Find My Detailed Letter to Empire Below:
04/20
Empire Today, LLC
Installation Department
333 North West Avenue
North Lake, Illinois 60164
(Ref # 1-158700196,1-158592320,1-158700196 & 1-164-364892)
Dear Manager of Installation:
I am writing in regards to a growing list of concerns that have come about after investing in your company's hard surface flooring and installation. On 3/25, I had an in-home estimate completed by one of your salesman, Mr. Aaron Vasquez (D32FL). On the day of this consultation, I informed Mr. Vasquez of my intent to replace my current flooring, carpet and tile, with your laminate product. He was eager to do business with me and went about providing me quotes for two areas. One area, I would be doing immediately. The other area, I wished to wait on, as I wanted to make certain that I liked the look of the flooring against my cabinets, painting, interior design, etc. He proceeded to give me two quotes for cost, but only wrote up one for the area that was of immediate need.
Mr. Marquez then informed me that they would go over the tile in my house. The tile is approximately a quarter of an inch to an inch thick. Although suspicious, I felt that he was offering sound advice, since he was in the business of consulting on and selling hardwood floors. I thought Empire flooring was a reputable business with several years of success, and that it would be top quality work. Mr. Marquez further assured me that laying laminate over tile is a quite common practice and would not be problematic at all. I even inquired about the possibility of having installation difficulties if I were to indeed put laminate in the other areas of interest. He then offered me assurance that this would not be a problem and that this is done all the time. He never once quoted or gave me the option to remove the tile. He never said that removing my tile was an option, nor did he provide me any disclosures / warnings about possible damages, cosmetic issues, or problems that could arise from laying laminate over tile. He proceeded to write the word go over tile on my contract.
The first crew of installers came on 4/2, to do three areas (two bathrooms, and my kitchen). They asked me, Do you want to go over your tile? I said, Yes, My salesperson said that this is best. They proceeded with placing laminate product in those three rooms over my tile. When they were all done, I noticed that in a couple small areas, the floor was less stable and was pulling away from the base board. I informed the lead worker, and he said that he would take care of this before he left. As he left he informed me that he had fixed the problem area. He also showed me that the door to my garage has lost some of it's mobility as the floor was too high and the door could barely clear it and had to be closed with force now.
Immediately upon him leaving I went to walk the weak areas and the problem had not been fixed at all. They continued to separate from the base, and I found similar occurrences in other areas. I called customer service to report the garage door and the buckling and they assured me that the problem would be fixed.
On 04/03, the first crew came back to look at the areas of concern. They told me, I will fix this, I know it is bad. They went on to explain that they could not fix it now as they had another job to go and do, but they would be back.
I called my sales representative Aaron. Again, I firmly believed in your company's ability to deliver, therefore I met with Aaron on 4/04 to discuss my concerns and the other areas of interest. I liked the coloring of the flooring, and thought that the door and the weak areas could be resolved quickly and simply. We agreed to proceed with the other areas and he assured me that my concerns would be resolved and addressed with the crew that would come to do the next portion of my order. This crew was supposed to be one of his best crews.
The next crew came out on 4/05 to complete my order of now having laminate laid in my living room, dining room, and hallway. This crew was also to resolve the buckling areas of my floors that the first crew was seemingly unable to resolve. They began pulling up my carpet.
Shortly after the new crew's arrival, I knew I had a major problem on my hands. They inquired about the problem areas. They seemed shocked that tile was under my laminate. They all stopped tearing at the carpet and said to me, this cannot be fixed easily; I will have to remove the tile as your floors will not be leveled. They notified me immediately that they would never lay laminate over tile, and that I would have a real cosmetic issue if I were keep the tile down. They called their supervisor as I began to make calls.
Sitting there with my carpet now ripped to shreds, I called my local market manager (Juan), as well as my sales person. They end agreement was that it would now be in my best interest and the crew's best interest to pull the first job up, remove my tile, and start over to correctly lay the laminate. I recall Aaron saying, let's just pull it up and do it right. I agreed.
Your second crew was a lot more honest, reliable, and cautious. Their craftsmanship was notably better than the first crew. Meanwhile, Aaron called me and informed me that I will be responsible for the $400 additional dollars in cost to have my tile removed. I did not agree with that. I felt that if I hadn't been misadvised in the first place, then the tile removal would have been a part of my initial quote, the work would have been done properly, and I wouldn't have been inconvenienced by having to make several follow-up phone calls & efforts to have the problem resolved. I felt that it would be better customer service to just waive these cost, since such a huge error had been made in advising me.
He informed me despite my concerns that he would be charging this amount to my account. I began to see that I would probably have to deal with this issue in terms of management as my salesperson was not being reasonable.
It took a total of three days for this crew to complete the job of pulling up the old crew's work, my existing tile, and laying new product down. I was finally much more satisfied with the crew's work; however the following problems remain: the casings of my doors are now cut too high in several rooms (seven doors total), there is a whole in my drywall, and my base is now coming up from the area next to my fireplace.in regards to the casings of my doors, the first crew had to cut out a huge chunk to accommodate two levels of flooring. The second crew informed that this was not their fault, and that there was really nothing reasonable that they could do about it. They said that they do not recommend putting silicone in the gaps. They said the whole in the drywall was the responsibility of the first set of installers as well. I told them that I would be taking this up with management.
I reported these problems on 04/7, as the second crew rapped up. The second crew took pictures of all my lingering concerns and said that management would call me. On 04/15, a reported installation specialist came to my home to inspect the areas of concern. He offered to fix the problem by putting silicone in the gaps. This was unacceptable, as the second crew informed me that this wasn't the best method of repair. I refused that service. This specialist then informed me that he needed to take pictures of the damage again. He said that his supervisor would be contacting me.
Since this date I have not heard anything on behalf of Empire and their plan to address my concerns. I have made several calls to customer service on the following dates (4/19/06), (4/23), 04/26). I have been consistently told tht management will be contacting me in three business days and I have heard nothing from management.
On my last call to customer service, I informed them of my intent to write to the corporate offices, they extended an excuse of being behind in my local market. This letter is to serve as formal notice that if a plan of resolution is not presented to me within the next calendar month, I will take your company's neglect and avoidance as an indication that my concerns are being ignored or are not valid in your opinion. Furthermore, I may seek legal counsel as well as choose to file a claim with Small Claims Court.
Again, I am seeking that my door casings are restored to acceptable appearance, my baseboards are properly tacked down, and my drywall is repaired.
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