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Shipping & Return Policies
The mission of the Great Books Academy is to promote and further classical, liberal,
educational services. All of us at the Great Books Academy do our utmost to provide prompt, quality service to each of our customers and we
have been gratified with the overwhelmingly favorable response to and growth of our program. In order to assure our ability to continue our
service, we have found it necessary to develop practical and reasonable policies with respect to orders, returns, refunds, replacements and
other similar matters, which are stated below.
Shipping Time:
Please allow approximately 2-3 weeks for delivery. Backorders (of books currently out of stock) take longer as they are often due to publisher's decisions beyond our control.
Backorders, Out-of-Print Titles, Substitutions: The high demand for our products and services does result in some
items going into backorder (i.e. not immediately available, but ordered to ship out later) status. In addition, as with any book or
curriculum supplier, items sometimes go out of print or out of stock without notice to us and we must await resupply from the publisher. In
addition, we are subject to unannounced price changes from publishers. The Great Books Academy also periodically updates and enhances its
curriculum and literature books. In any of the foregoing or similar instances affecting an order received, the Great Books Academy will
offer the customer the option to substitute a replaced title and receive an invoice/credit for any difference OR to receive a refund for
the value paid for the original title. In order to assure title availability and prompt reordering, all orders are charged to the customer
at the time the customer places an order.
Book Returns: The Great Books Academy wants all of our customers to have
the opportunity to review their purchases and determine whether they wish to keep the books ordered. Our review of other suppliers
indicates that our return policy of thirty [30] days is both generous and reasonable. Accordingly, all returns must be postmarked or have
other proof of shipment no later than the thirtieth [30] calendar day following the date the item was delivered to the customer as
established by records of the common carrier - (usually United Parcel Service or the U.S. Postal Service). All returns must be in saleable
(new) condition. Returns of items in non-saleable condition will not be credited and will not be returned to the customer prior to
prepayment by the customer of the return shipping cost back to the customer. Any nonsaleable item left with the Angelicum Academy for more
than thirty [30] days will be deemed abandoned. The Great Books Academy expends labor and other costs in restocking and processing returns.
All returned items (or items ordered and then cancelled after our handling and taking them from the shelves for packing) are subject to a
fifteen per cent [15%] restocking fee, which is intended to approximate this cost. Because credit card companies charge exorbitant fees for
crediting a refund to a credit card, all refunds will be made in the form of a check issued to the original purchaser. Because these checks
are posted monthly, please allow up to one month for refund checks to post.
Refunds for Academy Enrollment Fees, Socratic
Discussion Tuition, and Lesson Plans: We hire and train staff based on enrollments and tuitions received and remain committed to
that staff for protracted terms. Therefore enrollment fees, Socratic Discussion tuition, and charges for Lesson Plans are non-refundable.
Therefore, please be certain that you wish to enroll with the Great Books Academy, or join a Socratic Discussion group, or purchase Lesson
Plans, before placing your order. Once your enrollment, tuition or lesson plan order is placed, at that time it is non-refundable.
Insurance and Proof of Delivery: All items are shipped freight on board (FOB) the Academy bookstore's dock (usually via
either United Parcel Service or the U.S. Postal Service) and shall be considered as delivered if so reflected in the records of the common
carrier. Because of limitations imposed by UPS and USPS, all claims for damaged items or items not received must be made within 30 days of
receipt. This means that the customer should consider purchasing shipping insurance as damage or loss during shipment is at the risk of the
customer. Insurance is available upon request by the customer at the time of the order or by separate e-mail or phone call at the time of
the order. The Customer will be billed for the actual insurance cost. Customer bears the risk of loss for items not insured. All items are
shipped using a tracking number or delivery confirmation number issued by the common carrier. Items are considered delivered if the records
of the common carrier reflect that the item was delivered as addressed. The customer is responsible for payment of all items so confirmed
as delivered. There really is no other way for us to protect ourselves against shipping loss, without insuring every shipment and thus not
giving our customers the option of paying for insurance or not - and most of our customers prefer to take the risk and not buy shipping
insurance. We want to continue to offer them that option, since it reduces their costs by about 5-10%.
Rush Orders, Time for Delivery
: Please allow approximately 2-3 weeks for delivery. Backorders (of books currently out of stock) take longer as they are often due to
publisher's decisions beyond our control. Please place your order well ahead of your projected start date. Customers may request Next-Day
or Two-Day Air shipment but requests for shipment by Next-Day or Two-Day Air are processed as are all other orders (i.e. on a first-in,
first-out basis). Once processed, such orders are then shipped via the manner requested by the customer. Acceptance of an order via
Next-Day or Two-Day Air does not necessarily mean that the customer will receive their order within one or two days of when the order is
placed. Rather, it refers to the shipping time once it leaves our dock. No refunds can be made for Next-Day or Two-Day air charges. If the
common carrier does not perform as directed, the customer must seek their refund or redress solely from the common carrier (and not from
us) for their failure to deliver as contracted. We will be happy to provide our customers with all relevant shipping information.
Shipping Costs: All posted shipping prices are for domestic (continental U.S.) shipments only. Foreign shipments or shipments
outside the Continental U.S. will be billed based on actual cost plus associated handling. Next-Day and Two-Day Air shipping charges will
be billed at actual charges. At the customer's request, we will be happy to estimate shipping and handling charges for shipments outside
the continental U.S., however we will not be held responsible for the accuracy of such estimates, and only handling and actual shipping
charges will be billed.
Errors or Mistakes in Orders: Because all institutions are run by humans, mistakes can and
will happen with orders from time-to-time. The true test of any fulfillment service is its response to mistakes that are made. Please be
assured that we will at all times act promptly and in good faith to address all customer concerns and in the application of the foregoing
policies. We regret their length and detail but that is life in the modern world where we must deal with numerous folks we do not yet know,
on a daily basis. Thank you.
To go directly to the Great Books Store books, click here.
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