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Terms & Conditions

BDS Terms & Conditions

AKA the fine print

Use of this website and our service is subject to the following terms and conditions. Please read them carefully. 

These terms and conditions were last modified on 6 July 2022 and should be read in conjunction with our Online Privacy Policy. If you have questions about these terms, please contact us.


1. About us and an overview of our terms and conditions

Welcome to the FWEA Book Discussion Scheme (BDS), New Zealand's only nationwide organisation lending books and discussion notes to book groups.

We have provided this website for your use. Your access to, and use of, all information on this website (including the purchase of our products) is provided subject to the following terms and conditions. Please read them carefully. The information is intended for residents of New Zealand only.

1.1 Acceptance of Terms and Conditions

These terms and conditions are the terms on which the BDS offers its book service and the 'Join a group' message board facility. By registering online you accept these terms and conditions, as amended by us from time to time. You should not register online if you do not accept these terms and conditions.

1.2 Amendment of Terms and Conditions

We reserve the right to amend these terms and conditions at any time. Your use of the website following any amendments will represent your agreement to be bound by these terms and conditions as amended. We therefore recommend that each time you access our website you read these terms and conditions.

2. Terminology

In these terms and conditions, "we" "us" and "our" refers to WEA Book Discussion Scheme Trust, commonly known as BDS.

3. Privacy

Our Online Privacy Policy applies to any personal information that we collect about you as a result of your accessing and using this website.

4. Coordinator account

In order to access the membership services and product order services provided on this website, you must be the coordinator/convenor of a group or the person appointed by your BDS group. You must complete registration by providing certain information as set out on our start a group and registration pages.

5. Coordinator username and password

A Coordinator/convenor's username and password are personal to them. Coordinators are solely responsible for any use of this website by any person using their username and password, and agree to indemnify us against any claims arising out of their failure to maintain the confidentiality of their username or password. Coordinators agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorised use of their account or any other breach of security.

6. How book groups operate

Please refer to the start a group and FAQs pages on this website for detailed information on choosing books, receiving and returning books and managing your membership with us.

7. Book and Product Descriptions

We strive to ensure that our products and services are described as accurately as possible on our website; however, we do not warrant that the description is accurate. Where we become aware of any error in description, we reserve the right to correct any error or omission.

Images have been provided for illustrative purposes only and we do not guarantee that any image will reproduce in true colour nor that any given image will reflect or portray the full design or options relating to that product.

8. Book Loans and Product Orders
9. Processing and Delivery of Orders of Purchase
Order processing times

We usually update order information every morning and early afternoon of each business day. Purchases of catalogues will be forwarded with the next dispatch of books. Courier bags are normally forwarded with the next dispatch of books, but if you require them urgently for the return of books, please get in touch with us. Mystery Parcels are generally dispatched separately within five business days, but we may include them in a dispatch if there is one due.

Delivery method

Books and purchase orders are sent via courier. Deliveries do not require signature.

10. Product Returns

We undertake to replace any product delivered to you that is faulty or is in a damaged condition. If you wish to return any damaged goods of purchase, please notify us.

We also undertake to exchange any undamaged goods of purchase that were purchased from us, provided they are returned unused with proof of purchase within seven days of purchase; however, we will not provide any refund of such purchase. If undamaged goods are returned to us for exchange, we do not refund any packing and postage charges incurred by the customer. Return of undamaged goods for exchange is entirely at your cost and risk.

Once you have notified us that you wish to return faulty, damaged or undamaged products, you may return the product to Book Discussion Scheme so long as you provide valid proof of purchase eg. tax invoice, receipt and/or consignment note.

11. Site access

When you visit our website, we give you a limited licence to access and use our information for personal use.

You are permitted to download a copy of the information on this website to your computer for your personal use only, provided that you do not delete or change any copyright symbol, trade mark or other proprietary notice. Your use of our content in any other way infringes our intellectual property rights.

Except as permitted under the Copyright Act 1962, you are not permitted to copy, reproduce, republish, distribute or display any of the information on this website without our prior written permission.

The licence to access and use the information on our website does not include the right to use any data mining robots or other extraction tools. The licence also does not permit you to metatag or mirror our website without our prior written permission. We reserve the right to serve you with notice if we become aware of your metatag or mirroring of our website.

12. Join a group

The Book Discussion Scheme provides the 'Join a group' message board facility to enable people to find other people who are interested in setting up or joining a Book Discussion Scheme book group. People using the facility for other purposes may have their messages blocked and/or removed.

The site uses various technologies, including cookies and tracking information stored in your browser and your IP address to automatically filter results to your general location. We do not store any of this information on our website. 

12.1 People registering for 'Join a group'

People registering on the 'Join a group' message board facility make themselves contactable (via email through the website) by anyone using the BDS website. 
BDS collects and stores your name, email address, general location and phone number (if given) and anything you choose to enter about yourself. Of this information, only your first name, message and general location will be displayed on the site. Your surname and phone number are optional and so will be displayed only if given.

Your email address will not be publicly available, nor will it be given to the person contacting you.

12.2 People contacting people

The information gained when people contact people is not stored or used for anything other than the purpose of sending a contact email to the recipient.

The site does not record or store any of the information provided nor does it share the information with any other third parties other than those necessary in order to deliver an email message.

All information provided in the contact form is made available in an email to the recipient, including the email address provided. This information isn't directly made publicly available to anyone else.

While we do monitor exchanges sent through the 'join a group' message board, BDS does not have control over what the recipient does with the information provided to them so please proceed with caution. All contact between you and other people is entirely at your own risk.

12.3 Convenors looking for new members

By indicating that BDS can refer potential members to your BDS group, you are accepting our terms and conditions and online privacy policy. Such an indication means the convenor's name, telephone number and general location and the group's profile narrative is made available to anyone using the 'join a group' message board facility.

13. Disclaimers

You expressly understand and agree that:

  1. Your use of the BDS website and the services is at your sole risk. The BDS expressly disclaims, to the maximum extent permitted by law, any condition or warranty, express or implied, but not limited to any warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.
  2. The BDS takes all due care in providing the information on our website, but makes no warranty, to the maximum extent permitted by law that [i] the services provided will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error free; [ii] the information provided on the website is error-free or reliable; [iii] the quality of any products or services obtained through the website will meet your requirements; or [iv] members are who they say they are.
  3. The BDS also takes all due care in ensuring that our website is free of any virus, worm, Trojan horse and/or malware; however we are not responsible for any damage to your computer system which arises in connection with your use of our website or any linked website.
  4. From time to time, we may host third party content on our website such as advertisements and endorsements belonging to other traders. Responsibility for the content of such material rests with the owners of that material and we are not responsible for any errors or omissions in such material.
14. Limitation of Liability

You expressly understand and agree that:

  1. The BDS shall not be liable under any circumstances for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or exemplary loss or damages, including but not limited to damages for loss of profit, goodwill, use, data, or other intangible losses that result from the service, or the ability to access the service.
  2. The BDS shall not be liable for the cost of procurement of substitute goods or services resulting from services provided by the BDS.
  3. The BDS shall not be liable for the conduct or statements of members or third parties in relation to the service.
15. Indemnity

You agree to fully indemnify the BDS from and against all claims, liability loss, costs and expenses (including the full amount of legal costs) incurred or suffered by the BDS in respect of or in connection with:

  1. Information contained in your profile;
  2. Any material, including (without limitation) messages you post to or enter on the website;
  3. Your communications with or behaviour toward other members;
  4. Your breach of these terms and conditions or any applicable laws.
16. Force Majeure

If a Force Majeure event causing delay continues for more than thirty days, we may terminate this Agreement by giving at least a Thirty Day Notice to you. "Force Majeure" means any act, circumstance or omission over which we could not reasonably have exercised control.

17. Hyperlinks

The BDS website may from time to time contain hyperlinks to other websites. Such links are provided for convenience only and we take no responsibility for the content and maintenance of or privacy compliance by any linked website. Any hyperlink on our website to another website does not imply our endorsement, support, or sponsorship of the operator of that website nor of the information and/or products which they provide.

You may link our website without our consent. Any such linking will be entirely your responsibility and at your expense. By linking, you must not alter any of our website's contents including any intellectual property notices and you must not frame or reformat any of our pages, files, images, text or other materials.

18. Intellectual Property Rights

The copyright to all content on this website including applets, graphics, images, layouts and text belongs to us or we have a licence to use those materials.

All trademarks, brands and logos used on this website are either owned by us or we have permission to use them. Your access to our website does not license you to use those marks in any commercial way without our prior written permission.

Any comment, feedback, idea or suggestion (called "Comments") which you provide to us through this website becomes our property. If in future we use your Comments in promoting our website or products, or in any other way, we will not be liable for any similarities which may appear from such use. Furthermore, you agree that we are entitled to use your Comments for any commercial or non-commercial purpose without compensation to you or to any other person who has transmitted your Comments.

If you provide us with Comments, you acknowledge that you are responsible for the content of such material including its legality, originality and copyright.

19. Jurisdiction

These terms and conditions are to be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of New Zealand. Any claim made by either party against the other which in any way arises out of these terms and conditions will be heard in New Zealand and you agree to submit to the jurisdiction of those Courts.

If any provision in these terms and conditions is invalid under any law the provision will be limited, narrowed, construed or altered as necessary to render it valid but only to the extent necessary to achieve such validity. If necessary the invalid provision will be deleted from these terms and conditions and the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

20. Privacy

Our compliance with privacy legislation is set out in our separate Online Privacy Policy.