Europeans Complain About Greek Tourism Services

Visitors to Greece and Greek consumers are increasingly voicing their complaints as data released last month showed the number of those grievances rose by 64 percent between 2005 and 2006.

According to data from Greece’s European Consumer Center (ECC), run by the development ministry’s general consumer secretariat, just under a third of all complaints related to entertainment and culture-related goods.

These were followed by reports related to transport services, which included protests about the infringement of airline passenger rights and rental companies trying to dupe their customers. Ten percent of complaints were related to restaurants and hotels. About 17 percent of reports received by the ECC last year came from foreign EU nationals with the majority from Britain, Germany, France, Spain and Cyprus.

Complaints regarding Greek hospitality and related offerings are usually related to excessively high prices charged for low-quality services, said the secretariat.

The ECC is a European Commission initiative that helps solve consumer disputes arising among residents of member states. With 26 centers across the EU, the service aims to cultivate feelings of security among consumers so they can spend robustly.