These terms explain how fluente courses and self-study memberships are booked, paid for and delivered, and how cancellations and the Sprint cashback offer work. They apply when made available and accepted before purchase.
1 The provider
Your contractual partner is Katarina Bertusek, trading as fluente, a Swiss sole proprietorship (Einzelfirma). Business address: Brackenweg 14, 5200 Brugg, Switzerland. Business identification number (UID): CHE-368.665.243. Email: info@fluente.ch. WhatsApp: +41 76 262 47 48.
These terms cover the fluente language-learning offers described here when sold through fluente.ch or profluente.com. An individually agreed arrangement or offer-specific condition takes priority only where it was clearly agreed before purchase and is permitted by law. Mandatory consumer rights remain unaffected.
2 Choosing and booking a course
The written placement test is free and does not require a course purchase. Its result recommends one of fluente's five internal book groups. It is not an official CEFR examination or language certificate. A score of zero or below still allows booking Book 1. An optional speaking assessment is a separate service, available only when an appointment is actually offered.
For a Sprint, you select an available class for your recommended book, enter your details and review the class and price before continuing to Stripe. You can correct details before submitting the relevant form. Payment of EUR 169 is due at registration. Reserving a place on the website is followed immediately by Stripe checkout; the reservation does not itself mean that payment has been received. Use the same email address for your reservation and checkout.
The paid contract is concluded when your Stripe payment is successfully accepted. The selected Sprint remains subject to the minimum group size in section 3. fluente will send an email confirmation with the purchased offer, price, applicable terms and relevant course or access details. If you notice an error, contact fluente promptly so it can be corrected.
3 Sprint format and starting dates
The German Sprint is a one-month live online course, with two 50-minute lessons per week. A class has at least three and no more than five registered students. The exact start date is not published or fixed at registration. You register and pay for a Sprint that will start within the two calendar months following the month of your registration, provided at least three students have registered for that class. This is a calendar-month window, not a rolling 60-day period. fluente emails your registration and payment confirmation after successful payment. In the following weeks, once the group is confirmed, fluente emails the start date, complete course timetable, number of lessons, planned non-teaching dates and joining details before the first lesson. The published weekly lesson times remain your selected schedule; the dated course timetable follows by email.
Lesson times are stated in Europe/Zurich time, including the applicable seasonal time change. You choose a fixed book group and lesson time. A later group change must first be discussed with and approved by a fluente administrator; it depends on suitability and available places.
If the minimum is not reached, fluente cannot offer a start within that window, or the confirmed dates do not suit you, you can cancel before the first scheduled lesson for a full refund or expressly agree to an alternative. fluente will contact you before the start window expires if it cannot provide the course. A later start, different class or reduced course is not imposed without your agreement.
4 Prices and payment
The Sprint costs EUR 169 for one month, paid once. It does not renew automatically. The included offer covers the live lessons, digital learning materials specified for the course, its final assessment and the certificate of course participation described in section 11. No additional service or external examination is included unless expressly stated.
The self-study membership costs EUR 29 per month and renews monthly until cancelled under section 8. The price, billing frequency, currency and total payable must be shown before the binding payment. There are no undisclosed mandatory fluente charges.
fluente is not currently registered for Swiss VAT. No Swiss VAT is charged. Any other tax required for a particular sale must be reflected in the total disclosed before purchase. Your bank or payment provider may apply its own currency-conversion charges.
Payments are processed through Stripe. fluente matches payments to course registrations and sends joining or material-access details manually. A payment receipt is not a confirmation that a class has reached the minimum size.
5 Cancelling your Sprint
You may cancel for a full refund at any time before the scheduled start of the first lesson of your booked Sprint. Send a clear cancellation message to info@fluente.ch or WhatsApp +41 76 262 47 48, identifying your booking. For this voluntary policy, your message must reach fluente before that lesson's scheduled start. No administration fee is deducted.
Once the first scheduled lesson has started, no voluntary refund is offered for withdrawal, non-attendance, lateness or leaving early. This refers to the class's first scheduled lesson, not the first lesson you personally attend. Missed group lessons do not create an automatic right to a private replacement lesson.
These limits do not remove statutory withdrawal, termination or other mandatory rights, claims where fluente fails to deliver the agreed service, or an earned cashback entitlement. Contact fluente if illness or another serious circumstance prevents attendance; a mutually agreed solution may be possible.
Approved cancellation refunds will be made without unnecessary delay, normally within 14 calendar days, using the original payment method unless otherwise agreed. A shorter mandatory deadline takes priority.
6 Changes and lessons cancelled by fluente
fluente may arrange a suitably qualified substitute teacher. A material change to the agreed timetable, format or course scope requires your agreement. If a lesson cannot take place, fluente will offer a suitable replacement. If no suitable replacement can be agreed, the corresponding undelivered part will be refunded. If fluente cancels the entire course before it begins, you receive a full refund.
Events beyond reasonable control may require a postponement or replacement, but do not give fluente an unrestricted right to keep payment for services never delivered. Problems caused by fluente or its teacher do not count against your permitted absence or cashback eligibility.
7 Self-study materials and support
Self-study includes the digital books and MP3s specified in the offer and access to the supporting private Facebook group. Questions about the learning material are answered once a week. Live group lessons, private tuition and the Sprint cashback offer are separate and are not included.
After successful payment, fluente emails access instructions and Facebook-group joining details within two working days. Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays at fluente's place of business in Aargau, Switzerland. Delivery and group admission are handled manually. Please contact fluente if the email does not arrive, after checking your spam folder.
You need an email address, an internet connection and a device capable of opening the supplied digital books and playing MP3 files. Any additional format or software requirements are disclosed before purchase. Facebook-group participation requires your own Facebook account and compliance with that platform's terms. fluente's own service obligations remain its responsibility.
8 Monthly renewal and cancellation
Self-study is charged in advance for each monthly billing period, starting on the date shown at checkout. There is no longer minimum commitment than the current paid monthly period.
You can cancel by emailing info@fluente.ch or sending a WhatsApp message to +41 76 262 47 48. Identify yourself using the email used for the subscription. If fluente receives your cancellation before the next renewal, no further monthly payment is due. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the paid period, and you retain access until then. fluente will confirm the end date in writing. Any legally required online cancellation method is additional to these contact methods.
Outside an applicable withdrawal right or another mandatory remedy, a started monthly period is not voluntarily refunded merely because you did not use it. A charge taken after a timely cancellation will be corrected and refunded. Cancellation stops future renewals; it does not remove statutory rights concerning an earlier payment or defective service.
Price changes will not affect an already paid period. Any proposed renewal-price change will be communicated in advance with a genuine opportunity to cancel before it applies. The current terms are not replaced retroactively by later website edits.
9 Personal use and respectful participation
Learning materials are supplied for your own learning. Copyright and other rights remain with fluente or the relevant rights holder. You may make reasonable personal study copies where permitted, but may not resell, publish, distribute, share access credentials or use the materials to run another course without permission. These restrictions also apply to copies retained after a membership ends.
Please treat teachers and other learners respectfully and protect other participants' personal information. Do not record or publish lessons, messages, images or participant details without the necessary permission. fluente will not use your participation as consent to promotional recordings or testimonials.
For serious disruption or misuse, fluente may take proportionate steps to protect the group, normally after a warning where appropriate. Any termination and payment consequences remain subject to the circumstances and applicable law; there is no automatic forfeiture of every payment.
10 The Sprint cashback offer
Where your Sprint is expressly sold with the 100% cashback offer, you can receive back the Sprint course fee actually paid if you meet the conditions below. Cashback does not apply to self-study subscriptions, separate private lessons or an offer that did not include the promotion. A discount does not increase the amount refundable beyond what you paid.
To qualify, you must:
- Attend your assigned group, with no more than one scheduled absence.
- Arrive on time and stay for the full session for every other lesson.
- Participate actively in the learning activities.
- Complete the official final Sprint assessment by its communicated deadline.
- Achieve at least 87% in that final assessment.
The free placement test is separate and is not the assessment used for cashback. The assessment format and scoring method must be disclosed before enrolment. The assessment date and completion deadline are supplied with the confirmed course timetable before the first lesson, allowing reasonable time to complete the assessment. No additional qualifying condition may be introduced after you book. Ordinary homework supports learning; an additional homework-based disqualification rule is not added by these terms.
Teacher cancellations, late starts, early finishes and other delivery problems attributable to fluente will not be counted as your permitted absence or used to deny cashback. fluente will arrange a fair replacement or adjustment. Tell fluente promptly about a technical or attendance-record error so it can be checked.
Send your cashback request to info@fluente.ch within 14 calendar days after the final assessment. Include your name, booking email and course group. You may submit the request while waiting for the result. If fluente reschedules your assessment or grants an extension, the request period runs from the revised assessment date.
fluente checks the payment, attendance and assessment records and gives a written decision explaining any refusal. You may ask for a factual error to be reviewed. A qualifying request will not be unreasonably delayed or refused. Once approved, cashback is paid within 30 calendar days, normally to the original payment method. Mandatory refund rights do not depend on meeting the cashback conditions.
11 Participation certificate and learning outcomes
At the end of the Sprint, fluente issues a certificate of course participation entitled "Zertifikat über die Kursteilnahme". It confirms your participation in the course and is included in the course fee. It is not an external language examination certificate and does not certify a CEFR level. Receiving the certificate does not, by itself, establish eligibility for cashback; the separate conditions in section 10 apply.
For live online lessons, you need a suitable device, reliable internet, working audio and access to the meeting platform specified before the course. Test your connection before your first lesson and report difficulties promptly. Your own connection problems do not automatically entitle you to a refund for an otherwise delivered group lesson; fluente remains responsible for problems within its own control.
Progress depends on your starting point, attendance, study time and practice. The Sprint and placement test do not promise a particular CEFR level, an external language qualification, an examination pass, an employment outcome or fluency within a fixed time. Comparative timelines and past student outcomes are not individual guarantees.
12 Statutory consumer withdrawal rights
The voluntary Sprint cancellation policy is separate from legal withdrawal rights. If the mandatory consumer law applicable to your contract provides a withdrawal right, that right remains available. This can include consumers in Germany or Austria when the offer is directed to their country. Swiss law does not generally provide an automatic cooling-off period simply because a purchase was made online.
Where the usual EU consumer withdrawal rules apply, you normally have 14 days from conclusion of a service contract, or a contract for digital content not supplied on a physical medium, to withdraw without giving a reason. Any longer period required by law remains available, including where required information was not supplied correctly.
To withdraw, send an unambiguous statement to Katarina Bertusek, Brackenweg 14, 5200 Brugg, Switzerland, by post, email to info@fluente.ch or WhatsApp to +41 76 262 47 48. The form below is optional. Sending the statement before the applicable deadline is sufficient to meet that deadline. A legally required online withdrawal facility must also be available where applicable; it cannot replace your right to use another valid method.
For a valid statutory withdrawal, payments covered by that right are refunded without undue delay and no later than 14 days after fluente is informed, using the original payment method unless you expressly agree otherwise, with no refund fee.
If you expressly requested a service to start during the withdrawal period, a proportionate amount for services already provided may be due only where the law permits and the required information was given. A service withdrawal right ends upon full performance only where all legally required requests, consent and acknowledgements are in place.
For digital content, an early loss of the withdrawal right requires the legally required prior express consent to supply, acknowledgement of the loss of that right and confirmation on a durable medium. Accepting these general terms or paying alone is not treated as that separate consent. Where the conditions are absent, fluente does not rely on automatic loss of the right merely because access has been emailed or a file opened. The treatment of any combined content-and-support membership remains subject to applicable law.
Optional withdrawal statement
To Katarina Bertusek, Brackenweg 14, 5200 Brugg, Switzerland; info@fluente.ch.
I hereby give notice that I withdraw from my contract for the following service or digital content:
Service or membership: __________________________________________
Ordered on: __________________ Booking or subscription reference: __________________
Name and address: ___________________________________________________________
Booking email: ______________________________ Date: __________________________
Signature, only if sent on paper: _________________________________________________
13 Problems and liability
Please contact fluente promptly if a lesson, material or membership does not match the agreed offer. Describe the problem so it can be investigated and a suitable remedy offered. This request does not shorten a statutory claims period or remove mandatory remedies.
fluente is responsible for performing its agreed obligations. Nothing in these terms excludes liability for deliberate misconduct or gross negligence, injury to life, body or health, or any liability or remedy that the law does not allow to be excluded. Other liability is determined by the applicable law. No blanket exclusion applies to digital materials, the actions of teachers or the use of third-party platforms.
14 Personal data and communication
The separate Privacy Policy explains how test results, registration and payment references, communications and optional marketing subscriptions are handled. These terms do not replace that policy or constitute blanket consent to marketing. Newsletter consent is optional and may be withdrawn without cancelling a course.
Service communications concern matters such as payment matching, access, lesson arrangements, cancellations and cashback. Keep your contact details accurate. WhatsApp is an optional contact channel; you may use email or post instead. Your use of Stripe, Facebook or the lesson platform is also subject to the relevant provider's applicable terms and privacy information, without removing fluente's obligations to you.
15 Applicable law and disputes
Swiss law applies to the contract, subject to mandatory rules that protect consumers in their country of habitual residence where those rules apply. This choice does not deprive a consumer of protections that cannot be waived by agreement.
Jurisdiction is determined by the applicable mandatory rules. These terms do not require consumers to bring every claim exclusively in Brugg or waive a legally available local court. Please contact fluente first if you would like to seek an amicable solution; doing so is not a precondition to using a legal remedy.
16 Version and contact
The version provided and accepted when you purchase applies to that contract. A later revision does not retroactively change a booked Sprint, an already paid subscription period or an earned refund entitlement. If a provision cannot be enforced, the relevant law applies in its place; the rest of the contract continues to the extent permitted.
For bookings, cancellation, access or complaints, contact info@fluente.ch or WhatsApp +41 76 262 47 48. Written correspondence may be sent to Katarina Bertusek, Brackenweg 14, 5200 Brugg, Switzerland.