The following terms apply to the supply by us of goods, products and services (collectively "Services", or individually a "Service") to our residential customers. In addition to these Terms, terms and conditions specific to a particular Service ("specific product terms") may also apply. Those specific product terms "sit beneath" these general Terms.
Copies of the specific product terms can be found on our website. Please call us on 123 if you have any questions about these Terms, or any specific product terms.
Content of these Terms:
In these terms we have used "we" for Spark New Zealand Trading Limited, "you" for our customer and "Services" to cover all goods and services of any kind we provide to you/your home, and anything else in relation to them.
These Terms continue to apply for as long as the agreement you have with us remains in place, no matter where you live and whatever telephone numbers we allocate for you to use from time to time, so long as Spark continues to provide Services to you. These Terms do not apply to anything other service providers agree to do for, or provide to, you under any agreements between you and them.
Please note that different terms apply when we provide mobile telephone services to you. Different terms also apply to internet, entertainment, information and other services provided by other Spark companies, or other entities. Please call us on 123 or refer to our website for information about how to obtain a copy of the terms applying to those other services.
As summarised above, other terms may also apply to some of our Services (i.e. in addition to these Terms). These are the specific product terms referred to above. By way of example, additional terms apply to internet services provided by us to your residential home; when we provide Smartphone services; or we, or other service providers approved by us, provide directories listing or directories assistance services for you as a residential customer. For further information about these Services, and any specific product terms that apply to them, check the page on our website for that particular Service, or alternatively call us on 123.
Specific product terms that apply to a Service will prevail in relation to that Service to the extent that they are inconsistent with these Terms.
Whenever we provide Services for you, or in connection with your Spark account(s) ("Account") or any additional user account(s) which is established under your Spark Account ("Sub-Accounts"), we will provide them with reasonable care and skill, begin providing the Services within a reasonable time of them being requested, and make all reasonable efforts to ensure our Services do everything we say they will. However, given the nature of telecommunications products and service (including our reliance on systems and services that we do not own or control), we cannot promise that our Services they will be continuous or fault free or available at a particular location.
However, we will always try to restore any Service outage as soon as we reasonably can.
We may alter our Services from time to time.
Changes that benefit you or have a neutral impact on you
If we reasonably consider that a change to our Services is likely to benefit you or have a neutral impact on you we may make that change immediately and will tell you about the change as soon as possible after the change has been made. Examples of changes that will benefit you include a reduction in charges or inclusion of additional benefits in your plan. Examples of changes that will have a neutral impact on include changing the name a service we provide you.
Other changes that have an impact on you
If we alter our Services in a way that reduces the Service offering currently received by you and the change is within our control we will provide you one month's notice, of such alterations. However, if the change is outside of our control, and it is possible, we will provide you notice of the change beforehand. If the change is outside of our control and we are unable to provide you notice of the change beforehand we will provide you notice as soon as possible after the change has been made. When determining whether a change in the Service offering has a negative impact on you we will act in good faith. We will tell you about any such alterations by emailing or writing to you (such as bill message or direct mail) and by publishing the change on our website. If you are a minimum term contract we will not reduce the service offering currently received by you without either your consent or giving you the option to terminate your contract without incurring an early termination fee.
We will make sure you are provided with new connections as soon as possible, Monday to Friday (except on public holidays), as long as there is a telephone in your home and a live Spark telephone line connecting your home to the network, and any credit arrangements required under these Terms are in place. We have explained in section 4 below what "the network" is. If a technician needs to visit your home, we will do our best to arrange a time that is convenient to you. If there is no live Spark telephone line connecting your home to the network, we will discuss with you what needs to be done to provide you with a live line, how long that is likely to take and what our charges will be.
We will take all steps that we reasonably can to arrange for all faults on the network outside your home which is impairing the Service we provide to you, to be fixed. If you are taking our optional standard Wiring Maintenance Service, we will also fix faults in the telephone sockets and wiring inside your home if they are covered by the Service. To report a fault, call us on 120 and if we need to arrange for someone to visit your home, we will do our best to arrange a time that is convenient to you. If it is found that there is no fault, or the fault was caused or contributed to by you or your equipment, we may need to charge you for this. You will be advised of any fees which may apply before you incur them.
The copper telephone line into your home is designed principally for voice calls. If the line into your home is used for transmitting data to and from equipment such as computers connected to the Internet or home fax machines, we do not guarantee that this service will be trouble free. However will do our best to ensure any problems are fixed in a reasonable time frame. Please visit our website to see other products that may be more suitable to your needs.
We will arrange for you to be correctly listed on the directory assistance service provided by or for us. Please tell us if your telephone book listing is incorrect.
If you have any queries about any part of your Spark bill, call us on 123 and we can usually answer most queries on the spot. You do not need to pay the queried portion of your bill until we investigate it and let you know whether or not there has been an error.
See section 11 below (Billing) for further details about billing.
The network consists of all the communications facilities owned by us and other parties with whom we work (for example, Chorus), and which are used to provide our Services to you. Acquiring our Services does not give you any rights in any part of the network.
You agree to meet these general responsibilities:
You agree to make sure everyone you are responsible for and who may use or do anything in relation to our Services provided to you also meets the responsibilities set out in this clause.
If equipment supplied to you by someone else does not work properly, you need to contact the equipment supplier or manufacturer, rather than us, about the problem. Any responsibilities we may have for equipment you acquire from us will be covered by a separate agreement.
You are responsible for any telephone sockets and wiring inside your home and for fixing any faults in them. However, if a fault is caused by a fault on our network we will be responsible for fixing the fault. If you choose to purchase our optional standard Wiring Maintenance Service, some faults will be covered by this Service. The terms and conditions in respect of that Service set out more detail of what is and is not covered.
You are also responsible for any other wiring or equipment in your home, such as alarm systems connected to the network or subscription television wiring. If any of it interferes with the provision of our Services to you, we have no responsibility to pay you any compensation for any interruption to our Services, or if we have to temporarily disconnect the other wiring or equipment so as to restore our Services to you. Our standard Wiring Maintenance Service does not cover fixing faults in such other wiring or equipment.
You are responsible for your relationship with any other supplier providing telephone or related services for you. For example, if we provide your local call Service, but you use another service provider for National or International Calls and you change your address, you need to tell both us (for Services we provide) and the other service provider (for services it provides) about your move. If there is a problem with a service provided for you by another supplier, you need to contact the other supplier about the problem.
If you have services with us that include your calling and you choose to take your calling to another supplier it is your responsibility to tell us to remove these services from your account.
We will allocate one or more telephone numbers for you to use, depending on the Service(s) you want. Any number that we allocate to you will always remain our property. In exceptional circumstances, where there are no alternative solutions available, we may be required to change any telephone number we have allocated to you and allocate you a new telephone number. We will give you reasonable notice before making any change but we do not have to pay you anything if we change a number. Please call us on 123 if you want to change your Spark telephone number.
You agree to pay for the Services we provide for you, no matter who uses them. For example, you are responsible for the charges for anyone else's use of your telephone or your internet. However, if you have any unexplained usage and/or charges on your account please contact us as soon as you become aware of them and we will investigate for you. If acting in good faith we consider the usage and/or charges are a result of fraud by another person or by someone outside of your reasonable control we will provide you with an appropriate resolution, which may include providing you with a credit or a refund.
We have services to help customers control the use of their telephones and/or internet and to help prevent unauthorised use of your Services. Visit our website or call us on 123 for more information about the availability of these services.
The standard charges for our commonly used Services are set out on our website. You are also advised of the charges payable by you at the time you agree to take up a new service. Charges begin from the time you are connected to the network. Subject to any other applicable minimum term or notice period, or other arrangement between us, a one month minimum rental charge is payable if you give up any Service within the first month after we begin providing the Service for you.
We may change our charges or plans from time to time.
When we decrease charges for any of Services we may make the change immediately and we will tell you about the change as soon as possible after the change has been made. We do this by emailing or writing (for example by bill message) to you or SMS text messaging you or an online message and publish the changes on our website.
When we increase charges for any of our Services (including introducing charges for Services that are currently free) and you are impacted by the change, we will give you one month’s notice of these changes. We will notify you of these changes by emailing or writing (for example by bill message) to you or SMS text messaging you or an online message and publish the changes on our website.
If you are on a minimum term contract we will not change the monthly plan charge or any early termination fee during the term of your minimum term contract, without either your consent or giving you the option to terminate your contract without incurring an early termination fee. Notwithstanding the aforementioned we may change the monthly plan charge if the change arises from, relates to or is the result of a regulated charge outside our control, for example where the charge is a tax or levy imposed by the law or there is a charge for a regulated input required to provide you service, and the terms of your minimum term contract will remain in effect. The preceding sentence does not apply to you if you signed up to a minimum term contract between 17 March 2015 and 14 July 2015 and you are still within that minimum term period.
We may change you to a new plan if we consider that you will be better off. We will give you one month’s notice of any change in plan. We will notify you by emailing or writing (for example by bill message) to you or SMS text messaging you. If you are not happy with the change in plan you can select any other plan currently available for sale to new customers or terminate your contract and if you are on a minimum term contract you will not incur an early termination fee.
Charges for our Services, and any other amounts you may owe to us pursuant to these Terms and any other applicable terms, form part of the bill for your Spark Account. You agree that we may assign any amounts you owe us to another of our related companies ("related company" has the meaning set out in section 2(3) of the Companies Act 1993), or to anyone else, without prior notice to you.
Our charges for residential Services, which can be found on our website, will normally include:
Examples of other charges for commonly used residential Services include charges for:
Billing our charges is discussed in further detail below, in section 11.
In some cases, when we consider it reasonable and necessary to do so we may require you to pay a deposit or provide a guarantee as security for paying future charges for Services to be provided to you. We may also set a credit limit for your account with us, and amend that amount from time to time, after giving you reasonable notice of the new credit limit. If you exceed any credit limit, we will do our best to contact you to tell you the amount you need to pay to get back within your credit limit. You must pay that amount within the period we have agreed with you. If you fail to do so, to prevent you from incurring any further charges, we may restrict or suspend all or part of our Services without notice. However, you will remain liable for all charges (including any late payment fees) incurred in excess of the credit limit. If you have any questions about credit arrangements, please call us on 128.
We will send you bills for our charges. Unless we otherwise agree, we will make your bills available to you for each billing period free of charge by electronic mail only. If you joined Spark on or before 30 July 2016 and chose to receive your bill by post for a fee set out on our website, we will continue to provide you with that service. If we change how often we will bill you, we will provide you with one month's notice of these changes. We will tell you about any such changes by emailing or writing to you or SMS text messaging you.
The bills will include any charges for directory assistance, enhanced directory listing services and 0900 calls made from your telephone or charged to you, any charitable donations promised during those calls, and any other amounts charged to you by 0900 service providers. Our bill to you may also include any other amounts you owe for any reason to us or to other Spark companies.
You must pay each bill by the due date for payment set out on it. Call us on 123 to ask about the different ways you can pay.
Our bills are based on our records of your use of our Services. However, please let us know as soon as possible if you think there is a mistake in your bill. As noted above (section 3 - "Answering queries about your bill"), while you wait to hear from us, you do not need to pay the queried part of the bill by the due date for payment. However, if you have already paid your bill you may still query your bill if you think there is a mistake and you should contact us with your query as soon as possible.
If we agree there is a mistake, we will adjust your next bill or, if appropriate provide a refund. If we find there is no mistake we let you know and we will provide you with a reason why there is no mistake, and if the due date for payment has already passed, you must pay the amount outstanding within 7 days or as otherwise agreed.
If you do not pay a bill by the due date for payment set out on it, any or all of the following may occur:
Our Services to you may be restricted if you are becoming a Spark residential customer, or if you ask us to provide additional Services, until a satisfactory payment history is established. For example, we may put a toll bar on your telephone.
In addition, if you do not meet a responsibility you have to us or to any other Spark company, at any time we may withhold, suspend, restrict, replace or terminate any Service provided to you, or take such other steps as we believe are reasonably necessary or appropriate. We may also restrict, suspend or cancel your Service(s) at any time if:
We will always do our best to contact you before doing this (and as noted above, will give you at least 5 working days' notice if we are going to disconnect your Services for non-payment). In most cases, if you have not meet a responsibility you have to us (for example, where you did not pay your bill by the due date) normal charges continue to apply during the suspension or restriction of any Service. However, if following a suspension or restriction of any Service we permanently disconnect that Service, you will only be responsible for the charges incurred up to the date of the suspension or restriction.
Where we suspend or terminate a Service for non-payment, we may require you to pay a reconnection charge before you can use it again. The reconnection current reconnection charge is set-out on our website at http://www.spark.co.nz/help/billing/manage/spark-collections. Your account will also need to be paid in full or you will have to negotiate a repayment plan with us. The reconnection will be subject to our standard credit approval.
Where we permanently disconnect your Services you will remain liable for all charges incurred up to the date of a withholding, suspension or restriction of your Services. Where such disconnection is before the end of a minimum term contract an early termination fee will also apply. We may also suspend, restrict or terminate any Service in other circumstances if we think it reasonable or necessary (by way of example only, to protect our network from attacks, for maintenance or repairs, or interruptions to the availability of the network). We will always do our best to contact you before doing this, but may not be able to do so in all circumstances.. Please call us on 128 to request removal of a suspension or restriction.
1. Subject only to clause 13.2 below, nothing in these terms affects your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986. The website www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz is a useful place to visit to help you understand your rights under this legislation.
2. If you are acquiring the Services for the purposes of a business as defined in the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 you acknowledge that the provisions of that Act do not apply to the Services that that we provide to you under this agreement.
3. Your liability to us:
Provided we notify you of our claim within 12 months after we reasonably become aware of the occurrence of the relevant event or series of events that gave rise to our claim. These limitations do not apply to your obligation to pay any charges, for any loss or damage caused by fraud, gross negligence, wilful breach or wilful damage.
We may become aware that we have suffered loss before you do. If we suffer any loss as a result of this agreement, we agree to take reasonable steps to avoid or minimise our loss and that you are not liable for any loss that results from our failure to take reasonable steps to do so.
4. Our liability to you:
5. We are not liable to you for any indirect or consequential loss, or for any loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, business or anticipated business or anticipated profits or savings.
6. You may become aware that you have suffered loss before we do. If you suffer any loss as a result of this agreement, you agree to take reasonable steps to avoid or minimise your loss and that we are not liable for any loss that results from your failure to take reasonable steps to do so.
7. We aim to provide quality services to you at all times, and exercise reasonable skill and care in performing our obligations to you. However, if we are prevented from performing any obligation in these Terms by reason of any act of God, act of State, riot, insurrection, civil commotion, strike, sanctions, boycott, embargo or any other circumstance beyond our reasonable control, we will try to advise you of the existence of the circumstances and its expected duration, and the obligations that are impacted by the circumstances. Our performance of these Terms and provision of Services to you will, to the extent that it is made impossible or impracticable by such circumstances (despite us taking reasonable steps to provide the services be suspended until such circumstances cease to exist. We are not liable to you for any failure or delay in performing any obligation set out in these Terms in the circumstances contemplated by this clause 13.7 you will not be required to pay any charges for any Services to the extent that such Services are not provided by us due to the circumstances contemplated by this clause 13.7.
8. No other Spark company, network operator and/or third party supplier (including their officers, employees, contractors and agents) will be liable to you for loss or damage of any kind arising from your use of the Services. This clause creates a right and benefit that other Spark companies, network operators and/or suppliers can enforce as a defence to any claim.
If we or any of the other parties listed in clause 13.8 are ever liable to you for any reason, the maximum combined amount we and all the other parties listed in clause 13.8 (together) will have to pay you and anyone else who uses the Services we provide for you (together), will be:
provided that you notify us of your claim within 12 months after you reasonably became aware of the occurrence of the relevant event or series or events that gave rise to your claim. These limitations do not limit any rights you may have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986.
To find out how we collect, use, protect and share your personal information, please read our Privacy Policy
From time to time we may send you sales and marketing information. You agree that the sales and marketing information we send electronically, does not need to include an unsubscribe facility.
We may change these Terms by changing or removing existing terms or by adding new ones. Changes may take the form of completely new Terms. We must always tell you about any changes to these Terms at least one month before they come into effect. We will never change this requirement. We will tell you about any changes by emailing or writing (for example by bill message) to you or SMS messaging you and / or by putting a notice in major daily newspapers. Your continued use of our Services after changes have been notified to you in this way indicates your acceptance of those changes. If you do not agree to the changes you may exercise your right to terminate this agreement.
We will send bills and other notices and communications to the last physical or electronic address or facsimile number or mobile number you have given us. We can assume any bill or notice we send by physical post has been delivered three days after we post it and, if sent electronically or by facsimile, has been received by you on the date it was sent. Please tell us as soon as possible if you change your address or other contact details.
You also agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.
If you need to contact us for any reason, you should visit our website, www.spark.co.nz/help or contact us on 123.
We may have any Spark company or Spark-approved agent or service provider approved by us perform and have the benefit of any part of our side of the agreement you have with us.
We may transfer to someone else all or any part of our side of the agreement you have with us and you consent to that. Before we do this and provided there are no confidentiality obligations, we will tell you at least one month in advance.
If for any reason any term of the agreement you have with us cannot be enforced or relied on by you, us or any of the other people listed in clause 13, all other terms of the agreement remain binding.
You may temporarily or permanently give up any Service (for example, Call Minder or Call Diversion) by calling us on 123. If giving up a particular Service, the agreement you have with us will remain in place. If you give up a Service and later want it reconnected, you may have to pay a reconnection charge.
If you exercise your right to terminate a Service that is subject to a minimum term, and you are ending the Service prior to that minimum term, then an early termination fee may apply.
Subject to any minimum term or notice period (where, as noted, an early termination fee may apply), charges will stop 30 days after we receive your notice to terminate a Service, unless we agree that charges will stop earlier. You can choose to continue to receive the benefit of a Service during the 30 days’ notice period.
We may decide to stop providing a particular Service to you and any other Spark customers. If we do this, we will provide you with one month's notice, of such alterations. We will tell you about any such alterations by emailing or writing or SMS messaging you. If the Service is subject to a minimum term you will not be required to pay an early termination fee.
On ending any Service or ending our entire agreement, we will cease providing the relevant Service or Services and we may retain some information, data or other material that we hold in relation to your use of the Service or Services, including personal information, provided that this complies with the Privacy Act 1993 and the Telecommunications Information Privacy Code. We may reallocate any personal identifier including, but not limited to, any phone number, email alias or domain name, to another customer.
If you want to end the entire agreement you have with us (i.e. these Terms together with any other relevant specific product terms), please contact us by calling 123. Subject to any minimum term or notice period (where, as noted, an early termination fee may apply), the agreement will end and charges will stop 30 days after we receive your notice, unless we agree that charges will stop earlier. You can choose to continue to receive the benefit of a Service during the 30 days’ notice period. You may not transfer your responsibilities under the agreement to anyone else.
We may end the entire agreement at any time if you do not:
We may end the agreement for any other reason by giving you at least one month's notice.
If the agreement is ended, we will stop providing any Services for you as a residential customer (though as noted, we will give you at least 5 working days' notice if we are going to disconnect your land line for non-payment). The ending of the agreement does not affect any rights and responsibilities which are intended to continue or come into force afterwards.
We (and other service providers who work with us) own or are licensed to use intellectual property rights in content, software, personal identifiers (including addresses) and anything else we use or make available to you in connection with our Services (together "Works").
These rights include, for example, all copyright, trade mark and design rights. All title, interest and rights (including but not limited to ownership and intellectual property rights) in these Works will remain in Spark and/or our providers. You acknowledge such title, interest and rights in these Works and will not take any action to jeopardise, limit or interfere in any manner with Spark's or our providers' title, interests or rights in these Works with respect to the Services, including, but not limited to, the use of Spark's trademarks or trade name.
Spark does not claim ownership of any content or material you provide or make available through the Services ("Customer Material"). However, by posting any Customer Material on online forums operated or approved by Spark, you grant to Spark a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable, unrestricted, worldwide licence to use, copy sub-licence, redistribute, adapt, transmit, publish, delete, edit and/or broadcast, publicly perform or display the Customer Materials. Provided that Spark may not derive any direct financial gain from the exploitation of any right under such licence, unless otherwise agreed with you.
Your use of any software provided by us is governed by the terms of the end user licence agreement, if any, which accompanies or is included with, or referenced in, the software. You may not install or use any software that is accompanied by or includes a licence agreement unless you first agree to the licence agreement terms, which agreement will be deemed to be given if you use the software. For any software not accompanied by a licence agreement, Spark hereby grants to you a revocable personal, non-transferable licence to use the software for viewing and otherwise using the particular Service in accordance with these Terms, and for no other purpose provided that you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. Any reproduction or redistribution of the content and/or software is expressly prohibited.
To find out how we collect, use, protect and share your personal information, please read our Privacy Policy
We may have any of our related companies or Spark-approved agents perform our obligations under these Terms or any specific product terms.
This agreement is entered into by Spark on our own behalf and for the benefit of any of our related companies, and will, with any necessary modifications, apply to any of those related companies, and will be enforceable by them under the Contracts (Privity) Act 1982. Except as expressly stated, this agreement does not confer any rights on third parties and to the maximum extent allowable at law we will not, under this agreement, be liable in any way to any third parties.
Unless otherwise stated in these Terms, we may exercise our powers or rights at any time without prior notice to you.
We make no representation that the Services are appropriate or available for use in locations outside of New Zealand, and accessing them from territories where their contents are illegal is prohibited. Those who choose to access this site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.
Our Services are provided under New Zealand law. If you want to bring a claim against us you agree to do so in a New Zealand court. We also have a system for resolving complaints.
The following terms apply to the supply by us of goods, products and services (collectively "Services", or individually a "Service") to our residential customers. In addition to these Terms, terms and conditions specific to a particular Service ("specific product terms") may also apply. Those specific product terms "sit beneath" these general Terms.
Copies of the specific product terms can be found on our website. Please call us on 123 if you have any questions about these Terms, or any specific product terms.
Content of these Terms:
In these terms we have used "we" for Spark New Zealand Trading Limited, "you" for our customer and "Services" to cover all goods and services of any kind we provide to you/your home, and anything else in relation to them.
These Terms continue to apply for as long as the agreement you have with us remains in place, no matter where you live and whatever telephone numbers we allocate for you to use from time to time, so long as Spark continues to provide Services to you. These Terms do not apply to anything other service providers agree to do for, or provide to, you under any agreements between you and them.
Please note that different terms apply when we provide mobile telephone services to you. Different terms also apply to internet, entertainment, information and other services provided by other Spark companies, or other entities. Please call us on 123 or refer to our website for information about how to obtain a copy of the terms applying to those other services.
As summarised above, other terms may also apply to some of our Services (i.e. in addition to these Terms). These are the specific product terms referred to above. By way of example, additional terms apply to internet services provided by us to your residential home; when we provide Smartphone services; or we, or other service providers approved by us, provide directories listing or directories assistance services for you as a residential customer. For further information about these Services, and any specific product terms that apply to them, check the page on our website for that particular Service, or alternatively call us on 123.
Specific product terms that apply to a Service will prevail in relation to that Service to the extent that they are inconsistent with these Terms.
Whenever we provide Services for you, or in connection with your Spark account(s) ("Account") or any additional user account(s) which is established under your Spark Account ("Sub-Accounts"), we will provide them with reasonable care and skill, begin providing the Services within a reasonable time of them being requested, and make all reasonable efforts to ensure our Services do everything we say they will. However, given the nature of telecommunications products and service (including our reliance on systems and services that we do not own or control), we cannot promise that our Services they will be continuous or fault free or available at a particular location.
However, we will always try to restore any Service outage as soon as we reasonably can.
We may alter our Services from time to time.
Changes that benefit you or have a neutral impact on you
If we reasonably consider that a change to our Services is likely to benefit you or have a neutral impact on you we may make that change immediately and will tell you about the change as soon as possible after the change has been made. Examples of changes that will benefit you include a reduction in charges or inclusion of additional benefits in your plan. Examples of changes that will have a neutral impact on include changing the name a service we provide you.
Other changes that have an impact on you
If we alter our Services in a way that reduces the Service offering currently received by you and the change is within our control we will provide you one month's notice, of such alterations. However, if the change is outside of our control, and it is possible, we will provide you notice of the change beforehand. If the change is outside of our control and we are unable to provide you notice of the change beforehand we will provide you notice as soon as possible after the change has been made. When determining whether a change in the Service offering has a negative impact on you we will act in good faith. We will tell you about any such alterations by emailing or writing to you (such as bill message or direct mail) and by publishing the change on our website. If you are a minimum term contract we will not reduce the service offering currently received by you without either your consent or giving you the option to terminate your contract without incurring an early termination fee.
We will make sure you are provided with new connections as soon as possible, Monday to Friday (except on public holidays), as long as there is a telephone in your home and a live Spark telephone line connecting your home to the network, and any credit arrangements required under these Terms are in place. We have explained in section 4 below what "the network" is. If a technician needs to visit your home, we will do our best to arrange a time that is convenient to you. If there is no live Spark telephone line connecting your home to the network, we will discuss with you what needs to be done to provide you with a live line, how long that is likely to take and what our charges will be.
We will take all steps that we reasonably can to arrange for all faults on the network outside your home which is impairing the Service we provide to you, to be fixed. If you are taking our optional standard Wiring Maintenance Service, we will also fix faults in the telephone sockets and wiring inside your home if they are covered by the Service. To report a fault, call us on 120 and if we need to arrange for someone to visit your home, we will do our best to arrange a time that is convenient to you. If it is found that there is no fault, or the fault was caused or contributed to by you or your equipment, we may need to charge you for this. You will be advised of any fees which may apply before you incur them.
The copper telephone line into your home is designed principally for voice calls. If the line into your home is used for transmitting data to and from equipment such as computers connected to the Internet or home fax machines, we do not guarantee that this service will be trouble free. However will do our best to ensure any problems are fixed in a reasonable time frame. Please visit our website to see other products that may be more suitable to your needs.
We will arrange for you to be correctly listed on the directory assistance service provided by or for us. Please tell us if your telephone book listing is incorrect.
If you have any queries about any part of your Spark bill, call us on 123 and we can usually answer most queries on the spot. You do not need to pay the queried portion of your bill until we investigate it and let you know whether or not there has been an error.
See section 11 below (Billing) for further details about billing.
The network consists of all the communications facilities owned by us and other parties with whom we work (for example, Chorus), and which are used to provide our Services to you. Acquiring our Services does not give you any rights in any part of the network.
You agree to meet these general responsibilities:
You agree to make sure everyone you are responsible for and who may use or do anything in relation to our Services provided to you also meets the responsibilities set out in this clause.
If equipment supplied to you by someone else does not work properly, you need to contact the equipment supplier or manufacturer, rather than us, about the problem. Any responsibilities we may have for equipment you acquire from us will be covered by a separate agreement.
You are responsible for any telephone sockets and wiring inside your home and for fixing any faults in them. However, if a fault is caused by a fault on our network we will be responsible for fixing the fault. If you choose to purchase our optional standard Wiring Maintenance Service, some faults will be covered by this Service. The terms and conditions in respect of that Service set out more detail of what is and is not covered.
You are also responsible for any other wiring or equipment in your home, such as alarm systems connected to the network or subscription television wiring. If any of it interferes with the provision of our Services to you, we have no responsibility to pay you any compensation for any interruption to our Services, or if we have to temporarily disconnect the other wiring or equipment so as to restore our Services to you. Our standard Wiring Maintenance Service does not cover fixing faults in such other wiring or equipment.
You are responsible for your relationship with any other supplier providing telephone or related services for you. For example, if we provide your local call Service, but you use another service provider for National or International Calls and you change your address, you need to tell both us (for Services we provide) and the other service provider (for services it provides) about your move. If there is a problem with a service provided for you by another supplier, you need to contact the other supplier about the problem.
If you have services with us that include your calling and you choose to take your calling to another supplier it is your responsibility to tell us to remove these services from your account.
We will allocate one or more telephone numbers for you to use, depending on the Service(s) you want. Any number that we allocate to you will always remain our property. In exceptional circumstances, where there are no alternative solutions available, we may be required to change any telephone number we have allocated to you and allocate you a new telephone number. We will give you reasonable notice before making any change but we do not have to pay you anything if we change a number. Please call us on 123 if you want to change your Spark telephone number.
You agree to pay for the Services we provide for you, no matter who uses them. For example, you are responsible for the charges for anyone else's use of your telephone or your internet. However, if you have any unexplained usage and/or charges on your account please contact us as soon as you become aware of them and we will investigate for you. If acting in good faith we consider the usage and/or charges are a result of fraud by another person or by someone outside of your reasonable control we will provide you with an appropriate resolution, which may include providing you with a credit or a refund.
We have services to help customers control the use of their telephones and/or internet and to help prevent unauthorised use of your Services. Visit our website or call us on 123 for more information about the availability of these services.
The standard charges for our commonly used Services are set out on our website. You are also advised of the charges payable by you at the time you agree to take up a new service. Charges begin from the time you are connected to the network. Subject to any other applicable minimum term or notice period, or other arrangement between us, a one month minimum rental charge is payable if you give up any Service within the first month after we begin providing the Service for you.
We may change our charges or plans from time to time.
When we decrease charges for any of Services we may make the change immediately and we will tell you about the change as soon as possible after the change has been made. We do this by emailing or writing (for example by bill message) to you or SMS text messaging you or an online message and publish the changes on our website.
When we increase charges for any of our Services (including introducing charges for Services that are currently free) and you are impacted by the change, we will give you one month’s notice of these changes. We will notify you of these changes by emailing or writing (for example by bill message) to you or SMS text messaging you or an online message and publish the changes on our website.
If you are on a minimum term contract we will not change the monthly plan charge or any early termination fee during the term of your minimum term contract, without either your consent or giving you the option to terminate your contract without incurring an early termination fee. Notwithstanding the aforementioned we may change the monthly plan charge if the change arises from, relates to or is the result of a regulated charge outside our control, for example where the charge is a tax or levy imposed by the law or there is a charge for a regulated input required to provide you service, and the terms of your minimum term contract will remain in effect. The preceding sentence does not apply to you if you signed up to a minimum term contract between 17 March 2015 and 14 July 2015 and you are still within that minimum term period.
We may change you to a new plan if we consider that you will be better off. We will give you one month’s notice of any change in plan. We will notify you by emailing or writing (for example by bill message) to you or SMS text messaging you. If you are not happy with the change in plan you can select any other plan currently available for sale to new customers or terminate your contract and if you are on a minimum term contract you will not incur an early termination fee.
Charges for our Services, and any other amounts you may owe to us pursuant to these Terms and any other applicable terms, form part of the bill for your Spark Account. You agree that we may assign any amounts you owe us to another of our related companies ("related company" has the meaning set out in section 2(3) of the Companies Act 1993), or to anyone else, without prior notice to you.
Our charges for residential Services, which can be found on our website, will normally include:
Examples of other charges for commonly used residential Services include charges for:
Billing our charges is discussed in further detail below, in section 11.
In some cases, when we consider it reasonable and necessary to do so we may require you to pay a deposit or provide a guarantee as security for paying future charges for Services to be provided to you. We may also set a credit limit for your account with us, and amend that amount from time to time, after giving you reasonable notice of the new credit limit. If you exceed any credit limit, we will do our best to contact you to tell you the amount you need to pay to get back within your credit limit. You must pay that amount within the period we have agreed with you. If you fail to do so, to prevent you from incurring any further charges, we may restrict or suspend all or part of our Services without notice. However, you will remain liable for all charges (including any late payment fees) incurred in excess of the credit limit. If you have any questions about credit arrangements, please call us on 128.
We will send you bills for our charges. Unless we otherwise agree, we will make your bills available to you for each billing period free of charge by electronic mail only. If you joined Spark on or before 30 July 2016 and chose to receive your bill by post for a fee set out on our website, we will continue to provide you with that service. If we change how often we will bill you, we will provide you with one month's notice of these changes. We will tell you about any such changes by emailing or writing to you or SMS text messaging you.
The bills will include any charges for directory assistance, enhanced directory listing services and 0900 calls made from your telephone or charged to you, any charitable donations promised during those calls, and any other amounts charged to you by 0900 service providers. Our bill to you may also include any other amounts you owe for any reason to us or to other Spark companies.
You must pay each bill by the due date for payment set out on it. Call us on 123 to ask about the different ways you can pay.
Our bills are based on our records of your use of our Services. However, please let us know as soon as possible if you think there is a mistake in your bill. As noted above (section 3 - "Answering queries about your bill"), while you wait to hear from us, you do not need to pay the queried part of the bill by the due date for payment. However, if you have already paid your bill you may still query your bill if you think there is a mistake and you should contact us with your query as soon as possible.
If we agree there is a mistake, we will adjust your next bill or, if appropriate provide a refund. If we find there is no mistake we let you know and we will provide you with a reason why there is no mistake, and if the due date for payment has already passed, you must pay the amount outstanding within 7 days or as otherwise agreed.
If you do not pay a bill by the due date for payment set out on it, any or all of the following may occur:
Our Services to you may be restricted if you are becoming a Spark residential customer, or if you ask us to provide additional Services, until a satisfactory payment history is established. For example, we may put a toll bar on your telephone.
In addition, if you do not meet a responsibility you have to us or to any other Spark company, at any time we may withhold, suspend, restrict, replace or terminate any Service provided to you, or take such other steps as we believe are reasonably necessary or appropriate. We may also restrict, suspend or cancel your Service(s) at any time if:
We will always do our best to contact you before doing this (and as noted above, will give you at least 5 working days' notice if we are going to disconnect your Services for non-payment). In most cases, if you have not meet a responsibility you have to us (for example, where you did not pay your bill by the due date) normal charges continue to apply during the suspension or restriction of any Service. However, if following a suspension or restriction of any Service we permanently disconnect that Service, you will only be responsible for the charges incurred up to the date of the suspension or restriction.
Where we suspend or terminate a Service for non-payment, we may require you to pay a reconnection charge before you can use it again. The reconnection current reconnection charge is set-out on our website at http://www.spark.co.nz/help/billing/manage/spark-collections. Your account will also need to be paid in full or you will have to negotiate a repayment plan with us. The reconnection will be subject to our standard credit approval.
Where we permanently disconnect your Services you will remain liable for all charges incurred up to the date of a withholding, suspension or restriction of your Services. Where such disconnection is before the end of a minimum term contract an early termination fee will also apply. We may also suspend, restrict or terminate any Service in other circumstances if we think it reasonable or necessary (by way of example only, to protect our network from attacks, for maintenance or repairs, or interruptions to the availability of the network). We will always do our best to contact you before doing this, but may not be able to do so in all circumstances.. Please call us on 128 to request removal of a suspension or restriction.
1. Subject only to clause 13.2 below, nothing in these terms affects your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986. The website www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz is a useful place to visit to help you understand your rights under this legislation.
2. If you are acquiring the Services for the purposes of a business as defined in the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 you acknowledge that the provisions of that Act do not apply to the Services that that we provide to you under this agreement.
3. Your liability to us:
Provided we notify you of our claim within 12 months after we reasonably become aware of the occurrence of the relevant event or series of events that gave rise to our claim. These limitations do not apply to your obligation to pay any charges, for any loss or damage caused by fraud, gross negligence, wilful breach or wilful damage.
We may become aware that we have suffered loss before you do. If we suffer any loss as a result of this agreement, we agree to take reasonable steps to avoid or minimise our loss and that you are not liable for any loss that results from our failure to take reasonable steps to do so.
4. Our liability to you:
5. We are not liable to you for any indirect or consequential loss, or for any loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, business or anticipated business or anticipated profits or savings.
6. You may become aware that you have suffered loss before we do. If you suffer any loss as a result of this agreement, you agree to take reasonable steps to avoid or minimise your loss and that we are not liable for any loss that results from your failure to take reasonable steps to do so.
7. We aim to provide quality services to you at all times, and exercise reasonable skill and care in performing our obligations to you. However, if we are prevented from performing any obligation in these Terms by reason of any act of God, act of State, riot, insurrection, civil commotion, strike, sanctions, boycott, embargo or any other circumstance beyond our reasonable control, we will try to advise you of the existence of the circumstances and its expected duration, and the obligations that are impacted by the circumstances. Our performance of these Terms and provision of Services to you will, to the extent that it is made impossible or impracticable by such circumstances (despite us taking reasonable steps to provide the services be suspended until such circumstances cease to exist. We are not liable to you for any failure or delay in performing any obligation set out in these Terms in the circumstances contemplated by this clause 13.7 you will not be required to pay any charges for any Services to the extent that such Services are not provided by us due to the circumstances contemplated by this clause 13.7.
8. No other Spark company, network operator and/or third party supplier (including their officers, employees, contractors and agents) will be liable to you for loss or damage of any kind arising from your use of the Services. This clause creates a right and benefit that other Spark companies, network operators and/or suppliers can enforce as a defence to any claim.
If we or any of the other parties listed in clause 13.8 are ever liable to you for any reason, the maximum combined amount we and all the other parties listed in clause 13.8 (together) will have to pay you and anyone else who uses the Services we provide for you (together), will be:
provided that you notify us of your claim within 12 months after you reasonably became aware of the occurrence of the relevant event or series or events that gave rise to your claim. These limitations do not limit any rights you may have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986.
To find out how we collect, use, protect and share your personal information, please read our Privacy Policy
From time to time we may send you sales and marketing information. You agree that the sales and marketing information we send electronically, does not need to include an unsubscribe facility.
We may change these Terms by changing or removing existing terms or by adding new ones. Changes may take the form of completely new Terms. We must always tell you about any changes to these Terms at least one month before they come into effect. We will never change this requirement. We will tell you about any changes by emailing or writing (for example by bill message) to you or SMS messaging you and / or by putting a notice in major daily newspapers. Your continued use of our Services after changes have been notified to you in this way indicates your acceptance of those changes. If you do not agree to the changes you may exercise your right to terminate this agreement.
We will send bills and other notices and communications to the last physical or electronic address or facsimile number or mobile number you have given us. We can assume any bill or notice we send by physical post has been delivered three days after we post it and, if sent electronically or by facsimile, has been received by you on the date it was sent. Please tell us as soon as possible if you change your address or other contact details.
You also agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.
If you need to contact us for any reason, you should visit our website, www.spark.co.nz/help or contact us on 123.
We may have any Spark company or Spark-approved agent or service provider approved by us perform and have the benefit of any part of our side of the agreement you have with us.
We may transfer to someone else all or any part of our side of the agreement you have with us and you consent to that. Before we do this and provided there are no confidentiality obligations, we will tell you at least one month in advance.
If for any reason any term of the agreement you have with us cannot be enforced or relied on by you, us or any of the other people listed in clause 13, all other terms of the agreement remain binding.
You may temporarily or permanently give up any Service (for example, Call Minder or Call Diversion) by calling us on 123. If giving up a particular Service, the agreement you have with us will remain in place. If you give up a Service and later want it reconnected, you may have to pay a reconnection charge.
If you exercise your right to terminate a Service that is subject to a minimum term, and you are ending the Service prior to that minimum term, then an early termination fee may apply.
Subject to any minimum term or notice period (where, as noted, an early termination fee may apply), charges will stop 30 days after we receive your notice to terminate a Service, unless we agree that charges will stop earlier. You can choose to continue to receive the benefit of a Service during the 30 days’ notice period.
We may decide to stop providing a particular Service to you and any other Spark customers. If we do this, we will provide you with one month's notice, of such alterations. We will tell you about any such alterations by emailing or writing or SMS messaging you. If the Service is subject to a minimum term you will not be required to pay an early termination fee.
On ending any Service or ending our entire agreement, we will cease providing the relevant Service or Services and we may retain some information, data or other material that we hold in relation to your use of the Service or Services, including personal information, provided that this complies with the Privacy Act 1993 and the Telecommunications Information Privacy Code. We may reallocate any personal identifier including, but not limited to, any phone number, email alias or domain name, to another customer.
If you want to end the entire agreement you have with us (i.e. these Terms together with any other relevant specific product terms), please contact us by calling 123. Subject to any minimum term or notice period (where, as noted, an early termination fee may apply), the agreement will end and charges will stop 30 days after we receive your notice, unless we agree that charges will stop earlier. You can choose to continue to receive the benefit of a Service during the 30 days’ notice period. You may not transfer your responsibilities under the agreement to anyone else.
We may end the entire agreement at any time if you do not:
We may end the agreement for any other reason by giving you at least one month's notice.
If the agreement is ended, we will stop providing any Services for you as a residential customer (though as noted, we will give you at least 5 working days' notice if we are going to disconnect your land line for non-payment). The ending of the agreement does not affect any rights and responsibilities which are intended to continue or come into force afterwards.
We (and other service providers who work with us) own or are licensed to use intellectual property rights in content, software, personal identifiers (including addresses) and anything else we use or make available to you in connection with our Services (together "Works").
These rights include, for example, all copyright, trade mark and design rights. All title, interest and rights (including but not limited to ownership and intellectual property rights) in these Works will remain in Spark and/or our providers. You acknowledge such title, interest and rights in these Works and will not take any action to jeopardise, limit or interfere in any manner with Spark's or our providers' title, interests or rights in these Works with respect to the Services, including, but not limited to, the use of Spark's trademarks or trade name.
Spark does not claim ownership of any content or material you provide or make available through the Services ("Customer Material"). However, by posting any Customer Material on online forums operated or approved by Spark, you grant to Spark a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable, unrestricted, worldwide licence to use, copy sub-licence, redistribute, adapt, transmit, publish, delete, edit and/or broadcast, publicly perform or display the Customer Materials. Provided that Spark may not derive any direct financial gain from the exploitation of any right under such licence, unless otherwise agreed with you.
Your use of any software provided by us is governed by the terms of the end user licence agreement, if any, which accompanies or is included with, or referenced in, the software. You may not install or use any software that is accompanied by or includes a licence agreement unless you first agree to the licence agreement terms, which agreement will be deemed to be given if you use the software. For any software not accompanied by a licence agreement, Spark hereby grants to you a revocable personal, non-transferable licence to use the software for viewing and otherwise using the particular Service in accordance with these Terms, and for no other purpose provided that you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. Any reproduction or redistribution of the content and/or software is expressly prohibited.
To find out how we collect, use, protect and share your personal information, please read our Privacy Policy
We may have any of our related companies or Spark-approved agents perform our obligations under these Terms or any specific product terms.
This agreement is entered into by Spark on our own behalf and for the benefit of any of our related companies, and will, with any necessary modifications, apply to any of those related companies, and will be enforceable by them under the Contracts (Privity) Act 1982. Except as expressly stated, this agreement does not confer any rights on third parties and to the maximum extent allowable at law we will not, under this agreement, be liable in any way to any third parties.
Unless otherwise stated in these Terms, we may exercise our powers or rights at any time without prior notice to you.
We make no representation that the Services are appropriate or available for use in locations outside of New Zealand, and accessing them from territories where their contents are illegal is prohibited. Those who choose to access this site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.
Our Services are provided under New Zealand law. If you want to bring a claim against us you agree to do so in a New Zealand court. We also have a system for resolving complaints.
The following terms apply to the supply by us of goods, products and services (collectively "Services", or individually a "Service") to our residential customers. In addition to these Terms, terms and conditions specific to a particular Service ("specific product terms") may also apply. Those specific product terms "sit beneath" these general Terms.
Copies of the specific product terms can be found on our website. Please call us on 123 if you have any questions about these Terms, or any specific product terms.
Content of these Terms:
In these terms we have used "we" for Spark New Zealand Trading Limited, "you" for our customer and "Services" to cover all goods and services of any kind we provide to you/your home, and anything else in relation to them.
These Terms continue to apply for as long as the agreement you have with us remains in place, no matter where you live and whatever telephone numbers we allocate for you to use from time to time, so long as Spark continues to provide Services to you. These Terms do not apply to anything other service providers agree to do for, or provide to, you under any agreements between you and them.
Please note that different terms apply when we provide mobile telephone services to you. Different terms also apply to internet, entertainment, information and other services provided by other Spark companies, or other entities. Please call us on 123 or refer to our website for information about how to obtain a copy of the terms applying to those other services.
As summarised above, other terms may also apply to some of our Services (i.e. in addition to these Terms). These are the specific product terms referred to above. By way of example, additional terms apply to internet services provided by us to your residential home; when we provide Smartphone services; or we, or other service providers approved by us, provide directories listing or directories assistance services for you as a residential customer. For further information about these Services, and any specific product terms that apply to them, check the page on our website for that particular Service, or alternatively call us on 123.
Specific product terms that apply to a Service will prevail in relation to that Service to the extent that they are inconsistent with these Terms.
Whenever we provide Services for you, or in connection with your Spark account(s) ("Account") or any additional user account(s) which is established under your Spark Account ("Sub-Accounts"), we will provide them with reasonable care and skill, begin providing the Services within a reasonable time of them being requested, and make all reasonable efforts to ensure our Services do everything we say they will. However, given the nature of telecommunications products and service (including our reliance on systems and services that we do not own or control), we cannot promise that our Services they will be continuous or fault free or available at a particular location.
However, we will always try to restore any Service outage as soon as we reasonably can.
We may alter our Services from time to time.
Changes that benefit you or have a neutral impact on you
If we reasonably consider that a change to our Services is likely to benefit you or have a neutral impact on you we may make that change immediately and will tell you about the change as soon as possible after the change has been made. Examples of changes that will benefit you include a reduction in charges or inclusion of additional benefits in your plan. Examples of changes that will have a neutral impact on include changing the name a service we provide you.
Other changes that have an impact on you
If we alter our Services in a way that reduces the Service offering currently received by you and the change is within our control we will provide you one month's notice, of such alterations. However, if the change is outside of our control, and it is possible, we will provide you notice of the change beforehand. If the change is outside of our control and we are unable to provide you notice of the change beforehand we will provide you notice as soon as possible after the change has been made. When determining whether a change in the Service offering has a negative impact on you we will act in good faith. We will tell you about any such alterations by emailing or writing to you (such as bill message or direct mail) and by publishing the change on our website. If you are a minimum term contract we will not reduce the service offering currently received by you without either your consent or giving you the option to terminate your contract without incurring an early termination fee.
We will make sure you are provided with new connections as soon as possible, Monday to Friday (except on public holidays), as long as there is a telephone in your home and a live Spark telephone line connecting your home to the network, and any credit arrangements required under these Terms are in place. We have explained in section 4 below what "the network" is. If a technician needs to visit your home, we will do our best to arrange a time that is convenient to you. If there is no live Spark telephone line connecting your home to the network, we will discuss with you what needs to be done to provide you with a live line, how long that is likely to take and what our charges will be.
We will take all steps that we reasonably can to arrange for all faults on the network outside your home which is impairing the Service we provide to you, to be fixed. If you are taking our optional standard Wiring Maintenance Service, we will also fix faults in the telephone sockets and wiring inside your home if they are covered by the Service. To report a fault, call us on 120 and if we need to arrange for someone to visit your home, we will do our best to arrange a time that is convenient to you. If it is found that there is no fault, or the fault was caused or contributed to by you or your equipment, we may need to charge you for this. You will be advised of any fees which may apply before you incur them.
The copper telephone line into your home is designed principally for voice calls. If the line into your home is used for transmitting data to and from equipment such as computers connected to the Internet or home fax machines, we do not guarantee that this service will be trouble free. However will do our best to ensure any problems are fixed in a reasonable time frame. Please visit our website to see other products that may be more suitable to your needs.
We will arrange for you to be correctly listed on the directory assistance service provided by or for us. Please tell us if your telephone book listing is incorrect.
If you have any queries about any part of your Spark bill, call us on 123 and we can usually answer most queries on the spot. You do not need to pay the queried portion of your bill until we investigate it and let you know whether or not there has been an error.
See section 11 below (Billing) for further details about billing.
The network consists of all the communications facilities owned by us and other parties with whom we work (for example, Chorus), and which are used to provide our Services to you. Acquiring our Services does not give you any rights in any part of the network.
You agree to meet these general responsibilities:
You agree to make sure everyone you are responsible for and who may use or do anything in relation to our Services provided to you also meets the responsibilities set out in this clause.
If equipment supplied to you by someone else does not work properly, you need to contact the equipment supplier or manufacturer, rather than us, about the problem. Any responsibilities we may have for equipment you acquire from us will be covered by a separate agreement.
You are responsible for any telephone sockets and wiring inside your home and for fixing any faults in them. However, if a fault is caused by a fault on our network we will be responsible for fixing the fault. If you choose to purchase our optional standard Wiring Maintenance Service, some faults will be covered by this Service. The terms and conditions in respect of that Service set out more detail of what is and is not covered.
You are also responsible for any other wiring or equipment in your home, such as alarm systems connected to the network or subscription television wiring. If any of it interferes with the provision of our Services to you, we have no responsibility to pay you any compensation for any interruption to our Services, or if we have to temporarily disconnect the other wiring or equipment so as to restore our Services to you. Our standard Wiring Maintenance Service does not cover fixing faults in such other wiring or equipment.
You are responsible for your relationship with any other supplier providing telephone or related services for you. For example, if we provide your local call Service, but you use another service provider for National or International Calls and you change your address, you need to tell both us (for Services we provide) and the other service provider (for services it provides) about your move. If there is a problem with a service provided for you by another supplier, you need to contact the other supplier about the problem.
If you have services with us that include your calling and you choose to take your calling to another supplier it is your responsibility to tell us to remove these services from your account.
We will allocate one or more telephone numbers for you to use, depending on the Service(s) you want. Any number that we allocate to you will always remain our property. In exceptional circumstances, where there are no alternative solutions available, we may be required to change any telephone number we have allocated to you and allocate you a new telephone number. We will give you reasonable notice before making any change but we do not have to pay you anything if we change a number. Please call us on 123 if you want to change your Spark telephone number.
You agree to pay for the Services we provide for you, no matter who uses them. For example, you are responsible for the charges for anyone else's use of your telephone or your internet. However, if you have any unexplained usage and/or charges on your account please contact us as soon as you become aware of them and we will investigate for you. If acting in good faith we consider the usage and/or charges are a result of fraud by another person or by someone outside of your reasonable control we will provide you with an appropriate resolution, which may include providing you with a credit or a refund.
We have services to help customers control the use of their telephones and/or internet and to help prevent unauthorised use of your Services. Visit our website or call us on 123 for more information about the availability of these services.
The standard charges for our commonly used Services are set out on our website. You are also advised of the charges payable by you at the time you agree to take up a new service. Charges begin from the time you are connected to the network. Subject to any other applicable minimum term or notice period, or other arrangement between us, a one month minimum rental charge is payable if you give up any Service within the first month after we begin providing the Service for you.
We may change our charges or plans from time to time.
When we decrease charges for any of Services we may make the change immediately and we will tell you about the change as soon as possible after the change has been made. We do this by emailing or writing (for example by bill message) to you or SMS text messaging you or an online message and publish the changes on our website.
When we increase charges for any of our Services (including introducing charges for Services that are currently free) and you are impacted by the change, we will give you one month’s notice of these changes. We will notify you of these changes by emailing or writing (for example by bill message) to you or SMS text messaging you or an online message and publish the changes on our website.
If you are on a minimum term contract we will not change the monthly plan charge or any early termination fee during the term of your minimum term contract, without either your consent or giving you the option to terminate your contract without incurring an early termination fee. Notwithstanding the aforementioned we may change the monthly plan charge if the change arises from, relates to or is the result of a regulated charge outside our control, for example where the charge is a tax or levy imposed by the law or there is a charge for a regulated input required to provide you service, and the terms of your minimum term contract will remain in effect. The preceding sentence does not apply to you if you signed up to a minimum term contract between 17 March 2015 and 14 July 2015 and you are still within that minimum term period.
We may change you to a new plan if we consider that you will be better off. We will give you one month’s notice of any change in plan. We will notify you by emailing or writing (for example by bill message) to you or SMS text messaging you. If you are not happy with the change in plan you can select any other plan currently available for sale to new customers or terminate your contract and if you are on a minimum term contract you will not incur an early termination fee.
Charges for our Services, and any other amounts you may owe to us pursuant to these Terms and any other applicable terms, form part of the bill for your Spark Account. You agree that we may assign any amounts you owe us to another of our related companies ("related company" has the meaning set out in section 2(3) of the Companies Act 1993), or to anyone else, without prior notice to you.
Our charges for residential Services, which can be found on our website, will normally include:
Examples of other charges for commonly used residential Services include charges for:
Billing our charges is discussed in further detail below, in section 11.
In some cases, when we consider it reasonable and necessary to do so we may require you to pay a deposit or provide a guarantee as security for paying future charges for Services to be provided to you. We may also set a credit limit for your account with us, and amend that amount from time to time, after giving you reasonable notice of the new credit limit. If you exceed any credit limit, we will do our best to contact you to tell you the amount you need to pay to get back within your credit limit. You must pay that amount within the period we have agreed with you. If you fail to do so, to prevent you from incurring any further charges, we may restrict or suspend all or part of our Services without notice. However, you will remain liable for all charges (including any late payment fees) incurred in excess of the credit limit. If you have any questions about credit arrangements, please call us on 128.
We will send you bills for our charges. Unless we otherwise agree, we will make your bills available to you for each billing period free of charge by electronic mail only. If you joined Spark on or before 30 July 2016 and chose to receive your bill by post for a fee set out on our website, we will continue to provide you with that service. If we change how often we will bill you, we will provide you with one month's notice of these changes. We will tell you about any such changes by emailing or writing to you or SMS text messaging you.
The bills will include any charges for directory assistance, enhanced directory listing services and 0900 calls made from your telephone or charged to you, any charitable donations promised during those calls, and any other amounts charged to you by 0900 service providers. Our bill to you may also include any other amounts you owe for any reason to us or to other Spark companies.
You must pay each bill by the due date for payment set out on it. Call us on 123 to ask about the different ways you can pay.
Our bills are based on our records of your use of our Services. However, please let us know as soon as possible if you think there is a mistake in your bill. As noted above (section 3 - "Answering queries about your bill"), while you wait to hear from us, you do not need to pay the queried part of the bill by the due date for payment. However, if you have already paid your bill you may still query your bill if you think there is a mistake and you should contact us with your query as soon as possible.
If we agree there is a mistake, we will adjust your next bill or, if appropriate provide a refund. If we find there is no mistake we let you know and we will provide you with a reason why there is no mistake, and if the due date for payment has already passed, you must pay the amount outstanding within 7 days or as otherwise agreed.
If you do not pay a bill by the due date for payment set out on it, any or all of the following may occur:
Our Services to you may be restricted if you are becoming a Spark residential customer, or if you ask us to provide additional Services, until a satisfactory payment history is established. For example, we may put a toll bar on your telephone.
In addition, if you do not meet a responsibility you have to us or to any other Spark company, at any time we may withhold, suspend, restrict, replace or terminate any Service provided to you, or take such other steps as we believe are reasonably necessary or appropriate. We may also restrict, suspend or cancel your Service(s) at any time if:
We will always do our best to contact you before doing this (and as noted above, will give you at least 5 working days' notice if we are going to disconnect your Services for non-payment). In most cases, if you have not meet a responsibility you have to us (for example, where you did not pay your bill by the due date) normal charges continue to apply during the suspension or restriction of any Service. However, if following a suspension or restriction of any Service we permanently disconnect that Service, you will only be responsible for the charges incurred up to the date of the suspension or restriction.
Where we suspend or terminate a Service for non-payment, we may require you to pay a reconnection charge before you can use it again. The reconnection current reconnection charge is set-out on our website at http://www.spark.co.nz/help/billing/manage/spark-collections. Your account will also need to be paid in full or you will have to negotiate a repayment plan with us. The reconnection will be subject to our standard credit approval.
Where we permanently disconnect your Services you will remain liable for all charges incurred up to the date of a withholding, suspension or restriction of your Services. Where such disconnection is before the end of a minimum term contract an early termination fee will also apply. We may also suspend, restrict or terminate any Service in other circumstances if we think it reasonable or necessary (by way of example only, to protect our network from attacks, for maintenance or repairs, or interruptions to the availability of the network). We will always do our best to contact you before doing this, but may not be able to do so in all circumstances.. Please call us on 128 to request removal of a suspension or restriction.
1. Subject only to clause 13.2 below, nothing in these terms affects your rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986. The website www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz is a useful place to visit to help you understand your rights under this legislation.
2. If you are acquiring the Services for the purposes of a business as defined in the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 you acknowledge that the provisions of that Act do not apply to the Services that that we provide to you under this agreement.
3. Your liability to us:
Provided we notify you of our claim within 12 months after we reasonably become aware of the occurrence of the relevant event or series of events that gave rise to our claim. These limitations do not apply to your obligation to pay any charges, for any loss or damage caused by fraud, gross negligence, wilful breach or wilful damage.
We may become aware that we have suffered loss before you do. If we suffer any loss as a result of this agreement, we agree to take reasonable steps to avoid or minimise our loss and that you are not liable for any loss that results from our failure to take reasonable steps to do so.
4. Our liability to you:
5. We are not liable to you for any indirect or consequential loss, or for any loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, business or anticipated business or anticipated profits or savings.
6. You may become aware that you have suffered loss before we do. If you suffer any loss as a result of this agreement, you agree to take reasonable steps to avoid or minimise your loss and that we are not liable for any loss that results from your failure to take reasonable steps to do so.
7. We aim to provide quality services to you at all times, and exercise reasonable skill and care in performing our obligations to you. However, if we are prevented from performing any obligation in these Terms by reason of any act of God, act of State, riot, insurrection, civil commotion, strike, sanctions, boycott, embargo or any other circumstance beyond our reasonable control, we will try to advise you of the existence of the circumstances and its expected duration, and the obligations that are impacted by the circumstances. Our performance of these Terms and provision of Services to you will, to the extent that it is made impossible or impracticable by such circumstances (despite us taking reasonable steps to provide the services be suspended until such circumstances cease to exist. We are not liable to you for any failure or delay in performing any obligation set out in these Terms in the circumstances contemplated by this clause 13.7 you will not be required to pay any charges for any Services to the extent that such Services are not provided by us due to the circumstances contemplated by this clause 13.7.
8. No other Spark company, network operator and/or third party supplier (including their officers, employees, contractors and agents) will be liable to you for loss or damage of any kind arising from your use of the Services. This clause creates a right and benefit that other Spark companies, network operators and/or suppliers can enforce as a defence to any claim.
If we or any of the other parties listed in clause 13.8 are ever liable to you for any reason, the maximum combined amount we and all the other parties listed in clause 13.8 (together) will have to pay you and anyone else who uses the Services we provide for you (together), will be:
provided that you notify us of your claim within 12 months after you reasonably became aware of the occurrence of the relevant event or series or events that gave rise to your claim. These limitations do not limit any rights you may have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 and the Fair Trading Act 1986.
To find out how we collect, use, protect and share your personal information, please read our Privacy Policy
From time to time we may send you sales and marketing information. You agree that the sales and marketing information we send electronically, does not need to include an unsubscribe facility.
We may change these Terms by changing or removing existing terms or by adding new ones. Changes may take the form of completely new Terms. We must always tell you about any changes to these Terms at least one month before they come into effect. We will never change this requirement. We will tell you about any changes by emailing or writing (for example by bill message) to you or SMS messaging you and / or by putting a notice in major daily newspapers. Your continued use of our Services after changes have been notified to you in this way indicates your acceptance of those changes. If you do not agree to the changes you may exercise your right to terminate this agreement.
We will send bills and other notices and communications to the last physical or electronic address or facsimile number or mobile number you have given us. We can assume any bill or notice we send by physical post has been delivered three days after we post it and, if sent electronically or by facsimile, has been received by you on the date it was sent. Please tell us as soon as possible if you change your address or other contact details.
You also agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.
If you need to contact us for any reason, you should visit our website, www.spark.co.nz/help or contact us on 123.
We may have any Spark company or Spark-approved agent or service provider approved by us perform and have the benefit of any part of our side of the agreement you have with us.
We may transfer to someone else all or any part of our side of the agreement you have with us and you consent to that. Before we do this and provided there are no confidentiality obligations, we will tell you at least one month in advance.
If for any reason any term of the agreement you have with us cannot be enforced or relied on by you, us or any of the other people listed in clause 13, all other terms of the agreement remain binding.
You may temporarily or permanently give up any Service (for example, Call Minder or Call Diversion) by calling us on 123. If giving up a particular Service, the agreement you have with us will remain in place. If you give up a Service and later want it reconnected, you may have to pay a reconnection charge.
If you exercise your right to terminate a Service that is subject to a minimum term, and you are ending the Service prior to that minimum term, then an early termination fee may apply.
Subject to any minimum term or notice period (where, as noted, an early termination fee may apply), charges will stop 30 days after we receive your notice to terminate a Service, unless we agree that charges will stop earlier. You can choose to continue to receive the benefit of a Service during the 30 days’ notice period.
We may decide to stop providing a particular Service to you and any other Spark customers. If we do this, we will provide you with one month's notice, of such alterations. We will tell you about any such alterations by emailing or writing or SMS messaging you. If the Service is subject to a minimum term you will not be required to pay an early termination fee.
On ending any Service or ending our entire agreement, we will cease providing the relevant Service or Services and we may retain some information, data or other material that we hold in relation to your use of the Service or Services, including personal information, provided that this complies with the Privacy Act 1993 and the Telecommunications Information Privacy Code. We may reallocate any personal identifier including, but not limited to, any phone number, email alias or domain name, to another customer.
If you want to end the entire agreement you have with us (i.e. these Terms together with any other relevant specific product terms), please contact us by calling 123. Subject to any minimum term or notice period (where, as noted, an early termination fee may apply), the agreement will end and charges will stop 30 days after we receive your notice, unless we agree that charges will stop earlier. You can choose to continue to receive the benefit of a Service during the 30 days’ notice period. You may not transfer your responsibilities under the agreement to anyone else.
We may end the entire agreement at any time if you do not:
We may end the agreement for any other reason by giving you at least one month's notice.
If the agreement is ended, we will stop providing any Services for you as a residential customer (though as noted, we will give you at least 5 working days' notice if we are going to disconnect your land line for non-payment). The ending of the agreement does not affect any rights and responsibilities which are intended to continue or come into force afterwards.
We (and other service providers who work with us) own or are licensed to use intellectual property rights in content, software, personal identifiers (including addresses) and anything else we use or make available to you in connection with our Services (together "Works").
These rights include, for example, all copyright, trade mark and design rights. All title, interest and rights (including but not limited to ownership and intellectual property rights) in these Works will remain in Spark and/or our providers. You acknowledge such title, interest and rights in these Works and will not take any action to jeopardise, limit or interfere in any manner with Spark's or our providers' title, interests or rights in these Works with respect to the Services, including, but not limited to, the use of Spark's trademarks or trade name.
Spark does not claim ownership of any content or material you provide or make available through the Services ("Customer Material"). However, by posting any Customer Material on online forums operated or approved by Spark, you grant to Spark a perpetual, royalty-free, non-exclusive, irrevocable, unrestricted, worldwide licence to use, copy sub-licence, redistribute, adapt, transmit, publish, delete, edit and/or broadcast, publicly perform or display the Customer Materials. Provided that Spark may not derive any direct financial gain from the exploitation of any right under such licence, unless otherwise agreed with you.
Your use of any software provided by us is governed by the terms of the end user licence agreement, if any, which accompanies or is included with, or referenced in, the software. You may not install or use any software that is accompanied by or includes a licence agreement unless you first agree to the licence agreement terms, which agreement will be deemed to be given if you use the software. For any software not accompanied by a licence agreement, Spark hereby grants to you a revocable personal, non-transferable licence to use the software for viewing and otherwise using the particular Service in accordance with these Terms, and for no other purpose provided that you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. Any reproduction or redistribution of the content and/or software is expressly prohibited.
To find out how we collect, use, protect and share your personal information, please read our Privacy Policy
We may have any of our related companies or Spark-approved agents perform our obligations under these Terms or any specific product terms.
This agreement is entered into by Spark on our own behalf and for the benefit of any of our related companies, and will, with any necessary modifications, apply to any of those related companies, and will be enforceable by them under the Contracts (Privity) Act 1982. Except as expressly stated, this agreement does not confer any rights on third parties and to the maximum extent allowable at law we will not, under this agreement, be liable in any way to any third parties.
Unless otherwise stated in these Terms, we may exercise our powers or rights at any time without prior notice to you.
We make no representation that the Services are appropriate or available for use in locations outside of New Zealand, and accessing them from territories where their contents are illegal is prohibited. Those who choose to access this site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.
Our Services are provided under New Zealand law. If you want to bring a claim against us you agree to do so in a New Zealand court. We also have a system for resolving complaints.