Terms of Service

General

1. This registration is binding for the specified months, weeks, or lessons.
2. Each lesson lasts 45 minutes; after 90 minutes, there is usually a 15-minute break, which does not count towards the lesson time.
3. The course fee must be paid at the latest before the beginning of the course.
4. Our German standard intensive courses (20 lessons/week) have a maximum number of 12 participants. In exceptional cases, this number can be increased to 14. Special courses can also have a higher number of participants. If the minimum number of 6 participants is not reached, the number of lessons in the course will be reduced. With 5 participants, 16 lessons/week, 3-4 participants, 12 lessons/week, and with 1-2 participants, 8 lessons/week.
5. There is no compensation for missed lessons or exams.
6. We reserve the right to cancel lessons/exams in justified exceptional cases. We will attempt to offer a replacement date or pay internally. If this is not possible, we will refund a proportional fee for the lessons we canceled. We cannot accept any further claims unless they are based on gross negligence or intentional breach of contract. We offer our courses as hybrid language training. This means that the lessons take place face-to-face at our school and at the same time online in our virtual Zoom classroom. If, for necessary reasons, lessons cannot take place at the language school, we will provide you with virtual language training and/or e-learning. Alternatively, we reserve the right to issue you with a voucher for the booked lessons so that you can attend your language course at a later date.
7. The minimum age for participants in our language courses is 18 years, or 16 years, with parental consent.
8. Cancellation: You may withdraw from the booked course and/or accommodation at any time before its commencement. It is in your best interest, and also to avoid misunderstandings that you do this in written form. For our expenses, we calculate an appropriate compensation in the following form:

• Cancellation up to 30 days before course start date: 10% min. 150€
• Cancellation 29 to 15 days before course start date: 40%
• Cancellation 14 to 2 days before course start date: 70%
• Cancellation 1 day before course start date: 90%  

The entire course fee is due for any cancellation or non-attendance by the participant. The participant remains free to demonstrate that the damage incurred is of higher or lesser value. It is not possible to withdraw from a booked exam. 100% of the total fee is due.
Once a course and/or accommodation has been booked and a LOA (Letter of Acceptance) has been issued, the course can only be cancelled with a rejection letter from the German Embassy. The full course and accommodation fees will be refunded upon presentation of a refusal  letter. Please note that we will retain a fee of 75€ for the Letter of Acceptance and 150€ for administrative costs.
9. In case of bank transfer, the sender bears all fees. It is imperative that the total price is paid in full. Otherwise, fees will be charged upon arrival to cover any outstanding amounts.
10. Rebooking:
Should your arrival be delayed due to the issuance of your visa we will rebook your course to a later start date free of charge. For bookings where a letter of acceptance (LOA) has been issued, we reserve the right to postpone the start of the course by up to 6 weeks from the date of visa receipt. For long-term rebookings, i.e., more than 6 months after the originally planned and calculated start dates and prices, we reserve the right to charge the current and possibly differing fees for the language course and accommodation. For other rebookings up to 21 days before the start of the trip/course, we charge a rebooking fee of 75 euros for our additional expenses. 
The same processing fee applies for changes made to the course location or when nominating a suitable replacement participant.   
11. Withdrawal from Language Travel
You may withdraw from the language travel at any time before the start of the trip/course. For your benefit and to prevent misunderstandings, we request that you always do this in writing.  We charge a reasonable compensation for our expenses in the following form:

• Cancellation up to 30 days before the start of the course: €150
• Cancellation from 29 to 15 days before the start of the course: 40%
• Cancellation from 14 to 2 days before the start of the course: 70%
• Cancellation 1 day before the start of the course: 90%   

If you do not attend a booked course or declare a withdrawal on the day of travel, the entire travel price/course price is due. The contractual parties reserve the right to provide evidence of higher or lower fees.
12. The place of jurisdiction is Düsseldorf.

Evening Courses

1. Billing is not based on calendar months. One month of lessons consists of 4 weeks. For courses that take place once a week, 4 appointments are combined into one teaching month; for courses that take place twice a week, 8 appointments are combined into one teaching month.
2. The initial contract period of 3, 6, or 9 months is binding.
3. If you wish to terminate the contract after the end of the initial contract period, or in general, you must give notice in written form. The notice period is 4 weeks at the end of each lesson month. If there is no immediate termination at the beginning of the initial contract period, the contract will be automatically renewed monthly.
4. Canceled appointments due to public holidays or the absence of teachers will be made in the form of additional appointments at the end of the contract period.
5. If you miss an appointment, there will be no compensation except in two circumstances:
a) Illness: Must be proven through a medical certificate within three days of the start of illness or the start of lessons.
b) Interruption due to vacation (longer than two weeks): Must be notified in written form two weeks in advance.
- Crediting as follows:

• 3 absences = one double lesson

• 4 absences = two double lessons

• 5 absences = three double lessons

• Etc.

- Course cancellations (due to holidays, trainer absence, or participant vacations) cannot be compensated with the renewal or cancellation date. 
- Vacations can be taken into account at most twice per calendar year.
6. The booked group course can only occur or be continued if there are sufficient participants (i.e., 4 people in groups of up to 10 or 14 participants). Previously paid fees for classes that do not take place will then be refunded. 

One-to-One Courses

1. Cancellations of arranged appointments for single tuition must be made no later than 48 hours before the lesson; otherwise, the tuition hours will be charged
2. An entitlement to claim language tuition and fee reimbursement expires after two years for booked and paid tuition hours.

Educational Leave

1. The language lesson is obligatory for the participant to apply and claim educational leave from work. In times of absence, the school’s management and your employer must immediately be notified.
2. Rebookings (date, course, language) must be made immediately and in written form and submitted to us in written form no later than 3 weeks before the start of the course. For changes made less than 3 weeks before the start of the course, we will charge a rebooking fee of €75. For changes made less than 2 weeks before the start of the course,  section 8 of our General Terms and Conditions is then applied.  A maximum of 2 changes made on time will be free of charge; for each additional change, we will charge you €50 for our work expenses. 
3. Section 8 of our General Conditions of Participation applies in case of cancellation.
If the employer does not accept the desired educational leave date, it is possible to cancel free of charge up to 3 weeks before the start of the course. In this case, we request that you provide us with an appropriate notice from your employer.

Exams and Exam Preparation Courses

With a binding registration, you confirm that you understand the General Terms and Conditions and the Examination Regulations of telc gGmbH and that you will comply with them.

You can find the general terms and conditions & examination regulations at: www.telc.net 

The examination fee is due even in the event of non-attendance or cancellation and is not refundable.

If you are unable to take the exam due to illness, you may reschedule it for a later date by paying an additional fee and providing a medical certificate dated the day of the exam.

1.  If you cancel your enrollment in a preparation course up to 21 days before it begins, a cancellation fee of 50% of the course fee applies; if cancellation occurs 20 days or less before the course starts, the fee increases to 100% of the course price.

2. The courses and exams require a minimum of 6 participants. Should the number of participants fall below this threshold, we reserve the right to reduce the number of lessons or cancel the course/exam entirely.

3. In exceptional cases or due to legal regulations, the preparation courses may also occur in a hybrid or online format.

Organising Company

“GOACADEMY! Sprachschule Düsseldorf”
GoAcademy! GmbH & Co. OHG
Grafenberger Allee 78 - 80, 40237 Düsseldorf
GoAcademy! GmbH
Authorized managing director: Michael Rönitz
Court of registration: Amtsgericht Düsseldorf
Registration number: HRA 27414 VAT ID No. according to § 27 a UStG: DE259575153
Sprachencafe e.V.
1st Chairman: Michael Rönitz
Vereinsregister Frankfurt am Main VR 8511
 Phone.: +49 (0) 211 68 41 52
 Fax no.: +49 (0) 211 68 44 32
 E-mail: info@goacademy.de 

Cancellation Policy

1. Cancellation of a course is only possible 28 days before the start of the course, otherwise, the fee is due at the start of the course. Exceptions are regulated by the fees and charges regulations.

2.  A claim for a discount must be proven before the start of the course; thereafter, a discount is not possible.

3. The course start date noted on the registration is binding. Further notification from GoAcademy! Language School Düsseldorf will only occur if there are any changes.

Withdrawal Policy 
according to the Remote Sales Act (FernAbsG) 

1. Withdrawal Right  
You may revoke your contractual declaration in written form (i.e., letter, fax, e-mail) within two weeks without specifying reasons. The withdrawal period shall commence after receipt of this notification in text form, but not before the conclusion of the contract and not before we have fulfilled our obligation to provide information as defined in § 312c Paragraph 2 BGB in conjunction with § 1 Paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 BGB-InfoV and our obligations as defined in § 312e paragraph 1 sentence 1 BGB in conjunction with § 3 BGB-InfoV.

The withdrawal is to be addressed to:
 GoAcademy! Language School Düsseldorf
 GoAcademy! GmbH & Co OHG
 Grafenberger Allee 78 - 80, 40237 Düsseldorf
 Phone no.: +49 (0) 211 68 41 52
 Fax no.: +49 (0) 211 68 44 32
 E-mail: info@goacademy.de 

Consequences of Cancellation

In the case of an effective cancellation, mutually received benefits are to be returned and any derived profit (i.e., interests) must be surrendered. If you are unable to reimburse us for services received in whole or in part, you shall be obliged to compensate us in this respect. Your right of revocation expires prematurely if your contractual partner has started to perform the services before the end of the term of notice for the cancellation with your express consent or if you have arranged for the services to commence.
You must satisfy obligations to reimburse payments within 30 days. For you, this period begins on submission of your notice of cancellation; for us it begins on receipt thereof. End of Cancellation Policy.

Version: 01.01.2024