Wednesday, September 28, 2016

My 'Empire Today' Carpet Nightmare

Placed an order about 2 months ago. Received two (2) confirmation calls on Friday (9/23) making sure we were prepared for installation on Monday (9/26). 7:15am Monday I get a call telling me Empire do not have my carpet in stock! What? You called me TWICE on Friday to confirm! How could you not know you don’t have the carpet when you’re calling me to confirm?!

I’m told it would take 4 days to order the carpet & then I would be set up for installation - I can’t have my family uprooted & all our belongings living in the garage & backyard for another week! After being shuffled to 3 more Empire staff who could not help, I ask to speak with a Supervisor who can make a decision. I now wait for Kevin, Area Sales Manager to call me back.

3hrs later I get a call from Kevin who seems sympathetic to our situation & realizes we do not want to wait any longer for carpet. He suggests choosing a different carpet (higher quality at no extra cost if I choose) & organizes another rep to come to our house Monday afternoon. "We want to make this right, even if it means we have to eat it" I’m assured by Kevin.

Fine - a different rep arrives Monday afternoon with alternate samples. "She’s really great", I’m assured by Kevin, even though at one point she says to me something like "I have to go outside to make this call because you can’t hear what I have to say...oh, but it’s not about your carpet".
Strange I thought but at this point, I just want to choose a carpet & get on with life.
I was asked to choose a 2nd (really 3rd) choice 'just in case'.
Really?
You come to sell me replacement carpet & you want me to makes 'choices' just in case you don't have the replacement carpet in stock? Would it not be a good idea to check first & then show me what you have available? After all, my house is living in my garage, living room & backyard at the moment (we did our part to move all our furniture as instructed by Empire).

Carpet layers arrive after 10am on Tues (first thing in the morning according to Empire) & proceed to tell me they can’t lay the carpet as there are asbestos tiles underneath. This after the issue having been dismissed by 2 previous sales people (who we showed the tiles to) who told me this should not be a problem. The carpet layers took a picture, sent it to their supervisor who called me to tell me they could not lay the carpet. Adding they would refund my deposit (in a very ‘doing me a favour’ manner).

I understand the asbestos issue – my father-in-law died from asbestos exposure & my father is struggling with asbestosis issues now. I don’t want anyone harmed or doing something they should not but to leave me, a customer, with no information or alternatives is not anywhere close to "making it right".

I asked the supervisor to have Kevin, Area Sales Manager (who I had been dealing with over the lack of ordered carpet in the first place) to call me asap. That was around 10:45am Tuesday. It’s now after 11am Wednesday & I have heard from no one!

I appreciate the deposit refund (which you have to refund me as you did not deliver but as yet, I have not seen it) but it does not seem Empire wants to “make things right” as I was assured by Kevin on Monday. I took 3 days off work (Empire told me it would take 3 days) & am now scrambling to get our house back in order.

How are you able to sleep at night? All I wanted was a reasonable carpet at a reasonable price.

You have turned our lives upside down & as yet there is no end in sight & to top it all off, you gave me no ideas, suggestions or options for our situation. We own a house, like hundreds of others in our neighbourhood, I’m sure we are not the first to come across this issue.

I am disgusted by your lack of care & unprofessional behavior throughout this entire nightmare...except for Kevin on Monday who seemed to be quite helpful & sympathetic to our situation. Apparently that only happens until you dishonor the contract, then...nothing.

I tried to send this to your 'Contact Us' page but you do not give enough space. I am now adding this link to your contact page. Will you read it & contact me? Time will tell...

Sunday, June 26, 2016

Australia Wins Again!

Hey EU & your mates UK & US....I know you all think it's always all about 'yous' & lately ONLY all about yous but next Saturday (July 2nd, 2106), Australia is throwing a little shindig of it's own.
It's called a Double Dissolution Election! :o
With changed voting rules for the senate just to throw a little twist into an already convoluted system, oh, and now with an atmosphere that has Auzzie stocks & $ falling as Brexit shockwaves hit the country.
And, we have our own versions of all 'you's' issues, isms & phobias as well; economies, disasters, racism, sexism, homophobia, etc...
But WE WIN! - Beyond all our governments sharing qualities in various degrees of inept, incompetent, uninformed, corrupt, dishonest, selfish and hateful - Our pollies have made the Great Barrier Reef available to the highest bidder & some of them still are not reeeeally sure about climate change even though we lost the 1st mammal due to climate change just last week from our land & have lost 50% of the top 1/3 of our Great Barrier Reef from our water. Our pollies have thousands of scientists begging them for action but still they stand firm with their feet planted solidly in that choaly ground assured Mother Nature will continue to provide & not radically change from what we are continuing to do to it.
That's why we win....the Biggest Loser Pollies are all Auzzies!