Frequently Asked Questions

Customer Service is available by telephone at (860) 379-5470 or toll free at (800) 282-2839 and by email Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You may also send any inquiry to us by fax or regular mail using the information provided below. We look forward to hearing from you!

ACTEX Publications
Mad River Books
107 Groppo Drive, Suite A
P.O. Box 975
Winsted, CT 06098
(860) 379-5470 Phone
(800) 282-2839 Toll Free
(860) 738-3152 Fax
Email Us

ACTEX Publications and Mad River Books offer 5 convenient options for placing an order:

1. Online - Order securely online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at our website: www.actexmadriver.com.  From our website shopping cart you may receive rewards and savings with our IPASS program.


2. Email - Email your order directly to our sales representatives.


3. Phone - Place your order directly with the ACTEX Sales Team Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time at (860) 379-5470 or toll free at (800) 282-2839.  Please be sure to check our holiday schedule.


4. Fax - Complete your order form and fax it directly to the ACTEX Sales Team at (860) 738-3152.


5. Mail - Mail your completed order form, along with your check, money order or credit information to: 

Orders can be placed online at www.actexmadriver.com 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our business hours are Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Orders placed before 12:00 pm ET during regular business hours will be shipped that same day. Orders placed after 12:00 pm ET will be shipped the following day. Orders placed outside of regular business hours will be filled and shipped the following business day.

We accept VISA, MasterCard, Discover, American Express and JCB debit and credit cards. We also accept check and money order payments in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank made payable to ACTEX Publications or Mad River Books. Please note: ACTEX Publications and Mad River Books do not accept gift cards or electronic bank/wire transfers.

Corporate Account customers may be eligible to order using a Purchase Order. Please contact us for details.

Orders within the U.S. are not taxable, with the exception of orders shipping to the state of Connecticut. Orders being shipped to Connecticut will be charged a 6% state sales tax.

For international orders: please note that any applicable duties and taxes are the responsibility of the consignee and are not included in the shipping charges.

ACTEX already offers the lowest possible prices for our materials for students worldwide. Therefore, we cannot offer discounts to individual students regardless of their location. We are unable to offer discount codes upon request.

Please note that we do offer Value Packages for many of our products. You will receive a significant savings by purchasing your materials in these packages.

Please note that ACTEX is not affiliated in any way with the Society of Actuaries Discount Program. For more on this program, please visit www.soa.org.

Discounts may be available for book resellers and corporations. Discounts on electronic products are limited to only ACTEX published products. To see if you qualify for our Preferred Corporate Accounts program please click here.

If you would like to cancel your order, please contact us immediately. Orders placed Monday through Friday before noon Eastern Time ship the same day. The sooner you contact us, the better chance we have to stop the shipment.

ACTEX works hard to keep our website updated with the expected due date of backordered products. It is a good idea to pre-order your manuals or textbooks even if they are backordered. When inventory arrives, backorders will be given priority and are filled and shipped first. If you do not pre-order, there may be further delays.

Please note: when a backordered item is purchased, the credit card is charged at the time the item ships, unless your backordered item is part of a Value Package. In this case, you will be charged full price for the Value Package at the time your order is placed.

Only pre-approved bookstores and Corporate Accounts may order using a purchase order. All other orders require prepayment.

Yes, your credit card is secure when ordering from ACTEX Publications/Mad River Books. Our web server takes all the necessary steps to protect your personal information, including your credit card number, from being intercepted during transmission. If you prefer not to place your order online, you may always place your order by phone at (860) 379-5470 or (800) 282-2839, Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

If you register for one of the many live seminars, we will email registration confirmation to the seminar provider. Please allow up to 72 hours for the seminar provider to contact you.

If you have not received your email confirmation in this timeframe, please contact us.

A hard copy of your invoice will always be sent to you through the mail. Please feel free to contact us if you would like to have a copy of your invoice emailed or faxed to you.

Please view our shipping policies by clicking here.

At ACTEX, it is our goal to fill and ship orders quickly and efficiently. Orders placed before 12:00 pm ET during regular business hours will be shipped that same day. Orders placed after 12:00 pm ET will be shipped the following day. Orders placed outside of regular business hours will be filled and shipped the following business day. Please review our holiday schedule. (ACTEX reserves the right to occasionally close for an ice cream run!)

Domestic orders (within the Continental United States) are shipped via UPS Ground or Priority Mail. Delivery timeframe is 1-5 days depending on location. Feel free to contact us for an estimated delivery timeframe.

International orders are shipped via UPS Worldwide Express and can be expected for delivery within 2-3 business days.

ACTEX is proud to offer our products worldwide. However, we do not ship to the following countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Libya, Ghana, Nigeria and select African countries.

We do ship to APO and FPO addresses. Please note that these orders are sent via the Postal Service. UPS will not deliver to these addresses.

Canadian and other international orders will be charged actual costs as designated by the carrier. Orders shipping to Canada will be subject to a minimum shipping charge of $22.50. The minimum charge for other international locations is $31.50.

Please note that any applicable duties and taxes are the responsibility of the consignee and are not included in the shipping charges. Mad River Books reserves the right to adjust shipping charges at the time of order processing to reflect actual shipping cost. Customers will be contacted if changes to shipping charges are anticipated.

ACTEX offers express shipping by UPS. Customers will be charged the actual shipping charges as designated by the carrier. Please contact us for prices and availability. For same-day shipping, please place your order by 12 p.m. Eastern Time.

For all UPS shipments, a tracking number will be included in your shipment confirmation email. You may track your package with UPS by clicking here.

UPS generally requires a signature at the time of delivery for all packages shipping to a commercial or residential address. You may, however, request for your package to be driver released with no signature required.

Please note: ACTEX Publications and UPS are not responsible for any lost or damaged packages if you have requested your package to be left without signature confirmation.

We apologize for any order that has not been delivered correctly or in excellent condition. Customers must notify ACTEX of any damage or discrepancy within 5 days of receipt of their order. If the package appears to have been damaged in transit, please retain the original packing materials as they may be required in order for us to submit a claim to the carrier. Please contact us by email or phone to report damages or discrepancies.

We accept returned books within 30 days of the invoice date. Please include a copy of your invoice along with your return. Returns will be refunded in the form of the original payment method. Credit card refunds take approximately 5 - 7 business days to appear on your statement.

Shrink wrapped materials must be unopened and all products must be free of any noticeable wear or damage.

Any electronically distributed study materials are not eligible for refunds.

Bargain books and books on sale are sold “as is,” and are final sales, not eligible for return or refund.

No study manuals or textbooks that have opened CD ROMS will be accepted for return.

Bookstores & Distributors Return Policy:

For accounts in good standing, we will accept merchandise within the following limits:

1. A written request for authorization to return merchandise must be submitted.


2. Returns will only be accepted within six months of the invoice date of purchase.


3. No more than 25% of any purchase may be returned. For distributors, no more than 10% of study manuals may be returned.


4. Returned stock must be in suitable condition for resale.
   

If a title or edition is scheduled for discontinuation, returns will not be accepted. We will do our best to notify customers of such edition changes at the time of shipment.

Please address all returns to:
ACTEX Publications
107 John G Groppo Dr., Ste. A
P.O. Box 974
Winsted, CT 06098

Return shipping charges are non-refundable. However, if the return is a result of a shipping error on the part of ACTEX, we will assume responsibility for return shipping costs (excluding express methods of shipping). Additional shipping costs such as tracking service and insurance is at the customer’s discretion and will not be refunded.

As soon as we receive your returned materials, we will issue a credit for the full cost of the item. Please note that it may take from 5-7 business days for credits to appear on your credit card statement.

ACTEX reserves the right to offer a partial refund or refuse a refund for items displaying obvious wear and tear.

Returns are not available for most electronic products. Online courses and seminars may be eligible for a refund. Please contact us for details.

Look closely at your shipment confirmation. It should indicate the method of shipment to be “electronic,” or “free.” This indicates that the product has been emailed to you, not physically shipped.

Electronic products are delivered in one of two ways. Products published by ACTEX are emailed within 24 hours of the order, usually as an attached PDF file. If you have not received an email and have placed your order within regular business hours, please check your spam and junk mail folders. Some internet service providers will reroute emails containing attachments or downloadable material.

Other electronic products are sent directly from the instructor or publisher. Items such as these require a 72 hour delivery timeframe.

Login information for the ACTEX online course forum will be sent to all students via email about 2-3 business days prior to the first day of the course.

Login information for the ACTEX online course forum for students registering after the first day of the course will receive an email the next business day (as soon as possible after the order is placed).

While some of our online courses allow a rolling 90 day access to the forum, others have specific dates that they begin and end. VEE courses have a designated number of spots for students. Registration will be closed and finalized when these spots have been filled. VEE courses often fill up quickly and registration can close as early as one month before the course begins. We strongly recommend registering for VEE courses at the student’s earliest convenience to be sure that a spot is available.

Our online courses are conducted by highly respected, currently practicing professors. The professor decides the capacity of the course based on how many assignments, quizzes and exams they are able to handle in each session. Course capacities are non-negotiable.

ACTEX VEE courses run twice yearly from November - February and May - July. As soon as the current session has begun, our website will be updated to reflect the next session and registration begins again.

ACTEX online courses are conducted as a forum or message board that allows students to access information at their own convenience within a loosely structured timeframe. Instructors will have prearranged, “live,” office hours weekly. Quizzes and assignments will be designated particular due dates. For more information on online course schedules, please review the “student responsibilities,” paragraph in each individual course description.

The VEE course for Applied Statistics covers both time series and regression analysis, and therefore, fulfills the entire requirement. Alternatively, a separate Time Series only course is offered.

Online courses which culminate in a final exam require students to have a proctor for the exam. The proctor’s responsibilities include receiving and returning the exam package (at no charge), documenting student activity during the exam and remaining in the exam room throughout the exam period. Proctors must hold a designation of ASA, FSA, ACAS or FCAS. Proctors will not receive monetary compensation from ACTEX.

Students are responsible for obtaining their own proctors. Students who are taking the course at the expense of their employer will generally be assigned a proctor by their employer. Students who are taking the course independently may benefit from visiting the Society of Actuaries website at www.soa.org. If you are having trouble locating a proctor or are not sure where to begin, ACTEX will be happy to provide a list of qualified individuals in your area for you to contact.

Following the completion of the course, passing grades are sent electronically to the Society of Actuaries. Grades are then mailed to students in letter form, with instructions for applying for VEE credit.

Withdrawals and non-passing grades are not sent to the Society of Actuaries.

Students who do not pass the online course will have the opportunity to retake the online course for a 50% discount in a future session.

Alternatively, students can retake only the final exam, without access to the course forum, for a $50.00 administrative fee.

Withdrawals and non-passing grades are not sent to the Society of Actuaries.

Every student has a different style of learning, which is why we offer manuals and texts in such a wide variety! If you are not sure where to start, we recommend visiting the following websites: www.soa.org or www.beanactuary.org.

Product Previews are available for many products we carry. Simply click on the Product Preview button on the products description page. These are a great way to see which author’s style suits you best.

No, you must order the SOA and CAS study note packages directly from the SOA and the CAS.
www.soa.org Society of Actuaries
www.casact.org Casualty Actuarial Society

You may fill out the Customer Feedback form. The information will be reviewed and sent to the appropriate author for confirmation. Corrections will be made available in an errata list on this site.

We always recommend working with the most recent study materials for any exam. Changes in syllabus may occur throughout the years as well as clean-up of errata and the addition of beneficial material. It is always best to be safe and use the manual edition that is intended for the year of your exam.

On our website select the items you wish to purchase by adding them to your shopping cart. Next, go to secure checkout. You will be prompted to enter your username and password. This will bring up your customer profile. Make sure that the information is correct. This page will also display the number of IPASS points you have available. Click “continue.” You will see a window asking how many points you would like to apply to the order. Input the amount you would like to apply and click “continue.” You will then be prompted for your credit card information to complete the transaction.

For full information or to request a desk copy please click on this link.

Contact Christine with any questions. Email or phone 800-282-2839

We are always interested in new textbook ideas, and occasionally have openings for authors of existing products. Please contact us with specifics on your interest and expertise.