Terms and Conditions

Article 1 – Definitions

AthenaCheck: AthenaDocs B.V., located at Herengracht 456, 1017 CA Amsterdam, registered with the Chamber of Commerce under number 70084009 and known to the Tax and Customs Administration with VAT number NL858133878B01, which legal entity offers products and/or services (at a distance) to consumers under the trade name AthenaCheck;
Counterparty: the natural person who does not act in the exercise of a profession or business and enters into an agreement with AthenaCheck;
Agreement: the agreement concluded between AthenaCheck and Counterparty in the context of an organized system for remote sales without simultaneous personal presence of the parties and in which, up to the moment of the conclusion of the agreement, one or more means of communication at a distance are used;
Order: the service that is provided by AthenaCheck to Counterparty at the request of Counterparty. This includes, among other things, a Language Check or a Plagiarism Check;
Language Check: the checking of a Document provided by Counterparty for language errors, structure, layout, coherence and sources by an Editor;
Plagiarism Check: the checking of a Document for the presence of plagiarism by means of plagiarism checking software provided by Turnitin;
Document: any document provided by Counterparty to AthenaCheck for the performance of the Agreement. Including, but not limited to, theses, essays, papers, writing assignments, letters and literature and source lists in any digital form;
Minimum Requirements: the minimum requirements for the Document provided by Counterparty to AthenaCheck;
Control Period: the ultimate date or time period by which the Order must be completed by AthenaCheck;
Editor: the third party, being a legal entity or natural person, which is engaged by AthenaCheck to perform the Language Check or any other services;
Turnitin software: the software used to perform the Plagiarism Check;
Cooling-off period: the legal period of fourteen days within which Counterparty can exercise its right of withdrawal;
Right of withdrawal: the legal possibility for Counterparty to dissolve an agreement or a contract concluded outside of sales premises without giving any reason within fourteen days after its conclusion, as referred to in Article 6:230o paragraph 1 under a of the Dutch Civil Code.

Article 2 – Conclusion of the Agreement

The Agreement between AthenaCheck and the Counterparty is concluded when Counterparty clicks on the 'Pay' button after filling in the required (personal) information on AthenaCheck's website. Counterparty thereby accepts the Order and accepts the obligation to pay.
AthenaCheck sends a confirmation of the Agreement by e-mail. This confirmation e-mail serves only as a reference and is not a condition for the conclusion of the Agreement.

Article 2a – Prices

Prices mentioned on the website include VAT.
Price changes and typing errors are reserved. No rights can be derived from the information on the website(s) managed by AthenaCheck.
AthenaCheck reserves the right to change its prices at any time, especially when deemed necessary by AthenaCheck based on (legal) requirements.

Article 3 – The contents of the Agreement

AthenaCheck provides language and plagiarism checking services for theses, dissertations, essays, papers, and other academic texts, in exchange for payment. AthenaCheck has a network of professional Editors for Language Checks, who are tasked with checking submitted texts for language errors, structure, layout, coherence and sources. AthenaCheck uses reputable software for conducting Plagiarism Checks.
A Language Check helps to improve the language, spelling, structure, and layout of a text. A Plagiarism Check helps to reduce the amount of plagiarism in a text. AthenaCheck does not provide any guarantee for any specific evaluation – in any sense or of any nature – of a Document by educational institutions or other third parties.
AthenaCheck may impose minimum requirements on a Document for the purpose of processing an Order. If the Document does not meet the Minimum Requirements, AthenaCheck cannot execute the Agreement. In such a case, AthenaCheck can never be deemed to be in default in the execution of the Agreement.

Article 4 – The Language Check

If the Order includes a Language Check, the Order is assigned to an Editor by AthenaCheck after the Agreement has been concluded.
The Control Period chosen by Counterparty is 24 hours, 72 hours or 168 hours. The Control Period is activated from the moment AthenaCheck has received full payment.
The Control Period agreed upon between AthenaCheck and the Counterparty is communicated to an Editor by AthenaCheck. An Editor is required to adhere to this Control Period. However, AthenaCheck has no control over an Editor's work, and therefore, AthenaCheck is not responsible towards Counterparty for the consequences of not meeting the Control Period.
The Minimum Requirements for a Document for a Language Check are:
1. The Document must be submitted in a recent version of Microsoft Word;
2. AthenaCheck always checks whether the Document is of sufficient quality for an Editor to perform a Language Check in a normal manner. AthenaCheck has full discretional powers with regard to the assessment of quality;
3. The Document must be authentic, meaning it must be free from plagiarism.
Counterparty has the option to communicate all relevant facts and circumstances to an Editor during the Order submission process through the form on AthenaCheck's website. The Counterparty has no further opportunity to communicate with an Editor thereafter. It is not possible to give instructions to an Editor, ask questions, or submit additional documents after the Agreement has been concluded.

Article 5 – The Plagiarism Check

AthenaCheck uses Turnitin software for the Plagiarism Check. Turnitin is software which uses an advanced algorithm to detect plagiarism in Documents by comparing them to an extensive database of academic and internet sources.
AthenaCheck has no influence on the results of the Plagiarism Check and does not bear responsibility for (the accuracy of) the results.
The Control Period for the Plagiarism Check starts from the moment AthenaCheck has received full payment. The length of the Control Period is not agreed upon in advance and depends on the workload at Turnitin. AthenaCheck has no control over the duration of the Plagiarism Check and therefore does not bear any responsibility for the Control Period towards the Counterparty.
If the Control Period exceeds a period of 24 hours, the Counterparty has the option to request a refund of the invoice amount of the Agreement. AthenaCheck is only obliged to consider this request if the result of the Plagiarism Check has not yet been received by AthenaCheck. AthenaCheck must assess whether it sees reason to refund the invoice amount.

Article 6 – Use and Retention of Documents

For the execution of the Agreement, it is necessary for the Counterparty to provide Documents to AthenaCheck.
By offering Documents to AthenaCheck in connection with the execution of the Agreement, the Counterparty automatically grants AthenaCheck a universal, non-exclusive, royalty-free, fully paid, transferable, and sublicensable license. This license gives AthenaCheck the authority to use the Documents in the broadest sense, but in any case, for everything necessary for the execution of the Agreement.
The Documents provided by the Counterparty are kept by AthenaCheck for a maximum of 90 days after the end of the Agreement. The Documents are only used for adequate complaint handling and random quality controls of Editors and the Turnitin software.
To perform the Language Check, an Editor must be able to receive and save the Document. Based on the license granted by the Counterparty to AthenaCheck as referred to in Article 6, paragraph 2, AthenaCheck provides one-time sublicenses to Editors. Immediately after completing the Language Check, an Editor is contractually obliged to delete the Document.

Article 7 – Amendment of the Agreement

The Agreement shall be executed by AthenaCheck in the manner requested by the Counterparty via AthenaCheck's website. Counterparty is solely responsible for the proper and correct submission of the Order. AthenaCheck shall not be liable for any misunderstanding or incorrect delivery of the Order by Counterparty for any reason whatsoever.
AthenaCheck shall promptly contact Counterparty if a modification of the Agreement is required for proper execution. If Counterparty does not cooperate with the proposed modification, AthenaCheck is entitled to terminate the Agreement immediately and without prior notice nor being liable for any damages.
AthenaCheck may reject requests from the Counterparty to modify the Agreement without giving any reason and without being in default in any way.

Article 8 – Right of Withdrawal and Termination

The Counterparty cannot terminate the Agreement after its conclusion. Termination by Counterparty is only possible on the grounds of a breach by AthenaCheck that was caused by intent or gross negligence.
Counterparty confirms and understands that the expiration of the Control Period is not a breach attributable to AthenaCheck in the performance of the Agreement. AthenaCheck has no influence on the compliance with the Agreement during the Control Period.
Counterparty has no Right of Withdrawal. The exclusion of the Right of Withdrawal is necessary due to the extremely results-oriented nature of the Order and the impossibility of undoing a completed Order. In addition, the short Control Period precludes a Cooling-off Period.
Counterparty expressly waives its Right of Withdrawal as soon as AthenaCheck has started performing the Agreement. Counterparty confirms by agreeing to these General Terms and Conditions that it has expressly waived its Right of Withdrawal from the Agreement.

Artikel 9 – Payment and reminders

Payment is made through the payment methods presented on the AthenaCheck website. Counterparty has the choice of iDeal, Mastercard, Visa, Paypal, Bancontract and Giropay. Restrictions or changes in payment methods are reserved.
Given the short duration of the Control Period, AthenaCheck deems it necessary to commence performance of the Agreement immediately after its conclusion. Possibly, AthenaCheck has commenced the performance of the Agreement before full payment has been received.
AthenaCheck reserves the right to suspend the Agreement in the event of a deficiency in payment, regardless of whose fault or how significant the deficiency is. AthenaCheck may refuse to share the result of the Order with the Counterparty until full payment is received.
If Counterparty fails to fully meet its payment obligation for any reason, AthenaCheck will send a written reminder to the Counterparty to pay the outstanding amount to the (electronic) address of the Counterparty as provided to AthenaCheck by Counterparty. Counterparty is responsible for the accuracy of this information. Counterparty may not invoke the inaccuracy of the (address) data in and out of court.
If AthenaCheck reminds Counterparty to pay, Counterparty must pay the specified amount in the reminder within ten days of the reminder date and in the manner indicated in the reminder.
If payment has not been made within ten days of the first reminder, Counterparty will be reminded again to pay the outstanding amount within ten days. The outstanding amount will be increased by at least five euros in administrative costs.
If payment has not been made within fourteen days after sending the second reminder, the Counterparty will be blocked on the AthenaCheck ordering system.
If payment by or on behalf of Counterparty has not been made within the period specified in the preceding paragraph, AthenaCheck will transfer its claim to a third party. It is authorized to do so from the moment the first reminder remains unanswered.
If AthenaCheck transfers its claim to a third party for collection, all costs associated with this, of whatever nature, will be borne by the Counterparty. These costs also include all costs of legal action in the broadest sense of the word.
Payments made by Counterparty after the first reminder will be deducted from the outstanding costs and principal.
The ban of Counterparty on the AthenaCheck ordering system will be lifted as soon as the principal sum and the outstanding (collection) costs have been paid in full.

Article 10 – Liability

AthenaCheck is not liable for any direct, indirect, or consequential damages, including but not limited to loss of profits, loss of data or other intangible losses, arising from the use of its services, except for damages arising from willful misconduct or gross negligence.
AthenaCheck is not be liable to Counterparty in any way for failure to fully perform the Agreement before the Control Period has expired.
AthenaCheck shall use its best efforts to ensure that the Order is completed by an Editor or Turnitin within the Control Period, but has no direct control over them. Counterparty is encouraged to file a report if a Control Period expires before the Agreement is fully performed.
AthenaCheck is not be liable for any damages of any kind arising from or related to the use of its services and the performance of an Order, including but not limited to damages caused by third-party errors, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files or emails, defects, viruses, delays in operation or transmission, or communication line failures.
AthenaCheck shall not be liable for damages arising directly or indirectly from failure to meet a Control Period. Counterparty is particularly responsible for meeting the deadlines required by educational institutions.
AthenaCheck shall not be liable for any damages, direct or indirect, arising from the use of the Plagiarism Check. This includes, but is not limited to, loss of data, loss of profits, or damage to reputation. AthenaCheck shall not be liable for any errors, inaccuracies, or incompleteness in the results of the Plagiarism Check.
To the extent that AthenaCheck is liable for any damages, whether intentionally or due to gross negligence, such liability shall at all times and in any event be limited to twice the invoice amount of the Agreement.

Article 11 – Additional or Deviating General Terms and Conditions and Changes to these General Terms and Conditions

Additional or deviating provisions from these General Terms and Conditions may not be to the disadvantage of Counterparty and must be recorded in writing or in such a way that Counterparty can store them on a durable data carrier in an accessible manner.
AthenaCheck is authorized to amend these General Terms and Conditions at any time. AthenaCheck will notify its customers by email of any important changes.

Article 12 – Final Provisions

These General Terms and Conditions and any Agreement are exclusively governed by Dutch law.
If any individual clause of these General Terms and Conditions becomes invalid, unenforceable or is declared invalid in any other way, the other provisions shall remain unaffected.
Disputes arising from the Agreement and these General Terms and Conditions may only be brought, in first instance, before the Amsterdam District Court, unless the law in a particular case excludes exclusive jurisdiction. In the latter case, the Amsterdam District Court shall always have co-jurisdiction.
This is an English translation of the Dutch version of these General Terms and Conditions. In case of discrepancy between the two versions, the Dutch version is leading.