Status: 2023-09-12
General Terms and Conditions for the use of hirXpert
‘hirXpert’ hereinafter refers to the service and / or the operator of the service, FIMAD GmbH.
The hirXpert service is provided via the website hirXpert.com and via mobile applications (so-called ‘apps’), background applications and web services. The website operated by hirXpert and the mobile applications, background applications and web services on which hirXpert is available are hereinafter collectively referred to as the ‘hirXpert website’. The applications of hirXpert include, in particular, contact and communication forums (hereinafter referred to as ‘social network’), for which the user can purchase a membership. These General Terms and Conditions for the use of hirXpert govern the contractual relationship between the user and hirXpert, irrespective of which services of hirXpert the user utilises. With regard to the use of individual applications, additional terms and conditions may apply in addition to these General Terms and Conditions for the Use of hirXpert. In the event of a conflict between the provisions and the additional terms and conditions for the use of the respective application, the provisions of the corresponding additional terms and conditions shall take precedence over these General Terms and Conditions for the Use of hirXpert, unless this precedence is excluded in the additional terms and conditions for the use of the respective application. The general terms and conditions for the use of hirXpert and any additional terms and conditions for the use of individual applications are hereinafter collectively referred to as ‘GTC’. The contract is concluded with FIMAD GmbH, Siebenhäusergasse 7, 35423 Lich. Further contact details, the commercial register data and the name of an authorised representative of FIMAD GmbH can be found in the imprint.
1. Subject matter of the contract and basis for the use of hirXpert
1.1 hirXpert is a service with the purpose of contributing to the improvement and simplification of the user’s search for professional development through a variety of different applications. In particular, hirXpert gives users the opportunity to find jobs for themselves, whether as employees or freelancers, with employers or clients. This is done in accordance with any privacy settings and declarations of consent of the user.
1.2 The social network is the central application of hirXpert. The profile page created there by the user (hereinafter ‘user profile’) represents the identity with which the user appears and is presented within hirXpert, on the hirXpert website and in the applications of the service. This is done with the help of a user profile visible in the social network, for which registration for hirXpert is always required. The entire benefit of the social network is achieved solely through the retrievability of the user profile, even for non-users, and findability in search engines.
1.3 A user who registers for the social network initially acquires a free membership in the social network.
1.4 The user can change his free membership to a paid membership in the social network (‘Premium Membership’), which includes additional or extended functions and, if applicable, additional packages.
2. Conditions of use and conclusion of contract
2.1 The contract for the use of hirXpert between the user and hirXpert is concluded when the user registers in the system and accepts these GTC. The resulting user account is visible as a user profile in the social network. Registration takes place via an e-mail from the user or – if available – via a Facebook account or a Google account of the user or in any other way.
2.2 The applications offered on the hirXpert website do not constitute an offer to conclude a contract, but merely an offer to submit an offer to conclude a contract. The user declares the offer to conclude the contract for the use of the corresponding hirXpert application through the registration process. hirXpert accepts this offer by providing the corresponding services, whereby the contract between the user and hirXpert is concluded. hirXpert is, however, not obliged to conclude the contract. If the user chooses to make use of paid services, he/she accepts the associated payment obligation by clicking on the confirmation field offered in this case in the application.
2.3 During the term of the contract, the user shall ensure that the data transmitted by him are true and complete. If hirXpert makes manual changes to the user’s data on behalf of the user, hirXpert may charge the user for any resulting costs, insofar as the user is responsible for the costs incurred.
2.4 A user within the meaning of these GTC is any natural person who has reached the age of eighteen. If the user is acting on behalf of a legal entity, he/she affirms that he/she is or will be authorised to act on its behalf. At hirXpert’s request, the user must provide evidence of the information warranted in accordance with sentences 1 and 2.
2.5 hirXpert is not liable for the actual identity of the user within the meaning of paragraph 2.4. hirXpert may request proof of identity from the user in case of doubt.
2.6 The user’s membership with hirXpert takes place through registration, during which the user chooses a password that must be kept secret. hirXpert does not disclose the password to third parties. hirXpert only requests the password during the registration process. The user is solely responsible for securing and storing his/her access data.
2.7 Only one user profile is available to each user. Use by third parties is not permitted.
3. Right of cancellation for consumers
3.1 If the user is a consumer within the meaning of Section 13 of the German Civil Code (BGB), he may cancel the contractual relationship within fourteen days without giving reasons. The cancellation period begins on the day the contract is concluded. The right of cancellation must be exercised by means of a clear declaration to FIMAD GmbH, Siebenhäusergasse 7, 35423 Lich, e.g. by post, e-mail or fax. The cancellation period is deemed to have been observed if the user sends notification of the exercise of the right of cancellation before the expiry of the cancellation period.
3.2 In the event of paid use within the meaning of section 1.4, in the event of cancellation, all payments made by the user will be refunded immediately and at the latest within fourteen days from the day on which the cancellation was received by FIMAD GmbH. Fees will be refunded using the same means of payment as for the original transaction unless otherwise agreed; fees due to the repayment will not be charged. If the user requests that the service should begin during the cancellation period, he must pay hirXpert an appropriate amount that corresponds to the proportion of the services already provided up to the time at which the user was informed by hirXpert of the exercise of the right of cancellation with regard to this contract in comparison to the total scope of the services provided for in the contract.
3.3 If the user acts in the predominant or complete exercise of a commercial or independent professional activity when concluding the legal transaction and is therefore to be regarded as an entrepreneur (§ 14 BGB), he has no right of cancellation.
3.4 The user expressly agrees that hirXpert may begin to perform the service before the end of the cancellation period.
4. General obligations of the user, special provisions for the use of the social network
4.1 The user is obliged:
(a) to provide only true and non-misleading information and to use only his/her civil name;
(b) to use only such a photograph in the user profile in which he/she is clearly recognisable; other photographs or images (e.g. images of other persons, animals, etc.) are not permitted;
(c) to keep the information provided by him/her up to date;
(d) to use the services of hirXpert in a professional manner;
(e) to observe applicable law and the rights of third parties when using hirXpert and the content on the hirXpert website; in particular, the user may not:
– use offensive or defamatory content, regardless of whether this content concerns other users, hirXpert employees or other persons or companies;
– use content that is pornographic, glorifies violence, is abusive, immoral or violates youth protection laws, or advertise, offer and/or sell goods or services that are pornographic, glorify violence, are abusive, immoral or violate youth protection laws;
– cause unreasonable harassment of other users, in particular through spam;
– use content protected by law (e.g. by copyright, trademark, patent, design or utility model law) without being authorised to do so, or advertise, offer and/or sell goods or services protected by law, also without being authorised to do so;
– or use anti-competitive behaviour, including progressive solicitation (such as chain, snowball or pyramid schemes);
(f) refrain from the following harassing activities, even if they do not specifically violate any laws: Sending chain letters, conducting, advertising and promoting structural sales schemes, and engaging in lewd or sexually suggestive communications;
(g) making political statements.
4.2 Users are prohibited from the following actions:
(a) Creating or presenting a false identity on hirXpert, creating a member profile for a third party or attempting to use a third party’s account;
(b) Developing, supporting or using software, devices, robots, scripts or other means or processes in connection with the use of the hirXpert website in order to read the services or otherwise collect profiles or other data from services;
(c) overriding security features or circumventing or bypassing other access controls or usage restrictions (e.g. restrictions on search queries or profile views);
(d) copying, using, disclosing or distributing information obtained directly or indirectly (through search engines) through the Services without hirXpert’s consent;
(e) disclosure of confidential information of third parties (e.g. the user’s employer), unless the user is authorised to do so;
(f) infringement of intellectual property rights of third parties, including copyrights, trademark rights, trade secrets and other property rights; in particular, the user is prohibited from using contributions or other content of third parties without their consent;
(g) infringement of the intellectual property or other rights of hirXpert, including the use of the word ‘hirXpert’ or the logo of hirXpert in the name of a company, e-mail or Internet address;
(h) publishing programmes or other products that contain software viruses, worms or other harmful code;
(i) create the impression that the user is affiliated with or endorsed by hirXpert without the express consent of hirXpert;
(j) renting, lending, selling the services or associated data, trading in the services, reselling them or otherwise providing them to third parties for a fee or gaining access to the services or associated data without the consent of hirXpert;
(k) Monitoring the availability, performance and functionality of hirXpert’s services for competitive purposes;
(l) obscuring the services or their appearance or modifying them in any other way;
(m) interfering with the operation of the Services or imposing an unreasonable burden on them; and/or
(n) breach any other terms and conditions relating to a particular Service provided when the User registers for or begins to use such Service.
4.3 hirXpert is not obliged to make data and / or information provided by the user available to other users if this data and / or information is not in accordance with paragraphs 4.1 and 4.2. hirXpert is entitled to remove unauthorised data and / or information from the hirXpert website in accordance with paragraphs 4.1 and 4.2 without prior notice to the user.
5. Changes to the services and the GTC
5.1 hirXpert is authorised to change the services offered on the hirXpert website or to offer different services, insofar as this is reasonable for the user.
5.2 Notwithstanding paragraph 5.1, hirXpert may change the services offered on the hirXpert website or offer different services:
(a) if the applicable legal situation changes;
(b) if hirXpert thereby complies with a court decision directed against it by an authority;
(c) if it is necessary to close existing security gaps;
(d) if the change is only beneficial to the user; or
(e) if the change is of a purely technical or procedural nature with no significant impact on the user.
5.3 The aforementioned paragraphs do not apply to changes with only an insignificant impact on the functions of hirXpert.
5.4 hirXpert may amend these GTC at any time without stating reasons, unless this is unreasonable for the user. hirXpert will notify the user of amendments to the GTC in good time. If the user does not object to the validity of the new GTC within six weeks of the notification, the amended GTC shall be deemed accepted by the user. hirXpert shall inform the user in the notification of his right of objection and the significance of the objection period.
5.5 hirXpert can also change the GTC when introducing additional, new services or parts of services that require a service description in the GTC, unless the previous user relationship is adversely changed as a result; hirXpert will inform about such changes to the GTC.
5.6 In the case of services that are booked individually and are not offered as part of the overall contractual relationship, a separate contract is concluded for each booking, the additional conditions of which are displayed separately in each individual case prior to booking. The corresponding contractual conditions and services may be amended for future bookings irrespective of the requirements for changes to services stated here.
5.7 The user’s right of cancellation in accordance with Section 7 remains unaffected.
6. Fees, billing, invoicing, terms of payment
6.1 The user shall pay the invoiced service fees using the payment methods offered by hirXpert. If a fee cannot be collected, the user shall bear all costs incurred by hirXpert as a result, in particular bank charges in connection with the return of direct debits and comparable charges, insofar as the user is responsible for causing the costs.
6.2 hirXpert can only send invoices, payment reminders and reminders electronically.
6.3 Invoices shall be issued exclusively in euros. This also applies if the user is domiciled or habitually resident outside the euro zone.
6.4 The fees for Premium Membership are due for payment in advance immediately upon invoicing for the entire term or the respective billing period.
6.5 hirXpert reserves the right to increase the fee for Premium Membership appropriately at the beginning of a new billing period. A fee increase shall take place no more than once per calendar year. hirXpert shall inform the user of this at least six weeks before the start of the billing period at which the price increase takes effect. If the user does not agree to the fee increase, he/she may object to it within three weeks by letter, fax or e-mail. The objection is equivalent to a cancellation of the Premium Membership by the user, so that the Premium Membership ends at the end of the existing minimum usage period or the current billing period.
7. Term, termination of the contract, sanctions, repayment of fees paid in advance
7.1 The contractual relationship can be terminated by both the user and hirXpert at any time, provided that no special provisions on the term and cancellation of individual applications or hirXpert memberships conflict with this.
7.2 Upon termination, the user loses the right to access or use the services of hirXpert. After termination, the following shall continue to apply:
– hirXpert is authorised to use and publish the user’s feedback.
– The information and content shared by the user via the services may continue to be shared by members and visitors to the hirXpert website.
– Fees that have not yet been paid at the end of the contractual relationship must continue to be paid.
– The obligations of the user according to section 4 remain unaffected.
– Furthermore, the exclusions and limitations of liability of hirXpert according to section 2.5 remain unaffected.
7.3 The free membership can be cancelled at any time without giving reasons. In the event of unauthorised deletion of the user profile by third parties, hirXpert may carry out an identity check upon termination.
7.4 Premium membership initially runs for the minimum period of use booked by the user. Thereafter, it is extended indefinitely (with billing periods of twelve months each) if it is not cancelled in due time by the user or hirXpert. The user and hirXpert can cancel the Premium Membership at any time without giving reasons at the end of the minimum usage period booked in the registration process or subsequently at the end of the billing period. If the Premium Membership is cancelled, the user shall retain the free membership until its termination, but the additional and extended functions of the Premium Membership shall no longer apply.
7.5 The right to extraordinary cancellation for good cause by the user or by hirXpert remains unaffected. An important reason exists if the continuation of the contractual relationship until the expiry of the statutory cancellation period is not reasonable for the terminating party, taking into account all circumstances of the individual case and weighing the interests of both parties. Important reasons for hirXpert are in particular:
(a) Non-compliance with legal regulations by the user;
(b) breach of contractual obligations by the user;
(c) the significant impairment of the reputation of the services offered on the hirXpert website by the user (e.g. if it emerges after the user has registered that he or she has been legally convicted of an intentional criminal offence and other users are aware of this conviction);
(d) advertising by the user for associations or communities or their methods or activities that are monitored by security or youth protection authorities; or
(e) harm to other users by the user.
7.6 In the event of good cause within the meaning of paragraph 7.4, hirXpert shall also be entitled to the following rights:
(a) Deletion of the content posted by the user;
(b) blocking access to the services of the hirXpert website or individual applications;
(c) warning the user.
7.7 In the event of cancellation, the user shall not be entitled to a refund of any fees already paid in advance, unless the user cancels for good cause for which hirXpert is responsible. Notwithstanding sentence 1, the user is not entitled to a refund of fees already paid in advance if
(a) hirXpert cancels the contract for good cause or
(b) hirXpert blocks the user’s access in accordance with paragraph 7.5.
8. Responsibility for user content, data and/or information, availability
8.1 hirXpert is not liable for the content, data and/or information provided by the user of the hirXpert website or for content on linked external websites. In particular, hirXpert is not liable for the fact that this content is true, fulfils a specific purpose or can serve such a purpose.
8.2 If the user discovers any use of the hirXpert website that violates the law or the contract, the user can report this.
8.3 With regard to data or content that is or was publicly available in accordance with the GTC, the data protection provisions of hirXpert or the user’s settings and was stored by a third party, hirXpert is not obliged to prevent such storage by third parties.
8.4 hirXpert merely offers the user a platform and does not participate in the content of communication between users. If the users conclude contracts with each other via the hirXpert website, hirXpert is not involved in this and does not become a contractual partner. The users are solely responsible for the processing and fulfilment of the contracts concluded between them. hirXpert is not liable for breaches of duty by the users arising from the contractual relationships existing between them.
8.5 The user acknowledges that 100% availability of the hirXpert website is technically impossible. hirXpert shall, however, endeavour to keep the hirXpert website available as constantly as possible.
9. Liability of hirXpert
hirXpert is liable without limitation for damages resulting from injury to life, body or health, which are based on a breach of duty by hirXpert, a legal representative or vicarious agent of hirXpert, as well as for damages caused by the absence of a quality guaranteed by hirXpert or in the event of fraudulent behaviour by hirXpert. The same applies to damages caused intentionally or through gross negligence by hirXpert or one of its legal representatives or vicarious agents.
10. Data protection
10.1 Personal data will only be collected, processed and/or used if the user has consented or if this is permitted by law. Personal data is used on the basis of the law, in particular in connection with the fulfilment of hirXpert’s contractual obligations towards the user. hirXpert offers the user a variety of functions that are individually adapted to the user. In order to be able to provide the corresponding services, it is necessary to process and use the user’s personal data.
10.2 hirXpert offers users the opportunity to transmit their personal data to other users in whole or in part or to revoke access to the data. The transmission of this data is at the user’s own risk.
10.3 In the case of Premium Membership or the selected additional package, further personal data may be collected, processed and used in order to provide the services and functions in connection with the selected Premium Membership or the selected additional package. This data will continue to be stored for the duration of the hirXpert membership even if the use of the selected premium membership or the selected additional package ends, unless the user deletes the data beforehand. The assertion of data subject rights within the meaning of Art. 12 et seq. GDPR remains unaffected.
11. Applicable law, place of jurisdiction and other matters
11.1 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply, even if the user is domiciled or habitually resident in another country. However, the mandatory consumer protection law of the country in which the user is domiciled or habitually resident and in which the services are provided by hirXpert shall remain unaffected.
11.2 For disputes arising from the contractual relationship between the user and hirXpert and related disputes, the court of the state in which hirXpert performs its services and in which the user has his domicile or habitual residence shall have jurisdiction; alternatively, legal disputes may be brought before the competent court in the Federal Republic of Germany. hirXpert does not participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.
11.3 hirXpert may use third parties to fulfil the orders. Even in this case, hirXpert remains responsible for the fulfilment of the obligations assumed by hirXpert.
11.4 hirXpert may transfer the contract with the user to affiliated companies of hirXpert or to a party that takes over the company without the user’s consent.
11.5 The user may not transfer this contract, his membership or the use of the services to third parties without the consent of
hirXpert to third parties.
11.6 hirXpert may transmit declarations to the user by e-mail or letter, unless otherwise specified in the GTC. The user confirms that they will only send legal declarations to the hirXpert address stated on the hirXpert website.
11.7 The place of fulfilment is the registered office of FIMAD GmbH.
11.8 Should individual provisions of these GTC be or become invalid, the remaining GTC shall remain valid. The user and hirXpert agree that the invalid provision or provisions shall be replaced by a provision or provisions that come closest to the purpose of the invalid provision or provisions.