General Terms and Conditions
Terms and Conditions of Participation
These terms and conditions of participation apply to the private educational institution "Sprachportal Akademie GmbH"; Bahnhofstraße 82-86; 35390 Gießen, hereinafter referred to as "Sp-Akademie" or "Sprachportal".
General Information on Registration
Registrations are possible from the moment the course and examination offers are published. Registrations are generally processed in the order they are received. Registrations can only be considered if there are still places available in the desired course or for the examination.
Examination Registration Language Examinations
Registration for language examinations can be done in the following ways:
- Online via our webshop
- In person on-site at our school
Course Registration
Course registrations can only be made in person on-site at our school.
Binding Nature of Registration
Every registration constitutes a binding application to conclude a contract. By registering, you commit to participating and, where applicable, to paying the course or examination fees. The contract is concluded upon confirmation of registration by the Sprachportal, subject to reaching the minimum number of participants (see point 6 "Event Requirements"). This means that the contract only becomes effective once this condition is met. If you are taking a continuation course that spans two or more months, it is possible to register bindingly for the follow-up course in advance. Please ensure you attend the first session in any case, even if you have not received any notification from the Sprachportal contrary to expectations. We expressly point out that the first session does not count as a trial lesson. If you have any doubts regarding your prior knowledge, please be sure to use our consultation services. Anyone registering for Sprachportal events should be at least 16 years old. You will be informed separately about any deviations in the details for individual courses.
2. Consultation and Placement
We offer personal consultation for the areas of basic education and German as a foreign language. This is a prerequisite for registration. Information on placement consultations for foreign languages can be found on our respective websites.
3. Fees and Additional Costs
The amount of the participation fee for individual events is stated on the respective course page. The minimum fee per course is €30, or €60 for events with more than 29 teaching hours. Fee surcharges that may arise if the minimum number of participants (see 6) is not reached are eligible for discounts. Additional costs such as material fees (MK), further teaching materials, usage fees (NP), model fees, examination fees, textbooks, etc., must be paid in full without discount.
4. Fee Discounts
You can receive a discount of up to the amount of the minimum fee on the course fee, but not on additional costs (see no. 3), if you have previously attended a Sprachportal course.
Only one reason for a discount can be claimed per registration. For registrations where your company covers the fee, no discount option is available.
If you wish to claim a fee discount, please send us the corresponding proof with your registration or present it when registering at the Sprachportal location. If proof is missing, you will be booked as a full payer. In this case, please ensure you submit the required documents no later than the 2nd day of the event, or 1 day after the end of the event for weekend events. Otherwise, the discount cannot be taken into account and the full fee must be paid.
The date of receipt at the Sprachportal is decisive.
Discounts granted as part of special promotions are subject to specific conditions, which you can inquire about at the training locations.
5. Payment
The participation fee is due in full on the date shown on the invoice. Once a valid SEPA direct debit mandate has been issued, the fee will be debited from your account; otherwise, you will receive an invoice for bank transfer. For courses starting between the 1st and 15th of the month, the fee will be debited from your account via SEPA direct debit by the 8th of the following month. For courses starting between the 16th and the end of the month, the fee will be debited from your account via SEPA direct debit by the 23rd of the following month. If the direct debit is not honored, it will be repeated a few days later, and the processing of this claim will be handed over to a collection agency in compliance with data protection regulations. This also applies to outstanding balances from unpaid transfers. In this case, further costs may be incurred.
If the fee for an event exceeds €150, the Sprachportal allows you the option of installment payments. Further information is available at your training location.
Note: You can request a refund of the debited amount from your bank within eight weeks of the debit date. The terms and conditions of your bank apply.
Revocation: You can withdraw the SEPA direct debit mandate from the Sprachportal up to 7 days before the debit is executed.
6. Event Requirements
Events can generally only take place if the minimum number of participants is reached. If fewer participants have registered, the Sprachportal will decide on a case-by-case basis whether the course should be held despite the low number of participants. In this case, the Sprachportal will make you a new offer to conclude a contract with an increased fee. If an ongoing event is cancelled for reasons for which the Sprachportal is responsible, the fee will be refunded on a pro-rata basis. There will be no reimbursement of any further individual costs incurred by participants. If you participate in an online offering from the Sprachportal, you must ensure you have a suitable technical infrastructure yourself. This also includes the installation of required software. Programs, licenses, and access data provided to you as part of our online offering may not be passed on to third parties and must be deleted by you after the course ends. The Sprachportal reserves the right of house authority for all event locations it uses. Under certain – separately regulated – conditions, participants may be excluded from further attendance of the event.
7. Course Cancellation
If ongoing events or individual course sessions are cancelled for reasons for which the Sprachportal is not responsible, participants have no claim to make up for the missed hours nor a claim to a refund of the pro-rata fee. This applies in particular to course cancellations due to force majeure.
8. Withdrawal and Cancellation
8.A. Statutory Right of Withdrawal under the German Civil Code (BGB)
Your Right of Withdrawal
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within four weeks before a start date without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period is fourteen days from the day the contract is concluded.
To exercise your right of withdrawal, you must inform Sprachportal Akademie GmbH, Bahnhofstr. 82-86, 35390 Gießen, Tel. 0641 – 2010280, Email: info@sp-akademie.de, by means of a clear declaration (e.g., a letter sent by post, fax, or email) of your decision to withdraw from this contract. You may use our sample withdrawal form for this purpose, although it is not mandatory. To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send the notification of the exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Consequences of Withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we shall reimburse all payments we have received from you in connection with this event immediately and no later than fourteen days from the day on which we received notification of your withdrawal from this contract. For this repayment, we will use the same means of payment that you used for the original transaction, unless expressly agreed otherwise with you; in no case will you be charged any fees for this repayment. If you requested that the service should begin during the withdrawal period, you must pay us the amount corresponding to the proportion of the services already provided up to the time you informed us of the exercise of the right of withdrawal regarding this contract, compared to the total scope of the services provided for in the contract.
For language examinations:
Please note that cancellation or rescheduling of your registration is only possible up to four weeks before the examination date.
In the event of cancellation within four weeks of the examination, a fee of 50% of the examination fee will be charged. If the cancellation occurs within two weeks of the examination date, the full examination fee (100%) must be paid. Should a registered participant be unable to attend, they may name a substitute participant to take the examination in their place. In this case, no cancellation or rebooking fees will apply. This is subject to the substitute participant meeting the participation requirements and being named in good time before the start of the examination.
8.B. Cancellation Policy of Sprachportal Akademie GmbH in addition to the statutory right of withdrawal
If you wish to cancel your registration, please notify your Sprachportal location in writing in all cases. The deadlines mentioned below must be observed. Unfortunately, we cannot accept verbal or telephone cancellations at a Sprachportal location, nor written, telephone, or verbal notifications to your instructor.
Failure to attend does not constitute a cancellation.
The cancellation period ends 20 days before the start of the event. If this deadline is not met, you are obligated to pay the full invoice amount. In the event that it is possible to name a substitute participant to take your place, no cancellation or rebooking fees will apply. This is subject to the substitute participant meeting the participation requirements and being registered in good time before the start of the course.
In the event of cancelled courses, you will naturally incur no costs due to a late cancellation. The right of cancellation for events held outside of your Sprachportal location is regulated separately on a case-by-case basis. The date of receipt of your course cancellation at the Sprachportal is decisive.
Separate cancellation conditions apply to examinations and webinars. If your cancellation was received in time and you have already paid, the fee will of course be refunded to you.
9. Termination
Ordinary termination is excluded for the duration of the booked event. The right to extraordinary termination for good cause remains unaffected.
10. Rebooking
If you would like to change your course up to 7 days before it begins, please contact your Sprachportal location. After this deadline, a change is only possible before the 3rd day of the event and requires an agreement. Please contact your Sprachportal location for this. A rebooking is only possible if a place is available in the desired course. For weekend courses and courses with up to 5 sessions, a change is only possible up to 7 days before the start of the course.
11. Certificate of Attendance
If you would like a certificate of attendance for your regular participation, please contact your instructor in good time. A processing fee of €10 applies for certificates of attendance requested after the end of the event.
12. Data Protection
We process the personal data you provide during registration for the purpose of providing and improving our services – including customer surveys – and for your future support with information regarding the Sprachportal's offerings via post. With your consent, we use your email address and mobile number to inform you about courses and offers. Data is not passed on to third parties for advertising purposes. If you do not wish to receive any information about the Sprachportal's offers and services, you can inform us of this at any time informally, e.g., by email to info@sp-akademie.de or in writing to one of the Sprachportal locations.
13. Liability
Participants attend events at their own risk. The Sprachportal assumes no liability for accidents and/or damage to or loss of personal property belonging to course participants, unless the Sprachportal has caused the personal accident through negligent breach of duty, or the damage or loss of property through intentional or grossly negligent breach of duty. There is no insurance coverage for accidents or for damage to or loss of items brought to the premises.
14. Excursions, Study Trips
For excursions and study trips offered as part of the events, the Sprachportal acts solely as an intermediary in the sense of travel contract law, unless otherwise stipulated.
15. Change of Instructor
The Sp-Akademie reserves the right, for important reasons, to assign a different instructor to courses than originally advertised and to change the event location. This does not create a right to extraordinary termination.
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