General terms and conditions – Terms and conditions – Sprachschule Aktiv Köln

Enrollment language courses – Beginning and duration – Conditions of payment

The enrollment in a group-, private- or business course or a telc exam is the conclusion of a contract between the enrolee and Sprachschule Aktiv Köln. Possible ways for the enrollment are a signed enrollment form or via the online-form.

The customer obligates himself to pay the course fee within 14 days or latest at the start of the course. The course fee can be paid either in cash or via bank transfer.

The legal obligation to pay the course fee also persists in case the classes are not or partly visited. Bookings can only be made to take part in a course for a certain time, you can not buy levels and Sprachschule Aktiv does not guarantee a certain level after a certain time of participation.

General Terms

One teaching unit lasts 45 minutes. Sprachschule Aktiv Köln mainly contracts native speakers. Nevertheless there is no entitlement to choose a certain teacher. Sprachschule Aktiv Köln reserves the right to change or replace a teacher during the courses.

Sprachschule Aktiv Köln always tries to make an effort to reach the planned contents and goals and always tries to prepare the students as reasonable as possible for internal or external exams. Nevertheless Sprachschule Aktiv Köln takes no responsibility whatsoever that the students reach a certain level at a certain time or pass any exam.

On public holidays no classes are held. These classes will not be replaced or made up for. The customer has no right to claim a full or partly refund.
Sprachschule Aktiv reserves the right to grade and divide the students according to their level into the right course, even though another level had been booked by the student. The determination of the right level is made with a certified placement test. This process does not qualify the customer to terminate the contract extraordinarily.

The prices of Sprachschule Aktiv Köln do not include the German sales tax. As an educational institution we are exempt from value added tax.

Cancelation of contract and special terms

The customer has, within a 14 day period, after the conclusion of the contract, the right to cancel it without any reasons. The cancelation needs to be made in writing and the clear verbalization, that the customer would like to cancel the contract.

In case the course has already started within the 14 days cancelation time limit, a withdrawal or cancelation is no longer possible and the total amount of the course is due.

The 14-day cancellation period does not apply to visa courses.

The withdrawal or cancelation can either be made via e-mail to the following address: info@sprachschule-aktiv-koeln.de or by mail to the following address: Sprachschule Aktiv Köln, Neumarkt 1c, 50667 Köln. Once the cancellation period is over, a cancellation or withdrawal is no longer possible.

In case the contract has been made in the offices of Sprachschule Aktiv Köln, with a signed form, a cancellation is not possible.

The booking of the language courses is made for a predetermined period of time respectively a predetermined number of lessons (teaching units) for private or inhouse courses.

The customer is not able to buy level or time until he reaches a certain level.
In case the student is not able to attend to the class, he has no right to attend to an extra meeting or lesson or a partial refund of the paid course fee.
The student has the right, after attending to the first lesson (trial lesson = 45 minutes) at the beginning of the course, to cancel the contract. The cancelation has to be made in a written way within 24 hours after the free trial lesson and does not require any reasons.

If the student decides to go on with the course, the trial lesson counts as the first teaching unit of the booked course. Sprachschule Aktiv can, in exceptional cases, decide to change the teacher. The customer has no claims out of this measurement. Sprachschule Aktiv Köln reserves the right to postpone a course, in case the necessary number of participants (4 persons) is not reached, until it is reached.

Absence does not count as deregistration and does not free the student from the legal obligation to pay.

The intensive courses in the morning take place regularly from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. In rare cases, Sprachschule Aktiv reserves the right to adjust the course time due to organizational requirements. For the intensive course in the morning, the latest start time is 12:00 p.m. This adjustment does not entail a special right of termination or a right to a partial refund.

If lessons have to be temporarily switched to online due to a corona case that has occurred, this does not entitle the student to terminate the contract.
In case the student ends the language course earlier than planned, the total amount of the course fee is due at once. In case of a paying by installments the whole agreement loses validity, if one of the due rates in not paid. In that case the total amount of the course fee is due at once.

Special terms for visa courses

Special regulations for visa courses: for the registration for language courses that are required for obtaining a visa, the following terms apply:

When registering, the customer is required to indicate that the course in question is an intensive course for visa. Intensive courses for visa are defined as any course, with which one is applying for a visa in Germany. The 14-day cancellation period does not apply to visa courses.

The customer has the right to postpone the course start – even several times.

Any postponement of the course must be notified to the language school in written form before the start of the language course.

For bookings of up to 2 months, the entire course fee is due in advance. For bookings of 3 months or more, the customer is obliged to pay half of the course fee in advance as a deposit. The second half of the course fee is due at the start of the course.

If the issuance of the visa is rejected by the responsible authority, the prepayment made minus a processing fee of 250.00 EUR will be refunded if the language school is presented with the notice of rejection from the responsible authority no later than four months after the planned start of the course. Failure to submit the rejection notice in due time will preclude reimbursement.

Reimbursement of the prepayment is also precluded if a postponement of the course requested by the customer has not been notified in writing before the start of the course or if the start of the course has been postponed by the customer by a total of more than four months.

Eligible for refund (deducting a 250 € administrative fee) if both of the following requirements are met:

1. I have informed Sprachschule Aktiv in written form and before the course start that I will not be able to attend the course as planned because I will not be in Germany in time to start the course.

AND

2. I have presented the official notice of rejection within four months after the initial date of the course start.

Not eligible for refund if at least one of the following points applies:

1. I have not informed Sprachschule Aktiv in written form that I will not attend the course.

OR

2. I have not presented the official notice of rejection within four months after the initial course start.

The online communication training on Saturday will only take place if the minimum number of participants is reached. There is no entitlement to a reduction or refund of the visa course price if the Saturday course is cancelled.

The intensive courses in the morning take place regularly from 09:00 to 12:00. In rare cases, Sprachschule Aktiv reserves the right to adjust the course time due to organisational requirements. For the intensive course in the morning, the latest start time is 12:00. This adjustment does not entail any special right of termination or the right to a partial refund.

 

Telc exam cancelation:

The registration and enrolment for a telc exam is binding and the legal obligation to pay is still valid, even if the participant does not take part in the exam. If the participant is sick on the exam day, there is the possibility of a cancelation with a medical certificate. In that case a cancelation fee in the amount of 80.00 € is due at once.

Special terms for private and inhouse course

When booking a private or inhouse course, the starting time of the lessons can be agreed on directly with the teacher or Sprachschule.
The booked contingent is defined for at least one month after booking, areal and temporally.

In case the customer does not attend to the classes, there is no right for a replacement or refund of the course fee. Moreover there is no right to cancel a booked course after the cancelation time has run out, if the customer or the company does not want to attned the lessons any longer.

In case the student is not able to take part in an appointed meeting, the teacher or Sprachschule Aktiv have to be informed until latest 24 hours before the class starts, either written or by telefone to postpone the class.
In case the class is canceled within 24 hours before the appointment, there is no right to another lesson.

For each meeting with private or inhouse courses the customer is obliged to book at lease two teaching units.

Booked teaching units have to be claimed within one year. Teaching units, that have not been claimed, expire one year after the contract was made.
There is no refund of booked teaching units, that have not been used.

Special terms for low number of participants:

In case an intensive course has less than 7 participants, the course hours will, on equal terms of payment, be shortened from 4 teaching units to 3 teaching units.

In case an intensive course has 2-3 participants, 2 teaching units per day, 45 minutes each, will be held on equal terms of payment.

If the number of participants is too low, Sprachschule Aktiv Köln reserves the right to annul or postpone the course. In that case, the students will be informed duly.

After notice of the annulment or postponement, the customer has, within a 5 day time limit, the right to cancel the course. This legally relevant act has to made in writing.

In case the participant does not declare anything within five days, he will automatically be registered for the next course, that takes place.

Disclaimer:

Sprachschule Aktiv Köln does not take any legal liability for customers damages, accidents or injuries in, or on the way from or forth the language school.
Likewise Sprachschule Aktiv Köln does not take any legal liability for theft or burglary and damages of property within the school. Sprachschule Aktiv Köln does not take any legal liability for material damages, no matter what kind, that arise from transfer of knowledge.