Empire Today, Chandra Rogers EMPIRE TODAY TAKES ADVANTAGE OF VETERANS! Empire today allows salespeople to lie to get a sale. North Carolina Internet

 On 3/05/2013 we met with Empire Representative "Paul Graceffo" We had very expensive, very good quality carpeting in our home but it was outdated. We had been renting out home out and had decided upon moving back in, that we would update the carpeting. "Paul" had showed us a video on their "amazing new carpet" that was used in a zoo to show how durable it was. They placed this amazing carpet in a pen that housed Rhinos. It was a timelapse of these animals just destroying the carpet, urinating, deffocating , mud and dirt all over, for days. After a week (if I remember correctly ) they cleaned the carpet and it was truly amazing how clean the cream colored carpet came! We were told it didn't matt up or flatten down. I worried about this type of carpeting being comfortable in a home, when he showed us the samples to feel. I wasn't thrilled but it being so durable was a huge plus. He quoted us some ridiculous price ( because it was new technology and of course AMAZING. After some thinking and talking he brought the price down to almost $9000 which of course was a lot, but doable and felt worth it because of this "lifetime" warranty on top of the incredible evidence from the video. So we decided to go with it. The video combined with the warranty gave us a considerable amount of peace. That was the last time we ever spoke to "Paul". The next day the installers came. I went out to the unmarked rental van and looked at the carpet. They were in rolls so I wasn't able to really check it. I took photos of the bar codes stickers. They were quick and efficient. I was disappointed that they didn't and I wasn't able to, vacuum up after they removed the old carpet but I went with it. At one point I noticed them putting a seam right in the middle of the hallway, think this was a bad spot for a seam. He assured me it was normal. They finished and left quickly. We had mixed emotions. It was good to get the old carpet out and have fresh carpet. But the carpet looked off. Thin, cheap( like what you would find in a cheap apartment) it definitely wasn't the frisée that I had thought it was. But it was suitable and we left it. After a couple months we noticed it was dirty looking, darkened spots. We cleaned it and it didn't come clean. The main traffic area was flattened and matted down. The seams in the hallway and right down the middle of our living room had come apart and began to fray. The seam where the carpet met the hard wood at our entryway was so thin you stepped on carpet tacks and punctured your feet. It was also fraying and shedding carpet fibers. Not even cleaning brought it back to life. We use a very good vacuum and it didn't help. We made contact with Enpire to talk about our concerns, with no response. After a few months we filed a complaint and finally received a phone call from an area rep ( "Chandra Rogers") She told us we had to have it professionally cleaned. We did so and it didn't change anything. The carpet was stained, dirty looking, dis colored and matted down. She strung us along for several months back and forth about the receipt (didn't get it, couldn't read it) once I mentioned I felt strung along, she finally recieved it. We heard nothing. I had also emailed pictures of the awful carpeting. Finally over the course of 3 years, she emailed me that they were sending a "3rd party inspector" to evaluate the carpeting. He took a few snapshots. Agreed several times that the carpeting was subpar. He advised me to call or email Empire that day to find out what the next step would be. He said they would probably want a piece of the carpet unused(from the scrap they left) to show it was inferior. The inspector also stated that he would have his report to them by the end of the day. I did so and recieved a rude email in return simply stating "they wouldn't have his report for at least 72 hours and that she wouldn't be able to read it until the next week. The next week came and went... Two weeks later I emailed her again and recieved and Auto reply message saying she " was out of the office from 4/14/2013 to 4/14/2016" which of course is strange... And it was 4/18/2016... I turned to their social media page because it seemed to get a response out of them and because I now had no one to contact to address me concerns about how to proceed. Someone would comment about how sorry they are and how they pride themselves on customer experience and satisfaction. But no one did anything. This week (5/ 17/2016) we recieved a letter stating that the inspector had found in his report that nothing was wrong with the workmanship or product. That they would however out of "Goodwill" allow us to purchase the same carpet (at a discount) and pay them to put it in our home ( also at a discount). I was shocked. I emailed the inspector to ask for a copy of his report. I recieved an email telling me it would be illegal and unethical for him to give me a copy. ILLEGAL AND UNETHICAL to give us a copy of a report done in our home? He's an "independent inspector" but Empire gets a copy and we don't? This company is illegal and unethical. They don't support their product, contractors, or customers. My husband has served 25 years in the military. He is an honorable and selfless man and they took advantage of us. The only recourse we have is to sue or suck it up. Empire Today is an embarrassment to the United States and should be closed down. They should not be allowed to swindle anyone else.