Terms & Conditions
1. Mission Statement and Company Goals
Wine Lab is committed to providing top quality wine education to professionals and hobbyists to develop a passion and understanding that enhances the global wine industry. Wine Lab provides an interactive learning environment led by certified instructors and operates under rigorous quality and ethical standards to ensure the credentials earned maintain the highest degree of integrity possible. Through the support of trained educators and excellent educational resources, Wine Lab facilitates learning success so that students can become contributing members of the wine community.
2. Complaints and Appeals
In Short: Wine Lab strives for student satisfaction which includes welcoming all feedback and facilitating timely resolution of complaints. If a student has a complaint, the student must follow an informal complaint procedure which, if unsatisfactory to the student, may be followed by a formal complaint procedure. If the complaint is still not resolved to the student’s satisfaction, the student may contact the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (hereinafter “WSET”) directly.
2.1. Complaint defined: A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about the standard of service, actions, or lack of action by Wine Lab or a representative of Wine Lab that affects any party affiliated with Wine Lab, including but not limited to Wine Lab course participants (hereinafter “complainant”).
2.2. Equality of Access and Treatment: Any person who has purchased a product or service from Wine Lab has a right to file a complaint with Wine Lab. Wine Lab welcomes all feedback, positive and negative, and as such guarantees that the act of filing a complaint will in no way prejudice the complainant in the course of the complainant’s relationship with Wine Lab.
2.3. Confidentiality: Complaints and related procedures will be kept confidential to outside parties unless that right is waived by the complainant. This excludes representatives of Wine Lab and WSET who are necessary to any investigation relevant to the complaint. If a third party, such as an arbitrator, is employed to assist in complaint resolution, the third party will also be subject to Wine Lab’s confidentiality requirement.
2.3.1. Anonymity: Wine Lab prefers that complaints be submitted by a known party to ensure that party has standing to file a complaint and in order to resolve the complaint in the most efficient way possible. However, Wine Lab will accept and consider anonymous complaints and guarantee confidentiality of those complaints subject to the other sections of this document. Wine Lab will make its best efforts to resolve anonymous complaints.
2.4. Standing: Any person or entity who purchased a product or service from Wine Lab and is dissatisfied for any reason has standing to file a complaint against Wine Lab and seek resolution. In some cases, a third party may be entitled to file a complaint on behalf of another if the third party can provide written permission from the complainant including a valid reason why the affected party is unable to file. Third-party complaints must also be approved by WSET.
2.5. Procedure
2.5.1. Complainants must follow the complaint procedure implemented by Wine Lab and exhaust all options before contacting WSET directly.
2.5.2. Informal procedure: Wine Lab will attempt to resolve any and all complaints via an informal procedure as outlined in the following paragraphs:
2.5.2.1. Complainants must outline their complaint, in writing, to Wine Lab at complaints@winelabamsterdam.com. Complainants should include as much detail as possible in their original complaint. Wine Lab reserves the right to request additional information and investigate the details of the complaint subject to the other sections of this document.
2.5.2.2. Complaints must be filed with Wine Lab within sixty (60) days of the matter that is the subject of the complaint or the complainant waives the right to file a complaint with Wine Lab.
2.5.2.3.Wine Lab will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 3 (three) business days of receipt.
2.5.2.4. Complainants must respond to reasonable requests for information from Wine Lab in regard to the complaint within three (3) business days or they may waive their right to a timely resolution of their complaint. Extended delays could waive the complainant’s right to resolution entirely.
2.5.2.5. Wine Lab will attempt to reach a suitable resolution of a complaint within twenty (20) business days of receipt of the complaint. Wine Lab reserves the right to extend this time period if necessary and will do so in writing, citing the reason why an extension is required. Acceptable reasons to extend the complaint resolution time period include but are not limited to:
2.5.2.5.1. The need to gather additional information regarding the complaint;
2.5.2.5.2. The need to involve third parties which may require additional time over which Wine Lab has no control;
2.5.2.5.3.Any other reasonable cause that may give rise to a need for additional time.
2.5.2.6. At or before the expiration of the complaint resolution period, Wine Lab will provide, in writing, a proposed resolution to the complaint. Potential resolutions include but are not limited to:
2.5.2.6.1. An explanation;
2.5.2.6.2. A formal apology; or
2.5.2.6.3. A specific action, such as a refund.
2.5.2.7. In the event that the proposed resolution is not suitable to the complainant, the complainant may proceed to the formal complaint procedure.
2.5.3. Formal Procedure: In the event that a resolution is not reached via in the informal procedure as outlined in § 2.5.2 of this document, a complainant may take the following steps:
2.5.3.1. Complainants must request a formal complaint form, in writing, from Wine Lab within sixty (60) days of the proposed resolution that resulted from the informal complaint procedure. If a complainant fails to make a timely request, the candidate waives the right to proceed via the formal complaint procedure.
2.5.3.2. Wine Lab agrees to provide the formal complaint form to the complainant within three (3) business days of the request.
2.5.3.3. Complainants must submit the completed complaint form within ten (10) business days of receipt of the complaint form. Complainants may request a reasonable extension of this time limit with a valid reason. Wine Lab reserves the right to accept or reject time extension requests.
2.5.3.4.The formal complaint form will request information about the complaint including, but not limited to, the following:
2.5.3.4.1. Name, Address, and Contact information;
2.5.3.4.2. Full details of the complaint including the cause of dissatisfaction with operations, actions, or behavior;
2.5.3.4.3. Any and all supporting evidence that may exist including, but not limited to, relevant documentation, dates, locations, and witnesses;
2.5.3.4.4. A specific action or response sought as a resolution.
2.5.3.5. Wine Lab will attach and consider all documentation obtained via the informal complaint procedure to the formal complaint.
2.5.3.6. Complainants must respond to reasonable requests for information from Wine Lab in regard to the complaint within three (3) business days or they may waive their right to a timely resolution of their complaint. Complainants may request a reasonable extension of this time limit with a valid reason. Wine Lab reserves the right to accept or reject time extension requests. Extended delays could waive the complainant’s right to resolution entirely.
2.5.3.7. Wine Lab will conduct a thorough investigation of the formal complaint, taking into consideration the informal complaint procedure, the documentation received via the formal procedure, the complainant’s desired outcome, and any other information relevant to the complaint in order to reach a suitable resolution.
2.5.3.8. Wine Lab reserves the right to hire a third party at its own expense, such as a neutral arbitrator or the like (hereinafter “arbitrator” or “arbitration”), in the event of a complex complaint, a highly adversarial complainant, or any other reason deemed necessary by Wine Lab. The complainant must cooperate with the arbitrator or the complainant waives the right to object to the results of the arbitration. Wine lab reserves the right to choose the arbitrator, location, and date of arbitration to ensure timely resolution; however, Wine Lab agrees to consider the complainants preferences if submitted in writing in a timely manner.
2.5.3.9. Wine Lab will attempt to reach a suitable resolution of a complaint within twenty-eight (28) business days of receipt of the complaint. Wine Lab reserves the right to extend this time period if necessary and will do so in writing, citing the reason why an extension is required. Acceptable reasons to extend the complaint resolution time period include but are not limited to:
2.5.3.9.1. The need to gather additional information regarding the complaint;
2.5.3.9.2. The need to involve third parties which may require additional time over which Wine Lab has no control;
2.5.3.9.3. Any other reasonable cause that may give rise to a need for additional time.
2.5.3.10. At or before the expiration of the complaint resolution period, Wine Lab will provide, in writing, a proposed resolution to the complaint. Potential resolutions include but are not limited to:
2.5.3.10.1. An explanation;
2.5.3.10.2. A formal apology; or
2.5.3.10.3. A specific action, such as a refund.
2.5.3.11. In the event that the proposed resolution is not suitable to the complainant, the complainant may proceed to contact WSET for further handling. Wine Lab agrees to supply the complainant and WSET with any documentation obtained by Wine Lab in connection with the formal complaint procedure (which includes all documentation obtained in the informal procedure) as long as the complainant requests the same, in writing, from Wine Lab within thirty (30) days of the date of the proposed resolution of the formal procedure.
3. Conflict of Interest
In Short: Wine Lab will eliminate or minimize any potential conflicts of interest that may arise. When that is not possible, Wine Lab will ensure that conflicts of interest are properly disclosed and managed
3.1. Conflict of Interest Defined: A conflict of interest exists where an individual has interests or loyalties that could adversely influence their judgment, objectivity, or loyalty to WSET when conducting activities associated with WSET qualifications.
3.2. Scope: This policy applies to all WSET staff and any individual acting on behalf of WSET. This includes Wine Lab and any authorized representative of Wine Lab.
3.3. Potential conflicts of interest: Potential conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to:
3.3.1. The undertaking of any assessment of candidates by an individual who has a personal interest in the result of the assessment for any or all individuals concerned;
3.3.2. The undertaking of any moderation of assessment of candidates by an individual who has a personal interest in the result of the assessment for any or all individuals concerned;
3.3.3. The tutoring of candidates by an individual involved in the assessment process;
3.3.4. The undertaking of a WSET qualification by any individual employed by an APP;
3.3.5. The undertaking of a WSET qualification by any individual employed by WSET;
3.3.6. The invigilation of a WSET assessment by any individual involved in the delivery of training leading to the assessment;
3.3.7. The coaching of candidates by any individual involved in the assessment of candidate scripts or the authoring of exam questions;
3.3.8. The employment by an APP of individuals engaged in the delivery of taught programmes or in the role of Internal Assessor in another APP;
3.3.9. The investigation of a non-compliance incident by someone who is unable to act impartially.
3.4. Non-issue Conflicts of Interest: In some instances, a conflict of interest can be managed and is therefore acceptable. Evaluation of whether a conflict of interest is a non-issue will be performed by Wine Lab. Wine Lab will consult with WSET during that evaluation when appropriate. Examples of non-issue conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to:
3.4.1. The marking of WSET Level 3 tasting assessments by Internal Assessors;
3.4.2. An employee of WSET or one of its APP enrolling in a WSET course to obtain a qualification provided WSET has been notified accordingly.
3.5. Management of Conflicts of Interest: All potential conflicts of interest will be reported to WSET.
3.6. Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest: Wine Lab will work to identify any potential conflicts of interest and will disclose the same to the appropriate parties.
4. Data Protection
In Short: Wine Lab collects personal information provided by you or automatically collected for legitimate business interests, the fulfillment of our contract with you, compliance with our legal obligations, and/or your consent. We only share information to specific categories of third parties with your consent, to comply with laws, to provide you with products or services, or to fulfill business obligations. Your information is stored electronically via cookies and is kept as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined above unless otherwise required by law. Wine Lab uses organizational and technical security measures to protect your information. We do not knowingly collect information from minors.
4.2. Privacy Notice: At Wine Lab Amsterdam, accessible from www.winelabamsterdam.com, one of our main priorities is the privacy of our visitors. This Privacy Policy document contains types of information that is collected and recorded by Wine Lab Amsterdam and how we use it. If you have additional questions or require more information about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact us. This Privacy Policy applies only to our online activities and is valid for visitors to our website with regards to the information that was shared with and/or collected by Wine Lab Amsterdam pursuant to the terms of this policy. This policy is not applicable to any information collected offline or via channels other than this website. In this privacy notice, we seek to explain to you in the clearest way possible what information we collect, how we use it, and what rights you have in relation to it. We hope you take some time to read through it carefully, as it is important. If there are any terms in this privacy notice that you do not agree with, please discontinue use of our services immediately. Our Privacy Policy was created with the help of the Online Generator of Privacy Policy and Termly.io.
4.2. Consent: By using our website, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its terms. When you visit our website at www.winelabamsterdam.com (hereinafter “website”), use our mobile application (hereinafter “app”), and more generally, use any of our services, we appreciate that you are trusting us with your personal information. We take your privacy very seriously.
4.3. Information We Collect: The personal information that you are asked to provide, and the reasons why you are asked to provide it, will be made clear to you at the point we ask you to provide your personal information. The personal information we collect depends on the context of your interactions with Wine Lab, the choices you make, and the products and features you use. The personal information we collect may include the following:
4.3.1. Personal Information Provided By You: We collect names, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, mailing addresses, contact preferences, contact or authentication data, billing addresses, debit/credit card numbers, reasonable adjustments, and other similar information.
4.3.2. Payment Data: We may collect data necessary to process your payment if you make purchases, such as your payment instrument number (such as a credit card number), and the security code associated with your payment instrument. All payment data is stored by Stripe. You may find their privacy notice link(s) here: https://stripe.com/privacy.
4.4. How We Use Your Information: We use the information we collect for a variety of business purposes, including to:
4.4.1. Provide, operate, and maintain our website;
4.4.2. Improve, personalize, and expand our website;
4.4.3. Understand and analyze how you use our website;
4.4.4. Develop new products, services, features, and functionality;
4.4.5. Communicate with you, either directly or through one of our partners, including for customer service, to provide you with updates and other information relating to the website, and for marketing and promotional purposes including via e-mail;
4.4.6. Enforce our terms, conditions, and policies for business purposes, to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, or in connection with our contract;
4.4.7. Respond to legal requests or prevent harm;
4.4.8. Facilitate delivery of services to the user;
4.4.9. Find and prevent fraud;
4.4.10. Perform any other legitimate business purpose including, but not limited to, data analysis, identifying usage trends, monitoring services, and determining effectiveness of promotional campaigns.
4.5. Information Automatically Collected: Wine Lab Amsterdam follows a standard procedure of using log files. These files log visitors when they visit websites. All hosting companies do this as part of hosting services’ analytics. The information collected by log files may include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date and time stamp, referring/exit pages, operating system, language preferences, device name, country, location, and possibly the number of clicks. These are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable. The purpose of the information is for analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking users’ movement on the website, security, and gathering demographic information.
4.6. Cookies and Web Beacons: Like any other website, Wine Lab Amsterdam uses ‘cookies’. These cookies are used to store information including visitors’ preferences, and the pages on the website that the visitor accessed or visited. The information is used to optimize the users’ experience by customizing our web page content based on visitors’ browser type and/or other information. For more general information on cookies, please read “What Are Cookies” from Cookie Consent. Information collected by cookies may include the following:
4.6.1. Information Automatically Collected: Wine Lab Amsterdam follows a standard procedure of using log files. These files log visitors when they visit websites. All hosting companies do this as part of hosting services’ analytics. The information collected by log files may include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date and time stamp, referring/exit pages, operating system, language preferences, device name, country, location, and possibly the number of clicks. These are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable. The purpose of the information is for analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking users’ movement on the website, security, and gathering demographic information.
4.6.2. Cookies and Web Beacons: Like any other website, Wine Lab Amsterdam uses ‘cookies’. These cookies are used to store information including visitors’ preferences, and the pages on the website that the visitor accessed or visited. The information is used to optimize the users’ experience by customizing our web page content based on visitors’ browser type and/or other information. For more general information on cookies, please read “What Are Cookies” from Cookie Consent. Information collected by cookies may include the following:
4.7. Advertising Partners Privacy Policies: You may consult this list to find the Privacy Policy for each of the advertising partners of Wine Lab Amsterdam. Third-party ad servers or ad networks use technologies like cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons that are used in their respective advertisements and links that appear on Wine Lab Amsterdam, which are sent directly to users’ browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. These technologies are used to measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and/or to personalize the advertising content that you see on websites that you visit. Note that Wine Lab Amsterdam has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
4.8. Third Party Privacy Policies: Wine Lab Amsterdam’s Privacy Policy does not apply to other advertisers or websites. Thus, we are advising you to consult the respective Privacy Policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information. It may include their practices and instructions about how to opt-out of certain options. You can choose to disable cookies through your individual browser options. To know more detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers, it can be found at the browsers’ respective websites.
4.8.1. Sharing Your Information with Third Parties: We may process or share your data that we hold based on the following legal basis:
4.8.1.1. Consent: We may process your data if you have given us specific consent to use your personal information for a specific purpose.
4.8.1.2. Performance of a Contract: Where we have entered into a contract with you, we may process your personal information to fulfill the terms of our contract.
4.8.1.3. Legal Obligations: We may disclose your information where we are legally required to do so in order to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process, such as in response to a court order or subpoena.
4.8.1.4. Vital Interests: We may disclose your information where we believe it necessary to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding potential violations of our policies, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person and illegal activities, or as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.
4.8.2. Who Your Information May Be Shared With: We only share and disclose your information to certain categories of third parties and in specific instances such as payment processing. If we have processed your data based on your consent and you wish you revoke your consent, please contact us at support@winelabamsterdam.com. The categories of third-party providers may include:
4.8.2.1. Ad Networks
4.8.2.2. Data Analytics Services
4.8.2.3. Data Storage and Service Providers
4.8.2.4. Communication and Collaboration Tools
4.8.2.5. Finance and Accounting Tools
4.8.2.6. Payment Processors
4.8.2.7. Sales and Marketing Tools
4.8.2.8. Testing Tools
4.8.2.9. Website Hosting Service Providers
4.8.2.10. WSET: Any and all data shared with WSET will be handled pursuant to WSET’s own privacy policy.
4.9. Length of Storage of Personal Information: Wine Lab will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting, or other legal requirements). No purpose in this notice will require Wine Lab to keep your personal information for longer than six (6) months. When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
4.10. How We Keep Your Information Safe: We have implemented appropriate technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security, and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our services is at your own risk. You should only access the services within a secure environment.
4.11. GDPR Data Protection Rights: We would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights.
4.11.1. Every user is entitled to the following:
4.11.1.1. The right to access – You have the right to request copies of your personal data. We may charge you a small fee for this service.
4.11.1.2. The right to rectification – You have the right to request that we correct any information you believe is inaccurate. You also have the right to request that we complete the information you believe is incomplete.
4.11.1.3. The right to erasure – You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, under certain conditions.
4.11.1.4.The right to restrict processing – You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
4.11.1.5. The right to object to processing – You have the right to object to our processing of your personal data, under certain conditions.
4.11.1.6. The right to data portability – You have the right to request that we transfer the data that we have collected to another organization, or directly to you, under certain conditions.
4.11.2. If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Please note however that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal, nor will it affect the process of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent.
4.11.3. If you are a resident in the EEA or UK and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection supervisory authority. You can find their contact details here: https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/article29/items/612080
4.12. Personal Information of Minors: Another part of our priority is adding protection for children while using the internet. We encourage parents and guardians to observe, participate in, and/or monitor and guide their online activity. Wine Lab Amsterdam does not knowingly collect any Personal Identifiable Information from children under the age of 18. If you think that your child provided this kind of information on our website, we strongly encourage you to contact us immediately and we will do our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.
4.13. Updates to this Notice: We may update this notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated “Revised” date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.
4.14. Contact about Privacy Policy: If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email Wine Lab at privacy@winelabamsterdam.com or by post to:
Wine Lab
Bickerswerf 19
1013KV Amsterdam, Netherlands
5. Diversity and Equality
5.1. Wine Lab welcomes all eligible potential students and does not tolerate discrimination on the basis of disability, age (subject to legal minimum age requirements), marriage and civil partnership, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.
6. Reasonable Adjustments
In Short: Wine Lab seeks to evaluate students in a fair and equitable manner so reasonable adjustments will be provided to students in need of the same provided that students provide advance notice of the need for adjustments and that the adjustments do not provide an unfair advantage or disadvantage to any student.
6.1. In General: Wine Lab seeks to assess all candidates in a manner that puts them at no advantage or disadvantage to other students.
6.2. Reasonable Adjustments Defined: A reasonable adjustment is any action that helps to reduce the effect of a disability or difficulty that places the candidate at a substantial disadvantage in an assessment situation.
6.3. Advance Notice Required: Potential students must inform Wine Lab of the need for a reasonable adjustment two (2) weeks prior to the start of the course and six (6) weeks prior to the exam. If the need for a reasonable adjustment arises after a student is already registered for a course, then the student must inform Wine Lab of the need for the reasonable adjustment as soon as reasonably possible after the need arises. Wine Lab reserves the right to request supporting evidence for the need for a reasonable adjustment if required by WSET.
6.4. Unfair Advantage: Reasonable adjustments must not give unfair advantage over candidates for whom reasonable adjustments are not being made or affect the reliability and validity of the assessment outcomes as detailed in the applicable Specification.
6.5. Other Terms: The specific arrangements for reasonable adjustments will be arranged on a case-by-case basis and may vary. The request for or use of reasonable adjustments will not be considered during the assessment of a candidate’s work. Wine Lab will keep records of all reasonable adjustment applications as required by WSET. Reasonable adjustments include, but are not limited to:
6.5.1. Changing standard assessment arrangements, for example allowing candidates extra time to complete the assessment activity;
6.5.2. Adapting assessment materials, such as providing materials in large text format;
6.5.3. Providing access facilitators during assessment, such as a sign language interpreter or reader;
6.5.4. Re-organising the assessment room, such as removal of visual stimuli for an autistic candidate.
7. Special Consideration
In Short: If a candidate is disadvantaged by a personal adverse circumstance, that student may apply for special consideration from WSET.
7.1. Special Consideration Defined: Special consideration is an action taken after an assessment to allow candidates who have been disadvantaged by temporary illness, injury, indisposition or adverse circumstances at the time of the assessment to demonstrate attainment.
7.2. Special consideration will not give unfair advantage over candidates for whom special consideration is not being applied or alter the assessment demands of the qualification as detailed in the applicable Specification.
7.3. A candidate may be eligible for special consideration if:
7.3.1. Performance in an assessment is affected by circumstances beyond the control of the candidate. This may include recent personal illness, accident, bereavement or exam room conditions;
7.3.2. Alternative assessment arrangements which were agreed in advance of the assessment proved inappropriate or inadequate;
7.3.3. The application of special consideration would not mislead the user of the certificate as to the candidate’s attainment.
7.4. Wine Lab will retain records of all applications for special consideration as required by WSET.
7.5. Notice Required: All applications for special consideration must be approved by WSET within a specific time frame. Accordingly, students requesting special consideration must inform Wine Lab, in writing, of their request four (4) working days subsequent to the assessment date for which special consideration is being sought. Students must also provide independent supporting documentation within the allotted time.
8. Malpractice and Maladministration
In Short: In order to maintain the integrity of the credentials earned through Wine Lab, Wine Lab will investigate and resolve claims of maladministration and malpractice.ine Lab seeks to evaluate students in a fair and equitable manner so reasonable adjustments will be provided to students in need of the same provided that students provide advance notice of the need for adjustments and that the adjustments do not provide an unfair advantage or disadvantage to any student.
8.1. The aim of this policy is to protect the interests of WSET students and safeguard the integrity of WSET qualifications by ensuring compliance with WSET Policies and Procedures. It provides a framework for the identification, reporting and management of any potential malpractice or maladministration and for the application of sanctions. Non-compliance with WSET Policies and Procedures generally falls into one of two categories:
8.1.1. Maladministration, where non-compliance is accidental rather than intentional; and
8.1.2. Malpractice where non-compliance is intentional or the result of negligence.
8.2. Maladministration and Malpractice include, but are not limited to:
8.2.1. Disruptive behavior during class or during an examination;
8.2.2. Cheating, plagiarizing, impersonation or forgery;
8.2.3. Fraudulent claim for certificates, fraudulent use of certificates, or reproduction or forgery of certificates;
8.2.4. Submission of false or inaccurate information to gain a qualification;
8.2.5. Unauthorized reading, amendment, copying, or distribution of exams;
8.2.6. Violation of these terms and conditions; or
8.2.7. Any action likely to lead to an adverse result.
8.3. Investigations and Sanctions: Wine Lab takes accusations of Maladministration and Malpractice seriously. If there is an indication that Maladministration or Malpractice has occurred, Wine Lab reserves the right to investigate the same and involve WSET in its investigation. Wine Lab will evaluate each incident on a case-by-case basis. In some cases, sanctions may be deemed appropriate. Sanctions include, but are not limited to:
8.3.1. Written Warning: The student is issued with a written warning that if the offence is repeated within a set period of time then further specified sanctions will be applied.
8.3.2. Exam Result Declared Null and Void: A student’s exam result is disallowed. This may include invalidation and recall of a certificate already issued. No refunds will be issued in this case. If a student is permitted to re-sit the exam, the costs will be incurred by the student.
8.3.3. Disqualification from a Qualification: The student is disqualified from participating in the concerned qualification with immediate effect and further excluded from participating in any further WSET qualifications for a period of 12 months. This includes access to WSET materials.
8.3.4. Student Disqualification: The learner is disqualified from participating in any courses or assessments leading to WSET qualifications. This includes access to WSET materials.
8.3.5. Disqualification from use of WSET certified logos and postnominals: Actions bringing WSET into disrepute may result in the student or graduate being barred from use of WSET postnominals and WSET certified logos.
9. Cancellations and Refunds
In Short: Wine Lab does not offer refunds once a course is booked except in extreme circumstances; however, course registrations are transferable. In the event that a course is under-booked, Wine Lab may cancel the course and will issue a full refund.
9.1. Payment and Confirmation: A student’s course booking is not reserved until complete payment is made. WIne Lab will inform students in writing of receipt of payment. Payment may be made by any of the methods outlined on the payment page of the Wine Lab website.
9.2. Refunds and Transferability: No refunds will be given fourteen (14) days after a student registers for a course with Wine Lab. This cooling-off period expires at the beginning of the first lesson if the student participates in that lesson. Registration is transferable so in the event a student cannot participate in a course that the student has already completed payment for, that student is permitted to sell the registered place to another student. The replacement student must provide all information that the original student supplied when registering for the course. The replacement student is subject to these terms and conditions. Course purchases are only transferable for courses offered at Wine Lab.
9.3. Minimum Participants: Wine Lab requires a minimum of four (4) students enrolled for any course to proceed. In the event that the minimum number of students is not reached, Wine Lab will issue a full refund to any registered students.
10. Miscellaneous
10.1 Free Re-sit: Students registered for courses with Wine Lab who do not pass their exam may re-sit one time at the expense of Wine Lab if certain conditions are met. To qualify for a free re-sit, students must:
10.1.1 Attend all the class sessions and stay the entire time. In a virtual course, this means attending all sessions by Zoom and keeping the camera on during the entire session. For each level, the hours of in-class learning are:
10.1.1.1 WSET Level 1 Award in Wines: 6 hours of guided learning;
10.1.1.2 WSET Level 2 Award in Wines: 21 hours of guided learning; and
10.1.1.3 WSET Level 3 Award in Wines: 33 hours of guided learning.
10.1.2 Submit one feedback exam. Feedback exams will be given in class during the final class session.
10.2 Tasting Samples in Virtual Classes: Wine Lab employs a third party company to bottle and ship tasting samples for virtual classes to ensure that the quality and integrity of the samples is maintained. This also ensures that the instructor and students are all tasting the same wines at home. Once a student pays the course fee, Wine Lab will order the samples immediately; however, Wine Lab has little control over the shipping of these samples. If a student registers within two (2) weeks of the start date of a course, then Wine Lab cannot guarantee that the student will receive the samples on time for the start of the course. Wine Lab will make reasonable efforts to ensure students receive their samples as promptly as possible.
10.3 Publicity: Wine Lab may use a student or corporate client’s name, logo, and other trademarks in Wine Lab’s customer list, press releases, blog posts, advertisements, and website (and all use thereof and goodwill arising therefrom shall inure to the sole and exclusive benefit of student or corporate client). Otherwise, neither Party may use the name, logo, or other trademarks of the other Party for any purpose without the other Party’s prior written approval.
11. Copyright Notice
In Short: Except for material copyrighted by WSET, all content contained on this website was developed by or for Wine Lab Amsterdam and is subject to copyright protection with all rights reserved
11.1 WSET ownership: Any materials available on the Wine Lab website that are provided by WSET are subject to WSET ownership and copyright. Any WSET materials available on the Wine Lab website are available with explicit permission from WSET. More information about this is available on the WSET Global website.
11.2 Website Ownership: The website was developed by A Creative Life Solution in 2021 for Wine Lab and the content and design are owned by Wine Lab. The site is the proprietary property of Wine Lab and all source code, databases, functionality, software, website designs, audio, video, text, photographs, and graphics on the site including trademarks, service marks, and logos are owned or controlled by or licensed to Wine Lab.
11.3. Content Ownership: All other content on the Wine Lab website including, but not limited to, blog posts, quizzes, map exercises, written content, and images were developed by Wine Lab and are the proprietary property of Wine Lab. Unless expressly provided in writing, users are prohibited from copying, reproducing, modifying, distributing, displaying, performing, or transmitting any of the contents of the website for any purposes. Nothing otherwise stated or implied confers a license to do so.
11.4 Personal Use: Users may use the the services and contents contained in the website for individual, non-commercial or informational purposes only. Any other use, including for any commercial purpose, is strictly prohibited without express written consent.
