BGI Terms and conditions

TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR PAYMENT AND USE OF BGI PUBLICATIONS, REPORTS, MAPS AND GEOPHYSICAL, GEOCHEMISTRY, GEOTECHNICAL DATA

The Botswana Geoscience Institute avails data to customers at a fee for recovery of costs for processing which includes research, retrieval and preparation of data for customers. We aim to provide you with your specific data requests at a reasonable fee. The BGI National Geological Information Centre will be happy to assist you with your data requests. The following conditions govern our services to you with respect to ordering and payment of data requests:

1. Our turnaround time for processing of requests is normally 3 days, however, we strive to respond in less time depending on the volume of requests we have received.
2. You will receive a quotation for the items you have requested and after your confirmation, the items will be prepared. The quotation will be through email or printed copy if in person.
3. Following your payment to the BGI account, depending on the type and format of data requested the items may be picked directly from BGI, emailed to you if digital, posted, or a date scheduled and agreed with you to service your request. If bought online, the copy can be downloaded.
4. Should you find that the items you have received do not match what you have requested (confirmed through quotation) you will be refunded if you inform us within 7 days of purchase.
5. If you have received a defective item, we will replace it with 7 days of purchase or give you a full refund.
6. When serving our customers request, we strive to understand your requests, through interview, after which we do our own research to ensure that our response meets your specific needs.
7. Where any loss occurs on information on a customer’s computer or IT equipment BGI does not accept liability for any loss.

Limitations concerning use of BGI information:

Disclaimer:

1. Customers are advised that they use information provided by BGI at their own risk. BGI provides information from third parties, including donated collections   accepted in good faith by BGI as having been acquired and processed by competent persons. Neither BGI or the creators of the data can give any warranty as to the accuracy and quality of the data, nor its suitability for use. Therefore, all liabilities arising from the use of the information are excluded to the fullest extent permitted by law.
2. BGI draws customers, recipients or users to the following considerations that may affect the quality or accuracy of the information provided:
   1. Scientific observations may be made according to understanding and technology used at time of acquisition, processing, and interpretation.
   2. Data may be affected by copying, transcription and migration from one platform to another e.g., analogue to digital. Although subject to quality control some data may be subject to undetected errors.
   3. There may be deterioration of samples and records of samples in the long-term, we do our best to ensure proper curation of our collections.
   4. Data may be compiled from different sources of information available to BGI including the one acquired from third parties, which may not have been subject to verification or quality control.
   5. Note that data deposited or donated by third parties to BGI may have been acquired or created for a certain purpose that may affect the completeness of the data including its interpretation rendering it unusable for certain applications. Where BGI is aware of this, customers will be informed of the limitations.
   6. Finally, data or information supplied BGI should not be taken as a substitute for professional advice, specialist interpretations or detailed site investigations.

Prices and Payment

1. Payment is made in the currency of Botswana, that is the Pula (BWP).
2. Payment may be made by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), Cash deposit to BGI’s account, mobile payment (mobile payment (USSD), Visa or Credit Card. Customers are advised to liaise with BGI to be advised on the most suitable payment method, to be done at the customers discretion.
3. BGI reserves the right to refuse to supply goods to purchasers that have previously defaulted on payment. Purchasers who have defaulted will be requested to fulfil previous payments.

Payment

1. The Shopping Cart accepts various valid credit card and debit card purchases. Note that the cards authorized are subject to change at any time, and validation of the credit card information will be necessary to complete a purchase. All purchases available on the Website are in digital format. Once purchased access to the purchased data will be open for a limited period of 6 months, to you for you to view and download.

Postage

1. Digital products can only have a quantity of one.
2. Note that costs do not include postal delivery charges. A quote will be provided for shipping.

Lost, Damaged and Incorrectly Supplied Items

BGI will from the time of receiving an order and its payment do its best to provide what has been requested and ordered. BGI will take all reasonable steps to replace items damaged in transit or those that have been supplied in incorrectly supplied. A full refund will be made where it is not possible to provide a replacement.

If an order is incomplete or damaged in transit or during shipping, or has been incorrectly supplied, you should retain the goods together with all packaging and documents, and notify the BGI immediately. Notification should be done by letter, fax or email within 7 days of receiving the goods: beyond 7 days we cannot guarantee that replacements will be available. You then have the choice of having a replacement item or a full refund. Please ensure you quote any customer order numbers and include your full name and address in any communications.

Please do not return any faulty or incorrect goods unless asked to do so. We will give you instructions on how, or whether, to return these items, and may ask you to supply appropriate documents. Please, note that some circumstances may require you to cover postage/shipping fees.

Complaints:

BGI treats all complaints seriously and an investigation will be made on each case reported. It is our hope that cases will be solved by contacting the Marketing and Communications Office or the Manager of the concerned unit. If a customer is not satisfied that their issue has not been adequately addressed, they are advised to make a formal complaint to be addressed to the relevant Director. Our customer satisfaction forms are available on BGI’s website at www.bgi.org.bw and at the NGIC service desk.

Copyright

All BGI reports, maps, drawings, notes, statistics, and any other technical data created as BGI owned (IP) and used by a customer shall at all times remain the property of BGI and shall not be reallocated to any other work or be used for any other purposes, commercial or otherwise without prior written consent of BGI.

Copyright of the data remains with BGI and must be acknowledged. Publication of the data or interpretations derived therefrom must be presented to the BGI for review before publication. Only then may permission be granted by the Chief Executive Officer BGI. Failure to obtain written permission or failure to acknowledge copyright may lead to prosecution under international copyright laws.

Customers are therefore advised not to sell, distribute data in any form acquired or medium acquired from BGI without the expression written permission of the Chief Executive Officer, BGI.