General Terms and Conditions for Participation in Events

1. Scope of Application

The terms and conditions set out below apply to the legal relations between the participant and OFFIS e.V. associated with the event organised by OFFIS e.V. for which the participant has registered.

2. Conclusion of the Agreement

2.1. Any agreements will be concluded between the participant and OFFIS e.V. as organiser. The offer for concluding the agreement will be submitted by the participant when they click on the “kostenpflichtig bestellen (binding order)“ button. An agreement between the participant and OFFIS e.V. will only be deemed to be concluded when OFFIS e.V. sends the confirmation of acceptance. Such confirmation of acceptance will be sent by email to the address specified by the participant during their registration.

2.2. The participant shall be obliged to immediately verify the confirmation of acceptance for correctness and completeness (in particular regarding the event, date, time, price and number), and to immediately provide any complaints to OFFIS e.V. in text form (email, letter, fax).

2.3. The confirmation of acceptance confirms that the participant is authorised to take part in the relevant event. No other confirmation (e.g. in form of admission tickets) will be provided.

2.4. Participants authenticate themselves by presenting their ID card (or a similar document) on site. It is possible for another participant is to take part in the event in place of the original participant. Precondition for such replacement is, however, that the participant who has already registered with us, notifies us in due time prior to the start of the event in text form (email, letter, fax).

3. Right of Withdrawal and Sample Withdrawal Form

The following form applies to all agreements concluded with consumers:

Instruction on your Right of Withdrawal

Right of Withdrawal

You have the right to withdraw from this agreement within a period of fourteen days, without stating reasons.

The withdrawal period shall be fourteen days from the date of conclusion hereof.

In order to exercise your right of withdrawal, you need to inform us of your decision to withdraw from this agreement (OFFIS e.V., Escherweg 2, 26121 Oldenburg, Germany, phone: +49 (0) 441 9722 107, fax: +49 (0) 441 9722 102, email: event@offis.de) by making a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post, fax or email). You may use the Sample Withdrawal Form attached hereto, but you are not obliged to do so.

Sending the notification on the exercise of your right of withdrawal prior to the expiry of the withdrawal period will suffice to comply with such period.

Consequences of a Withdrawal

If you withdraw from this agreement, we need to repay to you all payments that we have received from you, including delivery costs (apart from any additional costs arising from the fact that you selected a different type of delivery than the most inexpensive standard delivery offered by us), immediately and not later than within fourteen days from the day on which we received the notification on your withdrawal from this agreement. We will use the same type of payment for such repayment which you used for the original transaction, unless explicitly otherwise agreed with you; in no case will we charge any fees for such repayment.

If you had requested us to start rendering the services during the period of withdrawal, you shall pay to us an adequate amount which corresponds to the share of the services which we have already rendered until the date on which you notified us of your wish to exercise your right of withdrawal from this agreement, compared to the total scope of the services provided for in the agreement.

Sample Withdrawal Form

(If you wish to withdraw from this agreement, please complete this form and return it to us.)

• to OFFIS e.V., Escherweg 2, 26121 Oldenburg, Germany, Fax: +49 (0) 441 9722 102, email: event@offis.de:
• I / we (*) hereby withdraw from the agreement concluded by me / us (*) on the rendering of the services set out below (*):
• ordered on (*)/ received on (*)
• name of the consumer(s)
• address of the consumer(s)
• signature of the consumer(s) (only if the notification is sent as a hardcopy)
• date

(*) Please delete as appropriate.

 End of the instructions on your right of withdrawal and of the Sample Withdrawal Form

4. Cancellation by the Participant

4.1.    Participants shall cancel their registrations in text form (email, letter, fax). We will reimburse the participation fee, in full, for cancellations which we receive more than 6 weeks prior to the start of the training. OFFIS e.V. will charge 50% of the participation fee in case cancellations are submitted between 3 and 6 weeks prior to the start of the training. The full participation fee shall be paid for cancellations made at a later time or if the participant fails to take part in the event. The date when OFFIS e.V. receives the statement of cancellation shall be the decisive date for compliance with these periods.

4.2.    The costs specified in Art. 4.1 will not be charged, if a person is timely appointed who will take part in the event in place of the original participant.

4.3.    In addition, the costs specified in Art. 4.1 will not be charged if the participant is able to demonstrate that no damage was caused by their cancellation. If they are able to demonstrate that the actual damage which arose is lower than the costs specified in Art. 4.1, they shall only reimburse the actual damage which was caused, in this case the costs specified in Art. 4.1. will not be charged.

4.4.    The right of withdrawal for consumers under Art. 3 shall remain unaffected by the provisions on cancellation set forth in Art. 4 and will apply with preference - for as long as it is in force.

5. Cancellation of the Event

OFFIS e.V. shall have the right to postpone or cancel an event for reasons not attributable to them (e.g. insufficient number of participants, current unavailability of the lecturer without options for replacement, force majeure). The participant will be notified of such fact by using the contact data they provided upon registration. In case of a cancellation of the event, any participation fee which has already been paid will be reimbursed. The same shall apply in the event that the participant is unable to take part in an event which is to be held on any postponed date. Any other claims on the part of the participant shall be excluded. OFFIS e.V. reserves the right to change the lecturers or to change the sequence of the event, insofar as that becomes necessary for reasons not attributable to them. The participant may not derive any claims therefrom, e.g. for withdrawal from the agreement or reduction of the participation fee.

6. Price Components & Payment Terms

6.1.    Payments can be made, depending on the event and the order terms, by way of a SEPA direct debit mandate, by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover), PayPal and/or purchase on account. The statutory value added tax is included in the price. The participant will not be charged any other costs which have not been disclosed to them.

6.2.    The prices for the event include written documents as well as beverages and catering, insofar as that was promised in the registration form. They exclude costs for arrival and accommodation. OFFIS e.V. will gladly recommend hotel accommodation to the participant, in case of need.

6.3.    The total price of the order, including all charges, will fall due for payment immediately after the conclusion of the agreement, in case of payment by SEPA direct debit mandate, credit card and PayPal. In case of purchase on account, the invoice amount shall fall due on the calendar date specified in the invoice (10 calendar days after the invoice date).

6.4.    The participant shall have no right of set-off, unless their counter-claims have been found to be legally effective by a court or are undisputed or were acknowledged by OFFIS e.V. In addition, the participant shall only have a right of retention if and insofar as their counter-claim is based on the same contractual relationship.

7. Liability Limitations

OFFIS e. V. shall be liable without limitation in cases of intent or gross negligence, injury of life, body or health, in accordance with the provisions of the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz), as well as to the extent of the assumption of any guarantee. Furthermore, OFFIS e. V. shall be liable without limitation in cases of breaches of contractual obligations the fulfilment of which actually enables the proper execution of the agreement and on the fulfilment of which the contractual partner regularly relies and may rely (“cardinal duties”). In the event of a slightly negligent breach of such a cardinal duty, thus causing financial loss, the liability of OFFIS e. V. shall be limited, however, to the damage typical to the agreement and foreseeable at the time the agreement is concluded. Any further liability of OFFIS e. V. shall be excluded.

8. Final Provisions

8.1.    The laws of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply exclusively. Consumers having their usual residence outside of the Federal Republic of Germany may always rely also on the laws of the country in which they have their place of residence, regardless of the above regulation on the choice of law.

8.2.    The European Commission offers a platform for online dispute resolution from 15 Feb. 2016 here. OFFIS e.V.‘s email address is event(at)offis.de.

8.3.    OFFIS e.V. is not willing or obliged to take part in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer dispute resolution body.