We had Quick-Step brand laminate floor installed by Empire Today in Nov. 2007 & are still fighting with them about it (3 years later). We first noticed within about a month after the install that the floor seemed to scratch VERY easily and that it would not hold up to any liquid for more than about a minute. About 6 months after the install (approx. 1000 sq ft) the boards began to jam together & pucker (enough that they eventually got chipped on the ends from foot traffic because they puckered so high that they actually hurt bare feet) and then after a couple months of puckering they would begin to separate to the point there were nearly 1/2 inch gaps between boards.
After several phone calls over the course of nearly a year Empire refused to refund our money and instead wanted to just replace the damaged boards. When we insisted they needed to come & see this floor for themselves so they could understand why replacing a couple of boards wasn't going to fix our problem, Empire finally agreed to send an independent inspector to look at the floor (Dec. 2009). He said he had never seen a floor do what ours was doing, but when we asked for a copy of his report/pictures he said he was not allowed to release that information to us because he was hired by Empire, not us. (nevermind that it's OUR FLOOR in OUR HOUSE!)
Soon after the independent inspector came the original installer also came by to look and said that he's installed laminate for YEARS now & he'd never seen a laminate floor do what ours was doing. We have told Empire repeatedly that all we want is a refund so that we can get a different floor from a different company & they have repeatedly refused. We have also told them that if they will give us a refund we will gladly rip up this floor ourselves & personally deliver it to their offices so they will know that we are not trying to get a free floor - they still refused to give us a refund. Now they tell us they want to replace the entire floor with the brand they now carry (Easy Living) - this was 5 days ago & we still have not heard back from them to set a date for the install of this new supposedly "better" quality laminate.
Evidently the "next day installation" is only for the new "customers/victims". We have now agonized over this floor for over 2 years now & would like to finally see SOME ACTION but are not surprised since Empire Today has lied to us from the very beginning. It will be a VERY happy day for me when I see this company go out of business - they have been the absolute WORST company we have EVER dealt with - even used car salesmen are more honest than EMPIRE TODAY!!! Spread the word if you have also had problems with empire - that's the only way to save others from living through the same nightmare!
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