Many conditions are impermissible at the Viennese tutoring start-up GoStudent. The Vienna Commercial Court declared 17 of the 22 clauses against which the Association for Consumer Information (VKI) had objected inadmissible. This means, for example, that GoStudent’s contract extension clause, on which the young company has based numerous automatic contract extensions, no longer applies. However, the verdict is not yet final, the VKI announced on Wednesday.
“The legislator has drawn up clear guidelines for automatic contract renewals,” Maximilian Kemetmüller, lawyer at the VKI, explains in a broadcast. “Companies should inform customers before automatic contract renewal and provide the opportunity to object. The exact procedure must also be laid down in a contractual clause.” GoStudent did not sufficiently meet these requirements.
Numerous complaints have been received
Complaints about the company, which specializes in online tutoring, have piled up repeatedly among consumer protection groups. A particular annoyance was that contracts had to be renewed automatically. The VKI therefore carefully examined the company’s general terms and conditions and objected to a total of 22 stipulations. The Commercial Court of Vienna has confirmed the legal understanding of 17 clauses. Below that is the clause that stipulates that after the end of the contract period, the contract will be renewed with another “package” under the same conditions.
The HG Vienna also found a clause inadmissible that should enable GoStudent to limit or completely stop the offer via the learning platform at any time without giving any reason. The VKI had complained here that the performance promise GoStudent makes to consumers is being undermined.
Right of withdrawal impermissibly limited
In addition, the VKI has issued a summons on behalf of the Ministry of Social Affairs due to a clause that unlawfully restricts the legal right to withdraw from contracts concluded online. For example, the right of withdrawal would no longer apply once the first tutoring session has taken place. “According to legal requirements, the right of withdrawal does not apply if a company starts the performance of the contract with the prior express consent of the consumer, if he confirms before the start of the service that he loses the right of withdrawal with full performance of the contract and the contract was then actually fulfilled,” says Kemetmüller about the legal situation.
GoStudent has been facing criticism for months, some of it serious. Not only did the start-up come under pressure due to the working conditions of its teachers, but it also recently had to make drastic budget cuts and lay off hundreds of employees. Allegations were made last summer that an online tutor had sexually harassed a student in Vienna.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
