Hero Internet Ltd, Terms and Conditions
1. TERMS OF SERVICE
1.1. These terms of service constitute the agreement between Hero Internet Ltd (we or us) and the end user (you, your or customer). By activating or using any of the services, you represent that you are authorised to enter into this agreement and that you have read and understood the terms and conditions of this agreement.1.2. Additional terms may apply to your use of some of our services. If so, we will tell you what those terms are. If there is any conflict between these terms and any additional terms, the additional terms will prevail.
2. OUR SERVICES
2.1. We are not obliged to provide services unless we accept your application. We can decide whether or not to accept any application.2.2. Hero's VoIP service is an Internet-based, over-the-top voice service and is not a traditional landline telephone service. The service operates over an Internet connection and may be accessed using Hero software applications or compatible customer-operated SIP/VoIP equipment. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, Hero does not provide, install, manage or maintain the customer's Internet connection, local network, power supply or customer premises equipment used to access the VoIP service. The VoIP service is provided on a best-efforts basis. Its availability depends on factors including power, Internet connectivity, the customer's local network and the device or application being used. An interruption to any of these may prevent the VoIP service from operating.
2.3. Emergency Services – 111 Calling. Hero's VoIP service supports calling the 111 emergency service when the VoIP service is operational. Because the VoIP service relies on Internet connectivity, electrical power and the device or application being used to access the service, 111 calling through Hero may not be available during a power failure, Internet outage, network failure, equipment failure or other interruption affecting the service. Customers should not rely on the Hero VoIP service as their only means of contacting emergency services. Hero strongly recommends maintaining an alternative means of contacting 111, such as a mobile phone with adequate mobile network coverage.
2.4. Unless you separately purchase a broadband service from Hero, the Internet connection used to access the VoIP service is not provided or supported by Hero. You accept that the Hero VoIP service may not be compatible with non-voice communications equipment such as alarms, fax machines and medical alarms.
3. CHARGES AND PAYMENT
3.1. To use our payable services you must have a credit balance on your account and agree to use a Credit Card to deposit a credit balance onto your account. This can be done online at https://portal.hero.co.nz or during the signup process. If the card expires, you close your account, your billing address changes, or the card is cancelled and replaced owing to loss or theft, you must advise Hero Internet at once.3.2. All services with Hero Internet are pre-paid. You must maintain a positive balance to be able to use the service. We will bill all fixed charges monthly in advance. Any usage charges will be billed in increments that are rounded up to the nearest minute. Customers are responsible for making payment to keep their accounts up-to-date in accordance with the account status.
3.3. All rates and fees are in NZ Dollars. We reserve the right to change our rates from time to time and if we increase any rates we will give you as much notice as reasonably possible. The latest rates are available on our website www.hero.co.nz.
3.4. You are responsible for your account and must pay our charges regardless of whether you or someone else uses those services.
3.5. If you wish to raise a billing dispute you must notify us in email within 30 days of your account being debited or you will be deemed to have waived your right to a refund. Additionally, If a billing dispute ends in a refund, Hero reserves the right to charge a $20 fee for Administration and Labour.
3.6. REFUND POLICY No refunds will be provided for any unused credit balances. A credit balance for an account that has been inactive for 6 months will be lost. Hero Internet will refund call charges if it can be demonstrated that the customer has been incorrectly charged. If a customer upgrades or downgrades the service plan, there is no refund for the portion of the monthly and DID fees. For an existing Hero Internet customer to change the service plan/account, the changed service/plan shall be treated and charged as a new and separate service.
3.7. Credit card details are sent securely to our credit card processing partners and credit card numbers will not be stored by us.
3.8. Payments are processed through the secure DPS Payment Express system. Payment Security is managed through DPS for mutual security. Encryption protection is managed with an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate, industry standard 128bit encryption software. Any credit card details stored for payments are done so on the DPS system. We do not hold customers credit or debit card details on file.
3.9. Any installation, maintenance or support fees relating to broadband services, including fibre installation costs, fibre maintenance, relocation charges and charges imposed by an underlying network provider, must be paid by the customer in full. This includes any “no fault found” charge incurred where a technician attends a customer's premises and the fault is found to relate to the customer's equipment or local network. Some broadband installations may require additional work or installation or replacement of an ONT, and any applicable charges will be passed on to the customer.
4. USING OUR SERVICES
4.1. You must not use our services (or permit our services to be used) in a way that: breaks any laws or infringes anyone's rights or in a way which is malicious, obscene or offensive.4.2. You agree to provide us with accurate and correct information so we can provide you with the necessary services or contact you if required from time to time.
4.3. We can suspend or restrict the services we provide you at any time if:
i) you resell any of our services;
ii) you do not use the service sensibly and within our reasonable use guidelines set out in 4.4 below;
iii) we believe that you have breached any of our terms and conditions.
ii) you do not use the service sensibly and within our reasonable use guidelines set out in 4.4 below;
iii) we believe that you have breached any of our terms and conditions.
4.4. It is important to Hero Internet that all eligible Hero Internet customers are able to access our services. For this reason, and to ensure the provision of quality and reliability of our services, a Fair Use Policy applies to all our services and plans. We reserve the right to vary the terms of this Fair Use Policy from time to time. If you use the service in a way that is inconsistent with the normal use for your service or plan we may:
i) monitor and investigate your usage; and
ii) suspend and/or withdraw the Service; or
iii) charge our standard per minute rate for additional calls
4.5. You must keep secure any password or PIN number which is used by you to access our services and ensure that is it not disclosed to any unauthorised person. You must also change your password or PIN number if we ask you to do so.
ii) suspend and/or withdraw the Service; or
iii) charge our standard per minute rate for additional calls
4.6. If your service is canceled, terminated or reallocated you will relinquish and discontinue use of any numbers, voicemail access numbers and/or web portals assigned to you by Hero Internet.
4.7. Hero operates a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) VoIP service. Customers may access the service using Hero applications or compatible SIP/VoIP equipment. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, customer premises equipment is operated and managed by the customer. Hero may provide configuration information, remote assistance or automated provisioning for compatible equipment, but this does not mean that Hero installs, operates, manages or maintains that equipment or the customer's local network.
i) Customers are responsible for safe-keeping of their Hero Internet user name and SIP password used on the equipment they provide. Hero Internet is not responsible or liable for any damage if this information is compromised in any way. The customer is solely responsible for the security of the phone system and hardware to prevent PBX hacking or Toll Fraud.
ii) Hero Internet provides technical support service at best efforts only and cannot guarantee working of the service if the device /equipment is not supplied by Hero Internet.
4.8. A reasonable usage policy applies for our line and account based calling bundles. Calling bundles are for standard 'person to person' calling and restricted to the use of a single organisation or individual. They are not to be resold onto other organisations or shared across multiple entities. Our calling bundles are not to be used for outbound call centres, automatic dialers, continuous call forwarding or any other activity we consider to be unreasonable use. For call centre customers, we have special calling bundles with attractive pricing plans. Please get in touch with us to discuss these options.
ii) Hero Internet provides technical support service at best efforts only and cannot guarantee working of the service if the device /equipment is not supplied by Hero Internet.
5. PHONE NUMBERS
5.1. Any phone number that we allocate to you does not become your property and does not constitute any transfer of property rights. Having said that if the number allocated to you is a portable number then you may port that number to an alternate provider at any time under the conditions laid out in section 5.4 below.5.2. If we need to change your number we will send you notification by email and give you as much notice as possible.
5.3. We can withdraw or terminate any number at any time without liability.
5.4. You may be able to port your Hero Internet number to another service provider. If you wish to do so you must contact the other service provider directly and you will be responsible for completing the Porting requirements of that service provider. We will comply with our obligations under the Terms for Local and Mobile Number Portability in relation to the porting of your number. You will be responsible for all costs associated with porting the number.
5.5. If your account is inactive for more than 6 months or canceled and you have not ported the associated phone number(s), we may at our sole discretion reallocate the number(s) associated with your account.
6. TERMS
6.1. We can terminate this agreement, or the provision of any service to you, immediately if you breach any term of this agreement or if we reasonably believe that you have supplied incorrect or misleading information to us.6.2. If this agreement is terminated for any breach or misuse of the service, you are not entitled to a refund for any credit balances on your account, unless agreed otherwise.
6.3. In order to terminate your service, you must email us at the following address support@hero.co.nz. Termination will not take effect until the end of your current prepaid month.
6.4. Our mobile phone plans (non-VOIP) and services, as well as our Broadband services, may have a minimum contract term (typically 30 days for most standard plans, but special/promotional plans may have a 12 month minimum term) and as such early termination fees (ETFs) may apply if the service is cancelled before this term is completed. Our ETF charges will be the remainder of the term applied as a lump sum payment against the next invoice.
7. LIABILITY
7.1. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Hero Internet is not liable for any loss or damage arising from an interruption, delay, failure or degradation of our services where this results from circumstances outside our reasonable control, including:
i) communications being intercepted, delayed, incorrectly transmitted or not received;
ii) disruption, delay or failure of Internet connectivity, third-party networks or telecommunications services;
iii) incompatibility or failure of customer-supplied equipment, software, local networks or Internet connections;
iv) power failures or other failures affecting equipment or services at the customer's premises; or
v) any act or omission of a third-party network or service provider that we rely upon to provide our services.
Nothing in this clause limits or excludes any liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.
7.2. We are not liable to you for any fault in, delay or non-provision of services which is caused by an event beyond our reasonable control.
ii) disruption, delay or failure of Internet connectivity, third-party networks or telecommunications services;
iii) incompatibility or failure of customer-supplied equipment, software, local networks or Internet connections;
iv) power failures or other failures affecting equipment or services at the customer's premises; or
v) any act or omission of a third-party network or service provider that we rely upon to provide our services.
Nothing in this clause limits or excludes any liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.
7.3. If you use another service provider during any period when our service is not fully operational, we are not liable to pay any amount you are charged by that service provider.
7.4. You acknowledge that no third party whose network or services we use to supply services to you (nor any officer, employee, contractor or agent of such third party) is in any way liable to you in connection with our services.
7.5. Nothing in these terms limits or excludes any rights or remedies you may have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, the Fair Trading Act 1986, or any other applicable law, to the extent those rights or remedies cannot lawfully be limited or excluded.
8. PRIVACY
8.1. We will collect personal information from customers to provide and provision services, including but not limited to name, physical address, IP Address, email address, contact phone number and credit card information. We may share information collected with other companies that work on our behalf.8.2. Hero Internet is dedicated to keeping your details private. Any information, we collect in relation to you, is kept strictly secured. Hero Internet will not review, share, distribute, or reference any such Customer Data except as may be required by law. Individual records of Customer Data may be viewed or accessed only for the purpose of resolving a problem, support issues, or suspected violation of the Hero Internet Terms of Use or as may be required by law.
8.3. Any personal information we collect is kept at our offices. You are entitled to see any information we hold about you, although you must pay our reasonable charge for making it available.
8.4. Except where we provide private encrypted links, when transmitting voice and other communications via the public internet and third party networks we are not liable for any lack of privacy with the service.
8.5. We may record or monitor calls between us to verify information and for staff training purposes.
9. CHANGING THESE TERMS
9.1. We can change these terms from time to time by giving you as much notice as reasonably possible. We will inform you of any change to our terms by emailing you and by providing relevant information on our website. The latest terms and conditions are available at www.hero.co.nz.10. NOTICES
10.1. Hero Internet will communicate with you primarily via email. Notices to you will be sent to the email address specified by you during sign up for service or as subsequently specified by you as your contact email address. We may also obtain personal information from your use of our services.10.2. If your contact email address changes you must advise us of the new details as soon as possible.
10.3. You agree that sending a message to your contact email address is the agreed means of providing notification. Notifications include information about the service, billing, changes to services and other information. You are required to read any email sent to your contact email address in a timely manner to avoid any potential disruption to your service.
11. OTHER MATTERS
11.1. These terms are to be interpreted in accordance with the law. The parties submit to the jurisdiction of the Courts and any court hearing appeals from those Courts11.2. You must not assign your rights under this agreement. We can transfer our rights and obligations under this agreement to anyone else. We will notify you if we do so.
11.3. A delay in exercising any right is not a waiver of that right. A failure to exercise a right on any occasion does not prevent any subsequent exercise of that right.