Terms and Conditions

1. Area of application and changes to these conditions

1.1. These Terms and Conditions govern the customer's use of the email service Posteo e.K., Methfesselstr. 38, 10965 Berlin, Germany (“Posteo”).

1.2. Customers will be informed of any changes. If changes occur that are to the disadvantage of the customer, they can terminate the relationship without notice. Posteo also advises customers of their right to terminate in the notification of changes.

2. Customer relationship

2.1. The contract regarding use of Posteo takes effect through the customer’s completion of the online sign-up form.

3. Services

3.1. After registration, customers gain access to their account. Until the first payment has been made, the customer can only send 10 emails within a two hour period. After setting up the account, the following services are available to the customer:

  • A personalised email address in the form “desiredname@posteo.de”
  • Two additional alias email addresses configurable by the customer
  • An email account with 2 GB storage capacity
  • Ability to send and receive emails
  • Attachments of up to 50 MB are supported
  • Spam filter: emails identified as spam will not be accepted by our system (rejected)
  • The customer has the ability to set up a list in order to ensure that emails from particular senders are always delivered
  • Virus filter: incoming emails that contain a virus will be deleted and not delivered to the customer
  • Webmail service with synchronisable address book and calendar
  • Email forwarding
  • Autoreply option (e.g. out-of-office)
  • POP migration service, to collect your emails with other providers in your Posteo account
  • Server powered by 100% green energy from Greenpeace Energy

If the customer's storage space becomes full, the email account will not be able to receive any more emails. Customers can change the size of their account via the Posteo website. When increased, each additional Gigabyte of storage costs an extra 0.25 EUR per month. Over and above the two aliases included free, up to 20 aliases can be set up, costing 0.10 EUR per alias per month.

3.2 Posteo is generally available 24 hours a day. Posteo can make no guarantees about the continual availability of all services. Outages due to possible maintenance work will be advised of in advance.

4. Fees and payment methods

4.1 In order to use Posteo, the customer is required to pay the monthly fee after sign-up. Payment by bank transfer or PayPal is to be made for 12 months in advance. If submitting payment by letter mail we only accept bank notes, therefore payment needs to be made for 15 months in advance. If the contract is ended prematurely (by either party) any remaining credit can be refunded. The customer can add a maximum of 120 EUR credit.

4.2 Accepted payment methods are bank transfer, PayPal or cash by letter mail.

4.3 All prices are listed in EUR on the Posteo website and include 19% German value added tax (VAT).

4.4 The customers are required to pay any fees that they incur as well as those arising from unauthorised use of their account by a third party, except where the use is not in the responsibility of the customer. The obligation to disprove culpability lies with the customer.

4.5 If the customer’s credit remains negative for two months despite warnings and reminder emails, the account’s ability to send emails will be blocked. After that, the contractual relationship will be ended by Posteo.

5. Customer obligations

5.1 Customers keep the password of their account secret. The customer will immediately change or reset it, if an unauthorised third party may have discovered it.

5.2 Customers are also responsible for third parties who use the services within their account (whether authorised or unauthorised). This does not apply when the unauthorised access had nothing to do with the customer. The obligation is on the customers to prove they had nothing to do with the usage.

5.3 The customer will not use the email service to send out advertisements for commercial purposes by email or to send standardised emails to a multitude of recipients.

6. Misuse and child & youth protection

6.1 The customer is required not to use Posteo improperly:

  • not to send any spam (and no more than 500 emails per hour and/or 1000 emails per day)
  • not to break German laws
  • not to break regulations regarding protection of children.

6.2 Customers are liable to Posteo for damages resulting from a breach of their responsibilities under 6.1 and absolve Posteo from claims of any third parties in this regard. This does not apply when the unauthorised access had nothing to do with the customer. The obligation is on the customers to prove they had nothing to do with the usage.

6.3 If the customer uses Posteo against the conditions set out in 6.1 and 5.3, the account can be blocked by Posteo without notice. The right to immediate termination remains.

7. Privacy

7.1 Posteo and the customer will comply with the legal privacy regulations, in particular with the German laws Telemediengesetz (TMG) and the Bundesdatenschutzgesetz (BDSG). The customer’s personal information and usage information will only be retrieved, processed or used, insofar as it is required to carry out the contractual relationship.

7.2 Further information about the type, scope and purpose of the collection, processing and use of personal information and other data can be found in the Posteo privacy policy.

8. Guarantee and liability

8.1 Posteo does not guarantee that all services listed under item 3 will always be available and error-free. This applies, in particular, insofar as access to these services can involve disruptions that lie outside Posteo’s control. Posteo will troubleshoot and remove any disruptions to the services named in item 3 in regard to technical and operational matters without delay.

8.2 Liability applies as per the German law on product liability (Produkthaftungsgesetz).

9. Termination and deletion of accounts

9.1 The contract runs for an undetermined period. It can be terminated by the customer or Posteo on a monthly basis with 14 days’ notice. The right to terminate without notice under item 1.2 or for an important reason under items 5 or 6 remain unaffected.

9.2 Termination of the contract by the customer can only occur via the Posteo user settings menu. Posteo can terminate the contract by email.

9.3 If Posteo terminates the contract the customer’s saved data will be deleted 90 days after the termination.

10. Applicable law

The complete legal relationship between Posteo and its customers is exclusively governed by the law of the Federal Republic of Germany. Appealing to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (UN CISG) is barred.

Current as of January 2013

Changes:

01.01.2013: Name changed to Posteo e.K.