Bought a countertop via countertopsmart that was offered through Empire Countertops. Viewing the piece and buying it was great! Communication was spot on as was viewing and purchasing the piece. HOWEVER, trying to coordinate someone to come out to measure and fabricate the piece has been horrific. I've been calling for two weeks straight leaving messages, sending emails, etc. to no avail. My cabinets are installed and I'm in need of a countertop, but no one is calling me back. I'm kicking myself for paying for everything up front and now being left in a lurch. Super uncool. read more

To say I'm frustrated with Empire Countertops is an understatement. The first 50% of our interaction was great, however once my credit card was run, the communication screeched to a crawl and the quality of work was sub-par, at best. I understand that we're in a strange time (global pandemic and all), but if your business remains open, set proper expectations and follow through with communication. Simple enough, right? After measurements had been taken, we were not contacted to set up install. We attempted multiple times to schedule installation, and finally we were given a timeslot a week and a half later. Prior to the installation date, we were never contacted for confirmation or to set expectations. After following up on installation day, we were informed that the installer would arrive between 8am-12pm....the installer arrived at 7:30pm. At no point was anyone able to give us an answer about when we should expect install. Super frustrating and unprofessional. To top it all off, our countertops were installed with jagged edges, poorly caulked, and one of our sinks was cracked underneath. Our new cabinets were also scratched. Not a word from the installers about any of the damages, as our plumber discovered the sink crack days later. Unless Empire can find better communication skills and subs for their manual labor, find a different business to work with. read more

I purchased a slab through Countertop Smart at Empire. The slab was great. Aimee was helpful prior to the installation. The guy who measured was timely. It took awhile to get the install scheduled. I followed the directions exactly to remove faucets, mirrors etc. These men who did the install did not work for Empire -- they were subs. They cut the slab by my garage door and dust was everywhere in the garage. They left sharp pieces of cut countertop in my driveway. The installers were terrible; they left divots in my wall, broke two under sink pipes and left a mess under the sink. They said the pipes were for a plumber, not their problem. Calls to Aimee got no response. Do not have them install your countertops. read more

Bought a remnant from them for a small bathroom remodel. Aimee was incredibly helpful on the 3 visits we made to their remnant yard behind the front offices. The price was great for the remnant and for the quality of the piece! Wow. Although we had a different fabricator finish the job (because of the turn-key operation related to the place we bought the bathroom cabinet), I would likely have empire do the fabrication the next time there's a need to get a new countertop. If you need a small piece of quartz, granite, etc. for a small job like a bathroom, check out their remnants... read more

Jessica is the person that usually greets you when you walk in the front door. She is very helpful and had great suggestions for my project. I was on a budget because this was a commercial setting and Jessica helped me contain my costs. The whole process went smoothly, though it was almost delayed by the shipping crunch caused by Hurricane Harvey. But, even that was handled very well with timely and friendly communication. The counter top material was of good quality and as expected and the installation was careful and left only minor dings in the nearby drywall which can be touched up with a paint brush. I will definitely use them again. read more

The team at Empire was great to work with! My husband and I were wanting an affordable but updated option for our investment property. Morgan knew budget was our biggest concern and she was able to come in under budget! Would use them again and would recommend them to anyone looking to update their kitchen without breaking the bank. read more

As an interior designer I have worked with Empire on multiple projects large and small. Each time has been a great experience. They have great selections, highly competitive pricing and the fastest instal times in Austin which makes a huge difference when you are trying to finish a project. I look forward to working with them again!!! read more

I bought a new construction house early year and the builder used Empire counter top (I know builder did not use them about 2 months ago.) It was a nightmare after my house is closed. My bathroom countertop has issue and they came to replace once, but their job is very poor and even worse, the replacement was not even the original model that I choose originally. Very cheap quality although you might think you get better price here. Eventually you get what you pay. read more

Be careful even though your countertop may look great after installation, make sure that the installation is done right underneath, inside and the sink is mounted properly with adequate clamps. They are cheap but you get what you pay for and may end up paying in other ways. read more

It's too bad there's a one star minimum. After expecting Empire to install our countertops for weeks and receiving an acknowledgment from them that they were holding up progress on the rest of our construction, we were relieved when they finally decided to show up for work. On the first day they broke our island slab and had to purchase an entire slab to replace it. Fortunately, they took on the cost of that, however, they then took an additional three weeks to show up with the new one (which we had reserved at Alkusari, right next door to Empire's Austin office, the same day they broke the first one). When they finally came to install it the lamination on the edges was extremely sloppy- not at all what we expected for the time and money we had already invested in our marble countertops, but consistent with the service we had received thus far from Empire. Then they took an additional three weeks to come and install our bathroom countertops and shower surround, at which time they neglected to bring all of their materials and those remaining items took them another MONTH to bring and install. Believe me, if our builder hadn't insisted that any other company would have cost us $15k more (which, in retrospect, I have a hard time believing) we would have fired them from the beginning. But we were already so over budget on the total project, that we couldn't bring ourselves to start over with other installers. (Again, in retrospect: it would have been worth it.) The shower surround looks like it was done by a lazy husband trying to check it off of a honey-do list, complete with a ridiculous- and again sloppy- seam right at eye level. Even a novice would know to just flip it so you don't have to stare at it right when you walk in the door. They then refused to fix it, claiming that they would probably break it if they did. It's as if they didn't want our money (and certainly not our good review). The worst part is that there is no recourse when you are working with a company who takes the slabs you have already spent thousands of dollars on into their possession and then continually fails to show up with them. I tried calling Empire myself on a number of occasions (against my builder's recommendation) and I left a voice mail every time, which was never once returned. When you build a custom home, you expect a certain level of quality and service. Our builder told us time and again that in construction subcontractors typically excel in only two of three areas: speed, quality and price. Empire took months to complete a job that should have taken days. Their work is atrocious and they refuse to make amends for it. And, based on my research, their rates are just about standard for the Austin area- although avoiding the nightmare of the lack of speed and quality would be totally worth a few extra dollars per square foot. If you are wise, you will not even CONSIDER working with Empire. read more

POOR QUALITY GRANITE. NOT GLOSSY AND SMOOTH AND HAS SHARP MATERIALS COME UP CONSTANTLY SO IT IS VERY GRITTY. Very very frustrated. I have a new build in 2021 by Highland homes with this issue. They sent the same guy twice after I complained and he said all he could do is to clean and seal it. They sent the contractor person out on the warranty and he does say that this happen alot and offered a solution for it. I was not sure if his method will be a long lasting solution so I wanted another look from the company. I contacted and left multiple messages to Kevin Burdette as I was told that he deals with Highland Homes. He finally called and he did come out the next day. He felt the granite and acknowledged that there is something going on with this granite and he said he has not seen something like this before. He said he will go back and do more research on the batch this granite came in and see what is going on and will get back to me the following Monday or Tuesday. I now realized that it was a bunch of lies. How can a person with 30 yrs of experience as he claimed he has and has not seen a bad granite before? Also, he does not know his product when I asked him which country my granite came from. Based on my research , there were a lot of improper processed slabs that were missed during the Quality control process which may have been dropped shipped to the local dealers which then got passed on to the consumers all the time. I have done enough research to know that there are so many complaints about this and he said he has not seen something like this before. Even worse, he never got back to me at all. I waited about 2 weeks after his visit and still did not hear from him. I left messages, texts and email and still no response. I asked the builder and now the builder said Kevin told him that there was nothing wrong with the granite. I should seal the granite every 3/4 of every month. More lies. Once the granite were not properly resined and penetrated fully into the raw granite and or not fully polished by the big machinery at the original offshore site. NO amount of sealants or hand polishing will fix it. This is such a Coward ACT ! If there was nothing wrong with the granite then why did KEVIN not tell me on the spot at his inspection visit and not getting back to me after his allegedly " research" that he said he would do. He also said he was waiting for the builder to response before he could do anything. Both sides are liars. I sent back the email to the builder asking for his boss and Kevin's boss and still not heard from the builder at all. I have been dealing with this issue for for more than 3mos now from the start of the complaints. I am hoping that Empire and Highland Homes will do what is right for the customers. Homeowners must know about these dishonest companies. read more

Very disappointed. This company installed the granite countertops in our new Chesmar home in Georgetown. The house was complete before we bought it in mid-december so we didn't get to oversee any of the choices or installation. Unfortunately for my wife and I we didn't notice the contrast between the two slabs that make up the kitchen island/bar area until we had moved in. One of the pieces is white and makes up half the bar area), the other a cream. We've looked at many a counter top over the last two and a half months walking through homes as they just finish or inspecting the work done at our friends and families' homes. None have such a noticeable seam and contrast as the two pieces that make up our kitchen countertop. We had them come out here and they said both pieces were cut from the same stone and they couldn't help us. 1st--I have a hard time believing the two pieces were from the same stone. 2nd--I can't imagine any professional in a field like this installing these two pieces and not having their trained eye recognize such a disparity. Now we're left knowing that when we go to sell the house, interested buyers have something they can use as leverage to bring down the value. If I were you and were looking for a granite countertop company, I'd keep looking. ~Christian M. Georgetown, Texas read more

This company shouldn't even be allowed to conduct business. It is run very poorly. They are contracted by Lowe's and were supposed to do my new kitchen counter tops and sink weeks ago, but still have excuse after excuse on why they haven't come. Walter would call or text me with an installation time and they wouldn't even show up. This has happened 3 times now. When I call their main number a girl answers who doesn't know how to speak to customers properly. A manager was supposed to call me but never has. Walter actually hung up on me because I said I'm tired of planning my day around the install times he set with me. I haven't had a kitchen sink in 2 months because of this company. DO NOT do business with this company!!! read more

My husband and I absolutely love our countertops. From picking out our slabs, scheduling, templating and install the process was nice and easy. The install crew was on time and they left the place nice and clean! read more

To get the whole picture, read my original review from 8-27-18. This is the 9-1-18 UPDATE: On the original install, Empire neglected to seal my new countertops and island. I contacted the company and they say they'll make it right but can't (or won't) commit to a date. They said it would take several weeks for an appointment. Waiting another 3 weeks and missing an additional day of work for this is completely unreasonable! I also received a call from their Marketing VP who apologized for my bad experience with Empire and offered me "financial compensation" to retract or update my previously negative review to something more positive. I asked what kind of financial compensation and he said $250 credit. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Really? On what planet do you think I would employ Empire again and use this????? If you've read this long review this far, thank you. I hope you've gotten a good idea of how Empire operates and make an informed decision about using them. read more

First ill explain the problem with the counters, then my problem with the company. 1. I have the same kind of granite installed in both my kitchen and master bath. I am the only person to have lived in this home. The counters in the kitchen stain. Those in the master bath do not. If I put a glass down in the kitchen, a ring is left behind. If I do the same in the bath, a ring is not left behind. Therefore, the logical conclusion is that the kitchen granite was not sealed properly, while the bath granite was. My builder came to the same conclusion. 2. I called to discuss this with and was told they'd call back the following day, but they never did. Decided to call them again and spoke with Erin in production. I wanted to set up an appointment because they are still under warranty. Instead she argued with me and told me that I should have sealed them myself. Fine, if upkeep requires that I seal them, that's one thing, but when I purchase brand new countertops I should not have to seal them the day they're installed. I explained that to her, which is when she moved on to telling me it was probably my cleaning products, but keep in mind, this has been a problem since day 1. Ya know, before I ever cleaned them. She cut me off multiple times while we were speaking. Told me about 5 different ways i was likely my fault and not theirs- including that I should be using a coaster when I put a drink on a counter. Id be willing to accept some responsibility had this not been a problem since the day I moved in and if I didn't have the same granite installed in more than one room. If I could do it again I would certainly go elsewhere and plan to do so in the future. read more

Morgan Monroe and all the people we dealt with at Empire Countertops were top notch. They prepared our counter tops on the agreed to schedule and then did the estimated two day install job (demolition and installation) in one day. The installers, Oscar and Issac, were particularly good. They were very careful and made little dust indoors. They made both the sink & cooktop cut outs and polished the edges outdoors. I will recommend Empire to my friends. read more

Great Experience from start to finish. Just finished a remodel and worked with Morgan at Empire to find some beautiful quartz for the kitchen and baths. Loved the attention to detail that empire demonstrated throughout the process. Highly recommend read more

Empire made it so easy! Morgan Monroe was so amazing working through picking out the color/material of our bathcounter with us. She was so knowledgeable and has amazing customer service skills - even though it was a small piece we required she treated us like VIP. Our install was today and it looks amazing - the cut and install is perfect. Cant recommend them enough. 5 stars well earned! read more

Company installed a granite countertop for a custom made built in. Lead up was great, very helpful. But after the install, that all changed. They offered to come measure the space where the countertop would go, and we agreed so there would be no confusion or miscommunication on what was needed. They installed the countertop and after they left, we noticed a gap between the shelving and the countertop. When we contacted them and asked if the piece was actually 3cm we were assured that it was, as that was what we purchased. We show them that it is not in fact 3 cm, but smaller. After we show them it is not 3cm, we are told that every piece is different. They then suggested we shim or use plywood to raise it, not offer to do that themselves. When we bring up the fact that they knew what we needed beforehand, had someone come out, stand in front of the piece and measure the space, and that it was their responsibility to fix, we were told that they would come out and fix it, at a cost to us of $150.00. We were then told that we should have measured before the install, even though we brought our blueprint of built in to their yard, to ensure that it is 3cm, not anyone at Empire, us. Up to this point, we have been told all pieces are 3cm. Then that the pieces vary, that we should have measured and gone with another piece. Then we are told to shim or underlay plywood. After that, we are told they can come back out and raise it for $150.00. After some more back and forth, we are told that the $150.00 is actually a discounted price for them to come out, as if they are doing us a favor. The way we see it, they are helpful up to purchase but once it comes to customer service, you are out of luck. I would not recommend using unless you stay on top of them throughout the whole process and double and triple check their work, we were naive and believed they would take care of us. read more