“Balbus”: General terms and conditions of use

Download the original version in .pdf of General terms and conditions of use for “Balbus”.

1. Premises

The Manager sells the services offered through the “Balbus” Platform both to subjects who qualify as Consumers under the Consumer Code (i.e. subjects who do not use the services purchased as part of their work, commercial or professional activity) and to subjects who do not qualify as Consumers, but who in any case do not trade in the services that are purchased and related to the Platform.

These General Terms and Conditions of Use of the Platform (hereinafter referred to as “General Terms and Conditions” or “Terms of Use”) govern the relationship between the User/Purchaser and the Operator/Supplier. All information and conditions relating to Privacy are contained in the appropriate section, at the following link: https://balbus.org/privacy.

These Terms of Use, as well as the information/conditions relating to Privacy, are understood to be read, understood and accepted by the User at the same time as he/she accesses, navigates, downloads or in any way uses the Platform. In any case, by completing the purchase request and consenting to the processing of personal data by ticking the appropriate box, the User declares to have accepted these General Conditions and gives consent to the Terms of Use contained therein, as well as to the processing of personal data in accordance with and within the limits of the information received.

2. Supplier/Operator Identification

The services covered by these general terms and conditions are offered for sale by Istituto Santa Chiara S.r.l. with registered office in Lecce (LE) – Postcode 73100, Via Campania no.
5 and operating headquarters in Rome (RM) – Postcode 00193 Via Properzio no. 6, registered with the Lecce Chamber of Commerce under no. 03625370758 with REA no.233969, Tax Code and VAT no. 03625370758, tel. and fax no. 0832/340570, email: info@balbus.org, PEC: istitutosantachiara@pec.it, hereinafter referred to as “Supplier/Operator”.

3. Definitions

• Purchasing agreement
  This means the contract of sale relating to the services provided by the Supplier, both
  by means of distance communication techniques and without the help of the same, concluded between the Supplier and the Purchaser within a system of distance selling through telematic tools, organised by the Supplier.
• Platform
  This means the website: Balbus, allocated to the domain: https://balbus.org
• Services
  This means all the activities/services offered by the Platform and/or usable through
  the Platform by the Purchasers
• Supplier/Operator
  This means the person indicated in the epigraph or the person in charge of managing
  the platform and providing information services.
• User
  This means the person who accesses, navigates, downloads or in any way uses the Platform
• User/Purchaser
  This means both the natural person who qualifies as a Consumer pursuant to the Consumer Code and the person who does not qualify as a Consumer, but who in any case does not trade in the services that are purchased and related to the Platform

4. Purpose of the contract and service description

Balbus is a platform that aims to help the Beneficiary User to improve the control of verbal fluency through an instantaneous and continuous performance feedback process. The tools of which it is composed are: timed reading, vocal biofeedback, delayed auditory feedback, binaural masking, metronome.

With this contract, respectively, the Supplier sells and the Purchaser buys remotely, through telematic tools, the services offered by the Balbus Platform. The operation of this Platform is
specifically illustrated and for sale on the https://balbus.org.

5. Arrangements for concluding the contract

The contract between the Supplier and the Purchaser is concluded exclusively through the Purchaser’s access to the https://balbus.orgaddress, where, following the procedures indicated, the Purchaser will formalise the proposal for the purchase of the services referred to in the previous article.

The User will be able to view all the information available on the site, regarding the Balbus instruments, characteristics and sale prices.

In order to proceed with the purchase, the Purchaser must register by filling in the appropriate “form” available on the web page and provide personal data, including tax code and/or VAT number, also declaring the veracity of the same. The data will be processed in compliance with the provisions of the privacy policy, which can be viewed on the https://balbus.orgsite.

The purchase is followed by immediate and limited access for the duration of the chosen package to all the instruments indicated in the Service Description section.

6. Conclusion and effectiveness of the contract

The purchase contract shall be deemed to have been concluded upon receipt by the Operator of payment for the service.

Payment can be made by the User only after viewing a printable web page summarising the order, containing the details of the person who made the order as well as the order, the price of the service purchased, the terms and conditions of payment, the existence of the right of withdrawal, as well as consent to the processing of personal data.

The contract is not considered to be effective between the parties in default of what is indicated in the previous point.

7. Pricing

The offer of services – differentiated by package indicating the respective prices and durations, as proposed and illustrated on the https://balbus.org website – and these general terms and conditions of business constitute, for all purposes, an offer to the public in accordance with Art. 1336 of the Italian Civil Code. The prices of the services, referred to in the previous point, are inclusive of VAT and all other taxes.

Any costs of using distance communication techniques to provide the service, subject to a different rate and/or higher than those normally charged for the same activities, if not included in the purchase price, are indicated and calculated in the purchase procedure before the purchaser places the order and also contained in the web page summary of the order made.

The prices indicated for each of the services offered to the public are valid until the date identified in the catalogue.

8. Payment methods

The payment of the package chosen by the Purchaser occurs at the same time as the purchase form is correctly sent by confirming the order made, in advance of the entire duration of the package itself. It can only be made by credit/debit card or via a PayPal account.

The invoice for the service purchased will be sent to the Purchaser, by email, after it has requested it by sending an email to info@balbus.org.

Any refund to the Purchaser will be credited by the same payment method chosen at the time of purchase, in a timely manner and, in the event of exercising the right of withdrawal, as governed by Art. 14 of this contract, no later than 30 days from the date on which the withdrawal was completed.

9. Service times and execution methods

The completion of the payment of the chosen package, which occurs in the manner referred to in the previous article, entitles the Purchaser to the immediate use of the Balbus Platform and any related services.

The contract will have the duration indicated in the offer and will automatically end at the end of the term. The Purchaser can therefore use the services for the duration corresponding to the package selected and purchased.

The availability time of the package starts from the moment the purchase is completed. The days of availability are consecutive, regardless of the actual access and/or use of the Platform. After the end of the duration of the package, the Purchaser will no longer be able to access the Platform’s content interactively, but only to consult the result of exercises already carried out in the used purchase period. Upon termination of the contract, the User may decide whether to renew the Purchase of one of the available packages, under the conditions active at the time the new request is
sent, in the same manner as described above.

10. Limitations of Liability

The Supplier shall not be held liable for any inefficiencies, interruptions, or suspension of services, network, server, communication flows and any other Platform failure due to force
majeure and/or in any case not attributable to the Operator and indeed outside the control of the same.

Furthermore, the Supplier shall not be held liable for any damages, losses and costs incurred by the Purchaser as a result of the non-execution of the contract for reasons not attributable to the former. The Supplier shall not be held liable for any fraudulent or illegal use of credit/debit cards and other payment method by third parties when paying for the services purchased.

11. Warranties and indemnities

The Supplier is liable, outside of the provisions of Art. 10 of these General Terms and Conditions, only for the interruption or suspension of the service for reasons attributable to it and for the non-conformity of the service provided with the characteristics shown on the https://balbus.org website.

To this end, the Purchaser is required to make a detailed report of the observations, to be sent to: info@balbus.org so that the same can be subject to evaluation by the Operator. In this case, the rules pursuant to Art. 23 apply. Communications and complaints of these General Terms and Conditions. The Supplier, while underlining the effectiveness and efficiency of the Platform and the information method for the tools of which it is comprised, does not guarantee the results that the service aims to provide, the same being conditional on the correct use of the Platform by the User. The User hereby undertakes to indemnify and hold the Operator harmless from all prejudices that may arise as a result of any violation, misconduct, acts or events caused by the User.

12. User/Purchaser Obligations

The User undertakes to operate within the Platform according to correctness, diligence and good faith, avoiding conduct that is even potentially harmful or that may induce other Users to use the platform differently from these General Terms and Conditions of Use.

Users undertakes to create, enter and use in the Platform and/or on the Website, only information or information flows that are lawful, not offensive, not prohibited, not abusive, being the property of the same, or that in any case may legally be in their possession. Within the Platform, Users also undertake to enter and/or use only information that is appropriate, relevant and pertinent to the Platform. Users are solely responsible for the content of the Platform for any reason whatsoever and therefore the Provider is hereby released from any and all liability arising from such content.

By way of example but not exhaustively, Users also undertake:

• Not to assign, sell, lease or rent, create copies, download, export or import, the content of the Platform, or otherwise grant third parties rights on the Platform, the logic and the system adopted by the same for any reason or for whatever purpose
• Not to perform reverse engineering, decompiling, decrypting, hacking, cracking, DDoS attacks, searching for the source code and communicating the same to unauthorised third parties, or disseminating it.
• Not to perform operations, such as to infringe upon the trademark and copyright and any other residual industrial and intellectual property rights, which the Platform, the Services offered therein and the Operator enjoy

The Purchaser also undertakes to communicate to the Supplier all the data necessary to make possible the correct provision of services and the invoicing of the same.

13. Supplier/Operator Obligations

Without prejudice to what is specifically provided for by the Supplier in the previous points, which are expressly referred to herein, the Supplier undertakes to provide the service with
the utmost diligence, good faith and fairness.

14. Right of Withdrawal and refund

The Purchaser has the right to withdraw from the concluded contract, without specifying the reason.

Refunds are, however, only granted if required by law. For example, users living in the European Union are entitled to a refund within 14 working days of purchase.

By exercising their right of withdrawal, the Buyer is entitled to a refund of the purchase price.

In order to be entitled to a refund, the Buyer must, however, have ceased using the service from the very moment they expressed their wish to exercise their right of withdrawal.

If the Buyer decides to exercise their right of withdrawal, they must notify the seller by sending an email to info@balbus.org or via PEC (certified e-mail) to istitutosantachiara@pec.it.

The Supplier will refund the total amount free of charge within 30 (thirty) days of receipt of the withdrawal notice.

Upon receipt of the notice whereby the Buyer communicates their intention to exercise their right of withdrawal, the parties to this contract are released from their mutual obligations.

15. Changes to the Service or General Terms and Conditions

The Operator may amend the General Terms and Conditions and the Particular Terms and Conditions of Sale without prior notice. Any modifications will come into effect on the date they are published on the Website. Purchase orders placed before the publication of the above changes will be subject to the General Terms and Conditions in force at the time the contract of sale is concluded.

The Operator reserves the right to modify, suspend or terminate sales via the Website, at any time, and accepts no responsibility, for any reason, for modifications, suspension or termination.

16. Processing of Personal Data

The Operator invites and recommends Users to carefully read the Information on the processing of personal data provided pursuant to Art. 13 of EU Regulation 2016/679, which
is available at the following link: https://balbus.org/privacy.

The Operator warns that if the User does not provide prior consent, where required, the same will not be able to use the related services.

17. Industrial and Intellectual Property

The Platform, Services, Ancillary Services, relative distinctive signs, texts, images, business idea and all the ways in which it is extrinsic, the technology used, know-how, as well as in general all information and intangible assets related to what is regulated in these General Terms and Conditions, are the Operator’s exclusive property and rights, who is responsible for moral and patrimonial rights as regulated by copyright law (Copyright Law and
corresponding Community and international legislation) and by industrial property law (Industrial Property Code and corresponding Community and international legislation). The “BALUS” trademark and the symbol that distinguishes it is and shall remain the exclusive property right of the Operator. The Operator is also the sole owner of the knowhow related to the technology, logic, system, languages used, as well as all other corporate information belonging to the Operator and used for the development of the Platform’s modality and management.

I diritti di proprietà industriale ed intellettuale su eventuali implementazioni, modifiche, integrazioni apportate alla Piattaforma e/o ai Servizi, anche se richiesti da specifiche esigenze dell’Utente, restano in ogni caso di esclusiva titolarità del Gestore.

The industrial and intellectual property rights on any implementations, modifications, integrations made to the Platform and/or Services, even if required by specific needs of the
User, remain in any case the exclusive property of the Operator.

This is also true of the projects and any technical, legal, commercial, demonstrative, promotional, informative and advertising material, in any way connected to the purpose of this document. The Terms and Conditions of Use are protected by the rules of industrial and intellectual property in the Operator’s favour. If the Beneficiary is a person other than the User, the provisions of this article also refer to the first one.

18. Data Confidentiality Obligations

Users undertake to keep confidential and not to disclose to third parties the information learned in any way, which relates to personal and especially sensitive data, source codes, access passwords, data processing systems, communication content, know-how, and in general any information referred to in Art. 98 of the Industrial Property Code, of which Users have become aware during, on the occasion of or in execution of these General Terms and Conditions.

Information shall not be covered by the obligations laid down in this Article:

• Of which one of the Parties was already aware before the signing of the contract
• If it was already in the public domain

The confidentiality obligation will continue to apply even after termination of the relationship between the Platform and the User and, in any case, until the confidential information becomes public knowledge.

19. Prohibition of Competition

Users undertake to refrain, for the entire duration of the relationship with the Platform and for the two years following its termination, from any action that may create situations of
competition with the Supplier.

By way of example and without limitation, Users undertake not to develop on their own behalf or on behalf of third parties, any services equal to or similar to those offered by the Platform or that would interfere with the subject matter of these General Terms and Conditions, and, in general, not to engage in or promote, on their own behalf or on behalf of third parties, either directly or indirectly, any other activities that are in competition with the Operator.

20. Express Termination Clause

These General Terms and Conditions shall be deemed to be legally binding, pursuant to and for the purposes of Art. 1456 of the Italian Civil Code, even if just one of the following conditions is met, so long as the interested Party declares to the other Party that it intends to avail itself of these Conditions:

• User violation of the rules of conduct governed by these Terms of Use
• Violation of the payment rules for the fee charged to Users
• Violation of the provisions relating to the processing of personal data
• Violation of the provisions on industrial and intellectual property
• Violation of the confidentiality obligation
• Violation of the non-competition pact
• Occurrence of a circumstance sufficiently serious to prejudice the relationship of trust between the Parties

21. Violation of the Terms of Use

If the Operator finds that there has been a violation of even one of the declarations referred to in these conditions, the right is reserved to take any measures deemed most appropriate in the specific case, including reporting the violation to the competent judicial authorities.

22. Methods of Archiving the Contract

Pursuant to Art. 12 of Legislative Decree 70/2003, the Supplier informs the Purchaser that each order sent is stored in digital/paper form on the server at the Supplier’s premises, according to the criteria of confidentiality and security. The mandatory data for contractual and accounting purposes is kept for the time necessary to carry out the business and accounting relationship, in any case no longer than 10 years after the termination of the relationship.

23. Communication Notices and Complaints

Written communication and any complaints made to the Supplier will be considered valid only if sent to the following email address: info@balbus.org.

The Purchaser has the right to report all inefficiencies, defects or inconsistencies found in the Platform to the Operator, so that the latter can provide for them, in the manner, timing and context that will be capable of complying.

24. Jurisdiction and Applicable Law

The Parties agree that disputes relating to the existence, validity, effectiveness, interpretation, resolution, compensation for damages and enforcement of these Terms of Use, will be subject to Italian jurisdiction, with the express exception of any other jurisdiction. Without prejudice to the above, if the dispute issue is subject to the Consumer Code and the User is a Consumer, the latter may alternatively choose to apply to the judicial authority of his/her domicile (if different from Italy) or to the Italian judicial authority, in the event of the Brussels Convention of 1968 being applied or the European Community Regulation 2001/44/ EC.

The Parties also agree that if the relationship has international characteristics, for any dispute or matter relating to the existence, validity, effectiveness, interpretation, resolution, compensation for damages and enforcement of these Terms of Use, Italian law shall expressly apply.

The agreement on jurisdiction and choice of applicable law referred to above shall be deemed to have been expressly accepted by acceptance of the General Terms and Conditions.

25. Competent Court

Any dispute arising in relation to the existence, validity, effectiveness, interpretation, resolution, compensation for damages and execution of these General Terms and Conditions will be the exclusive competence of the Court of Lecce, without prejudice to the jurisdiction of the Court of Bari, Specialised Section in Enterprise, for matters governed by Art. 3 of Legislative Decree 168/2003 and Article 134 of Legislative Decree 30/2005 (Industrial
Property Code). Without prejudice to the above, if the subject matter of the dispute is subject to the Consumer Code and the User is a Consumer, the mandatory territorial jurisdiction belongs to the judge of the Consumer’s place of residence or domicile, pursuant to Art. 63 of Legislative Decree 206/2005. The mandatory rules of law, such as those legally required to protect consumers (Legislative Decree no. 206/2005) shall automatically be deemed to deviate from the corresponding provisions of these Terms of Use, which shall, however, remain in force for all other conditions not deviated from.

26. Partial Declaration of Invalidity

The possible declaration of nullity of some of the clauses contained in this document by the judicial authority, does not imply overall nullity of the contract, remaining valid for the clauses
not declared null and void, which will continue to have full effect and validity.