General Terms and Conditions for Consumer - 2018
Before 17 December 2018
These terms and conditions were updated on 17 December 2018. Find our current General terms here.
Consumer Terms
1. Your agreement with Vodafone
1.1 These General Terms apply to the Services we provide to consumers. Our Privacy Policy also forms part of this Agreement. Specific terms will also apply to your particular Plans and offers. If inconsistent with the general terms, the specific terms will apply instead. If you are a business, or use the Services for business purposes, see our business terms.
1.2 We can contact you by publishing the information in a public notice, online, or by email or TXT, or using any other contact details you provide to us. Please tell us as soon as possible if any of your contact details or other information you’ve given us changes.
1.3 We can change any of our terms and any of our Plans, Services, or Charges at any time. We can also withdraw any Plan or Service at any time. We can move you to a comparable Plan or Service if we withdraw your Plan or Service, or we think you would be better off. We may notify you in advance depending on the nature of the change:
a) We’ll let you know directly at least 30 days before we make the change. If the detriment is material, we will let you terminate any fixed term contract, or change plans, without an early termination charge or transfer fee.
b) If the change will have a neutral or positive effect on you, or if the change is required by a legal or regulatory change Regulatory Event or is necessary for security reasons, to prevent fraud, or for technical reasons, we can make the change without giving you notice.
1.4 You must be at least 18 years of age to take up our Services.
1.5 If you have signed up for a fixed contract term, you agree to receive the Services for at least the length of that fixed period. After the fixed period, or if you have not signed up for a fixed contract term, we will provide the Services to you on a month by month basis until they are cancelled in accordance with this Agreement. Your contract term will start from the date your Service is made available to you unless specified otherwise in the Plan terms.
2. How we provide our Services
2.1 Our Services depend on various factors beyond our control, and we cannot guarantee that they will always work perfectly. However, the guarantees in the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 apply.
2.2 You may not receive some or all of the Services in certain areas or at certain times. We may need to temporarily suspend a Service so that we or our suppliers can carry out maintenance and development work on the Network.
2.3 We are free to choose how we provide a Service and the technology used to provide it. You agree to provide us with all information, assistance and consents reasonably requested to enable us, our contractors or suppliers to obtain authorisations, licences or consents that may be required to provide Services to you and to install our Equipment at your premises.
3. Payment and billing
3.1 We will send you a bill on a monthly basis by email (or paper if you request this, subject to a $1.99 (incl GST) charge per bill) unless you are a Prepay customer. All Charges, unless otherwise stated, include GST. Services will not carry over unless stated in Plan terms.
3.2 You must pay your bill on time and in accordance with any instructions on the bill. If you fail to do so, we may charge you a late payment fee of $18.40 (incl GST), and any expenses incurred in collecting overdue amounts.
3.3 You are responsible for all use of your Services, including use by any third parties, and all charges however incurred (except charges incurred because of our error or negligence).
3.4 You agree that we can check your identity (including checking your passport and NZTA information), and check your credit status with any credit reference agency at any time. We may impose conditions on your Service as a result of those checks including imposing a credit limit.
3.5 We will not pay interest on any credit balance or security deposit in any of your accounts and can use those amounts to pay any of your outstanding Charges for any of your Services. We may charge you a reasonable fee for the administration of dormant accounts, for providing statements, for dealing with unused credit balances, or for the costs of maintaining your accounts. We will not refund any unused credit on Prepay mobile accounts.
3.6 If you have an outstanding debt with us, we have the right to transfer that debt to another party who will then have the right to collect that debt from you.
4. When you can change or cancel your Services
4.1 You can cancel your Service at any time. You must give us one month’s notice and pay us any money you owe us first. During the one month notice period, we will continue to provide the Service (unless you ask to disconnect earlier). We will charge you for the full notice period even if you request an earlier disconnection.
4.2 If you change or terminate your Services during a fixed term contract, we can charge you early termination charges, or transfer fees, as set out in the applicable Plan terms. However, if we agree that we are in material breach of our obligations (and we do not remedy it within 14 days of you telling us), you can cancel without any early termination charges.
4.3 If you move premises then you must give us at least one month’s notice before you move.
5. When we can restrict or cancel your Services
5.1 We may restrict, suspend, or cancel your Services if:
a) the health and safety of any person or the safety and security of our Network is at risk;
b) for commercial reasons we can't provide the Service;
c) the Service is permanently or temporarily unavailable for any reason;
d) you fail to pay your bill on time;
e) you use our Services or behave in a way that we reasonably consider to be abusive, offensive, excessive, unreasonable, inappropriate, illegal, unauthorised or fraudulent, or in any way that infringes anyone’s legal rights (such as copyright) or is likely to damage or negatively impact the operation of our Network, the Services or a third party’s network;
f) you resell or resupply a Service, or use it other than for ordinary personal, domestic and household purposes;
g) you do not follow our reasonable instructions in relation to your use of the Services;
h) we reasonably consider you to be a credit risk;
i) you are otherwise in material breach of this Agreement and the breach cannot be remedied, or you do not remedy it within 14 days of us asking you to do so; and
j) you fail to allow us to access your premises to perform our obligations under this Agreement.
5.2 If we restrict, suspend, or cancel your Services:
a) for any reason set out in (a) to (c) above, you will not have to pay any early termination charges;
b) for any reason set out in (d) to (j) above, you agree to pay any early termination charge as set out in your Plan terms and any other outstanding Charges;
c) you agree to pay any outstanding Charges;
d) we may impose conditions or require payment of Charges during a suspension or for reconnecting any Services; and
e) if your plan is cancelled, you will lose any unused entitlements on your Plan.
5.3 For the avoidance of doubt, if we withdraw a Plan or a Service under clause 1.3, then the provisions of that clause shall apply.
6. Our Equipment and property
6.1 Where Equipment used to provide Services to you is owned by us or third parties, you agree not to tamper or interfere with that Equipment, and to return it to us immediately on request. You understand and agree that only Vodafone or its agents may carry out works or repairs on the Equipment.
6.2 We, or our suppliers will remain the owner of any Equipment unless we agree otherwise in writing. You agree that you do not have any rights, title or interest in the Equipment and that we or our suppliers may remove the Equipment at any time. You are responsible for repairing, replacing or reimbursing us for any item of that Equipment that is lost, stolen or damaged while under your control.
6.3 You agree we can provide you with enhancements or new capabilities for any Equipment used for Services. If we need to install services at your premises, we will arrange a time with you for the installation. If you live in rented premises, then it is your responsibility to get your landlord’s consent to the installation of the Services. If we visit your home at the time agreed and we are not able to gain entry, we may charge you for that visit. If you are not going to be home on the day scheduled for the installation, you may nominate someone (aged 18 or over) to make decisions about the installation on your behalf.
6.4 Your phone number (local or mobile) is allocated to you by us or another telecommunications service provider. The number is not owned by you and can be changed or reallocated to other customers at any time.
6.5 You are responsible for any home sockets and wiring in the premises where the Services are provided. If you notify us about a fault and we arrange for someone to visit your premises, you may be charged a fee for this if we find there is no fault, or the fault was caused by your wiring, equipment or hardware set up.
7. Limits of liability
7.1 If we are liable to you for direct losses arising from any breach of this Agreement or for our negligence, our obligation to pay any damages or losses is limited to $5,000 for one incident or $10,000 for a number of incidents within any 12 month period. This limitation does not apply to any loss or damage caused by fraud, wilful breach or wilful damage. In addition, we are not liable for:
a) loss caused by you, or any loss that results from your failure to take reasonable steps to avoid or minimise your loss;
b) loss of data;
c) loss of profits or any consequential, indirect or special damage, suffered by you or any other person; or
d) loss caused by something beyond our control, for example a failure by a Network Operator, an act of God, earthquake, terrorism, strike, shortage of suitable labour or materials or any other event beyond our control.
These limitations do not however limit any rights you may have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or Fair Trading Act 1986.
7.2 You accept liability to us for your breach of contract or negligence, but you will not be liable for any loss to the extent it is caused by us. Your liability under this clause is limited to $5,000 for one incident or $10,000 for a number of incidents within any 12 month period. This limitation does not apply to your obligation to pay any outstanding Charges or for any loss or damage caused by fraud, wilful breach or wilful damage.
7.3 Any Network Operators and our dealers, agents, contractors and suppliers (and their officers, employees, contractors and agents) do not accept liability to you or anyone else for any claims, costs, damages, losses or other liabilities of any kind as a result of your use of the Services. This clause creates a right that our Network Operators, agents and suppliers can enforce directly.
7.4 We may subcontract or delegate the performance of any of our rights or obligations under this Agreement but this will not relieve us from liability for the performance of any such obligation. Our agents can enforce those rights or obligations expressed to be for their benefit in accordance with Part 2 of the Contract and Commercial Law Act 2017.
8. Safety and security
8.1 You are responsible for maintaining the security of any access codes or passwords used to access your Services or account information.
8.2 To prevent others from using your mobile device if it is lost or stolen we recommend you set up a PIN number on your SIM card. If it is entered incorrectly three times in a row, you will need the PUK code, which you can get by answering security questions in the desktop version of My Vodafone. Incorrect entry of the PUK code more than seven times will permanently destroy the SIM card and you will need to purchase a new SIM card.
8.3 If your mobile device or SIM card is lost or stolen, you must contact Vodafone immediately so that we can prevent your mobile Services from being used. We will not be responsible for any loss you suffer as a result of the loss, theft, damage to, or unauthorised use of your mobile device or SIM card, or from any virus or malware or loss of information.
8.4 We make no representations or warranties concerning the security or content of information passing over our Network. You are responsible for reviewing the classification information for any content you accessing our Services, and for ensuring it is suitable for anyone else who has access to your Services.
9. Miscellaneous
9.1 We may transfer this Agreement without notice although, if possible, we will give you notice in advance. You must obtain our written consent to transfer this Agreement which we will give where reasonable.
9.2 If any clause, or part of a clause, in this Agreement is found to be unfair or unenforceable, the rest of the Agreement will continue to apply.
9.3 If you or we fail to enforce our rights under this Agreement, it will not prevent you or us from taking further action.
9.4 New Zealand law applies to this Agreement and our Services. You agree that a New Zealand court will hear any claims.
10. Glossary
10.1 Words which start with a capital letter in these terms have the defined meaning set out below.
- Agreement - these Consumer Terms and Conditions between us and you, together with any other relevant terms and conditions that apply to your Plan.
- Charges – any charges for the Services including those set out in the Plan terms which may include: the monthly charge for your Plan; any fees; any taxes, levies, or government charges relating to our Services; and any charges for ancillary services.
- LFC – your local fibre company (which will depend on the area you live in).
- Network – the communication systems we use to provide the Services.
- Network Operator – us and any third party with which we have entered into an arrangement which provides for the passing of communications between us and that third party or an arrangement to resell wholesale services.
- Equipment - equipment used to provide Services to you, (e.g. a SIM card for Mobile Services, a modem, a set Top Box etc.);.
- Plan –the bundle of entitlements for the Services you select and which we provide to you.
- Regulatory Event – any legal or regulatory change that directly or indirectly has the effect of: (1) altering the terms of this Agreement; (2) making the operation or performance of this Agreement impracticable or impossible; (3) altering the burden of us providing Services under this Agreement; or (4) Causing us (voluntarily or otherwise) to materially alter our operations or structure.
- Services – Vodafone New Zealand Limited’s consumer mobile, broadband, TV and landline phone services (excluding any business, corporate or government services) and any other consumer services that we or our agents may provide you.
- Set Top Box means a box used to provide TV Services.
- SIM card means the subscriber identity module needed to operate your mobile device and through which you are connected to our network.
- TV Services – means TV services provided by or via Vodafone, including the Vodafone TV Service (Freeview and Sky) and the Sky TV with Vodafone Service.