ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS OF USE
If you pay your memberhsip fees and/or use the member services, you're accepting these terms of use.

CHANGES TO TERMS OF USE
We can change the terms when we want, but we'll do our best to let you know when that happens. You'd be best served by checking back occasionally on the Tea Geek website to check the current version of the Terms of Use.

PRIVACY
We have a simple privacy policy: We won't share any of your information with anyone outside of Tea Geek without your permission. We assume you've given permission if you authorize a payment or similar transaction and we need to contact financial institutions in order to make that happen.

TEA LIBRARY SERVICE
The Tea Library Service (TLS) is available to business members as part of membership. It allows you to check out tea-related resources such as books, monographs, scientific reports, etc., much as you might from a public library. Below are several aspects about how it works:

Shipping: When you select a resource, assuming it is available, we will ship it to you via the US Postal Service at our expense as soon as possible-usually by the next day. When it is due, or you are finished with it, you will return it to us, at your expense, via whatever carrier you prefer. The date of return will be counted based on the postmark/ship date/pickup date recorded by USPS, FedEx, UPS, or whatever carrier you've chosen.

Due Date & Late Fees: Some of the Tea Library resources are difficult to come by, so to make them reasonably available to all the members, we have a due date of 5 weeks (35 days) after the date the resource is shipped to you. If the resource hasn't been shipped back by that date, you will be assessed a late fee of $0.15 per day until the resource is returned, or the late fees add up to the replacement cost of the resource. Late fees and/or replacement fee is due immediately and still must be paid even if you cancel your membership.

Replacement: Each resource will have a replacement cost associated with it, based on our assessment of ease of replacing, actual cost in acquiring the resource, and other factors. This replacement cost, in US Federal Reserve dollars, is represented by the final four digits of the item's Resource Number.

Frequency: There is no limit to the number of resources you may check out in a given year. We currently restrict members to one resource at a time. However, we will consider exceptions on a case-by-case. Contact us at library@teageek.net with your proposal if you would like an exception for some reason.

MEMBERSHIP FEES
Upon approving a new business membership, Tea Geek issues a membership card with the expiration date of the membership. We will do our best to remind you when that date is approaching so that you can renew. Failure to renew your membership, whether or not you received a reminder, will result in an immediate end to member priveledges, including access to the Tea Geek wiki, and the Tea Library. Upon the expiration of your membership, all Tea Library resources must be returned within 7 days or be charged the replacement fee, and outstanding late and replacement fees are immediately due.

CANCELLATION
You may cancel your membership to Tea Geek at anytime, and cancellation will be effective immediately. WE DO NOT PROVIDE REFUNDS OR CREDITS FOR ANY PARTIAL-YEAR MEMBERSHIP PERIODS OR UNUSED RESOURCES. To cancel, email membership@teageek.net with your desire to cancel-you will receive an acknowledgement by return email and effective date of the cancellation.

Upon cancellation, you are given seven days to return any outstanding Tea Library materials. Failure to return such rentals will result in your Payment Method being billed for such items, as mentioned above in "Membership Fees". We reserve the right to terminate your account for any or no reason.

DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS ON LIABILITY
We do our best. Resources are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. As with life in general, nothing is perfect or guaranteed. As such, Tea Geek (and its owners, employees, contractors, or interns) can't be held responsible for anything, including: defects in the resources; erroneous information (or omissions of information) in resources or on the Tea Geek website; any failures, mis-shipments, delays, or interruptions in the shipment of resources; interruption of service on the Tea Geek website; emails gone missing or caught in spam filters; losses or damages caused by using information obtained through Tea Geek; or problems with links to other websites or the information on them.

INTELECTUAL PROPERTY
Although intellectual property is a very tricky thing, a few basics should cover most situations:

1. We're Tea Geek and you're a member...and that's the difference. You can claim to be a Tea Geek member, but don't claim to represent Tea Geek or use the Tea Geek name for what you do on your own time. It's our trademark.
2. Cite your sources. If you use information from the Tea Geek wiki or elsewhere on the Tea Geek website, that's the property of Tea Geek, so please cite it as such. It's our copyright.
3. The resources in the Tea Library belong to Tea Geek, but the copyrights belong to their respective copyright holders. Cite them as sources when using their information.

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION
By using the Tea Geek service, you consent to receiving electronic communications from Tea Geek (usually in the form of emails). These communications will include notices about your account (e.g., shipping and receiving e-mails and other transactional information) and information related to our service. These communications are part of your relationship with Tea Geek and you receive them as part of the Tea Geek membership. You agree that any notice, agreements, disclosure or other communications that we send to you electronically will satisfy any legal communication requirements, including that such communications be in writing.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
If you need assistance or have questions about your membership account, you may reach Tea Geek customer service at any time by emailing teageek@teageek.net .

YOUR CONDUCT ON TEAGEEK'S WEBSITE
This is basically common sense. Be respectful. Don't upload porn, viruses, or other nasty stuff. Obey applicable laws. Don't hack us. Don't impersonate other people, whether they're members or not.
 
Also, your membership fees help support additional research and expansion of the tea library. As such, it is your responsibility to keep your login, password, and other account information private. Do not use your account to give other non-members access to Tea Geek member areas, information, or resources. Instead, encourage them to become members as well.

DISPUTES AND GOVERNING LAW
Tea Geek is based in Seattle, WA and the laws of the City of Seattle and the State of Washington will be the governing law for Tea Geek. In the case of a dispute, however, you agree to seek mediation with a mutually acceptable third party before taking legal action. And, if legal action results in the invalidation of any part of this agreement, the rest of it will hold in full force.

There. That wasn't so bad, was it?