General Terms and Conditions of Trade

Creditreform Rating AG’s General Terms and Conditions of Trade for the Sale of Digital Content on Non-Physical Data Media Via the Website https://www.creditreform-rating.de

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF TRADE CAREFULLY. BY ACCESSING OR USING THIS WEBSITE YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS DESCRIBED HEREIN INCLUDING ALL CONDITIONS, RULES AND GUIDELINES WHICH MAY BE REFERRED TO IN THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY TO BOTH THE FREE USER AREA AND THE USE OF CREDITREFORM RATING SERVICES FOR WHICH A FEE WILL BE CHARGED. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, DO NOT USE THIS WEBSITE.

Contents

1. Scope

2. Contractual agreement

3. Right of withdrawal from contractual agreements concerning the delivery of / access to digital content on non-physical data media; withdrawal form (sample); expiry of the right of withdrawal

4. Prices

5. Methods of payment

6. Retention of title and reservation of rights

7. Special Terms and Conditions for the Acquisition of Rating Reports

8. Liability for damages

9. Final provisions

Creditreform Rating AG offers a range of rating online via the website https://www.creditreform-rating.de.  Customers enter into a contractual relationship with Creditreform Rating AG, Europadamm 2-6, 41460 Neuss, Federal Republic of Germany.

1. Scope

The business relationship between Creditreform Rating AG (“CRAG“) and the customer in respect of https://www.creditreform-rating.de is exclusively governed by these General Terms and Conditions of Trade in the version that is valid at the time when the order is submitted. Any conflicting, materially different or supplementary terms and conditions of the customer shall only be integrated into this agreement if CRAG has explicitly agreed to the validity of such conditions.

2. Contractual agreement

Display and descriptions of products on the website https://www.creditreform-rating.de do not constitute a legally binding offer of CRAG but only represent a non-binding online catalogue. The customer is free to select products and to place them into his virtual shopping basket. By clicking the button “Make a legally binding purchase now“, the customer makes a legally binding commitment to the purchase of the item(s) in question. After the customer has clicked the button “Make a legally binding purchase now“, he will be directed towards a payment procedure of his choice. Once the payment process has been successfully completed, CRAG will provide an approval of the contractual agreement by enabling the customer to download the selected product in question. The contractual agreement between the customer and CRAG is therefore concluded only after the payment procedure has been successfully completed.

Before submitting the order, the customer can at any time display and amend the data. The order can only be submitted after the customer has expressed his consent with the General Terms and Conditions by clicking the respective button (“I agree to be bound by the General Terms and Conditions of Trade”). Immediately after receiving the order, CRAG will send an automatically created email to the customer, confirming the receipt of the order. This email does not constitute an acceptance of the contractual offer by CRAG. Any such contract shall only be concluded when CRAG has accepted the customer’s offer by issuing a separate order confirmation via email or by making the ordered product available via the download button function. By making the ordered product available for the download, CRAG shall be considered to have fully performed its contractual obligations.

3. Right of withdrawal from contractual agreements concerning the delivery of / access to digital content on non-physical data media

Consumers have a right to withdraw from contracts within a period of 14 days.


3.1 CONSUMER RIGHTS
      Right to withdraw

You are entitled to cancel the contractual agreement, without providing reasons, within a period of 14 days counting from the date on which the contract was concluded pursuant to Article 2 of these General Terms and Conditions of Trade. It is assumed that the agreement is concluded when you have clicked on the button “I agree to be bound by the General Terms and Conditions of Trade”, the payment procedure has been successfully completed and CRAG has provided you with the possibility of downloading your selected product.

In order to exercise your right of withdrawal, you shall have to address an unambiguously worded declaration of your decision to cancel the contract by mail, fax or email to Creditreform Rating AG, Europadamm 2-6, 41460 Neuss; fax: +49 2131 109-626; email: kundenservice@creditreform-rating.de. You can use the withdrawal form (see the attached sample) for this purpose, but are not obliged to do so. If you want to exercise your right of cancelling the contract, it is sufficient that you dispatch a letter, fax or email before the withdrawal period expires in which you inform us of your intention to withdraw from the contract.


3.2 Consequences of a withdrawal

If you cancel this contract, we shall have to reimburse you all payments that we have received from you including delivery costs (with the exception of any additional costs that may have been incurred because you selected a non-standard, costlier form of delivery). We shall have to effect these payments immediately and no later than 14 days after the date on which we have received your note of cancellation. For the purposes of this reimbursement, we shall use the same means of payment that were used by you for the original purchase, unless specifically agreed otherwise between you and CRAG. Under no circumstances shall you be charged any extra fee in connection with this reimbursement.

3.3 Sample withdrawal form

If you want to cancel the contract as described in the preceding Articles, you can complete this form and return it to us. You are, however, not obliged to use this form.

To:
Creditreform Rating AG

Europadamm 2-6

41460 Neuss;

Fax: +49 2131 109-626

email: kundenservice@creditreform-rating.de

I / we (*) hereby cancel the contractual agreement concerning the purchase of the following goods / services (*):


Ordered (*) / received on (*) (date)


Name of the consumer(s)


Address of the consumer(s)


Signature(s) of the consumer(s) (not required for notifications in electronic form)

Date


(*) Delete as applicable.

3.4 Expiry of the right of withdrawal

Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, no cancellation rights can be claimed for the following types of contract:

3.4.1 Contracts for the provision of goods that have not been prefabricated and that are made either on the basis of certain choices and preferences expressed by the consumer or as clear customizations according to the consumer’s requirements.

3.4.2 Contracts for the provision of audio or video recordings or computer software in a sealed package when the seal has been broken following delivery.

3.4.3 The cancellation right expires when the customer provides his express consent to the performance of the contract before the expiry date of the cancellation period. For the purposes of this Article 3.4 of these General Terms and Conditions of Trade, the “performance of the contract” shall be assumed to have occurred when the selected product has been downloaded and the customer has waived his legal right of cancellation before the expiry of the cancellation period. Before every download of a digital file by a customer via the CRAG website, CRAG will procure a legally binding waiver from the customer by requiring him to tick the so-called “Opt-In Checkbox“.

4. Prices

4.1 All prices specified on https://creditreform-rating.de are denominated in Euro and represent the total price that will be charged to the customer including the applicable rate of VAT as well as other price components.

 

 

5. Methods of payment

Digital contents will only be made available (for downloads)  if the customer has completed the payment process by making a payment either with a credit card that is accepted by Creditreform Rating AG or via the PayPal payment portal.  

6. Retention of title and reservation of rights

6.1 CRAG retains the legal title of downloaded files until the fees for their download have been fully paid. Without our express and prior written permission, the customer shall not be entitled to resell any files that he may have downloaded in any form (on digital data media, as hard copy on paper or as data files).

6.2 The rights of using digital content are granted under the suspensive condition that payment shall be made in full.

6.3 The rights of use for users/clients may be subject to certain restrictions pursuant to the provisions of Clause 7 of these General Terms and Conditions (see underneath).

7. Special Terms and Conditions for the Acquisition of Rating Reports

7.1 The physical acquisition of rating reports through downloads of the text document in question shall be subject to the following terms and conditions.

7.2 By downloading the rating report, the user/client shall receive a simple right of use for the rating report in question. This simple right of use does generally not entitle the user/client to publish the rating report. The user/client has no permission to make the rating report available to the wider public. Rating reports must be exclusively used by the user/client.

7.3 The user/client agrees to refrain from selling the rating reports which he has acquired on this website to third parties and from commercially distributing them in any other way.

7.4 The user/client agrees to refrain from reproducing and publicly displaying the rating report which he has acquired on this website as well as from distributing it in any other way, unless he has been given an express permission by Creditreform Rating AG.

7.5 In the rating reports that are provided as downloads, Creditreform Rating AG – systematically and with due diligence – establishes its opinion about the sustainability, the risks and the opportunities of the enterprise / the issue under review as per the date of the rating. Our clients are requested to take into account that all future events are essentially uncertain and that forecasts are necessarily based on assessments and assumptions. Ratings therefore are not statements of fact but opinions. For this reason, Creditreform Rating AG cannot be held liable for the consequences of decisions made on the basis of any of its ratings. Neither should these ratings be construed as recommendations for investors, buyers or sellers. They should only be used by market participants (entrepreneurs, bankers, investors etc.) as one factor among others when arriving at corporate or investment decisions. Ratings are not meant to be used as substitutes for own research, inquiries and assessments. Any data provided by Creditreform as part of its assessments only serve to describe or explain the rating and must not be construed as investment advice or as binding information. Neither does Creditreform issue offers or invitations to purchase financial or other products and services of the enterprise / the issue under review. Creditreform ratings only provide non-binding assessments as per the day of their release. Creditreform ratings do therefore not represent invitations to purchase financial or other products and services of the enterprise under review. Corporate clients are advised not to use Creditreform ratings as replacements for independent advice about the products of the enterprise under review. Neither the Creditreform ratings nor any information that is provided in their support shall be construed to provide the legal basis for contractual or other obligations of Creditreform towards third parties. Creditreform Rating AG does not accept any liability for loss or damages suffered by third parties through dealings with companies which were rated by Creditreform, irrespective of the claims‘ legal basis. The contract between Creditreform and the enterprise under review offers no protection for third parties. The user/client shall be responsible for any further use of the information that has been provided in and in support of the Creditreform rating. Any such information is supplied under the premise that Creditreform does not provide any legal, fiscal, technical or other professional advice or services in respect of the enterprise / the issue under review. Laws and regulations are subject to amendments and can only be applied to actual situations and concrete circumstances. This is why the information provided in and in support of the Creditreform ratings cannot and is not designed to replace independent advice. Creditreform ratings make assessments that are valid on the stated date of their release. Creditreform cannot assume any guarantee that the information on whose basis the Creditreform rating has been performed will maintain its validity, factual correctness, integrity or quality at any later date.

 

8. Liability for damages

8.1 CRAG shall be liable for damages according to the statutory provisions only subject to the conditions outlined underneath (in Article 7).

8.2 CRAG shall be liable for damages to life and limb (fatalities, personal injuries, impairment of health) and for damages that have been caused by CRAG, its legal representatives or vicarious agents either intentionally or through gross negligence, also for damages that result from any CRAG failure to comply with a guarantee it has provided or from a malicious concealment of defects.

8.3 CRAG’s liability shall be limited to compensation for foreseeable damages that are typical for this type of contract in cases where such damages have been caused by merely ordinary negligence on the part of CRAG, its legal representatives or vicarious agents that have resulted in a violation of essential contractual obligations. Contractual obligations are considered essential when it is only their fulfilment that enables the due performance of the contract and when both contractual parties have a right to count on the other party’s regular compliance with these obligations.

8.4 No other claims for compensation shall be considered. The provisions of the German product liability law shall remain unaffected.

8.5 The restrictions and limitations of this Article 7 shall also apply to CRAG’s legal representatives and vicarious agents if claims are made directly against them in connection with this agreement.

9. Final provisions

9.1 The Amtsgericht Neuss (Germany) shall have sole jurisdiction over all disputes with businessmen, legal entities of public law or special funds under public law that may result from this contract.

9.2 All disputes resulting from or emerging in connection with these General Terms and Conditions of Trade or any type of business conducted via https://www.creditreform-rating.de shall be exclusively governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, irrespective of their legal basis, with the exclusion of all non-mandatory statutory provisions from the law of conflicts that refer to a different legal system. The choice of jurisdiction made in this Article 8.2 does not apply to customers who are consumers if this choice were to deprive them of protection rights that are granted to them by the provisions of another legal system which would have applied if the foregoing choice had not been made, provided this other legal system expressly invalidates any attempt to deny these rights to the consumers via a dedicated agreement.

The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods shall not apply.

9.3 For the purpose of resolving online disputes, the European Commission has established a platform that can be contacted under the following internet address: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.

 

CREDITREFORM RATING AG

Europadamm 2-6, 41460 Neuss, Germany

Last updated: July 2017