Terms & Conditions
Acceptance of the Terms and Conditions
Welcome to Vet Consults. These terms and conditions are entered into by and between you, the user (" you ") and Kiwi Vet Ltd. t/a Vet Consults (the " Company ", " Vet Consults ", " we " or " us "). The following terms and conditions, together with any documents they expressly incorporate by reference (collectively, these " Terms and Conditions "), govern your access to and use of www.vetconsults.co.nz, including any content, functionality and services offered on or through www.vetconsults.co.nz (the " Website ") as a guest or registered user.
Please read the Terms and Conditions carefully before you start to use the Website. By using the Website, you accept and agree to be bound and abide by these Terms and Conditions and our accompanying Privacy Policy, incorporated herein by reference. If you do not want to agree to these Terms and Conditions or the Privacy Policy, you must not access or use the Website.
VetConsults.co.nz is a digital pet health service that makes health care for pets simple, convenient and easy to access.
The Website is offered and available to users who are 18 years of age or older and reside in New Zealand, or any of its territories or possessions. By using this Website, you represent and warrant that you are of legal age to form a binding contract with the Company and meet all of the foregoing eligibility requirements. If you do not meet all of these requirements, you must not access or use the Website.
Changes to the Terms and Conditions
We may revise and update these Terms and Conditions from time to time at our sole discretion. All changes are effective immediately when we post them, and apply to all access to and use of the Website thereafter.
Your continued use of the Website following the posting of revised Terms of Use means that you accept and agree to the changes. Please check this page from time to time so you are aware of any binding changes that may have been made.
Accessing the Website and Account Security
We reserve the right to withdraw or amend this Website, as well as any service or material we provide on the Website at our sole discretion, without notice. From time to time, we may restrict access to some parts of, or the entire Website to users, including registered users. We will not be liable if for any reason all or any part of the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period.
You are responsible for: Making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the Website. Ensuring that all persons who access the Website or Applications through your internet connection are aware of these Terms and Conditions and comply with them.
To access the Website or the resources it offers, you may be asked to provide certain registration details or other information. It is a condition of your use of the Website that all the information you provide is correct, current and complete. You agree that all information you provide to register with this Website or otherwise, including, but not limited to through the use of any interactive features, is governed by our Privacy Policy, and you consent to all actions we take with respect to your information consistent with our Privacy Policy. If you choose, or are provided with, a user name, password or any other piece of information as part of our security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and must not disclose the information to any other person or entity. You also acknowledge that your account is personal to you and agree not to provide any other person with access to this Website or portions of it using your user name, password or other security information. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorised access to, or use of, your user name or password, or any other breach of security. You also agree to ensure that you log out from your account at the end of each session. You should use particular caution when accessing your account from a public or shared computer so that others are not able to view or record your password or other personal information.
We have the right to disable any user name, password or other identifiers, whether chosen by you or provided by us, at any time at our sole discretion for any reason, including if, in our opinion, you have violated any provision of these Terms and Conditions. Your use of the Website indicates your agreement to communicate with us electronically and that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications the Company provides to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.
While using the Website, you may experience delays, connection issues or other electronic problems. The Company is not responsible for any delays, delivery failures, or any other damage occurring as a result of such problems.
Payment and Fees
You agree to pay all fees or charges to your Account in accordance with the fees, charges, and billing terms in effect at the time a fee or charge is due and payable. The Company reserves the right at any time to change its prices and billing methods by posting such information on the Website.
There may be an option for automatic renewal with the purchase of some products or services. If you agree to the automatic renewal of the product or service at the time of your purchase of such product or service, you agree that Vet Consults is authorised to automatically charge your credit or debit card at the time of renewal, unless otherwise notified by you.
Billing and Payments
If your payment method cannot be authorised, is returned, denied or is otherwise in error for whatever reason, you are liable for all costs, include any fees and additional charges. In the event of such failure of your payment method, we may take reasonable steps to retry your payment method. We may contact you to reconfirm or update your payment method. We are not responsible for any fees incurred by you when charging or retrying your payment method, including but not limited to overdraft bank charges. You can update or change your payment method and other billing and payment account information by visiting your Account page on the Website.
We use a third party payment service to process your payment method. We do not receive, store or process your payment method. By submitting your payment method through the Website, you agree that we may use a third party to receive, store and process your payment Information. You agree that your provision of your payment information and other information to such third party is subject to the conditions of the third party payment service provider's terms and conditions. By providing your payment method and related information, you agree to such third party’s terms and conditions of service. The current third party payment processor is Stripe, and their current terms and conditions of service and privacy policy are available at https://stripe.com/nz/privacy You acknowledge that we may change the third party payment service and move your information to other service providers that encrypt your information using industry standard security technology.
Shipping and Returns
The Company uses third-party delivery companies to deliver the products to you. Shipping dates and/or arrival times are only estimates. If you are dissatisfied with a delivery and/or something is missing from your package, please contact us at help@vetconsults.co.nz and we will do everything in our powers to ensure your satisfaction. For loss/damage claims, you must notify us within 10 days of receipt of the product if you believe all or part of your order is missing or damaged.
Intellectual Property Rights
The Website and its entire contents, features and functionality (including but not limited to all information, software, text, displays, images, video and audio, as well as the design, selection and arrangement thereof) are owned by the VetConsults, its licensors or other providers of such material and are protected by New Zealand and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws.
These Terms and Conditions permit you to use the Website for your personal use only. You must not reproduce, distribute, modify, create works of, publicly display, publicly perform, republish, download, store or transmit any of the material on our Website, except as follows:
You may print or download one copy of a reasonable number of pages of the Website for your own personal, non-commercial use and not for further reproduction, publication or distribution.
If we provide documents or other applications for download, you may download a single copy to your computer or mobile device solely for your own personal, non-commercial use, provided you agree to be bound by our end user license agreement. If we provide social media features with certain content, you may take such actions as are enabled by such features.
You must not:
Modify copies of any materials from this site.
Delete or alter any copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notices from copies of materials from this site.
You must not access or use for any commercial purposes any part of the Website or Application or any services or materials available through the Website. If you wish to make any use of material on the Website, other than that set out in this section, please address your request to: help@vetconsults.co.nz.
If you print, copy, modify, download or otherwise use or provide any other person with access to any part of the Website in breach of the Terms and Conditions, your right to use the Website will cease immediately and you must return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made. No right, title or interest in or to the Website or any content on the Website is transferred to you, and all rights not expressly granted are reserved by the Company. Any use of the Website not expressly permitted by these Terms and Conditions is a breach of these Terms and Conditions and may violate copyright, trademark and other laws.
Trademarks
The Company name, the terms and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans are trademarks of the Company or its affiliates. You must not use such marks without the prior written permission of the Company. All other names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans on this Website are the trademarks of their respective owners.
Prohibited Uses
You may use the Website only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. You agree not to use the Website: In any way that violates any applicable national or international law or regulation. To transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material, including any "junk mail", "chain letter" or "spam" or any other similar solicitation. To impersonate or attempt to impersonate the Company, a Company employee, another user, or any other person or entity (including, without limitation, by using e-mail addresses or screen names associated with any of the foregoing).To engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone's use or enjoyment of the Website, or which, as determined by us, may harm the Company or users of the Website or expose them to liability.
User Contributions
The Website may contain message boards, chat rooms, personal web pages or profiles, forums, bulletin boards and other interactive features (collectively, "Interactive Services" ) that allow users to post, submit, publish, display or transmit to other users or other persons (hereinafter, "post" ) content or materials (collectively, "User Contributions" ) on or through the Website.
All User Contributions must comply with the Content Standards set out in these Terms and Conditions. Any User Contribution you post to the site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. By providing any User Contribution on the Website, you grant us and our licensees, successors and assigns the right to use, reproduce, modify, perform, display, distribute and otherwise disclose to third parties any such material.
You represent and warrant that:
You own or control all rights in and to the User Contributions and have the right to grant the license granted above to us and our licensees, successors and assigns.
All of your User Contributions do and will comply with these Terms and Conditions.
You understand and acknowledge that you are responsible for any User Contributions you submit or contribute, and you, not the Company, have full responsibility for such content, including its legality, reliability, accuracy and appropriateness. We are not responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any User Contributions posted by you or any other user of the Website.
Monitoring and Enforcement; Termination
We have the right to:
Remove or refuse to post any User Contributions for any reason in our sole discretion.
Take any action with respect to any User Contribution that we deem necessary or appropriate in our sole discretion, including if we believe that such User Contribution violates the Terms of Use, including the Content Standards, infringes any intellectual property right or other right of any person or entity, threatens the personal safety of users of the Website or the public or could create liability for the Company.
Take appropriate legal action, including without limitation, referral to law enforcement, for any illegal or unauthorised use of the Website.
Terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the Website in our sole discretion for any violation of these Terms and Conditions.
Without limiting the foregoing, we have the right to fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity or other information of anyone posting any materials on or through the Website. YOU WAIVE AND HOLD HARMLESS THE COMPANY FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY THE COMPANY DURING OR AS A RESULT OF ITS INVESTIGATIONS AND FROM ANY ACTIONS TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF INVESTIGATIONS BY EITHER THE COMPANY OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.
We do not undertake to review all material before it is posted on the Website, and cannot ensure prompt removal of objectionable material after it has been posted. Accordingly, we assume no liability for any action or inaction regarding transmissions, communications or content provided by any user or third party. We have no liability or responsibility to anyone for performance or nonperformance of the activities described in this section.
Content Standards
These content standards apply to any and all User Contributions and use of Interactive Services. User Contributions must in their entirety comply with all applicable national and international laws and regulations. Without limiting the foregoing, User Contributions must not:
Contain any material which is defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable.
Infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual property or other rights of any other person.
Violate the legal rights (including the rights of publicity and privacy) of others or contain any material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under applicable laws or regulations or that otherwise may be in conflict with these Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy.
Be likely to deceive any person.
Promote any illegal activity, or advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act.
Cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety or be likely to upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
Impersonate any person, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person or organisation.
Involve commercial activities or sales, such as contests, sweepstakes and other sales promotions, barter or advertising.
Give the impression that they emanate from or are endorsed by us or any other person or entity, if this is not the case.
Reliance on Information Posted
This Website or Application may include content provided by third parties, including materials provided by other users, bloggers and third-party licensors, syndicators, aggregators and/or reporting services. All statements and/or opinions expressed in these materials, and all articles and responses to questions and other content, other than the content provided by the Company, are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the person or entity providing those materials. These materials do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Company. We are not responsible, or liable to you or any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials provided by any third parties.
Changes to the Website or Application
We may update the content on this Website or Application from time to time, but its content is not necessarily complete or up-to-date. Veterinary knowledge, treatment recommendations, and best standards of practice change at a rapid pace and any of the material on the Website may be out of date at any given time. While we will do our best to ensure its accuracy, we cannot be liable for any loss or damage that may result from reliance on information and material that may be out-of-date at any point in time.
Information about you and your visits to the Website
All information we collect on this Website or Application is subject to our Privacy Policy. By using the Website, you consent to all actions taken by us with respect to your information in compliance with the Privacy Policy.
Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship
Pursuant to the Veterinary Council of New Zealand (VCNZ), a veterinarian-client- patient relationship (“VCPR”) is not established by electronic consultations. A VCPR can be established only once a veterinarian sees and examined a pet in person and only then can then be maintained through electronic means. Any potential diagnosis or opinion given is the opinion of the treating veterinarian and not of the Company, and the Company disclaims any and all liability whatsoever in connection therewith.
By creating an account with Vet Consults for this pet, I certify that I am the legal owner or guardian of the pet and responsible for all medical decisions for this pet. I acknowledge that I use the Vet Consults service at my own risk, and I am entirely responsible for the decisions made based on information provided by this site or by Vet Consult team members in digital online consultations. Vet Consults reserves the right to end any relationship with any user or member at any time if these terms are violated.
Electronic or phone communications via the Website or any third-party application are not confidential or privileged and will not be the subject of any associated confidences or privileges. You understand and agree that all communications may be recorded for training and quality control purposes. You consent to the exchange and release of information and records between the Company and your regular veterinarian. The Company will store your pet's medical records in the Company's system so that proper care may be given.
Any advice provided by a Veterinarian team member is for your decision support purposes only to assist you in making your veterinary medical care decision.
The Company’s veterinarians do not diagnose or treat any medical conditions unless there is a valid Veterinary Client Patient Relationship.
IF YOU BELIEVE YOUR PET IS EXPERIENCING A MEDICAL EMERGENCY REQUIRING IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE, SEEK THE HELP OF THE NEAREST, APPROPRIATE EMERGENCY VETERINARY MEDICAL SERVICE. NEVER DISREGARD YOUR VETERINARY CARE PROFESSIONAL’S ADVICE OR DELAY SEEKING SUCH ADVICE BECAUSE OF ANYTHING IN THE CONTENT OR OTHERWISE RELATED TO OUR SITE.
Animal Emergencies the require immediate care include, but are not limited to:
Severe bleeding or bleeding that does not stop within five minutes
choking, difficulty breathing or non-stop coughing and gagging
Bleeding from the nose, mouth, rectum, coughing up blood, or blood in the urine
Inability to urinate or pass faeces (stool), or associated pain when urinating or passing stool
Injuries to your pet’s eyes
Ingestion of or suspicion of ingestion of poison (including, but not limited to: antifreeze, xylitol, chocolate, rat/rodent poison, slug bait, grapes, etc.)
Seizures and/or collapse
Severe traumatic injuries (i.e. road traffic accidents)
Obvious signs of pain
Heat stress or heatstroke
Severe vomiting or diarrhoea (or more than two episodes in a 24 hour period)
Refusal to drink for more than 24 hours
Linking to the Website and Social Media Features
You may link to our homepage, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it; you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part without our express written consent.
This Website may provide certain social media features that enable you to:
Link from your own or certain third-party websites to certain content on this Website.
Send e-mails or other communications with certain content, or links to certain content, on this Website.
Cause limited portions of content on this Website to be displayed or appear to be displayed on your own or certain third-party websites.
You may use these features solely as they are provided by us solely with respect to the content they are displayed with and otherwise in accordance with any additional terms and conditions we provide with respect to such features. Subject to the foregoing, you must not:
Establish a link from any website that is not owned by you.
Cause the Website or portions of it to be displayed, or appear to be displayed by, for example, framing, deep linking or in-line linking, on any other site.
Link to any part of the Website other than the homepage.
Otherwise take any action with respect to the materials on this Website that is inconsistent with any other provision of these Terms and Conditions.
You agree to cooperate with us in aiding unauthorised framing or linking immediately to cease. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.
We may disable all or any social media features and any links at any time without notice, at our discretion.
Links from the Website
If the Website contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your convenience only. This includes links contained in advertisements, including banner advertisements and sponsored links. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources, and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of them. If you decide to access any of the third party websites linked to this Website, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such websites.
Communications
You may opt in to receive Vet Consult's text messages at the mobile number you provide to us. Your consent to receive our promotional texts is not a condition of purchase or use of the services. Message and data rates may apply from your carrier. If you have any questions about your mobile plan, please contact your carrier. You can opt out of receiving our texts by following the instructions provided in those messages or otherwise reply to our texts with the “STOP” command. You allow Vet Consults and affiliates to either text or call you at the number provided.
Geographic Restrictions
The owner of the Website is based in New Zealand. We provide this Website for use only by persons located in New Zealand. We make no claims that the Website, or any of its content is accessible or appropriate outside of New Zealand. Access to the Website may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If you access the Website or Application from outside New Zealand, you do so on your own and are responsible for compliance with local laws.
Vet Consults complies with all necessary veterinary services licensing in New Zealand. All veterinarians are registered as practicing veterinarians with the Veterinary Council of New Zealand.
Limitation of Liability
IN NO EVENT WILL THE COMPANY, ITS AFFILIATES OR THEIR LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS OR DIRECTORS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE WEBSITE, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO IT, ANY CONTENT ON THE WEBSITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF DATA, AND WHETHER CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE, BREACH OF CONTRACT OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FORESEEABLE. THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY LIABILITY WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its affiliates, licensors and service providers and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, suppliers, successors from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses or fees (including reasonable solicitors' fees) arising out of or relating to your violation of these Terms and Conditions or your use of the Website, including, but not limited to, your User Contributions, any use of the Website's content, services and products other than as expressly authorised in these Terms and Conditions or your use of any information obtained from the Website.
Entire Agreement
The Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Policy constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and Vet Consults with respect to the Website and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations and warranties, both written and oral, with respect to the Website.
Your Comments and Concerns
Please contact us with any questions or concerns at help@vetconsults.co.nz