General Terms and Conditions
As of April 1st, 2020
§ 1
Validity Agreement & General (1) All contractual relationships and services of Mari Kommunikation, Francis J. Mari, Jr., MBA, Etzweilerstraße 76, 50189 Elsdorf (hereinafter “Mari”), in particular online training, in-house training, seminar events and others Services are based on these general terms and conditions (hereinafter referred to as “GTC”). These are part of all contracts that Mari concludes with its contractual partners (hereinafter referred to as the “customer”) for the services or deliveries offered by Mari (Mari and customer hereinafter referred to individually as the “contractual partner” and collectively as the “contractual partner”).
(2) These terms and conditions also apply to all future deliveries, services or offers to the customer within the framework of a term contract, without these terms and conditions having to be agreed separately in each individual case. Unless otherwise agreed, these terms and conditions apply in the version communicated when the term contract was concluded.
(3) These terms and conditions apply exclusively. Deviating, conflicting or supplementary general terms and conditions of the customer or third parties only become part of the contract if and to the extent that Mari has expressly agreed to their validity in writing. General terms and conditions of the customer or third parties therefore do not apply, subject to express consent, even if Mari does not separately contradict their validity in individual cases or refers to the exclusive validity of these terms and conditions. The approval requirement applies in any case. In particular, Mari’s reference to a letter which contains or refers to the general terms and conditions of the customer or a third party, as well as the unconditional performance or
(4) These terms and conditions apply in addition to individual contracts or offers made by Mari. If and to the extent that agreements made with the customer in individual cases (including side agreements, additions and changes) contain deviations from these terms and conditions, these shall in any case take precedence over these terms and conditions. The remaining provisions of these terms and conditions remain unaffected.
(5) If the written form is required in these terms and conditions, Section 126 of the German Civil Code (BGB) applies. In order to comply with the formal requirement – unless individual provisions of these terms and conditions expressly provide otherwise – it is sufficient to send a copy of the respective document by telecommunication, in particular by fax or as a PDF copy by email, provided the copy of the signed declaration (s) is sent.
(6) References to the validity of statutory provisions are only for clarification purposes. Even without such a clarification, the statutory provisions apply, unless they are directly amended or expressly excluded in these GTC.
§ 2 Offer & Conclusion of Contract
(1) The services displayed, advertised and offered by Mari on the Mari website or in other advertising media or on other platforms do not constitute binding offers. This also applies if the customer receives documents, demo access, other product descriptions or examples of services are provided by Mari, unless the transmission is part of an individual offer.
(2) Individual offers from Mari have a period of validity and acceptance period of one month from receipt of the offer by the customer, unless the offer stipulates otherwise. Mari can accept orders from the customer within two weeks of receipt.
(3) When registering for seminars, the registrations are considered in the order in which they are received, as the number of participants for the seminars is limited. A contract is only concluded with the confirmation of registration by Mari by email. Registration can be made via the Internet, in exceptional cases by telephone, in writing, by fax or e-mail.
(4) For the legal relationship between Mari and the customer, the contract concluded in writing for the provision of a service by Mari including these terms and conditions is decisive. The contract fully reflects all agreements between the contracting parties on the subject matter of the contract. Subsidiary agreements and additions to the concluded contract require at least text form (e.g. e-mail), unless otherwise stipulated in these terms and conditions. Section 1 (5) of these terms and conditions remains unaffected.
(5) Notwithstanding the above paragraph 4 sentence 1, it is also sufficient for the conclusion of the contract if an individual offer not signed by Mari is returned by the customer, whereby the telecommunication transmission, in particular by fax or as a PDF copy by e-mail , is sufficient, provided a copy of the signed declaration is sent. Section 1 (5) of these terms and conditions remains unaffected.
§ 3 Prices, Terms of Payment & Maturity
(1) The agreed prices apply to the scope of services or delivery listed in the signed contract, otherwise in the offer or in the order confirmation from Mari. Subsequent requests for changes and additional services (including additional or special services) can be charged separately.
(2) All prices are in euros plus statutory VAT and any packaging costs. Any expenses incurred in the interests of the customer (e.g. registration and registration fees) will be reimbursed separately. In the case of billing on an hourly basis, the time required for the provision of the service specified in advance is based on estimated values; the actual amount of work involved is decisive.
(3) In the case of fixed-term contracts, unless otherwise agreed, Mari’s services will be invoiced monthly at the beginning of the following month. In the case of individual orders, requests for changes and additional services, Mari services will be invoiced after the service has been provided. However, Mari is entitled to provide services only in return for a partial or full advance payment or provision of security; This applies in particular to orders with a larger scope and workload, if the customer has been in default of payment in the past or if Mari becomes aware of circumstances after the conclusion of the contract which are likely to significantly reduce the customer’s creditworthiness.
(4) Mari bills are to be paid 10 days after receipt without deductions, but always before the respective seminar date, as otherwise there is no permission to participate in the seminar. Receipt by Mari is decisive for the date of payment. Payment by check is excluded.
(5) If the customer does not pay by the due date, interest shall be paid on the outstanding amounts from the due date at 9 percentage points above the base rate; the assertion of higher interest and further damage in the event of default as well as the statutory flat rate according to § 288 paragraph 5 BGB remains unaffected. Furthermore, Mari is entitled to interrupt the work carried out by him until receipt of payment. Exceeding the payment deadline more than three times represents an important reason within the meaning of §§ 314, 626 BGB and entitles Mari to terminate the contract without notice, even if Mari adherence to the contract is unreasonable under consideration of the other circumstances. Claims that have already arisen remain due for payment in the event that the contract is terminated. Mari’s right
(6) Offsetting against counterclaims by the customer or withholding payments due to such claims is only permitted if the counterclaims are undisputed or have been legally established.
§ 4 Change requests & reservation of changes
(1) Mari’s offer is continuously updated. All information is kept up-to-date on the Mari website. Mari expressly reserves the right to adapt the content and methodology as required or to deviate from seminars and other services without changing the topic and overall character of the seminar concerned.
(2) Mari reserves the right to change the date and place for organizational reasons or, in exceptional cases, to refer to online appointments and online services or to avoid them.
(3) The signed contract is decisive for the scope, type and quality of the services, otherwise the offer or the order confirmation from Mari. Requests for changes in relation to the contractually agreed services by Mari and additional services that go beyond the contractually agreed range of services can also be requested and transmitted by e-mail.
(4) Mari can refuse change requests or additional services if the provision of these services would involve unreasonable effort. Mari can accept or reject requests for changes or additional services within two weeks of receipt. In the case of inquiries by e-mail, Mari will also declare acceptance or rejection of the change requests or additional services by e-mail.
(5) For the fulfillment of the change requests or the provision of the additional services, an additional fee is charged on an hourly basis, unless a fixed price for the changes or additional services has been agreed between the contractual partners. If a fixed price was agreed for the original service by Mari, Mari will inform the customer in advance of the hourly rate applied and the likely additional costs. If an hourly rate was already agreed for the original service by Mari, this hourly rate also applies to the changes and additional services. In this case, the customer will only be informed of the expected duration upon request.
(6) The time required for the provision of the change requests or additional services specified in advance in the case of billing on an hourly basis is based on estimated values. The actual amount of work involved is decisive.
§ 5 Provision of Services, Deadlines & Delays
(1) Mari can freely determine the content, manner, scope, time and place of the provision of services within the framework of the contractually agreed. Mari can also use freelancers and other subcontractors to provide services.
(2) In seminars, lessons and exercises are designed in such a way that an attentive participant can achieve the seminar goals. A certain training success is not owed.
(3) The dates stated in the signed contract – otherwise those in the offer or in the order confirmation from Mari – are binding. The deadlines specified there must be observed by both contractual partners. The customer is obliged to provide the details, documents and information required for the provision of services by Mari as soon as possible and to undertake other cooperation actions required on his part.
(4) Mari is not responsible for delays in performance due to force majeure or circumstances for which the customer is responsible and entitles them to postpone or postpone the provision of the services concerned by the duration of the hindrance plus a reasonable start-up and planning time To refer to online courses and online services. Mari will notify the customer of delays in performance or changes in performance due to force majeure. In the case of a minimum contract term, delays for which the customer is responsible at the beginning or during the term of a contract extend the minimum contract term by the delay period.
(5) Services can only be used after successful payment.
§ 6 Copyright & Rights of Use
(1) Mari reserves the ownership or copyright to all offers and cost estimates submitted by him as well as documents and aids made available to the customer as part of an offer. The customer may not make these items available to third parties, either as such or in terms of content, or disclose them, use them himself or through third parties or reproduce them without the express consent of Mari. At Mari’s request, he must return these items to Mari in full and destroy any copies made if they are no longer required by him in the ordinary course of business or if negotiations do not lead to the conclusion of a contract. An exception to this is the storage of electronically provided data for the purpose of normal data backup.
(2) All rights, including those of translation, reprinting and duplication of the training documents or parts thereof, are reserved to Mari. No part of the training documents may be reproduced, in particular processed, duplicated, distributed or used for public reproduction using electronic systems without the express written consent of Mari in any form – not even for the purposes of teaching design – even in part.
(3) The services provided by Mari are legally protected. Copyright, any patent rights, trademark rights and other intellectual property rights belong exclusively to Mari.
(4) For the services created by Mari for the customer, the customer receives the temporally and spatially unlimited, simple, non-transferable right to use the created products in accordance with the purpose of the contract. The right of use continues beyond the duration of the contractual relationship. The customer is only entitled to use the services provided by Mari himself in his own company and for his own purposes and may not pass them on to third parties or resell them without Mari’s prior written consent; This does not apply to the transfer of services which, according to their purpose, are intended for distribution to third parties (e.g. newsletters). If the customer violates this or if the customer does not meet his payment obligations according to § 3 of these terms and conditions even after setting a reasonable deadline, the right of use or
(5) The customer guarantees that he has all rights to change and publish texts, fonts, images and all other copyrighted materials that he makes available to Mari for use in his advertising or in his online shop. He also guarantees that he has the right to transfer the rights of use of this material to Mari so that Mari can publish these materials on his website or in his online shop on his behalf. Mari is not liable for the violation of property rights, copyrights and rights of use or other intellectual property rights of third parties to the materials provided by the customer.
(6) If the customer is subject to special labeling obligations when using material protected by copyright or other intellectual property rights (e.g. licensing requirements for so-called stock images), he must expressly inform Mari of this and issue appropriate instructions.
(7) If Mari does not receive any further information on the transmitted material, he can assume that this material can be used freely for the customer. This includes changing, supplementing or shortening texts as regards content, cutting, supplementing, alienating or changing images and other material protected by copyright or other intellectual property rights in the interests of the customer and publishing them in his name without specifying sources.
§ 7 cancellation and right of withdrawal
(1) In addition to any right of cancellation, registrations for seminars can be canceled up to 6 weeks before the seminar begins, but the obligation to pay 50% of the fee remains. Alternatively, instead of paying the 50% fee, you have the option of attending a recognized alternative appointment. If a registration is canceled later or if the seminar does not appear, the full seminar fee is due. However, this does not apply to the placement of a substitute participant. If you change your booking to a different date less than 6 weeks before the start of the seminar, a flat-rate change of booking will be charged. 175 € plus VAT charged per seminar day.
(2) Mari reserves the right to cancel for organizational reasons (e.g. if the minimum number of participants is not reached or the speaker is absent due to illness or force majeure) up to one week before the scheduled date. In the event of a cancellation by Mari, there is the option of canceling within two weeks or alternatively choosing an alternative date. There are no further claims. In the event of cancellation by the customer due to Mari’s refusal, Mari only bears 50% of the non-cancellable costs incurred by the customer (e.g. for any hotel bookings).
(3) Any right of revocation expires with the beginning of the contract, participation in a seminar or with the beginning and request of the service by the customer.
§ 8 Warranty, Liability, Statute of Limitations
(1) Unless otherwise stated in these terms and conditions including the following provisions, the customer’s warranty rights and Mari’s liability in the event of a breach of contractual and non-contractual obligations are determined by the statutory provisions.
(2) Mari are liable for damages – regardless of the legal reason – within the framework of fault liability in the event of willful intent and gross negligence. In other cases Mari is only liable – unless otherwise regulated in Paragraph 3 – for damage resulting from a breach of an essential contractual obligation; in this case, however, liability is limited to compensation for the foreseeable, typically occurring damage. Sentences 1 and 2 also apply to breaches of duty by persons whose fault Mari is responsible for in accordance with statutory provisions (e.g. vicarious agents).
(3) Liability for damage resulting from injury to life, limb or health and in accordance with the Product Liability Act remains unaffected by the above limitation of liability. The aforementioned limitation of liability also does not apply if Mari fraudulently concealed a defect or assumed a guarantee for the quality of the product.
(4) Mari is not responsible for the content provided by the customer. In particular, Mari is not obliged to check the content for any legal violations.
(5) Mari expressly assumes no guarantee or responsibility for the economic success of the services provided for the customer.
(6) The statutory provisions apply to the statute of limitations.
§ 9 Term Contracts, Notice Period & Contract Penalty
(1) Term contracts have a minimum term of twelve months, ie they can be terminated at the earliest at the end of the minimum term. The notice period is one month to the end of the month.
(2) If a term contract is not terminated, it is automatically extended by the respective contract term, but no more than a further twelve months. With automatic renewal, renewals are made at the cheapest price in each case.
(3) As part of the online term contract, the customer receives a personal license and a personal right of use that is limited to three IP addresses. Passing on access data or content to third parties is not permitted. Unauthorized disclosure can result in the customer’s user account being blocked. In this case, a reimbursement of fees already paid is excluded.
(4) Mari reserves the right to claim a contractual penalty of EUR 10,000 for repeated and more severe violations of the aforementioned paragraph 3.
§ 10 data protection, password security & availability
(1) Mari is entitled to electronically save the data relating to the respective order and to process and use this data for operational purposes in accordance with the statutory provisions and the Mari data protection provisions.
(2) The transfer of data to third parties is only permitted insofar as this (for example, when registering domains or the like) is required for the purpose of the contract or for the execution of the contract, or if disclosure has to be made in accordance with statutory provisions or official orders.
(3) The contractual partners are obliged to transmit passwords, personal data and other highly sensitive information only securely.
(4) The legal obligations from the General Data Protection Regulation (EU-DSGVO), the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG) and the Telecommunications Act (TKG) remain unaffected.
(5) Due to the temporary unavailability of the online services, in particular in the context of
Term contracts, the customer is not entitled to any claims.
§ 11 Place of jurisdiction, choice of law and mediation
(1) The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies to the contractual relationship between Mari and the customer, excluding the provisions of international private law.
(2) The courts in Düsseldorf have exclusive jurisdiction in the first instance for all disputes arising from or in connection with the contractual relationship between Mari and the customer (including those relating to the existence or termination of the contractual relationship). This applies regardless of whether the customer is based in Germany or abroad.
(3) The contracting parties agree to call a competent mediator at the place of jurisdiction in the event of any disagreement arising from or in connection with the contractual relationship (including those regarding the existence or termination of the contractual relationship), before taking legal action.
§ 12 Final Provisions
(1) Changes and additions to all contracts must be made in writing in order to be effective, unless there is another legal form requirement. This also applies to changes to this paragraph.
(2) Should provisions of these terms and conditions or a provision included in them in the future be wholly or partially invalid or impracticable or lose their legal validity or feasibility at a later date, this shall not affect the validity of the terms and conditions.
(3) The same applies if contracts between the contractual partners contain a loophole. Instead of the ineffective or impracticable provisions or to fill in the loophole, an appropriate provision should apply that comes closest to what the contracting parties wanted or would have wanted according to the meaning and purpose of the contract, provided they were entered into when this contract was concluded or later a provision would have considered the point.
(4) The severability clause in Paragraph 2 of these General Terms and Conditions should not be understood as a reversal of the burden of proof, but rather the waiver of Section 139 of the German Civil Code (BGB).