Terms & Conditions

§1 Basic provisions

(1) The following General Terms and Conditions shall apply to all contractual agreements concluded between Optimus Prep – Artem Morgunov, Sybelstraße 15, 10629 Berlin, Germany – hereinafter termed Supplier – and the customer via the website of the Supplier. Unless otherwise agreed, inclusion of the customer’s proprietary Terms and Conditions shall be inadmissible.

(2) Consistent with the following provisions, a consumer is deemed to be any natural person who concludes a legal transaction for a purpose which cannot be attributed to either their commercial or independent professional activity. An entrepreneur is deemed to be any natural or legal person or a legal partnership which, in concluding a legal transaction, exercises its independent professional or commercial activity.

(3) The contractual language shall be German. The complete text of the contractual Agreement shall not be stored by the Supplier. Prior to placing an order via the online shopping cart system, the contractual data may be printed using the browser’s “Print” function or saved electronically. Following receipt of the order by the Supplier, the order details, the statutory information to be provided specific to distance selling contractual agreements, and the General Terms and Conditions are again to be sent to the customer via e-mail.

In the instance of requests for quotations sent to the Supplier via e-mail, the customer shall receive an e-mail incorporating all contractual data within the parameters of a binding offer; the customer may then print this or save it electronically.

§2 Contractual subject

The subject of the contractual Agreement is the provision of services (courses). The details are contained in the description of the respective courses on the Supplier’s website.

§3 Establishment of the contractual Agreement

(1) The courses offered on the Internet by the Supplier are without obligation and do not constitute a binding offer for the conclusion of a contractual agreement.

(2) The customer may submit a binding offer (order) via the online shopping cart system.

This involves placing the courses intended for purchase in the “Shopping Cart”. The customer can bring up the “Shopping Cart” via the corresponding tab on the navigation bar and carry out changes there at any time. Upon bringing up the “Checkout” page and entering personal details as well as Terms of payment, all order details are once again displayed, in conclusion, on the Order Summary page. Before placing the order, the customer shall have the opportunity, at this point, to check or change all details again (also using the Internet browser’s “Back” function), or to abort the purchase. Upon placing the order via the “Place a binding order” tab, the customer shall submit a binding offer to the Supplier. The customer shall receive a preliminary automated e-mail confirming receipt of the order; this does not yet result in the conclusion of a contractual agreement.

(3) The acceptance of an offer (and, thus, contractual conclusion) shall, under all circumstances, be effected by means of written confirmation of the order (e.g., e-mail).

In the event that the customer should have failed to receive order confirmation within a period of five days, that party shall no longer be bound by his/her order. In such an instance, any payments already remitted will be refunded immediately.

(4) Upon request, the Supplier shall prepare a customized offer which is to be sent to the customer in writing and to which the Supplier shall commit for a period of seven days. The customer shall accept the offer by providing written confirmation thereof.

(5) Order processing and the forwarding of all requisite information specific to contractual conclusion shall take place via e-mail and shall be partially automated.

The customer is, therefore, required to ensure that the e-mail address provided by that party to the Supplier is correct, that the receipt of e-mails is technically secured, and, in particular, is not impeded by SPAM filters.

§4 Prices

(1) The prices quoted in the respective offers constitute final prices. They incorporate all price components, inclusive of all applicable taxes.

(2) In accordance with § 4 No. 21 Subparagraph a, Clause bb of the Value Added Tax Act (UStG), value added tax is not included in the invoice.

§5 Terms of payment

(1) The customer has the following payment options:

–  Payment in advance

–  Payment against invoice

–  Payment via PayPal

(2) Unless otherwise stated specific to the other modes of payment, the payment entitlements arising from the concluded contractual Agreement are payable with immediate effect.

§6 Provision of services

(1) The courses are to be implemented in the format described in the respective offers within the timelines agreed.

The Supplier shall be liable to render the individual services arising from the description in the offer. The Supplier shall provide these, to the best of that party’s knowledge and belief, personally or via a third party proxy. No specific output shall be owed.

(2) The implementation of the courses shall be contingent upon the number of participants. The minimum number of participants shall be specified in the respective offers.

In the event that the minimum number shall fail to be reached, the Supplier shall notify the customer in writing of the non-implementation of the courses booked no later than three days prior to course commencement. In such an instance, any payments already remitted will be refunded immediately.

§ 7 Withdrawal by the customer

(1) The customer may withdraw from the contractual Agreement at any time prior to commencement of services. Withdrawal must be effected in writing. In the case of group registration, withdrawal may also be effected specific to individual participants.

(2) In the event of withdrawal up to 21 days prior to course commencement, a fixed fee in respect of reimbursement of expenses shall be imposed on the customer, amounting to 10% of the payment owed. From the 20th day prior to course commencement, the fixed charge shall amount to 50% of the participation fees. In the event of withdrawal within three days prior to course commencement, reimbursement of expenses shall amount to a fixed charge of 75% of the participation fees. The customer shall retain the right to prove that the Supplier shall indeed have incurred no expenses or significantly lower expenses. In the instance of termination effected by the customer with good cause in accordance with § 314 of the German Civil Code (BGB), no reimbursement of expenses shall be payable.

(3) In the event that individual customers within a single group shall effect withdrawal, the percentages specified above shall be applicable in relation to the proportion of customers effecting withdrawal.

§8 Warranty

Statutory regulations shall be applicable.

§9 Liability

(1) The Supplier shall be liable, without limitations, for damages arising from injury to life, limb, or health insofar as that party shall fraudulently conceal a defect or shall have undertaken a guarantee in respect of the quality of the object of purchase, in all instances of intent and gross negligence, upon damages pursuant to the Product Liability Act, or insofar as shall be otherwise prescribed by law.

(2) Insofar as fundamental obligations arising from the contractual Agreement are affected, the infringement of which shall jeopardize the attainment of the contractual purpose, the liability of the Supplier shall be limited, in the instance of slight negligence, to foreseeable damages typical of contractual agreements.

(3) In the event of infringement of non-fundamental contractual obligations, liability shall be excluded in the instance of infringement of obligations evincing slight negligence.

(4) According to the present state of the art, data communication via the Internet cannot be guaranteed to be free of errors and/or available at all times. The Supplier shall be liable, in this respect, neither for the constant nor the uninterrupted availability of the website and the service offered therein.

§10 Governing law; place of performance; place of jurisdiction

(1) German law shall be applicable, to the exclusion of the UN Convention on the Sale of Goods. The governing law shall be applicable to consumers only insofar as the protection accorded by means of mandatory provisions of the consumer’s habitual place of abode shall not be withdrawn hereby (principle of favorability).

(2) The place of performance for all services arising from the business relations subsisting with the Supplier, as well as the place of jurisdiction, shall be the seat of the Supplier, insofar as the customer is not a consumer but a merchant, legal person under public law, or a special fund under public law.

The same shall apply if the customer shall have no general place of jurisdiction in Germany or the EU, or if the place of residence or of habitual abode shall not be known at the time that legal proceedings are initiated. The authority to also invoke the court at a further legal place of jurisdiction shall remain unaffected hereby.

§11 Score improvement guarantee for Private Tutoring (In-person & Online) & On Demand Courses for SAT, ACT, PSAT, PLAN, SSAT and TOEFL

(1) The student must have taken all included practice tests of the respective package and send a screenshot of the results to customercare@optimus-prep.com before taking the real test.

– In case of private tutoring: the student must have taken all hours of the respective private tutoring package

– The student must have watched all video lessons of the On Demand Course

– The student must have answered all included questions from the entire question pool

(2)  If students do not improve their official test score as advertised for the respective test, they receive a full refund.

(3) Only private tutoring, online private tutoring and On Demand Course students can make use of the score improvement guarantee. The 12 hour private tutoring (in-person or online) is excluded from the score improvement guarantee.

(4) Students need to submit their official test score report by e-mail to customercare@optimus-prep.com before the first lesson takes place or the first on demand video lesson was watched to be qualified for the score improvement guarantee. If the score report is submitted at a later stage the score improvement guarantee is not valid. If a student has several scores, the lowest score is verified for the score guarantee.

(5) The score improvement guarantee is valid for 120 days after the purchase date. 

§12 Score improvement guarantee for GMAT Private Tutoring (In-person & Online) & GMAT On Demand Course

(1) The student must have taken all included full GMAT practice tests of the respective package and send a screenshot of the results to customercare@optimus-prep.com before taking the real GMAT test.

–  Each of the full GMAT practice test scores must be higher than 500 points. Only 1% of GMAT test takers score less than 500 points. Practice test scores of less than 500 points are considered as attempted fraud to qualify for the score improvement guarantee by simply randomly clicking on any answer and therefore do not count.

–  In case of private tutoring: the student must have taken all hours of the respective private tutoring package

–  The student must have watched all video lessons of the GMAT On Demand Course

– The student must have answered all 5,500 questions from the question pool

(2)  If students with an official GMAT score of less than 650 and did not improve their GMAT score by 50 or more points after the course, they receive a full refund. If students with an official GMAT score of 650 or more fulfill all of the above and did not improve their GMAT score by 20 or more points after the course, they receive a full refund. 

–  The student must have taken all hours of the respective private tutoring package

–  The student must have watched all video lessons of the GMAT On Demand Course

–  The student must have answered all 5,500 questions from the question pool of the included on demand course

–  The student must take all full practice tests

(4) Only private tutoring, online private tutoring, and On Demand Course students can make use of the score improvement guarantee. The 12-hour private tutoring (in-person or online) is excluded from the score improvement guarantee.

(5) Students need to submit their GMAT score report or Optimus Prep´s diagnostic test by e-mail to customercare@optimus-prep.com before the first lesson takes place or the first on-demand video lesson was watched to be qualified for the score improvement guarantee. If the score report is submitted at a later stage the score improvement guarantee is not valid. If a student has several GMAT scores, the lowest GMAT score is verified for the score guarantee.

(6) The score improvement guarantee is valid for 120 days after the purchase date. If you take the real GMAT test before the 120 days, that date counts for the requirements. The student’s GMAT score that will be taken into consideration for the score improvement guarantee policy must be verified by a valid Pearson VUE link and birth date (canceled scores do not apply for the guarantee).

§13 Score improvement guarantee for GMAT Verbal Booster On Demand Course

(1) The student must have watched all video lessons of the GMAT Verbal Booster On Demand Course.

(2) The student must have answered all 2,500 verbal questions from the question pool.

(3) Each of the full GMAT practice test scores must be higher than 500 points. Only 1% of GMAT test takers score less than 500 points. Practice test scores of less than 500 points are considered as attempted fraud to qualify for the score improvement guarantee by simply randomly clicking on any answer and therefore do not count.

(4) The student need to submit his/her GMAT score report by e-mail to customercare@optimus-prep.com before the first verbal booster video lesson was watched to be qualified for the verbal score improvement guarantee. If the score report is submitted at a later stage the score improvement guarantee is not valid. If a student has several GMAT scores, the lowest GMAT score is verified for the score guarantee.

(5) The verbal score improvement guarantee is valid for 120 days after the purchase date.

(6) If all of the above criteria is fulfilled and the student does not improve his/her verbal score by at least 4 points on the next GMAT attempt, the student is qualified for the full refund guarantee. The student’s GMAT score that will be taken into consideration for the score improvement guarantee policy must be verified by a valid Pearson VUE link and birth date (canceled scores do not apply for the guarantee).

§14 Score improvement guarantee for GMAT Quant. Booster On Demand Course

(1) The student must have watched all video lessons of the GMAT Quant. Booster On Demand Course.

(2) The student must have answered all 2,500 quant. questions from the question pool.

(3) Each of the 9 full GMAT practice test scores must be higher than 500 points. Only 1% of GMAT test takers score less than 500 points. Practice test scores of less than 500 points are considered as attempted fraud to qualify for the score improvement guarantee by simply randomly clicking on any answer and therefore do not count.

(4) The student need to submit his/her GMAT score report by e-mail to customercare@optimus-prep.com before the first quant. booster video lesson was watched to be qualified for the quant score improvement guarantee. If the score report is submitted at a later stage the score improvement guarantee is not valid. If a student has several GMAT scores, the lowest GMAT score is verified for the score guarantee.

(5) The quant. score improvement guarantee is valid for 120 days after the purchase date.

(6) If all of the above criteria is fulfilled and the student does not improve his/her quant score by at least 4 points on the next GMAT attempt, the student is qualified for the full refund guarantee. The student’s GMAT score that will be taken into consideration for the score improvement guarantee policy must be verified by a valid Pearson VUE link and birth date (canceled scores do not apply for the guarantee).

§15 Cancellation rule

(1) Clients are not eligible for a refund if a lesson is canceled within less than 24 hours.

(2) Clients who purchased a product of Optimus Prep are not eligible for a refund because of private reasons (for example, if they change their plans to take the GMAT or to do the MBA).

(3) Clients must assure that have a working internet connection before starting the lessons. In case the internet connection of a client does not work during the lesson, the client is not eligible for a refund for that lesson.

(4) Unused hours of a tutoring package are not refundable but also do not expire. Hours are also non-transferable to other clients.