Terms & Conditions

Who we are and your agreement

These terms are between you and The Waikato Advocate, a New Zealand digital-only local news service. By continuing to use our website, or submitting or purchasing content, you agree to these terms. If you act for an organisation, you must have authority to bind it; otherwise you must have legal capacity to enter the purchase.

Our service

We publish news, opinion, community information, notices and memorials. Reading our editorial content is free. Paid classifieds purchase a text-only advertising placement, not a subscription or an editorial endorsement. Our pricing page describes Standard and Featured placements. Koha is voluntary support, not a classifieds purchase.

Acceptable use

You must not use the service unlawfully, commit fraud, send spam, infringe intellectual property or privacy rights, or interfere with security. Malware, unauthorised probing, scraping, bypassing access controls and disrupting the service are prohibited. Do not submit misleading, discriminatory or unlawful advertisements or prohibited goods and services.

Your account and submissions

Keep account credentials confidential and provide accurate contact details. You are responsible for your submissions and must have permission to use any text, images and personal information you supply. You retain your rights in your content and grant us a non-exclusive licence to host, process, display and moderate it to provide the requested service.

Every classified, death notice and visitor memorial contribution is subject to administrator approval before publication. Payment does not guarantee approval. Approved contributions may be removed for policy violations. Contributor email addresses for classifieds remain private unless you choose to publish them; contact details you include in public text or optional public fields can be visible to readers. To report infringement or request a correction or takedown, email news@waikatoadvocate.co.nz. Repeated or serious infringement may result in suspension.

Our intellectual property

The Waikato Advocate retains ownership of its software, documentation, branding and other intellectual property. Article and image rights belong to us or their credited rights holders. You have a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access the service for its intended use; you may not copy or redistribute protected material without permission or a lawful exception.

Classifieds and payment

Standard and Featured classifieds are one-off purchases in New Zealand dollars. Each runs for seven days from administrator approval, not from payment. There is no automatic renewal; renewal requires a new payment and review. The final total is shown at checkout before you pay. We do not guarantee views, enquiries or sales, and we are not a party to transactions between advertisers and readers.

Payments for classifieds are processed securely by Stripe. The Waikato Advocate is the seller of the advertising service; Stripe is our payment processor, not our Merchant of Record. We handle service enquiries and refund requests at news@waikatoadvocate.co.nz.

Classifieds are one-off purchases, with no subscription, recurring fee or automatic upgrade. NZ$1 Standard and NZ$5 Featured are total prices, with no added charges. The Waikato Advocate is not GST registered and does not charge GST. See our Refund Policy. External Stripe links for koha and paid memorials, and direct bank transfers, remain separate payment flows.

Availability and ending access

We work to keep the service available but do not guarantee uninterrupted or error-free performance. We may suspend or terminate access for material breach, non-payment, security or fraud risk, or repeated or serious policy violations. Contact us about your data or outstanding purchases if access ends; termination does not remove your statutory rights or refund entitlements.

Legal rights and contact

New Zealand law applies. Nothing in these terms excludes rights or remedies that cannot lawfully be excluded, including applicable rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993, Fair Trading Act 1986 and Privacy Act 2020. We may update these terms; the date above identifies the current version. For service enquiries contact news@waikatoadvocate.co.nz. Our Privacy Notice explains our handling of personal information.