that I have good ears and he was not talking to anyone on his phone. He wrote down some more numbers. Ending at $2900 for the same thing he started at $6000 including a crappy 4lb padding… plus my old carpet was already gone and tack strips still in place (i.e. simple install) You can do the math. I had to dismiss them just on general principle in that they would have been happy had I just paid full list price and made this d-bags Caddy payments for the next 6 months. ET just plain sucks. Use at your own risk and get fleeced.
So I am a little scared now after reading all these bad comments about Empire. I ordered carpet last night which is being installed as we speak. I am paying $3600 for 1280 square feet which comes out to about $2.80 per square foot…. the salesman last night was 30 minutes late which was really annoying, he came at 930pm!! Then he said if I purchase tonight he would give me 10% additional off so the $3600 was my total. He was pushy and annoying but I really wanted the carpet. I had another appointment today for Luna carpet that I canceled because they won’t come in and give me a quote on carpet that was installed the same day! I wanted to get another quote because the Empire guy said he would match any other price, which could be BS too. Did I get ripped off??
Do a search online for complaints on Empire Today! I have just read hundreds of online horror stories on this company!
Save yourself the aggravation and move on! We contacted Empire and the salesman “David B.” gave us a quote on a 64 sq ft. bathroom tile floor. He took some measurements and handed us a quote for $1884.00. When we asked him to break down the price he said he couldn’t do that. He suggested changing the pattern from diamond to square, and then he reduced the price by half!!! How do you remove 2 boxes of product and get 50% off??
The house is 10 years old and the subfloor and cement board are very solid. The sub-contrator installers showed up the next day, and started chipping at the tile. He assessed the job and told us he was only getting $300 for this job and was not worth it!!!
After partly destroying our floor he cancelled on the spot, saying it couldn’t be done without damage to the toilet and subfloor. We disagreed, we had a contract to do the floor, and called customer service. With no help the installer left. (Funny that he left his card?)
We called our salesman David for some advice and help us navigate through customer service, he said quote ” I am just the salesman” and said he would call us right back. This is 2 days later and he never even attempted to call.
After losing a full day at work for the installation and countless calls to automated customer service lines, a regional manager agreed to come out and look at the job “first thing tomorrow morning” to see if it could be done. We had to call to find “Orlando” at his office and finally just cancelled the job.
This company has no ethics and will leave you feeling very frustrated. I am happy we cancelled the job and saved ourselves any further problems.
Home Depot is a NIGHTMARE!!! We ordered carpet back in October. They set up a measurement which took a week to get the call for. They came out several days later. Then we were waiting for the call from Home Depot to come and finalize the purchase. A week later we called and they said, oh yes you’ll have to do that. ???????? So we head down to the store and sat for two hours with the sales associate. He caught that they tried to use the extra carpet from room 2 to finish room 1 which was a different color!!! So he did the math and made it work. Then we started waiting and waiting again. A week later we call and ask where is the carpet. Oh, it had to be ordered so that takes three week and then they’ll call and set up the installation. That took another week!! So over a month later the installer arrived and they lug the carpets up to the bedrooms and start calculating. Oh, Mr Customer, you realize that you’ll have 6 seams in bedroom one and 4 in bedroom 2 right. NOT!!! They screwed up the initial measurements so back it went. A trip to the store to ensure they knew we ordered two different colors and in the Deluxe, not cheap grade with the best padding. Yes sir. Waiting…. waiting….. waiting. Another three weeks passes, so much for the “Rush Order”. Then another week for installation. Its not been over two months since we first walked into Home Depot. Whoops….. Wrong color for bedroom 2 and cheap pile for bedroom 1. Back it goes AGAIN!!! Never, ever order carpet from Home Depot!!!!!!!!
I,VE BEEN SELLING AND INSTALLING CARPETS FOR OVER 30 YEARS SO I KNOW ! IF YOU BUY A SHINY CARPET IN A HIGH WEAR AREA THE SHINE IS THE FIRST THING THAT GIVES OUT THEY DON,T WARRENT SHINE STICK WITH LOW LUSTER . MORE IMPORTENT THEN EVEN THE FIBER IS THE PROPER PADDING I WOULD NOT PUT A FABERIC OVER A SPONGE IN A HIGH WEAR AREA HALF IN. SYNTHETIC FIBER PAD ON ENTRANCE WAYS AND STAIRS ONLY! ANY INSTALER WILL TELL YOU YOU,LL NEVER NEED A RESTRECH IAND WEAR WILL BE 4X GREATER DUE TO REDUCED SHOCK STAINS WONT BE ABSORBED INTO A SPONGE IF YOU WANT THE LITTLE BIT OF BOUNCE AND I MEAN VERY LITTLE THE HALF IN. UPGRADE WILL CRUSH NICLY UNDER FOOT COMBINE THAT WITH SUPERSTRAND DUPONT SORONA FIBERS SWITCH PADS FROM HALLWAYS TO LIVING ROOMS ADHERE TO HIGHT AND YOU,LL HAVE A WINNING RECIEPE.ROCCO CERAVOLO [email protected] ANY QUESTIONS.
Well I wished I read these complaints before I had my bad experience with Empire. Their commercials are absolutely misleading,you do not pay for two rooms and get the rest free, unless of course the two rooms cost 4000, dollars, which is what I paid for 4 rooms and a small hallway.I paid because I like the next days service, The Sales person said they have a team of people coming as early as 9.00am, and that will include the team, one group lay the carpet, and the other team move the furniture.Sounds great so far. Well my husband I woke early cleaned the house, and my daughter who was not so well at the time so just couldn’t out and about, so I booked us into a hotel so she would the comfort of an air condition room, this in the middle of the summer in Georgia, and simply boiling hot. At 9, that morning no one showed up, nor did they at 10, 11,12 o’clock, I finally called the sales agent, to find what happened, I was simply referred to the installers. I called the team, and was told they were on a job, and we can expect them at 2.00. I started ask about the 9 am time I was promised, but they weren’t able to communicate in English very well.Well now I had to change everything around, an luckily was able to do so without much problems. At 2.30 the installers drove up in my drive way, two very apologetic men showed up, and was genuinely sorry for the delay, and I realized they weren’t the ones at fault. You see that lie is something all the sales agents tell the customers. It seems the team had informed the sales agent even before he showed up at my house the day before. that their first job was scheduled for 9 am, would available to do mine around 2.00 pm. The Sales man didn’t bother to let us know that. Well I let it go cause at least they were there, I ask them if the rest of the team was on their way, as I was ready to get this thing started and since I was not going to be there as they work, I would at least like to meet them, before I leave perfect strangers in my house. Well they looked knowingly at me and told me that they are the ones to do the job, they were the team most likely this a normal sales pitch for the sales people to use. I suppose the agent didn’t really lie, as two can be a team, however I wondered how one person could move the furniture, while the other lay the carpet. The Agent deliberately mislead us in just about everything,they’ve lost my business for future referrals, I too work in sales, and I get at least 60% of my business from referrals, and that means honest and straight forward information on the products and features I sell. Well in the end the two installers who I might add are independent contractors did a remarkable job, and they were as tired as one can be, I tried to give something to drink, and they politely refused, saying they were fine. I wish I could just purchased on my own and just hired them to install it. I think this just is gimmicks by Empire and obviously with the knowledge of management.Their agent are snake oil sellers, lies lies lies.
Well, now I know not to use either Home Depot or Empire.
But what I DON’T understand is why none of you with true horror stories haven’t sued them.
Small claims courts are made for you. They don’t cost much to file a claim, no attorneys allowed, and, at least in my state, you can sue for up to $7,500 plus the cost of filing. These companies use these terrible business practices with their customers and subs for one reason: they pay.
If you really got ripped off (architect in MA, I’m talking to you, in particular) sue them for their misrepresentation and over charging you. If they started a job and didn’t finish, or caused damage that you can’t get them to take care of, sue them for that. If they claimed premium backing and you got garbage, sue them for that.
If even 10% of the people who were ripped off by Empire or HD sued, they just might have to reconsider their methods, because they’d no longer be as lucrative.
And, BTW: using all caps is seen as shouting. If you are in the industry, and want to look professional, avoid all caps, and use spellcheck.
I need to carpet my whole house except for the dining room, kitchen, and bathrooms. I live in Dallas, Georgia. Any suggestions of who to go with out here?? We just bought our house last October and have 2 boys. I need a reasonable price on top of good quality carpet that lasts or maybe even a different type of flooring. We haven’t decided yet. It’s not every day that the husband and I can afford to replace every bit of flooring in our house so we need it done right. We’ve never had to purchase or have flooring installed so we are clueless about what to look out for. I’ve been reading some of these comments, and they are very helpful! Thanks everyone!
Had empire out last night. Wish I would have read this blog first so I had known about the negotiating. First quote, $4300, us himming and hawing got him down to $4000, us still himming and hawing (and a supposed call to his manager, which he never made) down to $3500. At what point we thought “wow what a great deal” and accepted. Fortunately for us I didn’t want it installed next day, so it gave me a bit of a grace period to do some research, and thus I found this site. I then called them and said I was canceling, and which point they said fine, $2950. Really, that’s all I needed to hear. The fact they would have originally charged me $4300 for something they’d eventually get down to $2950 on, it was enough to show me how dishonest they are, and I still canceled.
I think your research is flawed and you have really missed the obvious differences between Empire carpet & Home Depot. I find it really strange that Home Depot never really shows their face weight on carpet? and shows seperately the Padding, carpet, and installation, taxes, etc as seperately from your bid for the install of the carpet? That is called deception where I was born? The installation of empire is far superior to Home Depot and you can actuall find the installers if you have a problem… Again, your evaluations are incomplete…
What I find interesting and the lesson in all of this is the following ~
(1) Great advice from All perspectives
(2) The rudeness of some people criticizing others (about grammer) of
all things is disgusting when this is truly about helping a fellow neighbor
out with going about the right way to get carpeting for one’s hard earned
money! Kindness is priceless! Pretty sure we would all agree on that choice!
Empire carpets are really good for home usage. Thanks for the article. Great post
So, i’m going to now put my two cents into this ongoing conversation. First, lets talk HD. What they sell are seconds, which mean imperfect products or B list. All carpets sold, in any store other than imports, are all from a handful of manufacture’s…such as Shaw or Mohawk, both being the biggest in carpet and hard surface flooring. Empire installs the most carpet of any company, hands down in the lower 48 states. A small retail store cannot offer discount pricing like HD or Empire, and they to use sub contractors to install. Empire installers work only for Empire as they keep them busy six days a week. HD subcontracts as well, but they can also work for themselves which is why it takes HD so long to install. No one can install faster than Empire, since they have a large variety of next day stock.
They have flooring down to a science.
Payments are also deposit and cod or finance.
HD, lowes, all require up front payment as most small stores do. HD only warranties instalations for 48 hours and then you have to contact the manufacturer and play the blame game. Empire is one year from install and they own all warranties for the products they sell. I have had carpet installed by Lowes and they did a good job with no issues. If time is not an issue, then shop a box store. Price can be competitve, but they are seconds. If you want a fast or need it fast. Empire is the only one that can do next day. What is that worth???
Lastly, you will not find other than minorities and woman installers doing this work, and if they know what they are doing and do it well, so what!! This is a reality today in our world. They work very hard at what they do. Look at remodeling or home builders. What do you see…
In closing, shop if you can and do whats best for you, and your pocket. Just remember, you get what you pay for.
Good luck.