General Terms and Conditions  

1. Basic provisions

ACCELERAS KG,

Liechtensteinstraße 25, 1090 Vienna office@acceleras.io

(“ACCELERAS”)

1.1 ACCELERAS Offers various trainings such as in-person and online events, the performance of consulting services, and the delivery of lectures in various fields by experienced trainers and other leaders.

1.2 ACCELERAS provides all services to its customers (each a “Customer” and each Customer together with ACCELERAS the “Parties”) based on these General Terms and Conditions (“GTC”), which are available at any time, in each case in the version valid at the time of conclusion of the contract.

1.3 These GTCs apply to both consumers and entrepreneurs within the meaning of the Austrian Consumer Protection Act (“KSchG”). The distinction between consumer and entrepreneur is made in the sense of the KSchG.

1.4 General terms and conditions of customers, which provide for regulations deviating from these GTC or other contractual agreements between ACCELERAS and a customer, only apply if ACCELERAS has expressly submitted to them in written form.

1.5 ACCELERAS reserves the right to change these GTCs at any time without stating reasons. The fees or scope of service changes are only possible with the customer’s consent. Suppose the changes to the GTC should apply to existing contractual relationships. In that case, the amended GTC must be announced on our website at least 30 days before it comes into force and by mailing the text of the GTC to the customer’s last known e-mail address. If the customer does not object to the amendments in writing by e-mail within 30 days of receipt of the announcement, the amendments shall be considered accepted. In case of timely objection of a customer, the contractual relationship between this customer and ACCELERAS will continue according to the GTC in the version before the announced change.

2. Conclusion of the contract

2.1 The Client will be provided with a written offer by ACCELERAS (the “Offer”), in each of which the specific order will be defined according to the type, scope, and costs of the services to be provided by ACCELERAS. The offers or any cost estimates of ACCELERAS are non-binding and subject to change unless they are expressly designated as binding.

2.2 In the case of non-binding offers, the contractual relationship between the parties (the “Order”) will only come into existence upon written confirmation of the Order by ACCELERAS or, in the absence of such proof, upon the performance of the service described in the Offer. For binding offers, the Order is concluded by written acceptance of the request by the Customer within the offer period specified in the offer. Subsequent changes to an order require written confirmation by ACCELERAS.

2.3 The scope, place, and time of the services to be provided by ACCELERAS are specified in the order.

2.4 Regardless of the actual number of participants in a training or workshop, contracts are only concluded between ACCELERAS and the client.

2.5 By clicking on the checkbox “I have read and accepted the GTC” during the order process, the customer confirms that he has read and understood the GTC and expressly accepts these GTC.

2.6 If the customer is a consumer, the customer confirms during the ordering process by clicking on the checkbox “I have been informed about the right of withdrawal” that he has been informed about the right of withdrawal according to point 18 and has understood it.

3. The subject of the contract

3.1. The specific objective of the collaboration (training, consulting, workshop, etc.) is defined in the order. However, ACCELERAS cannot guarantee the achievement of agreed-upon goals or a desired outcome by the customer. This also applies when ACCELERAS commits to the written recording of the services’ results or the creation and delivery of corresponding reports, recommendations, protocols, etc. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, such written documents do not constitute expert opinions but only reflect the essential content of the course and the results of the services provided.

3.2. If, in an order with the customer, an abstract description of the project to be implemented or a framework, the requirements of which ACCELERAS is to meet, is agreed upon instead of a specific specification of the services, ACCELERAS has creative freedom within the agreed- upon framework when fulfilling the order. Regarding training and presentation activities, ACCELERAS is also entitled to modify the agreed-upon content to an extent reasonable for the customer.

3.3. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, the choice of the individual performing the service is the responsibility of ACCELERAS. ACCELERAS is authorized to engage third parties with the appropriate qualifications and other agents for the execution of an order, for whose behavior ACCELERAS is liable to the customer, just as for its behavior. If the engagement of third parties is required at the customer’s request, this is done in the name and at the expense of the customer, and such third parties are not agents of ACCELERAS. Advisory services in legal and tax matters are not guaranteed or provided by ACCELERAS. Such services must be arranged by the customer when needed.

4. Order Processing and Obligations to Cooperate

4.1. The customer commits to providing ACCELERAS with all information, data, and documents necessary for the fulfillment of the order in a timely and complete manner. The customer must inform ACCELERAS of all circumstances that are relevant to the execution of the order. If incorrect, incomplete, or missing information leads to a deviation from the order or a delay, the customer is responsible for the additional costs, which may be invoiced separately.

4.2. It is the responsibility of the customer to verify the accuracy of the information provided for the execution of the order and to check its documents for any third-party copyrights and other rights. ACCELERAS is not required to conduct a verification in this regard. If ACCELERAS is held accountable due to such an infringement of ownership, the customer must indemnify and hold ACCELERAS harmless.

4.3. The customer grants ACCELERAS the gratuitous, non-exclusive, and time-limited right to fulfill the order and use all content the customer provides to create the order.

4.4. Unless otherwise agreed separately, the customer is responsible for providing the event venues for conducting training or workshops at their own expense.

4.5. The customer ensures that the organizational and operational conditions allow for uninterrupted work as much as possible and are conducive to the execution of the contracted service. Suppose the customer provides the venue for a training or presentation. In that case, they are responsible for providing the necessary technical equipment (e.g., audio and visual equipment) suitable for the planned number of participants. Before the start of the event, ACCELERAS’ staff must be allowed to conduct a technical test and be granted access to the event venue. ACCELERAS will specify the necessary specialized equipment in the offer.

5. Copyrights of ACCELERAS

5.1. The documents provided by ACCELERAS to the customer, including but not limited to offers, reports, analyses, drafts, training and workshop materials, or data carriers (collectively referred to as the “Documents”), are protected by copyright and are exclusively intended for the personal information of the customer and the participants. Any other use, distribution to third parties, or reproduction of the Documents requires the written consent of ACCELERAS, except for reproducing the Documents for personal data security purposes. Therefore, the customer is granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-licensable, and unlimited time right to use the Documents for their purposes.

5.2. The acquisition of usage rights as per Section 5.1. the full payment of the fee billed by ACCELERAS for the corresponding order (retention of ownership) is necessary.

5.3. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of the Documents does not establish any liability on the part of ACCELERAS, particularly about the accuracy of the content of the Documents, to third parties.

5.4. The customer’s violation of the provisions of this section authorizes ACCELERAS to immediately terminate the contract for good cause and assert other legal claims, especially for injunctive relief and damages.

5.5. By the customer’s involvement in creating the Documents, no rights are acquired beyond the usage defined in the respective contract.

5.6. If individual content in the documents does not originate from ACCELERAS, such third- party content is explicitly attributed to the respective owner’s copyrights in these cases.

6. Performance Deadlines and Dates

6.1. ACCELERAS will deliver training and workshops on the date specified in the order.

6.2. Unless a precise time or period for the performance of other consulting services is agreed upon, the fulfillment within a reasonable timeframe is deemed to be agreed upon, subject to the provisions below.

6.3.   Performance deadlines are extended during force majeure (e.g., strikes, lockouts, official orders, pandemics, general telecommunication disruptions, etc.) or other comparable events beyond ACCELERAS’ control for the duration of the respective event. ACCELERAS will notify the customer of delays in performance due to force majeure. The customer’s right to withdraw from the contract in the case of delays that render commitment to the agreement unreasonable remains unaffected.

6.4.   If the commencement of performance or performance is delayed or interrupted due to circumstances attributable to the customer, such as untimely provision of cooperation services, mainly due to a breach of their obligation to cooperate, performance deadlines are extended accordingly, and agreed-upon completion dates are postponed.

6.5.   In the event of a delay in the performance of the contract by ACCELERAS, the customer is entitled to withdraw from the contract after setting a reasonable grace period of at least 14 days in writing, accompanied by a threat of withdrawal.

7. Cancellations and Changes to Events with Fixed Dates by the Customer

7.1.   Cancellations of training or events with fixed dates by the customer up to 8 weeks before the agreed-upon date will result in a cancellation fee of 30% of the agreed total price.

7.2.   Cancellations by the customer up to 2 weeks before the agreed-upon date will result in a cancellation fee of 50% of the agreed total price.

7.3.   In the case of cancellations by the customer received later than two weeks before the agreed-upon date, ACCELERAS is entitled to invoice the full agreed total fee.

7.4.   All cancellations must be communicated to ACCELERAS via email or in writing.

7.5.   If the execution of training or workshop is prevented due to customer reasons (e.g., non- appearance of the customer or training participants, no access to the customer’s event venues), the whole agreed total fee is also payable.

7.6 Customer requests for changes (e.g., regarding the time, content, or location of the service to be provided) constitute a modification to the contract and require ACCELERAS’ approval. ACCELERAS will try to accommodate the customer’s requests and reserves the right to adjust the contract price if the requested changes result in additional action for ACCELERAS.

8. Cancellations and Postponements of Events by ACCELERAS

8.1.   If a training or presentation is cancelled due to the illness of the speaker, force majeure (e.g., strikes, lockouts, official orders, pandemics, general telecommunication disruptions, etc.), or other unforeseeable circumstances, there is no entitlement to the performance of the training or presentation. In such cases, ACCELERAS cannot be held liable for reimbursing travel and accommodation expenses, loss of work, or indirect damages, including losses or claims by third parties.

8.2.   The customer will be promptly notified of the cancellation by ACCELERAS via phone or email and offered an alternative date. If the customer cannot find a suitable alternative date, ACCELERAS will fully refund the fee.

8.3.     If a minimum number of participants for training is specified in the offer and this minimum number of participants is not reached, ACCELERAS reserves the right to cancel the activity up to three days before the agreed-upon date. The customer will be informed of the cancellation by phone or email and will receive a credit for the already paid fee. The credit will be applied to the next training booking or refunded upon request.

Unless explicitly agreed otherwise, training is held in the form of in-person events. If the conduct of training as an in-person event is not possible or advisable due to force majeure (especially pandemics or other government restrictions) because, for example, social distancing rules cannot be adhered to, ACCELERAS reserves the right to conduct the training in the form of online content (e.g., video conference). The customer will be notified of such a change by phone or email and can withdraw from the contract within three days. If the customer does not object to the change, it will be considered approved, and there is no entitlement to a refund or reduction of the fee..

9. Responsibility and Liability

9.1.    The information and advice provided in the offered training, presentations, and consultations, as well as in all documents, are carefully considered and examined by ACCELERAS. ACCELERAS activities are purely service-oriented. Success is not guaranteed. ACCELERAS assumes no liability for the correctness, currency, and completeness of the content of its training or workshops. The same applies to any consequential damages.

9.2.   In cases where ACCELERAS is liable for damages, liability is limited to wilful intent and gross negligence. Further disadvantages of ACCELERAS, especially for minor failure (excluding personal injury and primary contractual obligations about consumers), atypical damages, lost profits, defect-related damages, indirect and consequential damages, damages to third parties, etc., are excluded.

9.3.   Except for personal injury, ACCELERAS’ liability is, in any case, limited to the amount of the respective order value.

9.4.  Claims for damages by the customer expire if the customer is a business entity six months after knowledge of the damage and the party causing the injury but by two years after the conduct of ACCELERAS, giving rise to the liability.

10.   Warranty

10.1.   ACCELERAS’ training and presentations are prepared and conducted according to the state of knowledge by experienced speakers. Accelerate reserves the right to change the content if they do not fundamentally alter the nature of the training or presentation. It also reserves the right to exchange a speaker unless otherwise agreed upon. Such changes do not result in any deficiencies in the service.

10.2.  If the customer is a business entity, it is the customer’s responsibility to promptly report any defects in the service in writing, with a description of the defect, no later than seven days after becoming aware of them. Otherwise, the service is deemed accepted and approved, and the right to claim warranty and compensation for damages and contest errors due to defects is excluded. The presumption rule under § 924 ABGB is excluded for business entities, and the customer must prove that the damage is due to ACCELERAS’s fault.

10.3.   In the case of a valid and timely defect complaint, the customer primarily has the right to demand service improvement. ACCELERAS will remedy the defects within a reasonable period, and the customer is obligated to facilitate all necessary measures for inspection and defect correction. If ACCELERAS culpably fails to make improvements within a reasonable grace period, the customer is entitled to a proportionate price reduction. Any costs incurred by third-party involvement despite ACCELERAS’s willingness to remedy the defects are to be borne by the customer.

10.4.   ACCELERAS is entitled only to allow service improvement if possible or associated with a disproportionately high effort for ACCELERAS. In this case, the customer is entitled to statutory rights of conversion or reduction.

10.5.   ACCELERAS does not guarantee the accuracy of content provided or approved by the customer. If a defect is solely attributable to incorrect information from the customer, the customer has no warranty claims.

11.   Payment Terms

11.1.     The fee is based on the contract’s agreed-upon prices. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all prices are exclusive of statutory value-added tax.

11.2.   Without a different written agreement, the fee is due for payment within 14 days after receipt of the invoice, without any deduction.

11.3.  ACCELERAS reserves the right to demand an advance payment of up to 30% of the total contract value upon order confirmation, with the order’s implementation commencing only after receiving such advance payment. After completing the order and providing full services, the remaining part of the total contract value will be paid.

11.4.  In deviation from section 11.3, in the case of ongoing consulting services, ACCELERAS is entitled to issue interim invoices corresponding to the progress of the work and request advance payments accordingly. Should the customer terminate the contract before completion, or if the complete fulfillment of the order is prevented by circumstances attributable to the customer, ACCELERAS is entitled to invoice the services provided up to that point based on the agreed hourly rate.

11.5.   The customer can set off claims against ACCELERAS if such counterclaims have been established in court or acknowledged by ACCELERAS in writing. Consumers are also entitled to set off counterclaims if ACCELERAS becomes insolvent or if it is a counterclaim by the consumer that is legally related to their obligation.

12.   Travel Expenses, External Costs, and Expenses

12.1.    Travel expenses and expenses are included in the agreed-upon fee for all activities within Vienna. For activities outside of Vienna, the official mileage rate valid at the time of contract conclusion (currently EUR 0.42), as well as travel costs (hotel, air tickets, first-class train tickets, taxi, etc.), will be invoiced based on actual expenses or are to be directly covered by the customer. Travel time outside Vienna will be billed at an hourly rate of EUR 130 for each commenced hour of travel time.

12.2.  Any external costs related to room rental, equipment, or catering in the implementation of training, lectures, and other consulting services are not included in the fee unless expressly agreed upon in the contract. Should the customer engage ACCELERAS in handling external costs, a surcharge of 15% will be levied on the external charges. ACCELERAS will provide the customer with a cost estimate for external expenses before order processing.

13.   Customer Payment Default

13.1.    In the event of customer payment default, ACCELERAS is entitled to charge default interest at a rate of 4% p.a. from the respective due date. If the customer is a business entity, default interest at a 9% p.a. above the most recent base rate announced by the European Central Bank applies in the event of payment default.

13.2.   Furthermore, in the case of payment default, the customer undertakes to reimburse ACCELERAS for reminder and collection costs to the extent necessary for appropriate legal enforcement. The assertion of further default damages, rights, and claims remains unaffected.

13.3.   In the event of customer payment default, ACCELERAS is entitled to make all services and partial services already provided to the customer due and payable. In addition, ACCELERAS is only obligated to provide further services once the outstanding amount is settled.

14. Duration of the Contract

14.1.    The contract typically ends upon the completion of the order (consulting project, training, lecture, etc.).

14.2.   Notwithstanding, the contract can be terminated at any time by either party without observing a notice period for significant reasons.

15. Confidentiality and Data Protection

15.1. ACCELERAS commits to treating all data and information obtained in connection with an order as confidential, even beyond the contract’s end. This excludes cases where legal or regulatory obligations require disclosure. Accelerate is entitled to process personal data entrusted to it within the contractual relationship’s purpose. Further information on data processing can be found in our privacy policy.

16.   Audio and Video Recordings

16.1. Audio and video recordings during seminars and workshops may only be made by customers with prior written consent from ACCELERAS. Recording of training conducted over the internet is prohibited.

17. Customer Mention as Reference

16.1.     The customer (excluding natural persons) grants ACCELERAS the right to use the customer’s name, along with a description of the project covered by the order and the services ACCELERAS provided for publication and promotional purposes in print and electronic media. This may include the addition of direct quotes and the use of the customer’s logo. The customer may be cited as a reference customer within the scope of business activities.

16.2.  Consent to be named as a reference customer can be revoked any time. The revocation must be made in writing (with a company signature). If making any already published materials void is impossible due to technical or practical reasons (e.g., publication in a print medium has already occurred), the customer cannot derive any claims against ACCELERAS.

18. Right of Withdrawal for Consumers

18.1.   Suppose the customer is a consumer and the contract was concluded online through the website or by other means of distance communication (exclusively by email). In that case, the customer can withdraw from the contract without stating reasons within fourteen days.

18.2.   The withdrawal period is fourteen days from the conclusion of the contract.

18.3.    To exercise the right of withdrawal, the customer must inform ACCELERAS of their decision to withdraw from the contract by way of a clear statement (e.g., a letter sent by mail or email) addressed to office@acclereras.io or ACCELERAS KG, Liechtensteinstraße 25, 1090 Vienna. The customer can use the sample withdrawal form to improve the effectiveness of the writing; it could be helpful to break up the text into smaller, more easily digestible sections with clear headings. Additionally, simplifying the language used in the text would make it more accessible to a broader audience and increase overall comprehension. Finally, including real-world examples of how these general terms and conditions might apply in specific situations would help readers better understand how to use them in practice. This would increase the practical value of the document and make it more engaging for readers. Provided below, although it is not mandatory.

18.4.     To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for the customer to send their communication concerning their exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

18.5.   Effects of Withdrawal: If the customer withdraws from the contract, ACCELERAS shall reimburse all payments received from the customer without undue delay and, in any event, no later than fourteen days from the day on which ACCELERAS was informed about the customer’s decision to withdraw from the contract. ACCELERAS will carry out such reimbursement using the same means of payment as the customer used for the initial transaction unless the customer has expressly agreed otherwise; otherwise, the customer will not incur any fees due to the reimbursement.

18.6.    If the customer requests to begin the services during the withdrawal period, the customer shall pay ACCELERAS an amount that is in proportion to what has been provided until the customer has communicated to ACCELERAS the withdrawal from the contract concerning this service in comparison with the full coverage of the contract.