Terms of use
1. What Mates Gear is
Mates Gear is owned and operated by Percy Holdings Ltd, a New Zealand company ("we", "us"). It is an online noticeboard where owners advertise equipment for hire and hirers contact them. We are not a hire company. We don't own, inspect, deliver or insure the equipment listed, and we are not a party to any hire between an owner and a hirer.
2. Listings
- Owners must own the equipment or have the right to hire it out, including any consent needed from a finance company.
- Listings must be accurate and kept up to date, including rates, condition and availability.
- Owners who hire out as part of a business must list as In Trade and give their business name and NZBN or ABN.
- We may edit a listing for clarity, or decline or remove one that breaks these terms, is misleading, or advertises something we don't accept.
To keep the site current, we'll email you if you haven't logged in to your owner account for 11 months. Logging in, or confirming from that email, keeps your listings live for another 12 months. If we don't hear from you within 14 days of the 12-month mark, we'll pause your listings. You can switch them back on any time by logging in.
3. What can't be listed
Cars, vans and other vehicles offered as rental cars, boats and personal watercraft, firearms, anything stolen or under a dispute, equipment that is unsafe or not legally allowed to be used, and anything needing a licence to supply that the owner doesn't hold.
4. Fees
- Listing fees are shown on the List your gear page in NZ dollars and include GST.
- One-off plans run for the period shown. Monthly In Trade plans renew each month until cancelled.
- If we decline your listing before it goes live, we'll refund the fee. Once a listing is live, fees aren't refunded for the time already used, except where the law requires.
- We don't charge commission on hires.
5. Hires are between owner and hirer
- Owners and hirers agree the terms, price, bond, delivery and payment between themselves. We recommend using our hire agreement and pre-start checklist.
- Owners are responsible for the safety, servicing and insurance of their equipment, and for giving hirers its safety information.
- Hirers are responsible for using equipment safely, within its limits, and only with competent, properly licensed operators.
5A. User beware
We have no say in, and don't check, approve or guarantee, any deal made through Mates Gear. Whether to hire, who to hire to or from, the price, bond, dates, condition, insurance and payment are all decided between the owner and the hirer. Make your own checks before you hire: see the equipment, check the owner and the hirer, confirm licences and tickets, agree insurance in writing and use the hire agreement. Any dispute about a hire is between the owner and the hirer, for example through the Disputes Tribunal.
Percy Holdings Ltd and its related companies also list some of their own equipment on Mates Gear. Those hires are made on the same basis as any other owner's listing.
5B. Insurance
Insurance is sorted between you and the owner. Mates Gear isn't part of the hire and doesn't insure the gear or anyone using it. Before you hire, agree in writing who covers damage, theft, breakdown and third-party liability. Ask whether the owner's policy covers hire to others, and check whether you need your own cover, such as public liability or hired-in plant.
5C. Complaints and reports
If a listing looks unsafe, misleading or like a scam, or someone has broken these terms, use the Report this listing link on the listing or contact us. We aim to reply within 2 working days.
We look at every report. Depending on what we find, we may ask the owner or hirer for more information, ask them to fix the listing, pause or remove the listing, or close an account. We keep the person who reported it informed, but we may not share everything about another user.
We can't settle disputes about a hire itself, such as payment, the bond, damage or late returns. Those are between the owner and hirer under their own agreement. If you can't sort it out together, you can take it to the Disputes Tribunal in New Zealand or your state's consumer or civil tribunal in Australia. In the Pacific Islands, use the local courts or consumer agency where the hire takes place. If anyone is in danger, or you think a crime has happened, contact the police first.
6. Enquiries
When you send an enquiry about a listing, we pass your name, contact details and message to that listing's owner so they can reply to you. See our privacy policy.
7. Our responsibility
We do our best to keep the site running and listings genuine, but we can't guarantee any listing, owner, hirer or piece of equipment. To the extent the law allows, we are not liable for any loss, damage or injury arising from a hire arranged through Mates Gear. Nothing in these terms limits rights you have under the Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 or Fair Trading Act 1986 in New Zealand, or the Australian Consumer Law, where those laws apply.
8. Changes and governing law
We may update these terms and will post the new version here. These terms are governed by New Zealand law.
Questions? Contact us.