General terms and conditions of business

Table of contents

1. scope
2. conclusion of the contract
3. right of withdrawal
4. Prices and payment terms
5. delivery and shipping conditions
6. retention of title
7. liability for defects
8. Special conditions for the processing of goods according to specific customer specifications
9. Special Conditions for Assembly/Installation Services
10. Liability
11. Applicable law, contract language
12. jurisdiction
13. Alternative Dispute Resolution
14. code of conduct

1) Scope

1.1 These General Terms and Conditions (hereinafter "GTC") of Höhenbalance GmbH (hereinafter "Seller") apply to all contracts that a consumer or entrepreneur (hereinafter "Customer") concludes with the Seller using distance communication means (e.g. telephone, fax, e-mail, letter) exclusively through individual communication within the meaning of Section 312j Paragraph 5 Sentence 1 of the German Civil Code (BGB). The inclusion of the Customer's own terms and conditions is hereby contradicted, unless otherwise agreed.

1.2 These General Terms and Conditions apply accordingly to contracts for the delivery of goods with digital elements, unless otherwise agreed. In addition to delivering the goods, the seller is obliged to provide digital content or digital services (hereinafter "digital products") that are included in or connected to the goods in such a way that the goods cannot fulfil their functions without them.

1.3 These Terms and Conditions apply accordingly to contracts for the delivery of physical data carriers that serve exclusively as carriers of digital content, unless otherwise agreed. Digital content within the meaning of these Terms and Conditions is data that is created and provided in digital form.

1.4 A consumer within the meaning of these General Terms and Conditions is any natural person who concludes a legal transaction for purposes that can predominantly neither be attributed to their commercial nor their independent professional activity.

1.5 An entrepreneur within the meaning of these General Terms and Conditions is a natural or legal person or a partnership with legal capacity who, when concluding a legal transaction, acts in the exercise of his or her commercial or independent professional activity.

2) Conclusion of contract

2.1 The customer can send a non-binding request to the seller to make an offer by email, fax, telephone, post or using the online contact form provided on the seller's website. Upon request, the seller will send the customer a binding offer in text form (e.g. by email, fax or letter) to sell the goods previously selected by the customer from the seller's product range.

2.2 The customer can accept this offer by submitting a declaration of acceptance to the seller by email, fax, telephone, post or via the online contact form provided on the seller's website or by paying the purchase price offered by the seller within 7 (seven) days of receipt of the offer, whereby the day of receipt of the offer is not included in the calculation of the period. Acceptance by payment is determined on the day on which payment is received by the seller. If the last day of the period for accepting the offer falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday recognized by the state at the customer's place of business, the next working day takes the place of such a day. If the customer does not accept the seller's offer within the aforementioned period, the seller is no longer bound by his offer and can again freely dispose of the goods. The seller will specifically draw the customer's attention to this in his offer.

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 cancellation policy.

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

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 sales tax. Any additional delivery and shipping costs will be stated separately in the seller's offer.

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 must be borne by the customer. These include, for example, costs for the transfer of money 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 the transfer of money 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 offer.

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 you select the payment method "PayPal", the payment will be processed via the payment service provider PayPal (Europe) S.à rl et Cie, SCA, 22-24 Boulevard Royal, L-2449 Luxembourg under the PayPal terms of use, which can be viewed at https://www.paypal.com/de/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full.

4.6 If you choose to pay by invoice, the purchase price must be paid without deduction within 14 (fourteen) days of receipt of the invoice, unless otherwise agreed. The seller reserves the right to carry out a credit check if you choose to pay by invoice and to reject this payment method if the credit check is negative.

4.7 If you choose to pay by invoice, the purchase price is due after the goods have been delivered and invoiced. In this case, the purchase price must be paid without deduction within 7 (seven) days of receipt of the invoice, unless otherwise agreed. The seller reserves the right to only offer the payment method of payment by invoice up to a certain order volume and to reject this payment method if the specified order volume is exceeded. In this case, the seller will inform the customer of any corresponding payment restrictions in his offer.

4.8 If you select direct debit as your payment method, the invoice amount is due immediately upon conclusion of the contract.

4.9 If you select SEPA direct debit as your payment method, the invoice amount is due for payment after a SEPA direct debit mandate has been issued, but not before the deadline for advance information has expired. The direct debit is collected when the ordered goods leave the seller's warehouse, but not before the deadline for advance information has expired. Advance information ("pre-notification") is any communication (e.g. invoice, policy, contract) from the seller to the customer announcing a debit via SEPA direct debit. If the direct debit is not honored due to insufficient funds in the account or due to incorrect bank details being provided, or if the customer objects to the debit even though they are not entitled to do so, the customer must bear the fees incurred by the respective credit institution for the chargeback if they are responsible for this.

4.10 If you select the direct debit payment method via Stripe, payment processing will be carried out by the payment service provider Stripe Payments Europe Ltd., 1 Grand Canal Street Lower, Grand Canal Dock, Dublin, Ireland (hereinafter: "Stripe"). In this case, Stripe will debit the invoice amount from the customer's bank account on behalf of the seller after issuing a SEPA direct debit mandate, but not before the expiry of the advance information period. Advance information ("pre-notification") is any communication (e.g. invoice, policy, contract) to the customer that announces a debit by SEPA direct debit. If the direct debit is not redeemed due to insufficient account funds or due to incorrect bank details being provided, or if the customer objects to the debit although he is not entitled to do so, the customer must bear the fees incurred by the respective credit institution for the chargeback if he is responsible for this. The seller reserves the right to carry out a credit check when selecting the SEPA direct debit payment method and to reject this payment method if the credit check is negative.

5) Delivery and shipping conditions

5.1 The delivery of goods takes place by shipping to the delivery address specified by the customer, unless otherwise agreed.

5.2 If the delivery of the goods fails for reasons for which the customer is responsible, the customer shall bear the reasonable costs incurred by the seller as a result. This does not apply to the costs of delivery if the customer effectively exercises his right of cancellation. If the customer effectively exercises his right of cancellation, the provisions in the seller's cancellation policy apply to the return costs.

5.3 In the case of self-collection, the seller first informs the customer by email that the goods ordered by him are ready for collection. After receiving this email, the customer can collect the goods from the seller's headquarters after consultation with the seller. In this case, no shipping costs will be charged.

5.4 The seller reserves the right to withdraw from the contract in the event of incorrect or improper self-delivery. This only applies if the non-delivery is not the responsibility of the seller and the seller has concluded a specific hedging transaction with the supplier with due care. The seller will make all reasonable efforts to procure the goods. In the event of unavailability or only partial availability of the goods, the customer will be informed immediately and the consideration will be refunded immediately.

6) Retention of title

If the seller makes advance payments, he reserves title to the delivered goods until the purchase price owed has been paid in full.

7) Liability for defects

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

7.1 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 claims for defects is one year from delivery of the goods;
• In the case of used goods, the warranty rights are excluded;
• The limitation period does not begin again if a replacement delivery is made within the scope of liability for defects.

7.2 The limitations of liability and shortening of time limits set out above do not apply

• for claims for damages and reimbursement of expenses by the customer,
• in the event that the seller has fraudulently concealed the defect,
• for goods which have been used in accordance with their normal use for a building 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.

7.3 In addition, for entrepreneurs, the statutory limitation periods for any existing statutory recourse claim remain unaffected.

7.4 If the customer is acting as a consumer, he is requested to complain to the deliverer about goods that have obvious transport damage and to inform the seller of this. If the customer does not do this, this will have no effect on his legal or contractual claims for defects.

8) Special conditions for the processing of goods according to specific customer specifications

8.1 If, according to the content of the contract, the seller is obliged to process the goods in accordance with certain specifications of the customer in addition to delivering the goods, 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 rights of use. The customer is solely responsible for procuring and acquiring the rights to this content. The customer declares and assumes responsibility for having the right to use the content provided to the seller. In particular, he ensures that no third-party rights are violated, in particular copyright, trademark and personal rights.

8.2 The customer indemnifies the seller against claims made by third parties in connection with a violation of their rights through 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 violation of rights. In the event of a claim by third parties, the customer is obliged to provide the seller with all information required to examine the claims and to defend itself, promptly, truthfully and completely.

8.3 The seller reserves the right to refuse processing orders if the content provided by the customer violates legal or official prohibitions or violates common decency. This applies in particular to the provision of content that is unconstitutional, racist, xenophobic, discriminatory, offensive, harmful to young people and/or glorifies violence.

9) Special conditions for assembly/installation services

If, according to the content of the contract, the seller is obliged to assemble or install the goods at the customer's premises in addition to delivering the goods and, if necessary, to carry out the corresponding preparatory measures (e.g. taking measurements), the following applies:

9.1 The seller provides its services personally or through qualified personnel selected by it, at its discretion. The seller can also use the services of third parties (subcontractors) who work on its behalf. Unless the seller's service description states otherwise, the customer has no right to select a specific person to carry out the desired service.

9.2 The customer must provide the seller with all information required to provide the service owed, completely and truthfully, unless the procurement of such information is not part of the seller’s obligations under the contract.

9.3 After the contract has been concluded, the seller will contact the customer to arrange a date for the service to be provided. The customer is responsible for ensuring that the seller or the staff commissioned by the seller has access to the customer's facilities at the agreed date.

9.4 The risk of accidental loss and accidental deterioration of the goods sold shall only pass to the customer upon completion of the assembly work and handover to the customer.

10) Liability

The seller is liable to the customer for all contractual, quasi-contractual and legal, including tortious claims for damages and reimbursement of expenses as follows:

10.1 The seller is liable without limitation for any legal reason

• in case of intent or gross negligence,
• in the event of intentional or negligent injury to life, body or health,
• due to a guarantee promise, unless otherwise provided,
• due to mandatory liability such as under the Product Liability Act.

10.2 If the seller negligently breaches a material contractual obligation, liability is limited to the foreseeable damage typical for the contract, unless unlimited liability applies in accordance with the above paragraph. Material contractual obligations are obligations that the contract imposes on the seller in accordance with its content in order to achieve the purpose of the contract, the fulfillment of which makes the proper execution of the contract possible in the first place and on whose compliance the customer can regularly rely.

10.3 Otherwise, the seller’s liability is excluded.

10.4 The above liability provisions also apply with regard to the liability of the seller for his vicarious agents and legal representatives.

11) Applicable law, contract language

11.1 The law of the Republic of Austria shall apply to all legal relationships between the parties, excluding the laws governing the international sale of movable goods. For consumers, this choice of law shall only apply to the extent that the protection granted is not withdrawn by mandatory provisions of the law of the state in which the consumer has his or her habitual residence.

11.2 Furthermore, this choice of law with regard to the statutory right of withdrawal does not apply to consumers who, at the time the contract is concluded, are not members of a member state of the European Union and whose sole place of residence and delivery address are outside the European Union at the time the contract is concluded.

11.3 The contract language is German.

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 Republic of Austria, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from this contract is the seller's place of business. If the customer is based outside the territory of the Republic of Austria, 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 entitled to bring the case before the court at the customer's place of business.

13) Alternative dispute resolution

The seller is not obliged to participate in a dispute settlement procedure before a consumer arbitration board, but is willing to do so.

14) Code of Conduct

The seller has submitted to the conditions of participation for the eCommerce initiative “Fairness in Trade”, which is available on the Internet at https://www.fairness-im-handel.de/conditions of participation/ are visible.