-TERMS AND CONDITIONS-

DEIFINATIONS

Below is a list of “Terms” of expression together with their definitions used here, on the website and in other materials:

  • “Excel Learning Centre” – ELC refers to the name of the company that liaises with tutors, students and/or their nominees to provide any requested tuition and/or careers service and is simplified as “ELC”.

  • “Us”, “We” or “Our” means Excel Learning Centre. “Client” or “Member” in relation to Excel Learning Centre refers to tutors, students and/or their nominees (including, parent(s) and guardian(s)) who have registered with us for our services.

  • “Student” refers to person(s) (including their nominees) requiring/requesting tuition services by a tutor.

  • “Parent(s)” refers to the parent(s), guardian(s) or nominee(s) of students acting on behalf of the student to request tuition services by a tutor.

  • “Tutor” refers to a person suitably qualified and experienced to provide tuition services in specific areas of expertise.

  • “You” can refer to tutors and students (both registered and unregistered) who use our website or contact us.

TUTOR QUALIFICATIONS

Tutors introduced by Excel Learning Centre are highly qualified with university degrees, teaching certificates, professional qualifications or a combination thereof. Although mostly from a school teaching background, Tutors also come from other walks of life including training establishments. This allows tuition to be offered in business, commercial and technical subjects too.

THE TUITION COURSE

Different tutors have different teaching methods and styles. One of the primary benefits of private tuition is that the Tutor can tailor his/or her method to the needs of the individual student in a way that cannot be achieved in the larger group classroom setting. There is no set pattern or material for private tuition. Every student is an individual, and student and Tutor need to find their best approach together. The background information given before starting is of great help and the Tutor will ask for any additional information needed.

Please ensure that tuition can be conducted in a quiet atmosphere conducive to concentration on the tuition involved. Provision of exercise books and textbooks is usually the responsibility of the Client.

Tuition normally consists of one-hour sessions. Shorter or longer sessions should be agreed in advance between Client and Tutor.

At the start, it can be difficult to determine how much tuition a student requires. We try to be as flexible as possible as it is important to get the balance right for you or your child. Some parents use private tuition as a year round supplement to their child’s education. For others, just a few sessions may be required as a top-up and confidence builder prior to an exam. All parents and students would like to see private tuition as a quick fix, in reality it is not. It can take time for trust and rapport to be built between Tutor and child. We will endeavour to find a suitable match between the Client and Tutor taking into account the tutors available to us, and your individual requirements, which you communicated to us prior to our assignment to you of a Tutor. However, sometimes a Tutor’s teaching method or personality may not suit the student involved. If this is the case, please contact us straight away, and we will do our best to find a replacement as soon as possible.

PAYMENT FOR TUITION

A monthly billing plan:- With the monthly payment plan, invoices are sent to you early in the month to cover tuition in the upcoming month. For example, tuition received by a client during the month of September will normally be invoiced to the client early in September. Invoices thus rendered cover monies receivable for and on behalf of the Tutor together with fees due to ELC. Please insure that payment for all invoices is received within 7 days of the date of the invoice.

Payment of First Month Tuition Fee must be made prior to the commencement of the first session after a free introductory session with the Tutor. Once tuition has commenced, there are no refunds for the cancellation of sessions by the Client prior to completion of the course. However, the course is flexible in terms of illness and holidays, and sessions can be rescheduled for an alternative date if the Client provides a minimum of 48 hours notice of the cancellation of the session to the Tutor. The course of sessions can commence at any time of year.

You are, however, entitled to cancel the contract within 6 working days of your acceptance or deemed acceptance of these Terms of Business (“Cancellation Period”), in which case you will be entitled to reimbursement of all Fees paid to ELC. However, if you instruct ELC or the Tutor introduced to you that you want the tuition sessions to commence before the end of this Cancellation Period, you will not be entitled to receive a refund of the Fees paid in the event that such tuition session has already been arranged to take place prior to your cancellation.

Tuition automatically carries on unless you give 7 day’s notice (Termination Notice) both to your Tutor verbally and in writing to ELC. This will enable the Tutor to bring tuition to an appropriate conclusion for the student and seek reassignment to another job.

If you do not provide the Termination Notice to ELC or do not provide such notice in sufficient time, ELC and the Tutor will assume that you wish to continue and keep your agreed time slot with the Tutor reserved for you, and you will be charged for any such sessions arranged.

FEES

The first introductory session of up to a maximum of 60 mins with the selected Tutor is provided at NO CHARGE.

Fees are agreed verbally by ELC on behalf of the Tutor, and with the Client prior to commencement of the tuition.

They are normally at a standard rate appropriate to the level of tuition provided and are confirmed in writing as soon as possible.

A reasonable charge for travel may be required by a Tutor. This should be discussed with you prior to commencement of a contract.

Our standard service includes receiving invoices and statements via email. If you require paper invoices and statements then this will incur a yearly administration charge.

CLIENT SATISFACTION AND REFUNDS POLICY

If a tutorial cannot be operated according to the arrangement and students decline the revised arrangements offered by ELC, ELC will refund in full or a pro-rata basis the course fee collected to students as soon as possible and in any event not later than one month after the students have requested for the refund.

ELC will inform students of the refund arrangement either over the telephone or email. For students aged below 18, their parents or guardians can proceed with the refund procedures on behalf of the students.

ELC will refund students in accordance with the above policies. When processing the refund, ELC will not take away the original fees receipts. Upon receipt of the refund, students or parents should sign to acknowledgement the receipt. ELC will pay the refund either in cash or by cheque.

TUITION STOPPED–BY TUTOR

If a Tutor, for any reason, has to stop tuition mid-course, ELC will endeavour to replace that Tutor as soon as possible, subject to availability, in order to minimise disruption to the student’s progress.

TUITION STOPPED – BY CLIENT

Please give at least a week’s notice of end of tuition in writing both to your Tutor and to ELC, so that your Tutor may conclude his/her work with the student and plan his/her work with the student and plan his/her own commitments.

CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP

ELC acts as agent of the Tutor by providing introductions of Tutors to Clients and vice versa. It also collects fees from the Client on behalf of the Tutor together with its own fee in respect of its administration commission, which is included within the hourly rate quoted for a particular Tutor and which is payable solely by the Client.

These Guidelines form a part of the Client’s contract with ELC and with the Tutor. For further contractual details please see Terms and Conditions of Business (Clients) below.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BUSINESSES (CLIENTS)

These terms and conditions of business (“Terms of Business”) are between Excel Learning Centre (acting for itself and as agent on behalf of the Tutor supplied by ELC (“the Tutor”) and the Client and are deemed to be accepted by the Client when the Client paid the refundable deposit.

A Tutor will be deemed to have been introduced by the Client by ELC in the event that either the name of the Tutor is provided by the Client by ELC following the request for a Tutor by the Client, or ELC arranges for a Tutor to contact the Client following such request for a Tutor provided by the Client to ELC.

The Client is entitled to cancel the contract for the introduction of a Tutor with ELC and the Tutor within 6 working days of your acceptance or deemed acceptance of these Terms of Business (“Cancellation Period”). However, if you instruct ELC or the Tutor introduced to you that you want the tuition sessions to commence before the end of this Cancellation Period, you will not be entitled to receive a refund of the Registration Fee in the event that such a tuition session has already been arranged prior to your cancellation.

The Tutor is responsible for coordinating the tuition and will request the necessary background information from the Client and/or student nominated by the Client (“the Student”) from time to time. Provision of exercise and textbooks is the responsibility of, and will as required be supplied by the Client. Tuition is normally held at the Student’s home.

The Tutor is engaged by the Client only to provide tuition and is not responsible for the safety, welfare, wellbeing and care of minor Students or for the protection of any person’s property. In the case of Students under the age of 18 years, a responsible adult (other than the Tutor) must be present at the premises at all times during which the Tutor attends for tuition.

As agent contracting on behalf of the Tutor, ELC will not be liable to the Client or any third party for any act, omission or error (whether willful, negligent or otherwise) of the Tutor.

Clients are not permitted to make private arrangements for tuition with Tutors introduced by ELC which includes payment of fees for such sessions otherwise than to ELC in accordance with its Terms of Business. In the event that the Tutor pursuant to such a private arrangement provides such tuition or the Client introduces the Tutor to other people who then make such arrangements bypassing ELC, the Client will be responsible to pay the commission that ELC has thus lost.

ONLINE TUITION

Online tuition or Live Remote Tuition is when the Tutor tutors a student where Tutor and student are not in the same location as the Tutor using the Internet. Live Remote tuition can also be used to supplement face-to-face sessions.

Tutor and student using a combination of e-mail, Internet Chat (e.g. Google Hangouts, AnyMeeting, MeetingBurner, Zoom or Skype), and our/or a webcam which enables them to see one another, and/or Skype which enables them to hear and/or see one another as well as use an interactive whiteboard.

It is up to the student and Tutor to decide which media or combinations of media best suits their preferences and achieves the student’s goals. All terms and conditions relating to face-face-tuition apply with online. ELC shall not be liable for any failure to conduct the whole or any part of an online tutorial resulting directly or indirectly from disruption of internet service, defective third-party hardware or software.

ILLNESS AND HOLIDAYS

Please contact your Tutor directly over such matters; giving a minimum of 48 hours’ notice for holiday or 24 hours’ notice for illness (except in unforeseeable situations). Cancellations without due notice will be charged at the one-hour rate.

ELC does not offer make-up classes or refunds for missed classes due to a student’s inability to attend for reasons such as school activities, field trips, schedule conflicts, or (unless a doctor’s note is provided and the make-up tutorial is rescheduled to an available time slot within 7 calendar days of the corresponding tutorial) sickness.

In case of sickness, students need to inform ELC and Tutor of their likely absence at least 24 hours before the scheduled tutorial by telephone, WhatsApp or email (a WhatsApp icon found at the lower right corner on our website page).

Tutorial scheduling is offered at the complete discretion of ELC. Rescheduled tutorials must be confirmed on the same day of request made. The rescheduled tutorial must be within the same month as the original tutorial.

LESSON CANCELLATIONS AND RESCHEDULING

Tutorial cancelled 14 days or more prior to the scheduled tutorial are subject the following conditions:

  1. ELC will work with students and families to reschedule the tutorial to a convenient time or facilitate a refund for the cancelled tutorial.

Tutorial cancelled more than 48 hours prior to the scheduled time but less than 14 days prior are subject to the following conditions:

  1. ELC staff will offer the Client at least one option for a rescheduled tutorial to take place within 7 calendar days of the originally scheduled one, and the time, date, and Tutor of the rescheduled tutorial will be assigned by ELC (we will arrange an appropriate Tutor of the same subject specialization in the case that the original Tutor is unavailable).

  2. Tutorial will be rescheduled to times outside normal school hours unless otherwise requested by students.

  3. Once a rescheduled tutorial is confirmed, it cannot be rescheduled again. Students who miss the rescheduled tutorial will forfeit the tutorial fees.

  4. If none of the rescheduling options provided by ELC are suitable, the student will forfeit the original tutorial fees.

ELC does not offer rescheduling or refunds to tutorial cancelled with fewer than 48 hours notice prior to the scheduled tutorial time (unless in the case of a medical emergency, in which case a doctor’s note is required).

Final approval for all rescheduling and refunds is based on ELC Management decision.

DATA PROTECTION ACT

ELC bound by the Personal Data (Privacy) Law in Hong Kong holds and uses Client data for the purposes of the services that it provides.

Clients providing personal data to ELC are consenting to the use of that data by ELC for the purpose of effecting introductions to Tutors, for billing and fee collecting purposes and to enable ELC to contact the Client and/or student from time to time. Where required for legitimate purposes in connection with ELC’s business and subject to suitable safeguards that data may be transferred to others.

POLICIES

Any opinion expressed by a Tutor is not necessarily an expression of the opinion of ELC.

The Tutor is self-employed and engaged by the Client to provide tuition to the Student. The Tutor does not have power to bind ELC in any way.

ELC shall not be liable for any loss, damages, charges or expense, whether direct or indirect, which may be incurred by parents and students arising from or in any way connected with ELC.

RESPONSIBILITIES

A Tutor cannot be held responsible for chaperoning minors, nor guarding a house and household effects while Tutoring. Please ensure that a responsible adult is on the premises at all times.

ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS

All tutorials by ELC will be cancelled upon the hoisting of a Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal of 8 or above, or if the Black Rainstorm Warning is raised.

Under certain “extreme conditions” caused by super typhoons, such as serious disruption of public transport services, extensive flooding, major landslides, large-scale power outage and large scale of street riot happening, the Government will review the situation (including public transportation and other aspects).

Announcement will be made before the Hong Kong Observatory replaces Typhoon Signal No. 8 with Typhoon Signal No. 3 on whether the “extreme conditions” apply and warrant the issuance of an announcement on “extreme conditions”.

Tutorials will resume two hours after the Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal is reduced to a lower signal or if the Black Rainstorm Warning is cancelled or replaced by the Amber or Red Rainstorm Warning during working hours, or when “extreme conditions” are no longer in force (i.e. the two-hour period after cancellation of Typhoon Signal No. 8). No make-up classes or refunds will be granted due to weather or other acts of nature beyond our control.

If you have any further queries or comments please contact us by phone or e-mail so that you are provided with the highest possible level of service.

ELC reserves the right to amend company policy and all terms and conditions without prior notice.

Excel Learning Centre

2/F., Dah Sing Life Building, No. 99-105,

Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong

+852 6110 5241

info@privatehometuition.com

Last updated July 28, 2020