G-Wizz! Property industry figure makes headlines with bailiffs

Former estate agent turned PR expert Russell Quirk caused a stir over the weekend after sending bailiffs to recoup money from airline Wizz Air.

Quirk took the drastic action after his family’s flights to Portugal were cancelled and organising alternative travel and new accommodation cost him £4,500.

But after months of waiting the industry figure decided to take action and dispatched bailiffs to Whizz Air’s Luton Airport HQ to confront the firm over its lack of action.

This worked – the airline has reimbursed Quirk and told the BBC that its handling of the case “fell short of our own aspirations and our customers’ expectations”.

He told a reporter that the airline’s customer service was “shocking, shambolic and shoddy”.

His family had been hoping to travel to Portugal from Luton for last year’s May bank holiday and, although he later got the cost of the flights back, his push for ‘consequential losses’ fell on deaf ears.

After winning a county court judgement, Wizz Air continued to ignore him, which lead to the bailiff visit.

“Increasingly businesses are thinking they can treat customers like dirt and I’m determined to eradicate that,” he said.

“My message is, where big companies stonewall you, if you persevere you can get what is owed to you.”

Quirk is best known as the founder of the original emoov hybrid estate agency but is now a radio and TV pundit as well as running ProperPR.

Pic credit: Russell Quirk.