UK consumer Mr T booked two tickets for an internal flight within Greece to Athens airport, paying by credit card, but less than 45 minutes before take-off the flight was cancelled, with no reason being given. Passengers were offered flights for the next day but this wasn’t convenient for the consumer.

It meant that Mr T and his companion had to get a ferry and then a metro from the port to Athens airport in order to make their flight back to Manchester the next day.

Upon his return to the UK, the consumer tried to contact the airline but his emails and calls went unanswered.

So he contacted the UKICC, who assessed his case and contacted colleagues at the Greek European Consumer Centre.

Initially the consumer was asking for a refund of his expenses, but due to the late notice of the cancellation, the UKICC’s consumer advisor Emma Drury-Laker advised that he should be entitled to compensation under flight compensation regulation, regulation 261.

Consumer advisors at ECC Greece contacted the airline, which agreed to pay Mr T for his ferry and metro tickets, as well as pay 250 Euro compensation for each of the two passengers, plus his original £120 flight costs.

After he got his money back, Mr T said: “I wanted to write to thank you for your help to get this money back and exercise my consumer rights. When I was trying to speak to the airline, they wouldn't answer my emails or calls which left a feeling of powerlessness as they had left me out of pocket.

“With your help this has been corrected. I am very grateful and I hope that you know that your work makes a massive difference for everyday consumers. Without your help many companies would ignore consumers, so thanks for being there.”