Privacy Policy

VEC Limited trading as VAPO (“we”, “us” and, “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information.  This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, store, use and disclose personal information about our customers, and people who apply for employment with us, and how we comply with our obligations under the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 (“Privacy Act”). It also explains how to contact us if you have any questions about the management of your personal information or would like to access the personal information we hold about you.

This Privacy Policy applies to personal information we collect, hold and use about you when we carry out our business activities, such as when you purchase our good and services, visit our website or other digital platforms, communicate or interact with us, enter any competitions, complete any surveys or enter our stores.

In this Policy “personal information” has the same meaning as defined in the Privacy Act.

We may amend this Policy at any time by posting the updated version on our website.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of sites that are linked to this website via hyperlinks, banner advertising or otherwise.

What information do we collect?

Generally, the information we collect about customers includes your name, delivery address, birthdate, phone number, details of products you have purchased from us, payment and billing information, e-mail addresses, and any other information you may provide to us during our interactions including on social media.

We also collect demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as your postcode, age, gender, shopping preferences, interests and favourites.

When you visit our websites, we may also collect information about your computer, including your IP address, date/time of your visits, duration of your visits, the pages and documents accessed, the previous site accessed (i.e. the referring URL) and the type of browser being used.

We also collect information about your use of our website using cookies. You can choose to decline cookies, but if you do so, you may not be able to fully experience our online interactive features.

How we collect and hold information

Where it is reasonable and practicable to do so, we collect your personal information via our customer service centre, by phone, email, mail, website, when you complete any survey/application forms, or enter any of our competitions or special promotions/activities, when you interact with us on social media (such as Facebook or Instagram) or when you deal with team members in our stores.

We take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We will keep your personal information secure and it will be held by us in our customer database in accordance with the Privacy Act. We will only release your personal information if you authorise us to do this or if we are legally required to do so.

Why we collect and how we use information

We collect and use your personal information to:

• Communicate with you and answer any questions or provide information or advice.
• Improve and personalise your experience with us, such as when you are in store, on-line or when otherwise interacting with us.
• Better understand our customers’ requirements and preferences, conduct product and market research, personalise and improve our service and to provide offers that are of greater interest or benefit to you.
• Undertake and administer promotions, competitions, in-store events, marketing activities, direct marketing, database compilation, analysis of trends and demographics and other marketing or promotional activities.
• Process payments and to deal with your feedback or complaints and provide refunds and discounts.
• Complete other transactions with you.
• Manage our stores, supply logistics and inventory.
• Communicate warranty and product recall purposes.
• Undertake our administrative and operational functions.
• Counteract fraud, loss and theft prevention activities.
• Investigate a breach of any of our terms and conditions or any suspected unlawful activity.
  
  

How we disclose your information

We may disclose your personal information to undertake any of the purposes set out above, or where permitted or required by law or as otherwise detailed in this Privacy Policy.  Recipients of your personal information may include:

• Our employees, contractors or service providers, to the extent reasonably necessary for them to carry out their duties/obligations. This may include research agencies, website development agencies, payment processing agencies, IT systems administrators, couriers, payment processors, lawyers and business advisors;
• Suppliers of products and services for delivery, product warranty and recall purposes; and
• Any person to whom we are required or permitted by law to disclose personal information. This may include the NZ Police, an ambulance service, or Government departments or regulators within New Zealand in connection with law enforcement activities and emergency services. 

We require any third party to whom we disclose personal information to protect that information against any unauthorised use, access or disclosure in accordance with the Privacy Act.

We may occasionally transfer your personal information to organisations located overseas, for example where:

• We use service providers based overseas;
• You have requested a product or service that involves an international element;
• We need to comply with foreign legal or regulatory requirements; or
• An international payment has been made.

We require overseas recipients to use personal information only for the purpose for which we provide the information to ensure that our privacy obligations in respect of your personal information are not breached, and to implement strict confidentiality and data protection arrangements.

Accessing and correcting your personal information, and questions

You can request access to your information or that your information be corrected by contacting us at the address below. Your request will be processed in accordance with the Privacy Act.

If you have a question about this Policy or wish to make a complaint about the way we have collected, used, held or disclosed your personal information, please contact us at the address below. We may need to contact you for further details.

Contact
VAPO Customer Service
PO Box 14086, Panmure, Auckland, 1072, NZ
Email: contact@vapo.co.nz
Phone: 09 570 4025