Home Work stars Andy and Candis Meredith ‘adamantly deny that we have ever stolen money from these clients’ as Magnolia Network pulls their show in wake of allegations
House-flippers Andy and Candis Meredith have released a statement after their show Home Work was pulled by the Magnolia Network.
The couple are facing allegations that they ripped off clients, let budgets spin out of control, performed poor work and ran an unsafe work environment.
In their defense the duo wrote: ‘Whatever was wanted from this campaign I believe has happened – so many believe that we are frauds, that we have hurt people intentionally, and that we are not who we say they are. That is simply not true.’
Embattled: House-flippers Andy and Candis Meredith have released a statement after their show Home Work was pulled by the Magnolia Network
The show bowed Wednesday along with the Magnolia Network – which is spearheaded by Chip and Joanna Gaines – but was scrapped two days later.
One accuser called Teisha Hawley called their work the ‘remodel from hell’ and said that ‘2 years later talking about it makes me sick and brings tears to my eyes.’
She claimed the Merediths charged $45,000 for a job they said ‘would take no longer than 3-4 weeks’ – only to then demand ‘another $35-$40k’ when the project had already stretched weeks beyond when it was meant to.
‘It is scary to speak out but also something we have to do. We’ve sent attorney letters that have only been met with threats of lawsuits,’ wrote Teisha.
‘That is simply not true’: The couple denied allegations ‘that we are frauds, that we have hurt people intentionally, and that we are not who we say they are’
Her husband Jeff told the Today show that while their home was being done ‘Two times, somebody fell through the floor into our basement.’
In response Candis told the show: ‘We were very upfront in the beginning that this is hard. It is extremely difficult to pinpoint everything that’s going to happen or things that might change,’ saying she was not on the scene for the falls Jeff described.
Another accuser named Aubrey Bennion claimed the Merediths managed to make a $25,000 kitchen repair cost $40,000, taking five months to complete a job they assured her would be done in three weeks.
Aubrey added that they allegedly cost her $18,000 in repair fees in connection with the deck they constructed above her sprinkler system.
Hinting at their side: The show bowed Wednesday along with the Magnolia Network – which is spearheaded by Chip and Joanna Gaines – but was scrapped two days later
As the allegations swirled around the couple the president of Magnolia Network, Allison Page, told People the show had been pulled.
‘Magnolia Network is aware that certain homeowners have expressed concerns about renovation projects undertaken by Candis and Andy Meredith,’ said Allison.
‘Within the last few days, we have learned additional information about the scope of these issues, and we have decided to remove Home Work from the Magnolia Network line up pending a review of the claims that have been made.’
The Merediths wrote on Instagram Friday that ‘although we cannot speak for anyone but ourselves, we can say that we have always tried to give everything we have to make anyone we work with happy.’
Done: They asked ‘that these threats and piling on without the full story stop’ and said: ‘We don’t do projects for clients as a job, and we won’t be doing any more in the future’
While insisting: ‘We will never take away their truth and how they are feeling’ they argued ‘there are two sides to every story and while we chose not to go public with our truth, because we know how hurtful this feels, we understand that only hearing one side can paint a negative picture.’
Candis and Andy maintained: ‘We have always kept lines of communication open, there have always been ways for people to recover any damages, there have been purchase contracts in place, legal avenues etc, but taking this public seems to be the easiest way to harm us personally.’
Furthermore they claimed not to have made ‘a single penny from any of these clients and paying out of pocket to try to make them happy or right wrongs.’
They noted the allegations surfacing ‘this week, when it would hurt us the most,’ calling the timing ‘calculated’ and saying: ‘We adamantly deny that we have ever stolen money from these clients, we haven’t defrauded ‘so many families.”
Chronology: They noted the allegations surfacing ‘this week, when it would hurt us the most,’ calling the timing ‘calculated’
The Merediths declared: ‘We worked with licensed general contractors. It is true that we are sometimes left with outstanding balances, but we always pay, even if it takes some time for us to make arrangements. To say anything otherwise is truly not ok.’
They iterated: ‘We have paid every amount of money we could to make things right and have continued making payments when necessary.’
Although they confessed that during the Goates family job the ‘money we gave to a general contractor was misallocated,’ they said: ‘We cannot fully defend anything without taking down so many others and ruining their livelihood.’
Defense: ‘We adamantly deny that we have ever stolen money from these clients, we haven’t defrauded ‘so many families,” they wrote in their statemetn
The Merediths claimed: ‘We also have ‘receipts’ of things that have happened, working with general contractors can be so challenging and we have tried to carry as much of that burden from anyone we have consulted with at great personal cost to us financially, mentally and physically.’
Maintaining that they spent ‘tens of thousands of dollars’ of ‘our own money’ to ensure that ‘the very small group of people who are upset with us’ would be able to have a ‘positive outcome’ in the end.
‘This has been more painful than you can imagine, letting a handful of people control a narrative and spread half truths, many times leaving out the parts where we were accommodating and paying out of pocket and trying to make anything right.’
Leaving the door open: Candis and Andy added: ‘One day we may have the courage to put everything out publicly to defend ourselves against the ‘instagram mafia’ that was called up’
They asked ‘that these threats and piling on without the full story stop’ and said: ‘We don’t do projects for clients as a job, and we won’t be doing any more in the future.’
Candis and Andy added: ‘One day we may have the courage to put everything out publicly to defend ourselves against the ‘instagram mafia’ that was called up.’
They concluded: ‘But in this moment, we know that anything we say will only be turned against us and hurt so many more.’
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