MealTrain.com Terms Of Service

Last Updated: February 9th, 2024

Acknowledgment and Acceptance of Terms of Service

Meal Train LLC, a Vermont limited liability company (“Meal Train”, “we” or “us”) provides certain services (described below) on or through our website, www.mealtrain.com, (the "Site" or "Platform"). By using our Site, you agree to the following terms and conditions (the "Terms of Service"). If you do not understand or agree with these Terms of Service, please do not use the Site or the Meal Train Service (as defined below) and do not register to be a member of the Site.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding these Terms of Service, please let us know by contacting us through the "Contact Us" form or by writing to us at

Meal Train LLC
50 Lakeside Avenue, Box 80
Burlington, VT 05401

By completing the registration process or using any part of the Meal Train Service (see description below), you agree to be bound by all of the terms and conditions herein. You may continue to use MealTrain.com as long as you adhere to these terms of service. Meal Train may update these terms of service from time to time. Where possible Meal Train will provide notice of substantive changes to these Terms of Service and, if appropriate, we may inform users of such changes via email or other appropriate means. Continued use of MealTrain.com com after the date of any such changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms of service.

Overview

The Site offers a service that generally allows for the creation of a community meal coordination service (known and referred to as a Meal Train®) for a recipient. This includes, without limitation, tools to, send email invitations to friends, receive email invitations, coordinate dates for meal delivery, research Meal Train planning ideas, share updates and research etiquette tips and tools. In addition, organizers and recipients of a Meal Train® may choose to use the platform to organize a fundraising campaign (a "Campaign") to accept monetary donations ("Donations") from those users wishing to contribute funds to the Campaign ("Donors"). The services provided through the Site are herein referred to as the "Service" or "Meal Train Service". These Terms of Service govern and apply to your use of the "Service".

Eligibility

Use of the Service is void where prohibited. By using this Site, you represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into this agreement and to abide by all the terms and conditions of these Terms of Service. You must be an individual of 13 years of age or older to register or use the Site or the Service.

Privacy Policy

It is Meal Train’s policy to respect the privacy of its users. Meal Train’s policies with regard to personally identifiable information it collects from you, what information third parties affiliated with Meal Train collect from you, and how that information is used is governed by the Meal Train Privacy Policy, which may be found at https://www.mealtrain.com/privacy_policy/.

License to Use and Access the Meal Train® Service

Meal Train grants you a limited license to access and make personal use of this Site and the Service. This Site or any portion thereof, may not be reproduced, modified, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, visited, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purposes without the prior express written consent of Meal Train.

Use of the Site at Your Own Risk

Your access to and use of the Site and Services and is at your own risk. Meal Train will have no responsibility for any harm to your computer system, loss or corruption of data, or other harm that results from your access to or use of the Site or Services.

Registration, My Account Page and Inbox

You are required to be a registered user via the Site if you want to organize a Meal Train®, send an invitation, book or cancel a day on a Meal Train calendar, save and access saved information, view and edit your "My Account" page, and upload photos. Not all of the features in the previous sentence may be available at any given time and Meal Train may require registration for additional features that may be developed or added to the Meal Train Service from time to time. In order to register as a user, you must supply a valid email address, which will be used as a unique identifier for your profile, your name, and a password.

You hereby agree that you:

  • are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and profile;
  • agree not to transfer your email address or password to any third party;
  • lend or otherwise transfer your use of or access to the Meal Train Service to any third party;
  • are solely responsible for any and all activities that occur under your profile;
  • may change your password, or any other profile information, at any time by following instructions available on your "My Account" page or as outlined in the privacy policy; and
  • agree to immediately notify us of any unauthorized use of your profile or any other breach of security related to your profile or the Meal Train Service, and to ensure that you "log off"/exit from your profile (if applicable) at the end of each session.

You further acknowledge and agree that we are not liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with any of the foregoing obligations.

In addition, you agree to provide and maintain accurate information about you and update your profile if any of your information changes. Meal Train reserves the right to terminate you as a user of the site if any information provided by you is false or inaccurate.

Description of the Meal Train® Service (including, but not limited to)

Meal Train® (or food train™, dinner train™, supper train™, care train™) Creation: A Meal Train page is a community coordination program that enables an organizer to specify the days, times and meal preferences of the recipient to coordinate the effort of friends, family, colleagues, congregation members, and neighbors in the delivery of meals around important life events. If you want to organize a Meal Train® page, you must be a registered user via the Site (see Registration above).

Meal Train® Date Booking: In the event that an individual is invited to participate in a Meal Train, the MealTrain.com date-booking feature simplifies the process by allowing the giving party to take into account the many complicating details such as available days, meal times, and meal preferences to ensure that the recipient gets the meals on the days that are most helpful. You must be a registered user via the Site to book a date (A guest booking/participation option may be available for Meal Train participation. Any person using the Service, whether or not a registered user via the Site, including anyone participating through a guest booking/participation option constitutes agreement to these Terms of Service).

Meal Train® Articles, Recipes, FAQs: The articles, recipes, and FAQ pages include ideas, tips and tools, and Meal Train® etiquette which can be used to help you plan your Meal Train® page. Such tips and tools include multiple pages of content with tips on what to make, recipes, how long to stay and other delivery ideas. The tips and tools pages are for informational purposes only and are available without registration.

Fundraising Campaigns: Organizers and recipients of the Meal Train® service may choose to use the site to organize a Donation Fund/Campaign to accept donations from donors wishing to contribute funds to the Campaign.

The Donation Fund/Campaign services are an administrative platform only. Meal Train facilitates the Donation transaction between Campaign organizers/recipient and Donors, but is not a party to any agreement. Meal Train is not a broker, agent, financial institution, creditor or insurer for any user. Meal Train has no control over the conduct of, or any information provided by a Campaign organizer/recipient, and Meal Train hereby disclaims all liability in this regard.

  • Meal Train does not personally endorse any Campaign or Campaign organizer/recipient.
  • We expressly disclaim any liability or responsibility for the success of any Campaign. Meal Train does not guarantee that a Campaign will obtain a certain amount of Donations or any Donations at all.

Each Campaign organizer represents and warrants to Meal Train and all Donors to that Campaign that (i) all information provided in connection with a Campaign is accurate, complete, and not otherwise designed to mislead, defraud or deceive any other party; (ii) all Donations contributed to a Campaign will be used solely as described by the organizer; (iii) that the organizer will comply with all applicable local, state, and federal laws in connection with soliciting Donations, including, without limitation any laws relating to marketing and solicitation for donations. We reserve the right to provide information relating to your Campaign with Donors and beneficiaries of your Campaign, and with law enforcement or to assist in any investigation. We reserve the right to disable your Donation Fund at any time for any reason.

  • Any recipient who does not receive the net proceeds from a Donation Fund organized on their behalf by an Organizer can alert us via the Contact Us form.
  • Donors who feels they are a victim of a fraudulent organizer may report the instance via the Contact Us form.

Donations: In order to contribute to a Campaign, a Donor will be required to provide Meal Train's third party payment processor information regarding its credit card or other payment instrument. Each Donor represents and warrants to Meal Train that such information is true and correct that you such Donor is authorized to use the payment instrument. Each Donor agrees that a certain minimum Donation amount may apply, and that all Donation payments are final and cannot be refunded once claimed by the organizer/recipient.

  • Each Donor is solely responsible for making a decision to make a Donation.
  • and Meal Train does not (i) verify any of the information that a Campaign organizer supplies, or (ii) guarantee that the Donations will be used in accordance with any fundraising purpose stated by a Campaign organizer.

Campaigns are not charities to which you can make tax-deductible charitable contributions. You understand and acknowledge that Meal Train is not a charity.

Occasionally, donations may be tax deductible when they go directly to a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization with a government issued EIN. In these cases, the non-profit organization will be responsible for issuing you a tax receipt.

Donation Fund Fees: Meal Train does not charge a Campaign organizer any upfront fees for initiating a Campaign. MealTrain.com retains a flat percentage of each Donation actually contributed to a Campaign.

Meal Train will automatically deduct a 5% platform fee from each Donation received. In addition, a 2.9% + $.30 financial transaction/credit card processing fee will apply to each donation to cover payment processing fees applied by our payment processor, Stripe.com. Our third party payment processor (Stripe.com) also may charge the following fees for exceptions processing: $15.00 per chargeback (in addition to the amount of the chargeback); $15.00 per ACH return (in addition to the amount of the return). Donors acknowledge that by contributing a Donation to a Campaign, the Donor is agreeing to any and all applicable terms and conditions set forth by our third party payment processor (see Stripe's Terms of Service), in addition to these Terms of Service. Meal Train may opt to change its third party payment processor at any time, without advance notice. This will not impact the fee structure for existing Campaigns.

Payment processing services for Donation Fund Activators on MealTrain.com are provided by Stripe and are subject to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, which includes the Stripe Terms of Service (collectively, the “Stripe Services Agreement”). By activating a Donation Fund, you agree to be bound by the Stripe Services Agreement, as the same may be modified by Stripe from time to time. As a condition of MealTrain.com enabling payment processing services through Stripe, you agree to provide MealTrain.com accurate and complete information about you and you authorize MealTrain.com to share it and transaction information related to your use of the payment processing services provided by Stripe.

We reserve the right to change Meal Train's Campaign fee pricing from time to time by updating the terms hereof. Your continued use of the Services after the fee change is published constitutes your acceptance of the updated Fees.

Withdrawals: MealTrain.com and our third party payment processor strives to make Withdrawals available to you promptly. You acknowledge and agree that withdrawals may not be available to you for immediate use, and MealTrain.com does not guarantee that withdrawals will be available to you within any specific time frame, and MealTrain.com expressly disclaims any and all responsibility for any delay or inability to access and use withdrawals at any specified time, and any consequences arising from such delay or inability.

You, as the Donation Fund Organizer, are responsible for ensuring that the information you provide to MealTrain.com and our third party payment provider in order to process a withdrawal, including bank account information, is accurate and up to date. MealTrain.com may, at any time, for any reason, without notice, and in its sole discretion, offer or issue a refund of Donation(s) with or without consulting with you, which may comprise the entire amount donated to your campaign. MealTrain.com is not liable to you or to any third party for any claims, damages, costs, losses, or other consequences caused by MealTrain.com issuing refunds, including, but not limited to transaction or overdraft fees.

Financial contributions made to MealTrain.com
MealTrain.com solicits financial contributions from users from time to time to support the operational and marketing costs of providing the Service. Making a financial contribution to MealTrain.com is completely voluntary and has no impact on our obligation to provide the Service. Meal Train LLC is not a 501(c)3 organization and financial contributions are not tax deductible under U.S. tax code. Acceptance of a financial contribution by Meal Train LLC does not create any obligation for Meal Train LLC to fulfill.

Service mark and Content Restrictions

Meal Train® is a registered service mark of Meal Train LLC. FOOD TRAIN, SUPPER TRAIN, DINNER TRAIN, CARE TRAIN, names and logos are service marks (or pending service marks) of Meal Train LLC. The trade names and service marks owned by Meal Train LLC, may not be used in connection with any product or service that is not ours, in any manner that is likely to cause confusion.

All other marks appearing on the Meal Train Service are trademarks of their respective owners. Our partners may also have additional proprietary rights in the content which they make available through the Meal Train Service.

You acknowledge that the Meal Train Service may contain information, software, photos, video, text, graphics, music, sounds or other material (collectively, "Content") that may be protected by copyrights, patents, trademarks, trade secrets or other proprietary rights. Except for Content you post to the Site, which you own, you agree not to reproduce, redistribute, sell, modify, rent, lease, loan, adapt, translate, create derivative works based (whether in whole or in part) on, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, or otherwise reduce all or any part of the Site or the Meal Train Service, including any Content.

Content Posted by Meal Train® Users

You expressly acknowledge and agree that you:

  • are solely responsible for any data, text, software, sound files, images, photographs, graphics, video, messages, files, links or any other Content that you post to the Site. This includes, but is not limited to, the contents of your email communications, photos or images, your "My Account" page, invitations and any other related Content;
  • are solely responsible for the accuracy, integrity and quality as well as the legal right to post such Content;
  • agree that if you post any Content through the Meal Train Service, you automatically grant to Meal Train, and its successors and assigns, a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, non-revocable, freely transferable license, in and to such Content, to use, distribute, display, modify, publish, adapt, redistribute, sublicense and reproduce such Content in connection with the Service and to third parties with whom Meal Train has a relationship; and
  • grant Meal Train the right to authorize the downloading and printing in whole or in part of any Content that you post to the Meal Train Service.

You acknowledge and agree that Meal Train LLC:

  • does not control the Content posted by its users or any third party not under the control of Meal Train;
  • is not liable in any way for any Content posted by any user or third party, including, but not limited to, liability for any errors or omissions in any Content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed or otherwise transmitted via the Meal Train Service;
  • reserves the right (but has no obligation) to evaluate Content before allowing it to be posted on or through the Site and at the sole discretion of Meal Train, Meal Train may do one or all of the following;
    • monitor the submission of Content;
    • alter, remove, or refuse to post or allow to be posted or stored any Content; and
    • disclose any Content or any communication through the Meal Train Service, and the circumstances surrounding the transmission thereof.
  • may contract any third party in order to operate in whole or in part any portion of the Meal Train Service; and
  • may respond to all legitimate governmental inquiries or requests

Under no circumstances will Meal Train LLC, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, consultants, agents, successors and assigns or its representatives be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on any Content posted by any users or third parties not under the control of Meal Train.

Notification of Claims of Infringement

If you believe that any of your Content has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, please notify Meal Train for notice of claims of copyright or other intellectual property infringement at:

Meal Train LLC
50 Lakeside Avenue, Box 80
Burlington, VT 05401
contact@mealtrain.com

Please provide Meal Train with the following notice:
  • Identify the material on the Site that you claim is infringing, with enough detail so that it may be located;
  • A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
  • A statement by you declaring under penalty of perjury that (1) the above information in your notice is accurate, and (2) that you are the owner of the copyright interest involved or that you are authorized to act on behalf of that owner;
  • Your address, telephone number, and email address; and
  • Your physical or electronic signature.

Meal Train will remove the infringing Content, subject to the procedures outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

Site Conduct

You agree not to:

  • post content or distribute materials (though the Site) that are libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, illegal, or that we otherwise deem distasteful or objectionable (at our sole discretion);
  • interfere with or disrupt the operation of the Meal Train Service; including but not limited to transmission of a program that is harmful or invasive or that is intended to damage Site functionality;
  • engage in any other conduct which, at Meal Train’s sole discretion, is considered inappropriate, unauthorized or objectionable; or
  • use any feature of the Service to engage in "spamming"

You agree:

  • to permit us to access your Profile, records, and to monitor your use for any reason (typically to provide customer service);
  • to comply will all applicable laws, regulations, and ordinances as a condition of use of the Meal Train Service;
  • to notify Meal Train at the "Contact Us" page if you feel another user is in violation of these terms;
  • that you have authorization from the party who will receive (the "Recipient") the services/meals of a Meal Train® to create the Meal Train® via the Site for them. In creating a Meal Train® for others (friends, relatives, colleagues, etc.), you recognize the personal information that you provide us regarding the Recipient’s physical address, meal preferences, e-mail address (for Recipient and invited members), preferred dates, number of people to provide meals for, reason for event, personal comments, and phone number (if provided) will be made available to those who are invited to participate in the specific Meal Train; and
  • should you, as the organizer or recipient, choose to book a date for another party that has not yet registered their email, user name, and agreed to our terms of service, that you have the authorization from said party to complete the booking on their behalf.

Under no circumstances will Meal Train, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, consultants, agents, successors and assigns or its representatives be liable for any loss or damage caused by your conduct or the failure of the Meal Train® organizer to attain permission from the Meal Train® Recipient to create a Meal Train® on their behalf.

Those who feel that their personal information has been posted without their permission should contact Meal Train® immediately through the Contact Us form to have the applicable Meal Train® removed from the Site.

Links to Third Party Sites/Vendors; Contact with Advertisers; Contact with other Users

The Site may contain features and functionalities that may link you or provide you with access to third party content which is completely independent of Meal Train, including web sites, directories, servers, networks, systems, information and databases, applications, software, programs, products or services, and the Internet as a whole.

Your interactions with organizations and/or individuals found on the Site, including payment and delivery of goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such organizations and/or individuals. You should make whatever investigation you feel necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any online or offline transaction with any of these third parties.

You agree that we are not responsible for:

  • the availability of such external sites or resources, and we expressly do not endorse and are not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, services or other content (collectively, "Third Party Content") on or available from such sites or resources;
  • any damage or loss caused, or alleged to be caused, by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such Third Party Content available on or through any such site or resource;
  • any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of any activities you undertake in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods, services, information or other material available, or through such third parties, on our Site or the actions of such third parties; or
  • your interactions with any organizations and/or individuals found on or through the Service.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Meal Train, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, consultants, agents, successors and assigns from any and all claims, liabilities, damages, costs, expenses or demands, including, but not limited to, attorneys' fees, arising from or related to:

  • your use of the Site and/or the Meal Train Service;
  • any violation of these Terms of Service by you
  • any infringement by you (or another user of the Meal Train Service using your Profile) of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity; or
  • your violation of any applicable law or regulation.

Limitation of Liability

YOU AGREE THAT USE OF THE SITE AND THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THE SITE IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS" AND ON AN "AS-AVAILABLE" BASIS. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, MEAL TRAIN (AND ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, PARTNERS AND LICENSORS) EXPLICITLY DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, QUIET ENJOYMENT OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE. MEAL TRAIN MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE SITE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR BE AVAILABLE ON AN UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE BASIS, THAT THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OR INFORMATION OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH THE SITE WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM MEAL TRAIN OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SITE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE TERMS.

MEAL TRAIN’S TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FROM ALL CAUSES OF ACTION AND UNDER ALL THEORIES OF LIABILITY WILL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR THE SITE AND IN NO EVENT WILL IT EXCEED $500; YOU AGREE THAT YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR ANY BREACH BY MEAL TRAIN WILL BE A REFUND IN AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO THE DOLLAR AMOUNT PREVIOUSLY PAID BY YOU TO MEAL TRAIN FOR ACCESS TO THE SITE. MEAL TRAIN WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, USE, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, RESULTING FROM (i) YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF OR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE THE SITE; (ii) ANY CONDUCT OR CONTENT OF ANY THIRD PARTY OR OTHER USER ON THE SITE; (iii) ANY CONTENT OBTAINED FROM THE SITE; AND (iv) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, USE OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR CONTENT, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER OR NOT MEAL TRAIN HAS BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE, AND EVEN IF A REMEDY SET FORTH HEREIN IS FOUND TO HAVE FAILED OF ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE.

Dispute Resolution by Binding Arbitration

Most user concerns can be resolved quickly and to the user's satisfaction by emailing MealTrain.com support at contact@mealtrain.com. In the unlikely event that our user support team is unable to resolve a complaint you may have (or if MealTrain.com has not been able to resolve a dispute it has with you after attempting to do so informally), we each agree to resolve those disputes through binding arbitration in Burlington, Vermont in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association. Arbitration, which is often cheaper, faster and less formal than a lawsuit in court, uses a neutral arbitrator instead of a judge or jury. Arbitrators can award the same damages and relief that a court can award. The costs of the arbitrator shall be equally divided provided, however, that the arbitrator may award costs and fees to the prevailing party.

Controlling Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms of Service and any action related thereto will be governed by the laws of the State of Vermont without regard to its conflict of law provisions. The exclusive jurisdiction and venue of any action with respect to the subject matter of these Terms of Service will be the state and federal courts located in Chittenden County, Vermont, and each of the parties hereto waives any objection to jurisdiction and venue in such courts.

Termination

You agree that we:

  • in our sole discretion, may terminate your password, profile (or any part thereof) or use of the Service, and remove and discard any Content within the Service, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use, or if we believe that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of these Terms of Service;
  • shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your access to the Meal Train Service; and
  • reserve the right, at any time and from time to time, temporarily or permanently, in whole or in part, to modify or discontinue the Meal Train Service; or Reserve the right to amend these Terms of Service at our sole discretion and any modifications shall be effective immediately upon posting. We will announce any such change by posting the revised draft of these Terms of Service on the Site and your continued usage will demonstrate compliance with the changes.

Force Majeure

Meal Train will not be liable for a delay in providing access to the Site to the extent that delay is caused by Internet access outages, insurrection, war, riot, explosion, nuclear incident, fire, flood, earthquake, volcanic activities, general national strikes, embargo, state import or export restrictions, or other event beyond Meal Train’s reasonable control.