Terms and Conditions

Registration

Registration is legally binding for both parties and is valid in the absence of a signature either over the phone, via email, through our online form, via mail or in person at one of our ISD locations. These terms and conditions will be clearly referred to during registration. After successful registration, customers will receive an invoice. As a rule, the invoice must be paid within 1-2 weeks. Special agreements can be made between customers and the school administration in certain cases. Even in cases of a special agreement, the balance for the entire booking must be paid in full within the first half of the booking period. ISD reserves the right to decline applications. ISD also reserves the right to change start dates or times, at any time and without notice. In the event that the time change is not compatible with the registered participant, the customer may cancel the registration at no extra cost. Fees listed in brochures as well as online on the ISD website, scheduled class dates, and terms and conditions are also subject to change without notice. The commencement of a course depends on the number of registrations.

 

Only 1 online special offer per participant will be applied.

Pricing

The prices of products/services are valid at the time of booking/ordering. Prices listed on www.isd-freiburg.de include value added tax (VAT). Certain products/services are exempt from VAT. Pricing for classes and materials will take place in the customers respective class and after completion of a placement test. Should the placement differ from the actual requirements, prices may also be subject to change.

 

Late Payments

If ISD notices a late payment or partial payment as stated in the invoice, the invoice recipient will receive a payment reminder with a new payment due date and late fee via email. If no payment is received by the second payment due date, all documentation will be handed over, without further notice, to a partner company that will take care of collecting the balance as well as fees and processing costs.

 

Withdrawal/Cancellation 

The following rules are valid for all registrations with the exception of registrations WITH an acceptance letter.

Registered participants may withdraw (written, via email) without stating a reason within the following withdrawal period, if the invoice is not older than 90 days.

-up to 14 days before the course start date

Deregistration by teachers is not a valid form of withdrawal.

The deciding factor is the date in which the written notification of withdrawal/cancellation is received. In the event of a withdrawal of participation within the withdrawal period, the balance will be repaid minus a 15% cancellation fee. If the invoice has not yet been paid at the time of cancellation, the existing invoice will be cancelled and a new invoice with an amount equal to 15% of the original invoice balance will be issued.

Starting on the 13^th day before the course start date, invoices must be paid in full, even if the participant will not attend the course, or will only attend part-time.

Invoices older than 90 days may not under any circumstances be cancelled; they must be paid in full, even if the participant will not attend the course, or will only attend part-time.

‘Course’ refers not to 1 GER-Level, but rather the entire booking period. Each booking has only one start date, even when the booking includes more than one GER-Level. The course start date will be stated in the invoice. If, for instance, two or more levels are booked at once, the two levels may NOT be treated as separate courses. (For example: a participant books an A1-B1 course and attends until the end of A2. The participant cannot claim a refund for the B1 level, because the A1-B1 courses is a single booking. The participant does have the right to claim a refund if the 3 levels are booked separately, without a special discount for the accumulated booking.)

Moreover, the course fee will only be refunded if the respective course/event is cancelled.

For cancellations outside the cancellation period, ISD or the participant can suggest a new start date (postponement of original start date). Should the suggestion not be agreed upon, the invoice is to be paid in full.

A start date may be postponed one time free-of-charge. A fee of 50€ will be charged starting with the second start date change.

In the event of a test cancellation, test fees will not be refunded.

If there is a major issue with the course/event that is likely to have an effect on the goal of said course/event, the contractual partner is to inform ISD, giving administration a reasonable grace period to remedy the issue. If it is not remedied within the agreed upon grace period, the contractual partner may terminate the contract with good reason after expiry of the cancellation period.

The legal cancellation rights for long-distance transactions are not affected by these conditions. Refunds will take place within 90 days of cancellation.

 

Withdrawal and Cancellation by ISD

ISD can withdraw or cancel the contract when the course/event cannot take place, or only part-time, due to reasons ISD is not responsible for (i.e. teaching staff falls ill). In this case, the fee is owed according to the ratio of completed units to the total number of units remaining in the course/event. This does not apply if the calculation of completed service provided is unreasonable for participants, in particular if the service provided was of no value to the participants.

ISD may cancel in accordance with § 314. An important reason could fall under of the following categories:

-Offensive participant behavior in course/event, in particular continual disruption of information and course/event proceedings, despite prior warning and threat of cancellation from teaching staff,

-Attacks on reputation or the integrity of teaching staff, other participants or employees of ISD,

-Discrimination based on a persons’ characteristics (age, gender, skin color, ethnic or religious affiliation, etc.),

-Abuse of courses/events for political party or ideological purposes or activism of any kind.

ISD can declare an expulsion from a course/event unit in place of a cancellation. Remuneration is not affected through such a cancellation or expulsion.

 

Holidays/Closures

Courses will not take place on statutory holidays. If within a course there are more than two holidays, the course price will be reduced or the course lengthened. Normally there are no courses the first and last week of the year. These two weeks will not be paid. If the customer lives in an isd-freiburg-zimmer room, that customer must, nevertheless, pay rent for Christmas and Easter holiday weeks.

Excused and non-excused absences of participants cannot be made up or cancelled. Teacher absences will always be made up. Teachers and group participants will decide, after consultation with administration, upon a time a date for the make-up appointment.

 

Registration Confirmation and Payment Conditions

Upon registration, a binding spot will be reserved for the customer in the desired/appropriate course. The customer is obligated to pay course fees at the latest before the start date of the first course unit. An installment is only allowed after consultation with school administration and only possible for amounts over 700. EUR.

The following payment methods are accepted: bank transfer, EC-Karte, credit card, paypal, or cash.

After registration, the customer will receive a confirmation or receipt with the following information:

-Invoice number

-Date of registration or invoice

-Booked time period (usually in weeks)

-Course start date, place/time

-Price for the entire time period

-Payment methods

-Personal information of registered participant

-Participants billing address

-Reference to contract terms and conditions

After receiving a confirmation, the customer can cancel the registration within 90 days. A refund is only possible if the written cancellation (i.e. via email) is received up to 14 days before the course start date as stated on the invoice.

The registration confirmation is a valid contract between the customer and ISD as well as an invoice. An extra invoice will be issued only if explicitly stated by the customer.

 

Teaching Staff 

All teachers take part in a special training for teaching language courses. This training is required for carrying out language courses. The following aspects are focused on in the training: course structuring, teaching goals, methods, TELC-Tests, other language tests with certificates and teaching materials. The training is offered by school administration.

Teaching staff for REGULAR group courses: all teaching staff are highly qualified. Teaching staff for REGULAR courses generally have a degree in one of the following areas: German as a Foreign Language (DaF/DaZ), German Philology. Teaching staff without a degree in these areas must prove at least 500 hours of teaching experience. In special cases, students of DaF/DaZ may be employed if they have completed an internship at ISD or another institution, a training at ISD, 200 hours of teaching experience and can prove a certain amount of field knowledge and pedagogical experience on their CV.

Teaching staff for BAMF-courses: All teaching staff have a BAMF-authorization.

Teaching staff for special courses: for field specific, group tailored or individual language courses (i.e. one-on-one courses, courses for nursing staff, etc.), teaching staff may be employed without specific degrees if they can prove extensive competencies in the field or subject matter for which the course is designed.

The quality of teaching staff is regularly and anonymously checked through surveys filled out by participants. If a teacher does not meet the quality standards (for example, 30% of participants express negative feedback about the class and use of methods), school administration will take initiative to hire new teaching staff.

 

Acquisition Goals/Teaching Methods

The goal for every group course is the acquisition of language skills in accordance with the European Frame of Reference (GER). Therefore, the courses are broken down into the following levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1. In addition, there are also trade specific courses that have specific level oriented goals in the specialized language (i.e. C1 Medical German, B2 German for Nursing Staff, etc.). The course goal will be clearly outlined in the beginning. Throughout the courses participants can expect regular exercises and test simulations that will track their progress and analyze learning deficits.

 

 

Classrooms

The courses will be carried out in classrooms at Habsburgerstr. 83 and Rennweg 49-51. Each classroom is equipped with at least one whiteboard, tables, chairs, a TV, 1 CD-Player or USB-Audio Player, 1 clock, and a window. Each location offers a toilet for customers and 1 emergency exit. The facilities at Rennweg 49-51 are completely handicap accessible. Courses can be relocated in needed.

 

 

Individual Courses 

All prices given refer to individual courses that take place in our school. Prices for in-house courses are determined by school administration before the start date. Participants may cancel a class appointment up to 8 hours beforehand free of charge. Classes not cancelled on time (less than 8 hours beforehand) will not be made up.

Teachers and participants are required to keep an attendance and signature sheet. The signature list must be present during each lesson and on-hand to be checked if requested by school administration.

 

 

Group Courses

Group courses can generally take place with 4 participants or more. To avoid class cancellations, advertised courses can also take place with a lower number of participants with a reduction in teaching hours. A group course consists of up to 16 participants maximum. Group courses taking place in rooms 2 and 7 consist of up to 17 participants and 22 participants, respectively.

Course Terms/Conditions

A teaching unit (UE-Unterrichtseinheit) consists of 45 minutes for a group course, and 50 minutes for individual courses. When referring to language courses the word ‘hour’ normally refers to a teaching unit. A REGULAR group course of 4 participants or more consists of 20 ‘hours’. After consultation with school administration, a course with less than 4 participants can take place take place as follows:

3 Participants: 13.3 UE/week + 60 min./day training (180 min./day)

2 Participants: 10 UE/week + 60 min./day training (150 min./day)

The course price remains unchanged.

 

 

Refund (Booking WITH Acceptance Letter)

Booking with receipt of an acceptance letter or official invitation to Germany:

Students that do not receive authorization to travel to Germany will receive a 100% refund minus 100,- EUR for registration. In order to receive a refund, we must receive a written claim for a refund with a copy of the rejection letter from immigration. A refund can only take place after written submission (via email accepted) of a rejection letter and ONLY within 6 months of the invoice date. After receiving an acceptance letter, a course at a German institution can only be cancelled in the event of a rejection by immigration. In all other cases students are not entitled to a refund, even if they only participate part-time or not at all in the course.

The refund will be issued within 90 days of cancellation.

 

Refunds for Accommodation

The fee for accommodation service and housing is non-refundable. Refunds for already paid rental fees are excluded.

 

 

Visa

If you need a visa, you should register at a German agency (embassy, consulate) in your country.

You are responsible for fees related to the registration and processing of your visa.

As soon as you have filled out the registration form for a course and transferred the course fees, you will receive an official registration confirmation and ACCEPTANCE LETTER.

Should you be unable to attain a visa, your payment will be returned to you, minus a processing fee of 100. EUR.

This repayment takes place exclusively with submission of a written rejection letter by the due date, issued by an official German agency, along with the return of your registration confirmation.

 

 

Data Protection/Privacy 

Data of users is stored for internal further processing and advertising purposes of ISD in compliance with legal conditions. If users do not wish to receive information material from ISD, please contact ISD Freiburg. Tel.: +49 761 610 50 60, Fax: +49 761 610 50 61, Email: info@isd-freiburg.de.

 

 

Liability for Content 

The contents of our pages were created with great care. However, we cannot assume any liability for the accuracy, completeness and up-to-date status of the content. As a service provider, we are responsible according to § 7 paragraph 1 TMG for some content on these pages under general law.

ISD, the director and teachers are in no way liable for any loss or damage to personal belongings of students or participants. Similarly, they cannot be held responsible for any injuries or deaths suffered by students or participants inside or outside the school. Neither ISD nor its’ agents shall be liable in the event that contractually guaranteed services cannot be fulfilled due to weather conditions, labor disputes and other uncontrollable events.

 

 

Final Clauses 

Exclusively valid is the law of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Amendments and supplements to the contract must be made in writing. Should one of the above provisions be ineffective, ISD is entitled to replace it with an effective provision with a similar purpose. If this is not possible, the statutory provisions apply.

Internationales Sprachzentrum Dialogo, Habsburgerstraße 83, 79104 Freiburg

 

27.10.2017

 

Alternative dispute resolution pursuant to § 14 paragraph 1 ODR-VO and Article 36 VSBG.

 

The European Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution (OS) available at http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/. We are not obligated or willing to participate in a dispute settlement procedure before a consumer arbitration board.