In this article, we review some of the most recent progress and understanding in the low temperature surface phase transitions at prototypical metal-semiconductor interfaces. We essentially focus on quantitative surface structural information obtained by using a significant variety of specialised techniques for the individual phases of a model system, namely, tin on Ge(1 1 1) substrates. The strengths and limitations of the structural results obtained by using scanning tunnelling microscopy, photoelectron diffraction and surface X-ray diffraction are discussed in relation to their support with respect to possible mechanisms recently invoked in the literature as being at the origin of the phase transition. These investigations show that a large progress has been made in this field, taking into account the very valuable experimental and theoretical contributions provided by different groups. There remain, however, essential unresolved problems, which will be analysed in the light of the limitations of these structural methods and the difficulty presented by the complex adsorbate systems studied. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.