Welcome to Sprachschule Schneider in Zurich!

1. Course location

Unless otherwise stated in the offer or on the invoice, courses take place online or at the premises provided by Sprachschule Schneider AG. For in-company language courses, the course location is specified in the registration documents or on the invoice.

2. Registration, Invoicing and Liability for Orders Placed on Behalf of Companies

2.1 Registration and Invoicing
After registration, the customer receives the course invoice. Unless otherwise stated on the invoice, payment is due before the course begins or can be made in instalments through our payment partner.

2.2 Orders Made on Behalf of Companies
If you register or place an order on behalf of a company, the invoice will be issued to the company as specified in your order.
However, you remain personally responsible for ensuring timely payment if the company fails to do so.
If the company does not pay, the outstanding amount will be claimed directly from the person who placed the order.

3. Instalment payment

The conditions for instalment payments are explained clearly and simply by our partner company in our online shop: www.sprachschuleschneider.com/find-a-course

4. Course execution

Course places are allocated in the order in which registrations are received (subject to timely payment). If there are insufficient participants, we reserve the right to run the course as a very small group with a proportional reduction in teaching hours, or to cancel or interrupt the course at any time.

5. Course cancellations

Course cancellations must be submitted in writing (by email or letter) to Sprachschule Schneider. Cancellations by telephone cannot be considered. Depending on the timing of the cancellation, a refund of course fees may be granted as per section 6. For rescheduling of lessons, see section 8.

6. Refund of course fees

6.1 For cancellations received at least 20 days before the course start date, we will refund the course fees already paid in full, minus a processing fee of CHF 50.

6.2 For short-notice cancellations (e.g. due to illness or holidays) received after this deadline but at least 10 days before the course start date, 50% of the total booked course fee will be charged. This also applies to instalment payments (due within 30 days of course start). If the invoice has already been paid, the balance will be refunded within 30 days after the course start.

6.3 For cancellations made less than 10 days (14 days for immersion courses) before the course starts, during the course (e.g. due to illness or holidays), or in the event of a no-show without cancellation, the entire booked course fee is due and no refund or credit for paid fees will be given.

6.4 In exceptional cases, a credit for a future course may be granted upon written request to the school management, taking into account any special circumstances. Refunds are excluded, except as per section 6.5. A processing fee of at least CHF 50 will be deducted in any case.

6.5 Sprachschule Schneider will issue a refund in the following cases:

• If a course is cancelled by Sprachschule Schneider (e.g. due to insufficient participants or because a suitable teacher is temporarily unavailable due to illness or relocation).

• If a planned course does not take place.

In all cases of course fee refunds, reimbursement is limited exclusively to the course fee (but not to course registration and course materials) and to proportionally prepaid lessons that did not take place. Any further claims, e.g. due to not achieving a diploma or a personal/professional goal, or due to external claims and fees, are excluded.

7. Course start

The course start date is indicated on the course confirmation or invoice.

For individual lessons, the start date is arranged directly with the teacher. Since this is often not yet determined at the time of booking, the 25th day of the following month is used solely for calculating refund deadlines per point 6 — regardless of whether the first lesson took place before or after that date or did not take place at all.

Example: Registration on August 5 → effective course start date for refund purposes: September 25.

8. EduTrust™ Satisfaction Guarantee

8.1 Sprachschule Schneider AG offers a satisfaction guarantee under the name EduTrust™️ for selected course formats. This guarantee allows participants who are dissatisfied with the course content or teaching quality to switch to a comparable course free of charge. Refunds are generally not granted (see section 8.3).

8.2 The deadlines for claiming EduTrust™ vary depending on the course type:

• For private courses: notification must be given at least 24 hours before the second lesson.

• For group courses: notification must be given at least 24 hours before the third lesson (12 hours for daily intensive courses).

• If the relevant lesson falls on a Monday, notification must be received by Friday at 12:00 noon.

 

Notifications must be submitted by email to info@sprachschuleschneider.ch.

8.3 A refund will only be granted if no suitable alternative course can be offered within 6 weeks of the written notification to Sprachschule Schneider. A suitable alternative course is defined as one of the same or a very similar level, although course days and/or course times may differ from the originally booked course.

8.4 For any refund under section 6, only the start date of the originally booked course is relevant. The start date of a replacement course has no impact on refund eligibility or deadlines.

8.5 The EduTrust™️ Satisfaction Guarantee can be used a maximum of two times.

9. Rescheduling lessons

9.1 Lesson rescheduling must be arranged directly with the teacher. It is the participant’s responsibility to ensure and confirm that the teacher receives the notice in time.

9.2 Private lessons can be rescheduled free of charge up to 24 hours before the lesson (by Friday 6:00 p.m. for Monday lessons). Later cancellations, e.g. due to illness, will be charged.

9.3 For private two-person lessons, the rule in 8.2 applies. For rescheduling, both learners must agree. If one cannot attend, they must contact their partner in time and obtain their agreement to reschedule the lesson free of charge under section 8.2. If only one or no one attends, the lesson will be charged as if both had attended.

9.4 For group courses, rescheduling is not possible – even in cases of illness, holidays, or if only one person attends. Missed lessons cannot be made up or credited.

9.5 For in-company or fully booked group courses, one course date per semester can be rescheduled free of charge if notice is given 7 days in advance. Late notifications will be charged.

9.6 For Immersion™️ courses (half-day private or semi-private lessons), appointments can be rescheduled up to 7 days in advance at no cost. If rescheduling is done 48+ hours in advance, 50% of the session can be made up later. For later cancellations or no-shows, the full session will be charged.

10. Transfer of lessons

Course bookings are valid only for the person(s) named on the invoice and cannot be transferred to others.

11. Validity

11.1 For group courses, the validity period is stated on the invoice. Missed lessons due to teacher absence (e.g. illness) will be rescheduled or the course extended accordingly.

11.2

11.2 Bookings for private lessons and immersion courses are valid for 12 months from the course start date. The start date is defined as the date specified under point 7 above.

Upon written request to the school management, the validity may be extended, which results in the following reductions: for each 6-month extension, 10% of the originally booked hours will be deducted. Bookings can be extended a maximum of 2 times for 6 months each (total of 12 months). After that, the remaining credit expires in any case.

11.3 For company group courses, validity is 6 months for up to 50 full hours (unless stated otherwise). For larger bookings, it increases by 6 months per 50 additional hours. Upon request, the school may extend the validity, which reduces the hours by 20% per 6-month extension. Maximum 3 extensions (18 months total) are possible. After that, the booking expires in any case.

It is the participant’s responsibility to monitor the expiry date on their documents. The school is not obliged to notify them.

12. Switching to a Different Course Format

Your booking is binding for the course format stated in your order and invoice.

In certain exceptional cases, we will review a written request sent to info@sprachschuleschneider.ch if a switch is desired in one of the following situations:

• from semi-private to private lessons
• from immersion to private lessons
• from private to group courses

Switching from a group course to private lessons is strictly excluded.

A change is only possible if the requested format is available at the desired time. A processing fee of at least CHF 65.– applies in every case.

If the course has already expired, a switch is generally not possible. If a valid extension is still available under clause 11.2, the switch may be granted, subject to the credit reduction rules defined there. No further extensions beyond clause 11.2 are possible, even in case of a switch.

13. Recruitment of staff or freelancers

Recruiting or hiring Sprachschule Schneider teachers (employed or freelance) during or within 24 months after a course leads to a fee of half a year’s salary (minimum CHF 40,000) payable by the client.

14. Jurisdiction

Swiss law applies. Place of jurisdiction is Zurich.

Zurich, 5 November 2025