Terms and Conditions

1. Registration

Good schools are booked quickly, so please notify us of your interest as soon as possible. With your registration (in writing or via Internet) you will enter into a commitment with Pro Linguis with the following benefits and conditions.

2. Confirmation/Billing

Upon receipt of your registration, you will promptly receive a registration confirmation. We will send you your course confirmation, along with the entire bill (including the booking fee of 50 CHF), at the latest 14 days after receipt of your registration. The full amount must be paid at least 30 days prior to the course start. Please bear in mind, the prices, which are quoted are payable in cash (bank transfer) only.

Normally after payment, you will receive your travel documents approximately 10 days prior to your trip. Failure to pay or absence from school does not release you from payment responsibilities.
If the scheduled times for payment are not kept, we may cancel the registration in accordance with the terms defined in Point 4.

If the course is fully booked or will not be held, we will inform you accordingly and will refund any money if applicable. Pro Linguis will not be responsible for any other incurring costs.

3. Rebooking and Short-Term Booking Fees

If you would like to change your booking, please contact us in writing. We will charge between 30 CHF and 200 CHF for all changes. Shortening the length of a course, date changes, changing participants or schools as well as withdrawal will result in fees.
If a course is booked later than ten days prior to the course start, Pro Linguis will charge 30 CHF (120 CHF for classes in the USA later than 30 days prior to start) for this special service to cover the costs of the express mail, telephone expenses and increased work.

4. Withdrawal

In the case where you cannot complete your trip, please inform us via registered mail.
If we receive this notification 35 days prior to the course start date, there will be a 500 CHF charge. For notification received later than 35 days prior to the course start, the following schedule of charges will apply:
- 34 - 15 days prior to the course start date 30%, with a minimum of 500 CHF
- 14 -10 days prior to the course start date 40%, with a minimum of 1000 CHF
- 9 - 1 days prior to the course start date 50%, with a minimum 2 weeks of the course costs
- on the day the course begins, 100%
Please note: the notification date is the date we have received your letter, not the date it was postmarked.
If a student is absent due to illness or other reasons or if the student is a no show or does not stay for the entire length of the course, the student has no claim for a refund from the school and is responsible for the entire cost of the course.

5. Withdrawal Insurance for Illness Including Protection for Travel Expenses

We recommend that you purchase withdrawal insurance for illness, with additional protection while travelling.

6. Liability

We are a professional counseling organization in the language learning travel industry that takes great pains to select our partner schools.
Our liabilities include only expenses associated with direct injury and are at most double the cost of the trip fees.
We are not responsible for injuries caused outside of things under our control.
These outside influences include flight schedules, hotels, accommodation, language courses, teachers and the program, theft or break-ins, flight delays, breakdowns in transportation, bankruptcy of an airline, accidents, casualties, course cancellation by the school, missing or an incorrect visa, loss of pay, other non-standard expenses, etc.
If the program is affected by an act of God, breakdown in transportation, bankruptcy of an airline, official ordinance, change in transportation schedule, strikes, civil unrest, terrorism, war, epidemic or other unavoidable reasons for change, we will not be able to change the course arrangements, nor will Pro Linguis refund your money.
According to the international agreement of funding agencies the responsibilities are limited or excluded (e.g. treaties from Athens, Warsaw, Montreal, etc.) for Pro Linguis – including personal injury – commensurate therewith.

7. Obligation to Cooperate/Claims

By registering for a course, you are required to participate in class and follow the rules of the institution accordingly. A course participant, who does not follow the rules of the school, may be expelled from the course with no refund of costs.
The student is responsible for an immediate, upon a problem occurred, information to the school management to ask for assistance. You will be allowed to render your complaint and appeal in writing. If a serious issue cannot be resolved immediately, please notify Pro Linguis, so we may try to assist in resolving the problem.
The participant must bring all issues, regardless of their legal cause, to the attention of Pro Linguis within one month of the completion of the course, or within ten days of leaving the course. Notification of all complaints must be submitted in writing and sent by registered mail.
Noncompliance with these obligations will result in a loss of any claim.

8. Accommodations

Accommodation (apartments, home stay/host families, private rooms, etc.) is assigned by the schools. For special requests, the school will try to find appropriate accommodation, however fulfillment of these requests cannot be guaranteed. As a rule, you will receive the address of your accommodation approximately two weeks prior to your trip, but in rare cases, you will receive your address upon arrival at the school.
We offer studios, apartments, rooms in private homes, etc. with the exact accommodations stipulated by the landlords. Change or cancellation fees can be up to 100% of the price of the accommodation.

9. General School Regulations

Unless otherwise stated, money for excursions, sightseeing, laundry, dry cleaning, diplomas and exam fees, commuting, transfers, course books and materials is not included in the quoted price and the student is responsible for paying these fees at the time of use. On local and national holidays, as well as Saturdays and Sundays (unless otherwise stated) no classes will be held. These days will be made up either before or after the course and will not be subject to a refund. Should the school realize, that your level or your improvement does not correspond with the other students, the school has the right to place you in another class. This is also true for certificate approved courses.

10. Visas, Passports, Health Regulations and Insurances

The student is primarily responsible to attain the necessary documentation required for his or her trip (passport, visa, customs papers, foreign currency, health requirements, insurances, etc.). If admission - for reasons, which Pro Linguis does not have to account for - is refused, the trip is considered to be cancelled and follows the cancellation policy and costs associated with it, in accordance with Point 4.

The students are neither insured by Pro Linguis nor the school itself.
We recommend that all students purchase travel accident insurance. In addition, illness and accident insurance is mandatory. Contact your health insurer to see what your coverage is when you are in a foreign country. Take a copy of your policy, address of the insurer, phone number, etc. with you on your trip.

11. Flight Arrangements

Pro Linguis is an airline agent and can arrange individual flights. However, Pro Linguis is in no way responsible for expenses resulting from flying. All costs due to problems with a flight (e.g., lost baggage, flight delays, flight cancellations, bankruptcy of the airline, etc.) must be raised with the airline itself.
If changes or cancellations arise due to a strike, the rules from the IATA Regulations apply, meaning, that 100% of the costs could be charged..

12. Brochures and Language Schools

The information in this brochure is from August 2008. Pro Linguis maintains the right, that changes in the programs may be made.
We reserve the right to increase prices due to a change of rates of exchange, fares, fuel costs, increase or introduction of taxes (domestic or foreign) or other events. Price increases up to 10% will be passed on to you. If the price increase exceeds 10% of the published and confirmed price, you have the right to withdraw from the contract within 5 days, by registered letter, free of charge. In this instance, Pro Linguis will return all payments made by you within 30 days. All published prices are cash prices and become invalid when new publications are printed.
Foreign currency exchange rates may affect the price in Swiss Francs, so the invoice can also be issued in the foreign currency.

13. Safekeeping of Client’s Money

Pro Linguis is a member of the Guarantee Fund of Swiss Travel Agents. Therefore, your course fees are safe under the principles of the Guarantee Fund. Please find detailed information under www.reisegarantie.ch.

14. Arbiter

Should an altercation occur and you require an arbiter to assist in resolution, we recommend that you contact the Arbiter of Travel Agents, Postfach, 4601 Olten.

15. Miscellaneous

Should any of the previously mentioned conditions become null and void, all other conditions remain. This is necessary under Swiss Law and is under Zurich jurisdiction. Your contractual partner is Pro Linguis AG based in Meilen.
Print the General Conditions of Contract