Last Modified: June 5, 2025
These Terms of Sale and License (the “Terms”) are entered into by and between you and National Restaurant Association Solutions, LLC ("Company", "we" or "us"), the operator of the ServSafe® and ServSuccess® training programs, products and professional certifications, owner of American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute’s training programs and products (“AHLEI Products”) and exclusive licensee of related trademarks and professional certifications, and seller of Foundations of Restaurant Management and Culinary Arts and ManageFirst textbooks and related products owned by The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The following terms and conditions, together with any documents they expressly incorporate by reference (collectively, these "Terms "), govern the purchase, sale, and licensing of our products and services. Please note that when a product is licensed to you, it is not sold to you and is subject to the License Terms noted below.
General Terms
Application and Acceptance of Terms
These General Terms apply to any orders for products or services from us. If your order is for physical goods (as described below), the Terms of Sale for Physical Goods below also apply. If your order is for the license of a digital good, the License Terms noted below also apply.
By placing an order for products or services from us, you agree to be bound by and accept these Terms. These Terms include a Class Action Waiver. If you do not agree to these Terms, you should not obtain products or services from us. You affirm that if you place an order on behalf of an organization or company, you have the legal authority to bind any such organization or company to these Terms.
These Terms are subject to change by us without prior written notice at any time, in our sole discretion. The latest version of the Terms will be posted on this website, and you should review these Terms prior to purchasing any product or service from us. These Terms are an integral part of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy that apply generally to the use of our website, which you should carefully review before placing an order for goods or services.
Prior Agreements or Other Terms
These Terms, along with any order confirmation, compromise the entire agreement between you and us, and supersede or override any other agreements between us (whether oral or in writing). These Terms also supersede any general terms and conditions that you have submitted to use as part of a purchase order or otherwise (“Buyer Terms”), as we expressly reject such Buyer Terms. If we choose to fulfill your order, that does not constitute any acceptance of any Buyer Terms or a modification or amendment of our Terms.
Order Acceptance
You agree that your order is an offer to buy, under these Terms, all products and services listed in your order. All orders must be accepted by us, or we will not be obligated to sell the products or services to you. We may choose not to accept orders at our sole discretion, even after we send you a confirmation email with your order number and details of the items you have ordered, and we reserve the right at any time after receipt of your order to accept, decline, or limit your order for any reason.
We make every effort to maintain the availability of our website. However, should we experience technical difficulties, we are not responsible for orders that are not processed or accepted.
Prices, Taxes, and Payment Terms
All prices, discounts, and promotions posted on our websites are subject to change without notice. The price charged for a product or service will be the price in effect at the time the order is placed and will be set out in your order confirmation email. Price increases will only apply to orders placed after such changes. Posted prices do not include taxes or charges for shipping and handling. All such taxes and charges will be added to your merchandise total and will be itemized in your shopping cart and your order confirmation email. We strive to display accurate price information, however, we may, on occasion, make inadvertent typographical errors, inaccuracies, or omissions related to pricing and availability, and as such, we do not represent or warrant that any pricing information is accurate, complete, reliable, current or error-free. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions at any time and to cancel any orders arising from such occurrences. We attempt to be as accurate as possible and to eliminate errors in relation to our Products; however, we do not represent or warrant that any Product descriptions or pricing information are accurate, complete, reliable, current or error-free.
Unless we otherwise agree in writing, payment must be received by us prior to our accepting an order. We accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diner, and Discover credit cards for all purchases, and your credit card will be billed at the time of order. If any credit card information you provide to us is inaccurate, it may delay your order. For certain customers, we may agree to receive payments via check.
By using a credit card for purchase, you represent and warrant that the credit card information you supply to us is true, correct and complete, that you are duly authorized to use such credit card for the purchase, that your credit card company will honor the charges you incur, and that you will pay charges incurred by you at the posted prices, including any shipping and handling charges and applicable taxes.
If you save any payment or shipping information on our website, you are responsible for ensuring that your account information (including your contact and shipping information) is kept current. We will have no responsibility or liability for inaccurate information, or for information that later becomes outdated, and we have no obligation to make efforts to determine your correct contact or shipping information.
Certain Discounts for AHLEI Products
Members of the American Hotel & Lodging Association are required to provide their membership number to receive member pricing for AHLEI Products and licenses to AHLEI Products. If you do not know your member number or would like to become a member, please email the American Hotel & Lodging Association membership department at membership@ahla.com or call or 1-202-289-3100. Member pricing is provided upon verification of member status.
You may not combine the discounts described in this Section with any other discounts or promotions we may offer.
Third Party Payment Processors
In certain circumstances, we may use a third-party payment processor (“Third-Party Payment Processor”) to process any payments you make to us. The processing of payments will be subject to the terms, conditions, and privacy policies of the Third-Party Payment Processor in addition to these Terms. We do not endorse, verify or monitor the services / products offered by such Third-Party Payment Processors and the contents displayed on the websites of such Third-Party Payment Processors. We do not provide any representations, warranties or undertaking any contractual covenants on the quality of service provided by any Third-Party Payment Provider to you. You authorize us, through the Third-Party Payment Processor, to charge your chosen payment provider (for example, a credit or debit card you provide) (your “Payment Method”). You agree to make payment using that selected Payment Method. We reserve the right to correct any errors or mistakes that the Third-Party Payment Processor makes even if it has already requested or received payment.
Changes in Products
We are constantly updating and revising our offerings of products and services, and we may discontinue products and services at any time without notice. To the extent that we provide information on availability of products or services, you should not rely on such information, and we will not be liable for any lack of availability of products or services that you may order from us.
International Customers
Customers outside the United States and Puerto Rico will be responsible for customs charges, brokerage fees, and duties when applicable. We accept street addresses only (no P.O. Box addresses).
Outside the United States and Canada, AHLEI’s educational courses and curricula are available only to institutions that have entered into a formal license arrangement with us. View participating countries.
We make no representation that the products and services available through our websites are appropriate or available for use in locations outside of the United States, and accessing them from territories where such products and services are illegal is prohibited. Those who choose to access our websites from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.
Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability
Our responsibility for defects relating to physical goods you purchase or material you license is limited to the procedures described below.
You understand that we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the internet or via USB will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to us for any reconstruction of any lost data. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES, OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA, OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF ANY PRODUCTS PROVIDED HEREUNDER OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE PRODUCTS PROVIDED HEREUNDER OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY CONTENT, OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO ANY PRODUCTS PROVIDED HEREUNDER.
ALL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR THE WARRANT OF NON-INFRINGEMENT. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, WE MAKE NO WARRANTY THAT THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES WILL BE EFFECTIVE, ACCURATE OR RELIABLE; OR THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS OR SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS. WE DO NOT ACCEPT LIABILITY BEYOND THE REMEDIES SET FORTH HEREIN, INCLUDING ANY LIABILITY FOR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES THAT ARE NOT AVAILABLE FOR USE OR FOR LOST OR CORRUPTED DATA OR SOFTWARE. IN NO EVENT SHALL WE OR OUR AFFILIATED COMPANIES, AGENTS, EMPLOYEES, OR OFFICERS (COLLECTIVELY, OUR “AFFILIATES”) HAVE ANY OBLIGATIONS OR LIABILITIES TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS OR USE, OR FOR INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), PRODUCT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER THEORY OR FORM OF ACTION, EVEN IF WE OR OUR AFFILIATES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY THEREOF, ARISING OUT OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SALE, DELIVERY, USE, REPAIR OR PERFORMANCE OF THE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. OUR SOLE AND ENTIRE MAXIMUM LIABILITY (AND THE LIABILITY OF ANY OF THE PROVIDERS OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES), FOR ANY REASON, AND YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER, SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE ACTUAL AMOUNT PAID BY YOU FOR THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES YOU ARE MAKING A CLAIM FOR. WE DO NOT GUARANTEE JOB PLACEMENT UPON ENROLLMENT, USE, OR COMPLETION OF ANY OF OUR COURSES OR EXAMS.
SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU TO THE EXTENT SUCH JURISDICTION’S LAW IS APPLICABLE TO YOUR PURCHASE OR LICENSE OF PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.
Force Majeure
In addition to any excuse provided by applicable law, we shall be excused from liability for non-delivery or delay in delivery of products and services arising from any event beyond our reasonable control, whether or not foreseeable by either party, including but not limited to, labor disturbance, war, fire, accident, adverse weather, inability to secure transportation, governmental act or regulation, and other causes or events beyond our reasonable control, whether or not similar to those which are enumerated above.
No Third-Party Beneficiaries
Unless we otherwise agree in writing, these Terms do not and are not intended to confer any rights or remedies upon any person other than you.
Notices to You
We may provide any notice to you under these Terms by (i) sending a message to the email address you provide or (ii) by posting to the Site. Notices sent by email will be effective when we send the email and notices we provide by posting will be effective upon posting. It is your responsibility to keep your email address current.
Governing Law, Dispute Resolution, Venue, and Statute of Limitations
All matters relating to these Terms and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of Illinois without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State of Illinois or any other jurisdiction).
If you have any concern or dispute that our team is unable to resolve (“Claim”), you agree to first try to resolve the dispute informally and in good faith by contacting us and providing a written notice of your Claim (“Notice of Claim”) to legal@restaurant.org. The Notice of Claim must provide us with fair notice of your identity, a description of the nature and basis of your Claim, and the relief you are seeking, including the specific amount of any monetary relief you are seeking, and cannot be combined with a Notice of Claim for other individuals. Neither party shall initiate legal action until 30 days after the Notice of Claim is received.
Any legal suit, action or proceeding arising out of, or related to, these Terms of Sale shall be instituted exclusively in the federal courts of the United States located in Cook County, Illinois or the courts of the State of Illinois. You waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over you by such courts and to venue in such courts.
Any cause of action brought by you against us or our affiliated entities must be instituted within one year after the cause of action arises or be deemed forever waived and barred.
CLASS ACTION WAIVER
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, YOU AND COMPANY WILL ONLY BRING DISPUTES, CLAIMS, OR CONTROVERSIES BETWEEN YOU AND COMPANY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND SHALL NOT:
- SEEK TO BRING, JOIN, OR PARTICIPATE IN ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION, OR ANY OTHER ACTION WHERE ANOTHER INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY ACTS IN A REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY (LIKE PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTIONS); OR
- CONSOLIDATE OR COMBINE INDIVIDUAL PROCEEDINGS OR PERMIT ANOTHER TO DO SO WITHOUT THE EXPRESS CONSENT OF ALL PARTIES.
Restrictions on Use; Sanctions and Exports
Our products and services are marketed for and directed towards purchase by adults or with the consent of adults. Individuals under the age of 18 (‘Minors’) are not permitted to use our websites, products or services without the supervision of a parent or legal guardian. You may not use any of our products or services if you are the subject of U.S. sanctions or of sanctions consistent with U.S. law imposed by the governments of the country where you are using our products or services. You must comply with all U.S. or other export and re-export restrictions that may apply to goods, technology, and services.
Waiver and Severability
No waiver of by the Company of any term or condition set forth in these Terms shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or a waiver of any other term or condition, and any failure of the Company to assert a right or provision under these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
If any provision of these Terms is held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of the Terms will continue in full force and effect.
Terms of Sale for Physical Goods
The following terms, along with the General Terms above, apply only to the purchase and sale of physical goods, including textbooks, guides, DVDs, USB packages, exam sheets, and printed vouchers for exams. They do not apply to any online courses, exams, or other materials that are only accessible via online portal, which are governed by the License Terms.
Shipments; Delivery; Title and Risk of Loss
We will ship goods to you. You are responsible for all shipping and handling charges (the costs we incur in processing, handling, packing, shipping, and delivering) your order.
There may be times when the product you have ordered is out of stock, which will delay filling your order. We cannot guarantee any shipping or delivery date and will not be liable for any delays in shipments.
Title and risk of loss pass to you when we deliver goods to the carrier responsible for delivering them to you.
Returns and Refunds
Please review any goods you receive from us promptly upon delivery, as returns and refunds are subject to the deadlines noted below.
Except for products designated as non-returnable, including custom materials, we will accept a refund of goods within thirty (30) days of the date of invoice for all goods other than AHLEI Products. AHLEI Products may be returned for a refund within twelve (12) months of the date of invoice. In order to return a product for a refund, the following terms apply:
- Return Authorization Number. You must contact Customer Care, who will provide you with a Return Authorization Number specific to the material you wish to return. You may contact Customer Care Monday through Friday, from 8:00am - 6:30pm, Central Time, by calling the following number: 800-765-2122 ext. 6703. If your return is authorized, your Customer Care representative will provide you with a Return Authorization Number.
- Packing Requirements. You must include your Return Authorization Number on the outside of any box containing a return that you send to us. If your return consists of multiple boxes, you must include the Return Authorization Number on the outside of each box, label the boxes to indicate how many total boxes there are (e.g. “1 of 2,” and “2 of 2” for two boxes), if you are sending multiple boxes, and include a copy of the original invoice or packing slip in the first box of your return. If possible, please ship them in their original packing.
- Refunds. Any credit you receive for a return will not include the shipping and handling fees associated with your original purchase. Refunds (less the shipping and handling fees described herein, and any other fees noted herein) will issue to your original form of payment. If your original form of payment is a check, credit will apply to original order number, and credit will remain on account. Customer must email a request to accountsreceivable@restaurant.org requesting a refund. Customer must provide preferred mailing address to receive a refund check. Credit Card refunds will issue to original card account at time of purchase. Credit Card refunds may take up to 10 business days for some payment providers to complete a refund transaction. Refunds are processed within 4-6 weeks.
- Shipping Fees and Address. You are required to ship any goods you wish to return to the address specified by your Customer Care agent. If you return your goods to a different address, a $25.00 processing fee will be charged to your account, and your credit may be delayed.
- Traceable Shipments. You are responsible for shipping the goods back to us. For your own protection, please return product by traceable means (e.g., Federal Express, UPS, RPS, or Insured/Certified First Class Mail). Unfortunately, if we cannot trace a package sent to our warehouse, we will not be able to issue a credit.
- Condition of Returned Goods. Once we receive a return, if we determine that the goods have been used, damaged, are missing components, or are not in resalable condition, we will return them to you at your expense without issuing a credit or a refund. Please note that CDs and DVDs must be returned unopened.
- Call Tags. We will only issue a call tag if we commit a fulfillment error. No other call tags will be placed.
- Questions. For any questions regarding returns or refunds, please contact Customer Care.
No returns or refunds are offered for custom materials.
License Terms
The following terms, along with the General Terms above, apply to your use of online courses, exams, or other materials that are only accessible via online portal (“Licensed Products”), and do not apply to any physical goods, which are governed by the Terms of Sale for Physical Goods described above.
When you purchase a license to a Licensed Product, you are purchasing the license to use it for the time periods herein and subject to these License Terms. You are not purchasing ownership of, or a permanent right to access, the Licensed Product.
You may purchase a license to a Licensed Product for another individual, such as an employee, a student in a training class you are providing, or an exam taker for an exam you are proctoring, or you may purchase a license to a Licensed Product on your own behalf. In that case, the other individual will be the “User” of the Licensed Product, and once the other individual has access to the Licensed Product, you will no longer be able to access it, and you are responsible for the User’s compliance with these License Terms.
Restrictions on Use
A User of a Licensed Product must not (i) make all or any part of the Licensed Product available to anyone else, (ii) sell, resell, license, sublicense, distribute, make available, rent or lease any Licensed Product, or include any Licensed Product in a service bureau or outsourcing offering, (iii) use a Licensed Product to store or transmit infringing, libelous, or otherwise unlawful or tortious material, or to store or transmit material in violation of third-party privacy rights, (iv) use a Licensed Product to store or transmit malicious code, (v) interfere with or disrupt the integrity or performance of any Licensed Product or third-party data contained therein, (vi) attempt to gain unauthorized access to any Licensed Product or its related systems or networks, (vii) permit direct or indirect access to or use of any Licensed Product in a way that circumvents a contractual usage limit, or use any Licensed Product to access or use any of our intellectual property except as permitted under these Terms, (viii) modify, copy, or create derivative works based on any Licensed Product, any part, feature, function or user interface thereof, (i) copy Licensed Product, (ix) frame or mirror any part of any Licensed Product, (x) except to the extent permitted by applicable law, disassemble, reverse engineer, or decompile a Licensed Product or access it to (A) build a competitive product or service, (B) build a product or service using similar ideas, features, functions or graphics of the Licensed Product, or (C) copy any ideas, features, functions or graphics of the Licensed Product.
Expiration of Access to Licensed Products
All licenses to Licensed Products expire after one (1) year from the date of purchase. Licenses to ServSafe online courses expire 60 days after the course is first launched, unless otherwise noted on the product page. Licenses to AHLEI online courses and online materials and ServSuccess online courses and online materials expire 180 days after the date of launch. Foundations of Restaurant Management and Culinary Arts e-books expire after 365 days.
Earlier Termination of Access to Licensed Products
We reserve the right to terminate your or any User’s access to any Licensed Product prior to the expiration dates described above if we determine that you or such User has breached any of these License Terms. We will not be liable to you or to any third party for any such restriction, suspension, or termination of a User’s access to a Licensed Product.
No Refunds or Returns
No purchases of licenses to Licensed Products may be returned or refunded. If your license to a Licensed Product expires without the User having started or finished using such Licensed Product, you will not be refunded.
Ownership of Licensed Products
For the avoidance of doubt, we and our affiliates, licensors and content providers reserve all of their right, title and interest in and to the Licensed Product, including all of their related intellectual property rights. No rights are granted to you under this Agreement except as expressly set forth herein.
U.S. Government End Users
Each Licensed Product is a "commercial product" as that term is defined at 48 C.F.R. § 2.101, consisting of "commercial computer software" and "commercial computer software documentation" as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. § 12.212. Accordingly, if a User is an agency of the US Government or any contractor therefor, such User only receives those rights with respect to the Licensed Products as are granted to all other end users under license.