Terms

Organizations and School districts that are tax exempt must provide us with a tax-exempt certificate prior to placing their orders. Your certificate and status will be reviewed prior to being approved. If approved, then you will be classified as a tax-exempt organization and tax will no longer appear on your order ticket. Orders placed without you being classified as a tax-exempt organization will be treated as regular orders and tax will be assessed. Tax exempt accounts are set up on an individual basis through the email provided. If your organization is placing orders through multiple buyers or agents, each email address must be categorized as part of the tax-exempt organization. 

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Checking out as a guest does not allow us to add you to the tax-exempt list. You must create an account.

Free shipping applies to all items shipped through a method or carrier of our choosing to the 48 contiguous United States. Shipping to Alaska and Hawaii will incur shipping charges. You will be contacted by an ETC team member once your order has been entered into the system.

Data such as illustrations, drawings, calculations, weights, and measures stated in our offers, price lists and other documentation shall not be binding upon us.

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Verbal promises by or arrangements with our employees shall be binding upon us only and as far as confirmed by us in writing.

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Slight deviations in quality, color, finish, measures, and weights accepted in trade or technically unavoidable are reserved.

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Unless otherwise agreed in writing our prices are in U.S. Dollars for delivery ex warehouse, Houston, or Webster TX, exclusive of turnover tax, inclusive of packing.

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The types of packaging shall be determined by us. Packing is not returnable. Special packing requirements made by the purchaser shall be charged separately.

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The delivery time is calculated from the moment we have accepted the order and have received all details necessary for the execution of the order and any amount due by the purchaser in advance pursuant to the agreement.

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The availability of a product indicated in the description of the item is to be used only as a reference and is not binding upon us. During high volume periods (spring and summer) these times may be extended. 

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We shall have the right to deliver the goods in several lots.

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The ownership of the delivered goods shall not be passed to the purchaser until the purchaser has paid us all amounts due in respect of the agreement including our claim regarding shortcoming in the fulfillment of the agreement. If the ownership of the goods has not been passed to the purchaser, he is obliged to insure them against usual risks.

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If we have accepted liability for the defect or failure, we shall at our option either repair the goods or in exchange of the goods delivered supply new ones. Orthographic or editorial mistakes do not entitle you to request new or updated materials. Such mistakes and updates will become available in the new editions. You may report errata by using our editorial department submission form. ETC Montessori will not be responsible for providing customers with updated, or corrected materials for any editorial mistakes or changes.

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You may return new, unopened items within 14 days of delivery for a full refund minus 25% for restocking and shipping recovery fees. We'll also pay the return shipping costs if the return is a result of our error (you received an incorrect or defective item, etc.). If you are returning item(s) for any reason other than a defect or mistake on our part, you the buyer will be responsible for all shipping and insurance costs. 

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Returned items without first having contacted us to receive authorization (RMA #), will not be accepted. Consumable items such as PLP are non-returnable. Items that are printed, cut and ready for display on your shelves are non-returnable if they have been opened. Because we are dealing with intellectual property, items that are opened, not packaged correctly, we are not able to resell, or are being returned after the 14-day return period, will not be accepted for return.

Shipping costs are non-refundable.

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Our guarantee does not cover defects caused by acts of violence, careless treatment, use of maintenance, repair by third parties without our foreknowledge and approval or other circumstances outside our control. 

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You, the purchaser, are not allowed to suspend your payment because of guaranteed claims.

Fulfillment of our guarantee shall constitute our sole and complete indemnification. Any other claim for damages is excluded unless caused by gross negligence on our part. If we, despite this, are liable for damages our liability shall not exceed the invoice price because of the defective part of the delivery that caused the damage.

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The purchaser shall hold us, and our employees, secure from any claims by any third party towards damages for which we have excluded our liability in these general conditions in our relationship with the purchaser. 

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When returning items, the following steps must be taken to ensure proper credit:

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1. Include proof of purchase from ETC Montessori

2. State the reason for the return or exchange

3. Send all materials by an insured traceable carrier such as FedEx or UPS to:

ETC Montessori Returns
220 Ibis St.
Webster, TX 77598

You should expect to receive your refund within four weeks of giving your package to the return shipper, however, in many cases you will receive a refund more quickly. This period includes the transit time for us to receive your return from the shipper (5 to 10 business days), the time it takes us to process your return once we receive it (3 to 5 business days), and the time it takes your bank to process our refund request (5 to 10 business days).

If you need to return an item, please Contact Us with your order number and details about the product you would like to return. We will respond quickly with instructions for how to return items from your order.

Customers are asked to report all shortages within 5 days. Any claims following this period will not be honored and customers will be required to purchase any items claimed as missing.

ETC Montessori accepts a variety of payment methods. The following credit cards and payment methods are accepted:

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American Express, American Express Business, Visa, Visa Business, Mastercard, Discover, PayPal, PayPal Over Time, Amazon Pay, and Apple Pay

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Cancellation of Order Policy:

If you need to cancel an order, please e-mail us right away via our contact page, preferably within 1 hour of the time you place your order. If you cancel an order after it has shipped, you will be refunded the amount of your order less shipping when you return the order. If you have any questions regarding our cancellation policy, please e-mail us or call us at 877.409.2929

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Order Change Policy:

Once orders are placed, they cannot be changed through our website. If you need to add products, please place an additional order - please feel free to contact us with any questions.

Beginning in 2020 all orders are handled through our Houston TX facility and shipped from our Webster TX warehouse. We no longer ship items from Mountain View CA. All Nienhuis hardwood materials are imported directly from Nienhuis located in The Netherlands. 

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Therefore, to streamline and expedite your order among the different warehouses, the following steps must be adhered to:

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1. Purchase orders are only accepted from school districts, public and approved charter schools.

2. All purchase orders come with NET 30 days. If your district requires a different NET, please contact us to make arrangements.

3. We do not accept purchase orders from schools located outside the United States.

4. Customers who submit purchase orders will be billed for partial shipments of items that have been shipped and verifiably received.  

Wire Money Transfers (ACH/ETF) You may wire your money directly into our Bank Account. A bank fee of $25.00 will be assessed in addition to your invoice amount. Please contact us to receive the necessary information that you will require to provide your bank.

We can ship to any address in the world. Note that there are restrictions on some products, and some products cannot be shipped to international destinations. ETC Montessori maintains a list of approved vendors and agents. We normally will not ship to those countries where an agent represents us. You may find an agent by visiting our Where to Buy page. 

When you place an order, we will estimate shipping and delivery dates for you based on the availability of your items and the shipping options you choose. Depending on the shipping provider you choose, shipping date estimates may appear on the shipping quotes page.

Please also note that the shipping rates for many items we sell are weight-based. To reflect the policies of the shipping companies we use, all weights will be rounded up to the next full pound. Orders totaling over 150 lb. (68 Kg) may, at our discretion, ship by freight. If we ship by freight, there is the possibility of additional charges. In such an event we will contact you to receive permission before shipping.

THE CONTENT AND COMPANY INFORMATION FOUND ON ETC MONTESSORI SITES IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY WARRANTY CONCERNING THE INFORMATION, SERVICES, OR PRODUCTS OFFERED OR PROVIDED THROUGH OR IN CONNECTION WITH ETC MONTESSORI'S WEB SITES AND ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL ETC MONTESSORI OR ITS PREFERRED PARTNERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH, THE USE OF ETC'S WEB SITES OR WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE ETC'S WEB SITES, OR FOR ANY INFORMATION INCLUDING COMPANY INFORMATION), SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES OBTAINED THROUGH ETC MONTESSORI'S WEB SITES, OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE ETC MONTESSORI WEB SITES, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF ETC MONTESSORI OR ITS PREFERRED PARTNERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES.

It is the customer's responsibility to update any information that is used to place or ship an order. Orders placed online will be processed, billed to and shipped to the address provided on the latest order. Since our system is automated, this information is populated from the information you the customer has entered. Using an email address that is associated with a different client could result in orders being shipped to a different address. You will be responsible for any costs associated with address changes and delivery redirects.

You can contact ETC regarding their policies or those of their affiliate companies through one of our contact pages.