This document contains the General Terms for Broadband & Internet New Zealand Limited (hereafter referred to as BAINZ in this document) and applies to the service plans offered by us. This document should be read in conjunction with the applicable BAINZ Service Plan Terms and/or any special terms that apply to your service offering.This document may from time to time be subject to updates based on changes to our services and conditions and in accordance with the terms of this document.

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1 - Using Our Services
1.    Ordering services from us: 
       1.1.    You must be at least 18 years old, 
       1.2.    Place your order via our website, 
       1.3.    Identify yourself and register as a customer, 
       1.4.    Provide proof of residency at the property where the services are needed, and 
       1.5.    If you don’t live at the property, obtain authorization from a resident at the property.
2.    Our Service Plans:
       2.1.    Please check the service plan details for any special terms that may apply,
       2.2.    All our service plans have a minimum service term, these may be:
              2.2.1.    For Prepay services, these will be 1 month,
              2.2.2.    For open-term contract these will be 1 month,
              2.2.3.    For contract services, these may be 12 months,
              2.2.4.    For special service plans the term of these contracts may vary.
       2.3.    If you disconnect your service before the minimum service term ends, you may be charged an early termination fee as specified in your plan,
3.    Availability of our fibre services:
       3.1.    Use our address checker on our website to check for service available,
       3.2.    Our fibre services are available at residential and business addresses,
       3.3.    Our residential services are only available at residential addresses,
       3.4.    For business services, there will be available under our business plans,
       4.    Connection to our Services:
       4.1.    To connect onto our service, you need a Fibre Box installed at your property,
       4.2.    If you don’t have a Fibre Box, we can arrange installation of one by your Local Fibre Company. You must have the property owner’s authorization beforehand as some work will be required at the property to do this. When a Fibre Box is being installed, this may need a 12-month minimum contract with early termination charges being applicable.
       4.3.    To use our services, you require to have a modem device (such as a Wi-Fi box) to connect to our service,
       4.4.    We might provide a modem when you connect to our service, but this will be charged at an additional one-off charge, or you can buy one yourself, and is yours to keep.
       4.5.    The modem will need to be configured to connect to our services and we will provide you with required configuration details to allow you to configure the modem,
       4.6.    If require a Wireless Access Point (Wi-Fi modem) we can assist you through our partners at a charge to cover the equipment cost and delivery to your preferred address.
5.    Modems: 
       5.1.    Selecting the correct modem for your premises is important to ensure that you receive the service speeds you require and coverage for your premises. 
       5.2.    If you choose to use your own modem, ensure that it is configured correctly to connect onto our network by following the instructions provided on our website.
       5.3.    We recommend for wireless connectivity you choose a modem that offers you a Wireless Access Point such as Wi-Fi with adequate radio coverage and security.
       5.4.    Once your modem is connected to the service, we recommend that you check your security on your modem, particularly were you are using Wi-Fi connectivity to ensure that it is secure from non-authorised users using a secure password protection setup.
6.    Service Start Date: 
       6.1.    Your service contract begins when your services starts, unless a different date is specified in your specific terms.
7.    Service availability: 
       7.1.    We strive to keep our services running smoothly. 
       7.2.    However, we might need to pause them for repairs or maintenance. These could be planned or unplanned interruptions. 
       7.3.    We’ll work hard to fix any issues in our services quickly. If an interruption lasts a long time, we may inform you via email or SMS.
8.    Problems with your Services: 
       8.1.    If you encounter any issues with our services, please contact our support team as soon as possible. We’ll aim to identify and fix any issues promptly. 
       8.2.    If the problem is related to our service or fibre network and is situated at your premises, we may need to send a technician to help. 
       8.3.    If a technician’s visit is needed, and the problem in the service is a result of damage or negligence caused at your property by you or others, you may have to pay for it to be fixed - we’ll let you know about any potential costs in advance when possible.
9.    Your Information & Privacy: 
       9.1.    Your privacy is of utmost importance to us. 
       9.2.    When you use our service, you need to provide personal information with us for the purpose of setting up your service. This information may be held for future communication with you for the purposes account verification, communicate with you regarding your service(s). 
       9.3.    Our Privacy Policy, which follows the Privacy Act 2020 and the Telecommunications Information Privacy Code 2020, explains what info we collect and how we handle it. We work hard to protect your information and won’t share your communication details unless you agree, it’s required by law, or to prevent fraud or to prevent health & safety emergencies.
       9.4.    If you disconnect services, we will retain any information related to the service connection at the premises, but will purge and delete any personal information after 30 days after the service is disconnected. 
10.    Service Security & Privacy: 
       10.1.    We can’t guarantee our services will always be virus-free, private, and secure because we can’t control how you use them.
11.    Monitoring: 
       11.1.    We’re legally required to keep an eye on our network activity. We’ll share information if needed to comply with laws or regulations, or in response to legal requests. We might also edit, remove, or block some information if the law requires us to. 
       11.2.    We monitor our services and network health, and ensure fair internet usage to prevent any user from overloading our network.
12.    Other Party Services and Equipment: 
       12.1.    We’re take no responsible for supporting other-party products, equipment, services, or information. 
       12.2.    If you use such equipment or services on our networks and it fails, get damaged, or are illegal, we’re not liable. 
       12.3.    We also don’t have to support our services on other providers’ equipment.
13.    Content disclaimer: 
       13.1.    We’re not liable for the content or information you access through our services, including any inaccuracies, delays, faults, damages, or losses. 
       13.2.    We’re also not responsible if content on your devices or sent over our networks gets damaged or lost. You’re responsible for the content you send and receive using our services.

2 - Your Responsibilities 
1.    Personal Use: 
       1.1.    The use of our residential services are for your personal and household use. 
       1.2.    If you want to use them differently, you need to agree this with us to ensure we can provide the best services for your needs and are aligned with our agreement for the services we provide to you.
2.    Secure Identification and Information: 
       2.1.    When we talk with you, we’ll ask for your account details to confirm your identity, 
       2.2.    Your account details associated to your account held with us and may include your:
              2.2.1.    Account holders name,
              2.2.2.    Contact phone number,
              2.2.3.    Contact email address, 
              2.2.4.    Account PIN, and
              2.2.5.    Billing postal address.
       2.3.    These account details are associated only to your service with us with us and should not use common or memorable details for security purposes to prevent others from gaining unauthorized access to your account with us,
       2.4.    It’s crucial you keep this information confidential. If you suspect unauthorized access to your account, inform us right away.
3.    Respect: 
       3.1.    We require that you be respectful to our staff and others as we are not tolerant to abuse, bullying or threats of any kind.
4.    Respect Our Network: 
       4.1.    Don’t do anything that could harm our networks, services or equipment. 
       4.2.    Only connect devices that are approved. 
       4.3.    If you cause any damage, you may need to pay for repairs or replacements.
5.    Follow the Law: 
       5.1.    Always use our services legally,
       5.2.    We are not responsible if you use our services in any unlawful manner.
6.    Fair Use Policy: 
       6.1.    Your services are metered to comply with fair usage policy. 
       6.2.    Use our services reasonably and not excessively. 
       6.3.    Our policy is based on our average service usage. 
       6.4.    Under excessive use of our network we will inform you of your usage and options, and 
       6.5.    If we think you’re repeatedly exceeded our average usage and overusing, we may limit the speed throughput or stop your service.
7.    Follow Instructions: 
       7.1.    Follow any instructions we give you in using our services in a fair and responsible manner.
8.    Account Responsibility: 
       8.1.    You’re responsible for anyone using your services. 
       8.2.    If someone uses your account without permission, it’s your responsibility to ensure they are removed, unless we caused it.
9.    No Reselling: 
       9.1.    Don’t sell or commercially exploit our services as a reseller of our service, this may invalidate our service offering to you and result in your service being terminated.
10.    No False Endorsements: 
       10.1.    Don’t imply that we’ve endorsed or sponsored you unless we’ve agreed to it.
11.    Intellectual Property: 
       11.1.    You don’t own any rights in our networks, services, or anything we provide. Respect all intellectual property rights.

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3 - Billing & Accounting
1.    Bill Payment: 
       1.1.    Unless you’re using a prepaid service, we’ll send you monthly bills via email or online. 
       1.2.    If you are using online billing, we will send you a notification via email or SMS, that your bill is ready to be paid.
2.    Payment for Services: 
       2.1.    All our services are prepaid, that means that you will pay for your coming months service usage as soon as your service becomes available for you to use,
       2.2.    Some service plans may require an additional connection charge as part of your plan and this charge will be communicated in your plan.
       2.3.    If you require a modem that we supply to you as part of your service connection, we will charge for this upon us posting this to you.
       2.4.    All our plans are based on a recurring monthly charge after the first month,
       2.5.    If you want to disconnect your service order you will need to inform us atleast 5 days prior to your recurring payment is due,
       2.6.    Any plans that are disconnection prior to the monthly recurring charge being applied, any prepaid charges collected on your service that are not used after the service disconnection will be prorated and replayed into your bank account,
3.    Failure to Pay Bills: It’s important to pay these monthly recurring bills on the due date. If not, we may:
       3.1.    Apply a speed limit to your service to 5 Mbps,
       3.2.    Apply a late payment fee. This covers our cost to recover the unpaid amount.
       3.3.    Suspend and disconnect your service if your bill is not paid after 5 working days after the bill due date. If suspended, you’ll need to pay a fee to reconnect your services and any unpaid bills.
       3.4.    If disconnected, your debt may be handed to a collection agency. You might be charged for the cost of recovering the unpaid amount, including possible legal fees.
4.    Credit Card Payments: 
       4.1.    Paying your bill with a credit card incurs a surcharge. But topping up a prepaid account won’t have this extra fee.
5.    Payment Processing: 
       5.1.    We process payments from Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. 
       5.2.    Payments made on weekends or holidays will be processed on the next working day.
6.    Contacting you: 
       6.1.    At times, we’ll need to contact you about your bill or service updates. 
       6.2.    We’ll use the contact details you’ve given us. To do this, we may contact you through text, email, or post. 
       6.3.    If your contact details are incorrect or outdated, we can’t be held responsible for missed notices or billing info.

4 - Changes to Your Services
1.    Positive or Neutral Changes: From time to time, we may introduce neutral or beneficial changes to your original service ordered, where is does not impact your service price, and we’ll implement these changes immediately. With these types of changes, we might not notify you about these changes. If these changes alter our terms, these will be updated on our website.
2.    Disadvantageous Changes: If we make changes that could disadvantage you, and if these changes are within our control, we’ll give you a 30-day notice via post, email, or text message. If you’re on a fixed-term contract and want to end your services due to these changes, we won’t charge you an early termination fee or a notice period fee.
3.    Changing Your Plan: If you want to change your service plan, there might be specific terms that apply, like a transfer fee for fixed-term contracts. Check your Plan Terms and Technology Terms for details.
4.    Early Termination of Services: f you decide you want to leave us during any term-contacts you may have outstanding, this may incur an early termination change and this change will have to be paid if you’re on a fixed-term contract.
5.    Customer Decision to Terminate Services: Where no-term services are offered or applicable for your plan, you will be required to provide a minimum of 3-days notice for the service termination.
6.    Our Decision to Terminate Services: If we decide to stop providing a service or plan, we may:
       6.1.    Move you to another service or plan if applicable. If this change disadvantages you, we’ll give you a 30-day notice. If you want to leave us because of this change (and is considered to be a Positive or Neutral Change), and your existing plan is subject to an early termination fee, you’ll have to pay an early termination fee if you’re on a fixed-term contract that has not expired, unless this change has disadvantaged you.
       6.2.    Terminate your services and advise you of an alternative Services with alternative third-party Service Providers. Under these circumstances, we’ll give you at least 30-day notice. Under these circumstances no early-termination fees will be applied.

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5 - Ending Services
1.    Cancellation of Services: 
       1.1.    If you’re on a fixed-term contract and you cancel your service, we may charge an early termination fee if it is applicable. 
       1.2.    But if you’re cancelling due to a change that disadvantages you, this fee won’t apply.
       1.3.    If you are not subject to an early termination charge on your plan and you cancel your service, we will proceed to terminate your service and upon termination will prorate the charge and apply any refund back to your nominated bank account or credit your account.
2.    Cancellation Notice Period: 
       2.1.    We require a minimum of 5 working  days if you want to cancel your service, this is to allow us to process your request and ensure that your service is correctly terminated.
       2.2.    After you tell us you want to cancel, and you are on a postpaid account you’ll need to pay for any uncharged part of the service in your next recurring bill within 30 days of receiving your bill. 
       2.3.    If you want to end your service immediately, we may charge a notice period fee of upto 5 days. This fee won’t apply if you’re cancelling due to a disadvantageous change.
3.    Transfer to another Service Provider: 
       3.1.    If you want to switch to another Service Provider, ask them to request the transfer. 
       3.2.    We recommend doing this 30-days in advance to ensure continuous service, avoid any early termination charges or avoid double billing.
4.    Unhappy with Services: 
       4.1.    If you’re not satisfied with our services, you might be able to cancel without an early termination fee. Please contact us to discuss this first to see if any early termination charges will be applied or not under your circumstances for disconnection your services with us.
5.    Suspension or Termination: 
       5.1.    If you breach the terms or if our network is unavailable or congested, we may suspend, restrict, or end your services. 
       5.2.    We may also do this if we believe it’s necessary for operational or security reasons, to manage traffic, or if there’s a risk of harm. 
       5.3.    If we suspend your service, we may charge a reconnection fee. 
6.    Permanently Ending Service & Operations: 
       6.1.    If we decide to stop service operation, we will end your services and plan, and suggest an alternative Service Providers who will support your service needs. In this event we’ll provide you with at least a 40-day advance notice, and no early termination fees will apply if applicable.
       6.2.    If you are on a postpaid services plan, and we stop service operation you will be required to pay any outstanding charges for your till the day your service is stopped.
       6.3.    If you are on a prepaid services plan, and we stop service operation we will prorate any charges back to you for any unused services you may not have used.

6 - Resolving Disputes
1.    Service Disputes:
       1.1.    If you have any dispute regarding your service, please contact our support staff immediately by emailing us on support@bainz.co.nz. 

7 - Fibre Broadband Services
1.    Fibre Connection Charges: 
       1.1.    We will tell you about our connection and installation charges before you agree to use the service.
2.    Unsuccessful Connection: 
       2.1.    We will not charge you if we are unable to connect services at your premises.
3.    Cancelling Order Before Service Activation: 
       3.1.    If you cancel your order after we’ve set an installation date, you might have to pay a cancellation fee. 
4.    Charging Services After Installation: 
       4.1.    If a fibre installation is required, your billing starts once the fibre is installedyou’re your service is active. 
       4.2.    If you’re already on our network, charges begin from the day we activate your services or, we switch your services from your current Service Provider onto our service. 
5.    Inside Your Home: 
       5.1.    The fibre network inside your home is the property of the Local Fibre Company and it is your responsibility to ensure you take care that it is not damaged or poorly maintained.
6.    Damage to the Fibre Network: 
       6.1.    If the fibre network within the property boundary of inside your property is damaged, you are responsible for any repair cost in order to resume services again.
       6.2.    Any damage caused to you  fibre network in your property will not be considered asa a service outage and will not be entitled to any refund, whilst the network is not repaired.

7 - Outside your Property: 
       7.1.    If the network outside your property boundary is damaged, we will  do our best to fix any service issues caused to you . 
       7.2.    If you notice any problems with the fibre network outside your network please call our support team as soon as possible to avoid any service impacts.
       7.3.    Any service outage caused outside your property that results in a service outage may not subject to refunds.
       7.4.    Any service outage caused outside your property are subject to fibre restoration that are managed by the Local Fibre Companies. 

8 - Access:

Sometimes, to keep you and our other customers safe, or to maintain or improve our network and services, we or our partners might need to access your property or equipment, or remotely access your equipment. We’ll always try to contact you first if this is the case. If you don’t allow us access, we might have to cancel your services.

9 - Moving house:

If you’re moving and want to take your broadband service with you, we may be able to assist you in transferring your services to your new address whilst still using our services.

10 - Force Majure Events: 
       10.1.    Force Majure events such as extreme weather events, earthquakes, flooding may cause service outages, in these events our services may be unavailable until the event situations are not under control by us and our partners,
       10.2.    Under these Force Majure events we may not be able to restore your services under our normal operations and will not be subject to refunds, unless we agree to these.