General Terms and Conditions with Customer Information

Table of Contents

1. Scope of Application
2. Conclusion of Contract
3. Right of Withdrawal
4. Prices and Payment Terms
5. Delivery and Shipping Conditions
6. Retention of Title
7. Liability for Defects (Warranty)
8. Special Conditions for Processing Services
9. Redemption of Gift Vouchers
10. Redemption of Promotional Vouchers
11. Applicable Law
12. Place of Jurisdiction
13. Alternative Dispute Resolution

1) Scope of Application

1.1 These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter "GTC") of ASCEND GmbH (hereinafter "Seller") apply to all contracts for the delivery of goods that a consumer or entrepreneur (hereinafter "Customer") concludes with the Seller regarding goods presented by the Seller in their online shop. The inclusion of the Customer's own terms and conditions is hereby objected to, unless otherwise agreed.

1.2 These GTC apply accordingly to contracts for the delivery of vouchers, unless expressly agreed otherwise.

1.3 A consumer within the meaning of these GTC is any natural person who concludes a legal transaction for purposes that are predominantly neither commercial nor self-employed. An entrepreneur within the meaning of these GTC is a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity who, when concluding a legal transaction, acts in the exercise of their commercial or self-employed professional activity.

1.4 The subject matter of the contract may be - depending on the Seller's product description - both the purchase of goods by way of a one-time delivery and the purchase of goods by way of a permanent delivery (hereinafter "Subscription Contract"). In the case of a Subscription Contract, the Seller undertakes to deliver the contractually agreed goods to the Customer at the contractually agreed intervals.

2) Conclusion of Contract

2.1 The product descriptions contained in the Seller's online shop do not constitute binding offers on the part of the Seller, but serve to enable the Customer to submit a binding offer.

2.2 The Customer can submit the offer via the online order form integrated into the Seller's online shop. After placing the selected goods in the virtual shopping cart and going through the electronic ordering process, the Customer submits a legally binding contract offer regarding the goods contained in the shopping cart by clicking the button that concludes the ordering process. Furthermore, the Customer can also submit the offer to the Seller by telephone, fax, email, post, or via the Seller's online contact form.

2.3 The Seller may accept the Customer's offer within five days, - by sending the Customer a written order confirmation or an order confirmation in text form (fax or email), whereby the receipt of the order confirmation by the Customer is decisive, or - by delivering the ordered goods to the Customer, whereby the receipt of the goods by the Customer is decisive, or - by requesting payment from the Customer after the Customer has placed their order.

If several of the above alternatives exist, the contract is concluded at the time when one of the above alternatives occurs first. The period for acceptance of the offer begins on the day after the Customer sends the offer and ends at the end of the fifth day following the sending of the offer. If the Seller does not accept the Customer's offer within the above period, this is deemed a rejection of the offer with the consequence that the Customer is no longer bound by their declaration of intent.

2.4 If a payment method offered by PayPal is selected, payment is processed via the payment service provider PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg (hereinafter: "PayPal"), subject to the PayPal Terms of Use, available at https://www.paypal.com/de/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full or - if the Customer does not have a PayPal account - subject to the Terms and Conditions for Payments without a PayPal Account, available at https://www.paypal.com/de/webapps/mpp/ua/privacywax-full. If the Customer pays via a payment method offered by PayPal that can be selected in the online ordering process, the Seller already declares acceptance of the Customer's offer at the time the Customer clicks the button that concludes the ordering process.

2.5 When submitting an offer via the Seller's online order form, the contract text is stored by the Seller after the contract is concluded and sent to the Customer in text form (e.g., email, fax, or letter) after the Customer sends their order. The Seller does not make the contract text accessible beyond this. If the Customer has set up a user account in the Seller's online shop before sending their order, the order data is archived on the Seller's website and can be accessed free of charge by the Customer via their password-protected user account by providing the relevant login details.

2.6 Before bindingly placing the order via the Seller's online order form, the Customer can identify possible input errors by carefully reading the information displayed on the screen. An effective technical means for better recognition of input errors can be the browser's magnification function, which enlarges the display on the screen. The Customer can correct their entries during the electronic ordering process using the usual keyboard and mouse functions until they click the button that concludes the ordering process.

2.7 The German and English languages are available for the conclusion of the contract.

2.8 Order processing and contact usually take place via email and automated order processing. The Customer must ensure that the email address they provide for order processing is correct so that emails sent by the Seller can be received at this address. In particular, when using SPAM filters, the Customer must ensure that all emails sent by the Seller or by third parties commissioned by the Seller to process the order can be delivered.

3) Right of Withdrawal

3.1 Consumers generally have a right of withdrawal.

3.2 Further information on the right of withdrawal can be found in the Seller's withdrawal policy.

3.3 The right of withdrawal does not apply to consumers who, at the time of conclusion of the contract, do not belong to a member state of the European Union and whose sole residence and delivery address are outside the European Union at the time of conclusion of the contract.

4) Prices and Payment Terms

4.1 Unless otherwise stated in the Seller's product description, the prices stated are total prices that include statutory value-added tax. Any additional delivery and shipping costs are specified separately in the respective product description.

4.2 For deliveries to countries outside the European Union, additional costs may arise in individual cases for which the Seller is not responsible and which are to be borne by the Customer. These include, for example, costs for money transfers by credit institutions (e.g., transfer fees, exchange rate fees) or import duties or taxes (e.g., customs duties). Such costs may also arise in relation to money transfers if the delivery is not made to a country outside the European Union, but the Customer makes the payment from a country outside the European Union.

4.3 The payment option(s) will be communicated to the Customer in the Seller's online shop.

4.4 If advance payment by bank transfer has been agreed, payment is due immediately after conclusion of the contract, unless the parties have agreed on a later due date.

4.5 If the payment method "PayPal invoice" is selected, the Seller assigns their payment claim to PayPal. Before accepting the Seller's declaration of assignment, PayPal carries out a credit check using the transmitted customer data. The Seller reserves the right to refuse the payment method "PayPal invoice" in the event of a negative check result. If the payment method "PayPal invoice" is approved by PayPal, the Customer must pay the invoice amount to PayPal within 30 days of receiving the goods, unless PayPal specifies a different payment deadline. In this case, they can only pay to PayPal with debt-discharging effect. However, even in the case of assignment of claims, the Seller remains responsible for general customer inquiries, e.g., about the goods, delivery time, dispatch, returns, complaints, declarations of withdrawal and deliveries or credit notes.

4.6 If the payment method purchase on account is selected, the purchase price is due after the goods have been delivered and invoiced. In this case, the purchase price must be paid within 14 days of receipt of the invoice without deduction, unless otherwise agreed. The Seller reserves the right to offer the payment method purchase on account only up to a certain order volume and to refuse this payment method if the specified order volume is exceeded. In this case, the Seller will inform the Customer of a corresponding payment restriction in their payment information in the online shop.

5) Delivery and Shipping Conditions

5.1 If the Seller offers to ship the goods, delivery is made within the delivery area specified by the Seller to the delivery address specified by the Customer, unless otherwise agreed. When processing the transaction, the delivery address specified in the Seller's order processing is decisive.

5.2 If delivery of the goods fails for reasons for which the Customer is responsible, the Customer bears the reasonable costs incurred by the Seller as a result. This does not apply to the costs for the outward shipment if the Customer effectively exercises their right of withdrawal. In the event of effective exercise of the right of withdrawal by the Customer, the regulation made in the Seller's withdrawal policy applies to the return costs.

5.3 In the case of self-collection, the Seller first informs the Customer by email that the goods they ordered are ready for collection. After receiving this email, the Customer can collect the goods at the Seller's registered office by arrangement with the Seller. In this case, no shipping costs are charged.

5.4 Vouchers are provided to the Customer as follows:

- by email

6) Retention of Title

If the Seller makes advance payment, they retain ownership of the delivered goods until the purchase price owed has been paid in full.

7) Liability for Defects (Warranty)

7.1 Unless otherwise stated in the following provisions, the provisions of statutory liability for defects apply. Deviating from this, the following applies to contracts for the delivery of goods:

7.2 If the Customer acts as an entrepreneur, - the Seller has the choice of the type of subsequent performance; - for new goods, the limitation period for defects is one year from delivery of the goods; - for used goods, rights and claims for defects are excluded; - the limitation period does not begin again if a replacement delivery is made within the scope of liability for defects.

7.3 The limitations of liability and shortening of deadlines regulated above do not apply - to claims for damages and reimbursement of expenses by the Customer, - in the event that the Seller has fraudulently concealed the defect, - for goods that have been used for a building in accordance with their normal use and have caused its defectiveness, - for any obligation of the Seller to provide updates for digital products, in contracts for the delivery of goods with digital elements.

7.4 Furthermore, for entrepreneurs, the statutory limitation periods for any existing statutory right of recourse remain unaffected.

7.5 If the Customer acts as a merchant within the meaning of § 1 HGB, they are subject to the commercial duty to examine and give notice of defects according to § 377 HGB. If the Customer fails to comply with the notification obligations regulated therein, the goods are deemed approved.

7.6 If the Customer acts as a consumer, they are asked to complain to the deliverer about delivered goods with obvious transport damage and to inform the Seller accordingly. If the Customer does not comply with this, this has no effect on their statutory or contractual claims for defects.

8) Special Conditions for Processing Services

8.1 If, in addition to the delivery of goods, the Seller also owes the processing of the goods according to the Customer's specific requirements, the Customer must provide the Seller with all content required for processing, such as texts, images, or graphics, in the file formats, formatting, image and file sizes specified by the Seller and grant the Seller the necessary usage rights. The Customer is solely responsible for procuring and acquiring rights to this content. The Customer declares and assumes responsibility that they have the right to use the content provided to the Seller. In particular, they ensure that no third-party rights are violated, especially copyright, trademark, and personal rights.

8.2 The Customer releases the Seller from claims by third parties that they may assert against the Seller in connection with a violation of their rights by the contractual use of the Customer's content by the Seller. The Customer also assumes the reasonable costs of the necessary legal defense, including all court and attorney fees at the statutory rate. This does not apply if the Customer is not responsible for the infringement. In the event of a claim by a third party, the Customer is obliged to provide the Seller immediately, truthfully, and completely with all information necessary for the examination of the claims and a defense.

8.3 The Seller reserves the right to refuse processing orders if the content provided by the Customer for this purpose violates legal or official prohibitions or morality. This applies in particular to the provision of unconstitutional, racist, xenophobic, discriminatory, offensive, youth-endangering and/or violence-glorifying content.

9) Redemption of Gift Vouchers

9.1 Vouchers issued free of charge by the Seller as part of promotions with a specific period of validity and which cannot be purchased by the Customer (hereinafter "Gift Vouchers") can only be redeemed in the Seller's online shop and only during the specified period.

9.2 Individual products may be excluded from the voucher promotion if a corresponding restriction results from the content of the Gift Voucher.

9.3 Gift Vouchers can only be redeemed before completing the ordering process. Subsequent offsetting is not possible.

9.4 Only one Gift Voucher can be redeemed per order.

9.5 The value of goods must be at least equal to the amount of the Gift Voucher. Any remaining balance will not be refunded by the Seller.

9.6 If the value of the Gift Voucher is not sufficient to cover the order, one of the other payment methods offered by the Seller can be chosen to settle the difference.

9.7 The balance of a Gift Voucher is neither paid out in cash nor does it bear interest.

9.8 The Gift Voucher will not be refunded if the Customer returns the goods paid for in whole or in part with the Gift Voucher within the scope of their statutory right of withdrawal.

9.9 The Gift Voucher is transferable. The Seller can make payment with discharging effect to the respective holder who redeems the Gift Voucher in the Seller's online shop. This does not apply if the Seller has knowledge or grossly negligent ignorance of the ineligibility, legal incapacity, or lack of authority to represent the respective holder.

10) Redemption of Promotional Vouchers

10.1 Vouchers that are issued free of charge by the Seller as part of promotions with a specific period of validity and which cannot be purchased by the Customer (hereinafter "Promotional Vouchers") can only be redeemed in the Seller's online shop and only during the specified period.

10.2 Individual products may be excluded from the voucher promotion if a corresponding restriction results from the content of the Promotional Voucher.

10.3 Promotional Vouchers can only be redeemed before completing the ordering process. Subsequent offsetting is not possible.

10.4 Only one Promotional Voucher can be redeemed per order.

10.5 The value of goods must be at least equal to the amount of the Promotional Voucher. Any remaining balance will not be refunded by the Seller.

10.6 If the value of the Promotional Voucher is not sufficient to cover the order, one of the other payment methods offered by the Seller can be chosen to settle the difference.

10.7 The balance of a Promotional Voucher is neither paid out in cash nor does it bear interest.

10.8 The Promotional Voucher will not be refunded if the Customer returns the goods paid for in whole or in part with the Promotional Voucher within the scope of their statutory right of withdrawal.

10.9 The Promotional Voucher is only intended for use by the person named on it. A transfer of the Promotional Voucher to third parties is excluded. The Seller is entitled, but not obliged, to verify the material eligibility of the respective voucher holder. If the Seller reasonably establishes the ineligibility of the voucher holder, the Seller can refuse redemption of the Promotional Voucher.

11) Applicable Law

11.1 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany applies to all legal relationships between the parties, excluding the laws on the international purchase of movable goods. For consumers, this choice of law only applies insofar as the protection granted by mandatory provisions of the law of the country in which the consumer has their habitual residence is not withdrawn.

11.2 Furthermore, this statutory choice of law regarding the statutory right of withdrawal does not apply to consumers who do not belong to a member state of the European Union at the time of conclusion of the contract and whose sole residence and delivery address are outside the European Union at the time of conclusion of the contract.

12) Place of Jurisdiction

If the Customer acts as a merchant, a legal entity under public law, or a special fund under public law with its registered office in the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contract is the Seller's place of business. If the Customer has its registered office outside the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Seller's place of business is the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contract if the contract or claims arising from the contract can be attributed to the Customer's professional or commercial activity. In the above cases, however, the Seller is in any case also entitled to call upon the court at the Customer's registered office.

13) Alternative Dispute Resolution

13.1 The EU Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution on the internet at the following link: https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr

This platform serves as a contact point for the out-of-court settlement of disputes arising from online purchase or service contracts in which a consumer is involved.

13.2 The Seller is neither obliged nor willing to participate in a dispute resolution procedure before a consumer arbitration board.