Legal Information

The following deals with conditions relating to your use of this site and, where applicable, the purchase of a NicoTest™ and your subsequent participation in the NicoTest™ Quit Programme.

Please read these conditions carefully as, without prejudice to your statutory rights, (see the UK Government's consumer shopping website guidelines) by doing so, if you tick the box on the first page of this site, you agree to be bound by these conditions.

Your obligations to us relating to the use of this site

If you use this website, you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the username and password that are issued to you on registration and are also responsible for all activities that occur under your username and password.

It is your responsibility to ensure that all information provided to us is correct and to maintain and update your details immediately upon any changes to them. In order to update your personal information, please contact info@g-nostics.com.

You must not use this website or any of its materials for any of the following: i) to cause, or in a way that is likely to cause the website, or access to it to be interrupted, damaged or impaired in any way; or ii) to cause annoyance, inconvenience or unnecessary anxiety for other users or G-Nostics; or iii) for any fraudulent purpose, or in connection with a criminal offence or other unlawful activity; or iv) to breach copyright, database rights, patents, trade mark, confidence, privacy or any other similar right (Intellectual Property) which is otherwise harmful to G-Nostics, its suppliers or partner companies or any other third party.

NicoTest™ is a trade mark of G-Nostics and we have applied for a registered trade mark in the United Kingdom. You may not use this trade mark or any other brand names on this site in connection with any other product or service without G-Nostic's express consent.

Van Mierlo Communications Consulting Inc. (V-CC Systems) owns and operates the technology which runs this website. All content on this site (including source code, object code, methods, concepts, techniques, models, diagrams, programme text and copy, processes, procedures, strategies, marketing techniques, images and information contained in this website) is licensed to or owned by G-Nostics and is protected by United Kingdom copyright and other intellectual property law.

You may download the content of this website but only for your personal, non-commercial use. The content may not be otherwise copied and may not be modified without the prior written consent of G-Nostics.

Our obligations to you relating to the use of this site

Please refer to the sections "about this site" below and our Privacy Policy.

In addition, please note that we will make all reasonable endeavours to ensure that the availability of the website is uninterrupted and that transmissions will be error-free. However, due to the nature of the internet, this cannot be guaranteed. Whilst we will attempt to limit the frequency and duration of any suspension or restriction, your access to the website may be occasionally suspended or restricted to allow for repairs, maintenance, or the introduction of new facilities or services.

Terms and Conditions relating to your use of the NicoTest™ Quit Programme

When you place an order for a NicoTest™ Kit (or for an e-gift voucher) from this site, you will be sent an email confirming the receipt of your order and containing the details of your order. Your order for a NicoTest™ kit (whether made using an e-gift voucher or by direct means) represents your offer to us to purchase a NicoTest™, use your PTP and participate in the NicoTest™ Quit Programme. By way of our email confirmation that we will dispatch the product to you, your offer will then be accepted at the time that the dispatch email confirmation is sent.

On placing your order, you will have automatic access to the information concerning the NicoTest™, the NicoTest™ support group and online treatment programmes by using the login details provided to you on registration. The personal health information you provided to register for the NicoTest™ Quit Programme will be used to generate the first stage of your PTP. The remainder of the PTP will be generated from the results of your NicoTest™.

On receipt of the NicoTest™ Kit, you will also receive a Patient Information Leaflet which provides instructions on how to administer the NicoTest™ together with the materials required to administer it (e.g. lancet, swab, etc).

You should return the completed NicoTest™ in the pre-paid envelope provided. The completed NicoTest™ will then be delivered to the lab for processing, following which you can expect to receive your NicoTest™ results and completed PTP by email within 7 (seven) to 14 (fourteen) days of posting it to us.

Participation by under 18s

We cannot provide NicoTest Kits or PTPs to under 18s and cannot permit them to take part in the online support group. Accordingly if you are buying a NicoTest Kit for yourself or redeeming an e-voucher in respect of the same you confirm that you are over 18 and if you are buying an e-voucher you agree not to give it to an individual who is under 18.

You recognise that we cannot provide services to under-18s and agree that if we discover that a user is under 18 we are obliged to cancel that individual's participation in his or her PTP and the support group and, if it has not already been despatched, cancel delivery of the NicoTest Kit without compensation.

Pricing and availability

All prices and charges shown are in Pounds Sterling (GBP). All prices are inclusive of VAT. All purchases are confirmed by an invoice received by email. All invoices are issued in GBP according to the current exchange rate. No delivery charge will be made to shipments sent within the UK. For shipments to outside the UK, usual UK postal rates will apply in accordance with the weight of the package and the final destination.

We accept payment from Mastercard, Switch, Maestro, Visa and Delta credit and payment cards. Your credit card will be charged at the time of processing the order.

All orders for products that are in stock are dispatched within seven (7) days. All orders for items that are not currently held in our stock are dispatched within approximately twenty eight (28) days. All deliveries are made from the United Kingdom.. We deliver goods worldwide. Shipment to all European countries will occur within approximately three-five (3-5) working days, shipping time to non-European countries is checked individually on request.

Returns and Refunds

If for any reason you are not happy with the product(s) purchased, G-Nostics provides a thirty (30) day returns guarantee in which a full refund will be provided. This means that thirty (30) days from the date of receipt, an unused NicoTest™ may be returned to us and a refund will be provided as long as it is in its original condition with seals and all packaging intact.

Any user who returns an unused NicoTest™ but who continues to participate in the PTP and NicoTest™ Quit Programme and use the NicoTest™ software, will be charged the administration fee (which is usually waived) of £9.99. In addition, and in any event, unless the returned goods are defective, a £10 return fee will be charged.

We are only able to accept the return of opened goods if the return is due to damage incurred in transit, an error on our part or they are faulty and we are not able to exchange those parts which are not damaged, defective or incorrect. In the event of the product(s) being damaged in transit, defective or incorrect, you can return the product(s) to us within seven (7) days of receipt for a full exchange and we will refund delivery charges of sending the product to you as well as reimbursing the costs you incurred in returning it to us.

Customers located in the European Union are also entitled to exercise their statutory right to withdraw from the purchase of a product within seven (7) business days after the date the product(s) is delivered. These customers will be refunded the cost of the product as follows:

A refund for the cost of the charge incurred for the delivery of the product(s) but only to the extent that this is standard (Airmail) postage charges for product(s) delivered outside the UK.

In order to return your unopened or defective product(s) to G-Nostics and, where appropriate to enable us to process a refund, we require that you: Return your invoice to us enclosing a note with (i) the reason for the return (including a full description of the fault if the product(s) is defective) and (ii) your order number as set out on your invoice. Please wrap the NicoTest™ securely in its original packaging (if possible) with all materials delivered with the NicoTest™ kit and send the package containing the goods to be returned in the pre-paid paid envelope provided to the following address: 68J The Business Centre, Milton Park, Didcot, Oxon OX14 4RX. We will notify you by email when we have received your returned product(s) and we estimate that it will take up to fourteen (14) days from that date to process it.

If you are withdrawing from your purchase between seven (7) and thirty (30) days after the delivery and there has been no error on the part of G-Nostics and the product(s) was not defective or damaged, we will only refund the cost of the product(s) less the returns fee of £10. If you continue to participate in the PTP and NicoTest™ Quit Programme and use the NicoTest™ software, an additional administration fee (which is usually waived) of £9.99 will be charged.

In the event of G-Nostics sending you a replacement for a damaged or defective product(s), the damaged or defective product(s) must be returned to G-Nostics within fourteen (14) days of the date on which G-Nostics issues the replacement. G-Nostics reserves the right to charge the price of the replacement product(s) to the payment card used for the original order if the replacement is not received by G-Nostics within the fourteen (14) day time frame stipulated above.

You will be responsible for the cost of returning the product(s) to us unless we delivered them to you in error, or the product(s) is damaged or defective.

Any refunds will be made in the same way in which monies were originally received .

If an order is made for a product and it then transpires that the product is not available for dispatch, you will be informed of this.

Health and Safety

By participating in the Programme you acknowledge that you have read our section on Health and Safety.

Upon receipt of your NicoTest™ Kit, you must read carefully any safety warnings and follow clearly the instructions contained within the enclosed Patient Information Leaflet as to how to use the NicoTest™ Kit. If you are in any doubt about the use of the NicoTest™ Kit, the meaning of any warnings or whether your intended use / means of use is safe, please contact G-Nostics.

Customs Information

You should be aware that if you order goods from this site which are to be delivered outside the European Union, you may be subject to import duties and taxes which are levied once the package reaches your country. As we have no control over these charges and cannot predict what they may be, these additional charges for customs clearance must be borne by you. As customs policies vary widely from country to country, we advise that you contact your local customs office for further information.

In addition, please note that when ordering from this site, you must comply with all laws and regulations of the country in which you are receiving the goods as you are considered the importer of record. As stated in our Privacy Policy, your privacy is important to us and we know that you care about how information about your order is used and shared. If you are a customer from outside the UK, you should be aware that that cross-border deliveries are subject to opening and inspection by customs authorities. We may provide certain order, delivery and product information, such as titles, to our international carriers and such information may be communicated by the carriers to customs authorities in order to facilitate customs clearance and comply with local laws. When you visit this site and use our chat rooms, our instant messaging facility or send e-mails to us, you are communicating with us electronically. We will only communicate with you by e-mail or by posting notices on the website. For the purposes of this contract, you consent to receive communications from us electronically and agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically will satisfy any legal requirement that states that such communications be in writing. This condition does not affect your statutory rights.

DISCLAIMER

G-Nostics will use all reasonable efforts to ensure that the information available from this website is accurate, up-to-date and not misleading. You acknowledge that you should not treat the information provided as absolutely definitive and that G-Nostics accepts no liability for your use of the information provided. G-Nostics makes no warranties or representations, either express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of this website's content and shall only be responsible for any losses you suffer as a result of breaching these conditions if the losses were reasonably foreseeable to both you and G-Nostics when you commenced using the website and/or when a contract for the sale/supply of goods/services by us to you was formed.

We will not be liable for damages of any kind or responsible for any indirect or consequential loss that arises out of your access or inability to access this website or your reliance on the information on this website that is not reasonably foreseeable to both you and G-Nostics when you commenced using the website and/or when a contract for the sale or supply of goods or services between you and G-Nostics was formed. G-Nostics does not limit in any way its liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or for fraud.

G-Nostics reserves the right to make changes to our website, policies, and the obligations relating to your participation in the NicoTest™ Quit Programme, your use of your PTP and these conditions at any time. You will be subject to the policies and conditions of obligations relating to participation in the NicoTest™ Quit Programme and use of your PTP in force at the time that you use the website or that you order products from us. G-Nostics will not be held responsible for any delay or failure to comply with our obligations under these conditions if the delay or failure arises from any cause which is beyond our reasonable control or is due to your negligence or breach of these terms and conditions. This condition does not affect your statutory rights.

These conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. You agree, as we do, to submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

Privacy Policy

As detailed in "About G-Nostics" the NicoTest™ quit programme and Personal Treatment Programme ('PTP') will provide you with customised tools and information designed to help you quit smoking. If you register to access the NicoTest™ support group you will be asked for some personal information. If you then sign up to participate in the PTP, you will be asked for further personal information that is specific to your profile as a smoker.

G-Nostics appreciates that you care about how information about you is used and that you trust us to use this information carefully and sensibly. This notice is a legal document which describes our Privacy Policy and how G-Nostics handles data which identifies you. As part of that, it also expresses our approach to complying with relevant data protection legislation.

You should read this Privacy Policy in conjunction with the G-Nostics' Terms and Conditions, of which this Privacy Policy forms part. By "accepting" our terms and conditions by clicking the tick box on the first page of this site you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Controllers and Processors of Personal Information

In connection with the information submitted to this site, for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Data Controller is G-Nostics Limited of registered address 4420 Nash Court, Oxford Business Park South, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX4 2RU, and the Data Processor is Van Mierlo Communications Consulting Inc 'V-CC Systems' of registered address 4108-41 Sudbury Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6J 3W6.

Collection and Use of Personal Information

The types of information we collect are:

Information you provide to us to access the NicoTest™ support group and additional information you provide to be able to participate in the PTP. Examples of information we collect are your name, email address, delivery address, age, gender and smoking habits
Gender – some materials are gender specific and are based on success strategy research.
Age – some of the feedback we provide you is based on your age and how long you have smoked.
First name or Alias - the system personalises your answers and creates a Programme that is specific to you and your smoking patterns. Please do not use your last name.
Email ID - part of this Programme is based on regular email communication. You may choose not to participate in this aspect of the Programme, if you wish but we recommend that you do. If you have any concerns in this regard please refer to our Privacy Policy
Your Smoking Particulars and Personal Progress - these elements will become the basis of providing you personal feedback and coping plans to help you quit.
Automatic information - certain information is received and stored whenever you browse the G-Nostics' website. Your IP address (your computer's individual identification number) will be automatically logged by our web server. This is used to note your interest in our website. This site uses "cookies".
Certain information from your medical history and the DNA provided by you in your NicoTest sample - this information comprises Sensitive Personal Data (as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998) and as such we are required to obtain your specific consent to use such data. Before you purchase a NicoTest or redeem a voucher you must provide such consent.

Use

The information we obtain from users helps us to personalise and continually improve the services provided by G-Nostics. We use the information to create PTPs, personal feedback and coping plans, to handle orders for the NicoTest, to deliver NicoTest kits and related services, to process payments, to communicate with you about orders, products and services and to update our records and to carry out internal validation of the effectiveness of the NicoTest™ Quit Programme.

It is our policy NOT to sell any data to any commercial organisation. If we identify where the data could be used for beneficial research purposes by third party organisations such as Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) engaged in healthcare research we will ask for your specific consent to allow such NGOs to use your anonymous DNA data.

If you were not happy for us to keep your DNA data for potential future medical research, we will destroy it and all other healthcare related information as soon as it is no longer required to enable us to provide you with a PTP and validate your PTP and the NicoTest™ Quit Programme. However, please note that where necessary, we reserve the right to use all personal data disclosed by users to prevent or detect fraud or abuses of our website and so as to enable third parties to carry such services on our behalf.

If you purchase the NicoTest™ from outside the UK, you should be aware that that cross-border deliveries are subject to opening and inspection by customs authorities.

Credit Card information

G-Nostics' site has a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate. This means that all credit card information submitted to us via our website is done so securely as data is encrypted and the server authenticated. Where payment is made by credit card, our credit card processing agents will not supply or sell your personal data to a third party for commercial exploitation either by way of marketing offers or spam.

Changes to the G-Nostics' business

If the assets that G-Nostics Limited uses to operate its business are acquired by a third party, we may transfer personal data we then hold to that third party.

Place of processing

The personal data is processed by computers situated in Canada. The data is downloaded to G-Nostics computers (situated within the UK) on a daily basis.

Security

Security measures are in place to ensure that the database of personal information is protected and that access to this database is restricted. All information is stored securely by both internal and external, physical and electronic safeguards. When accessing the website, users will be required to provide their personal username and password information in order to be provided access to the site.

All users should ensure that they protect against unauthorised access to their computer and password and should be sure to ensure that they log off when they finish using a shared computer.

Opt-out policy

When you have completed the NicoTest™ Quit Programme, your email, name and personal information is optionally removed from the system. Any user may have their details removed from the website at any time. To do so, please email info@g-nostics.com.

Data protection information

You can obtain further information about data protection legislation by visiting the Information Commissioner's website.

Conditions of use, notices and revisions

If you accept our terms and conditions, your use of this site and any dispute over privacy is subject to this Privacy Policy and the G-Nostics' Terms and Conditions, including the limitations on damages set out there. If you have any concerns about privacy on this site, please communicate your concern to out Data Controller by emailing info@g-nostics.com.

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Policy and the Terms and Conditions and all changes will be notified on this website. Our Privacy Policy applies to all information that we have about you and your use of the NicoTest™ Quit Programme. This includes information which you may disclose via our chat rooms, instant messaging facility or by email.

G-Nostics reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to restrict or cancel your access to the NicoTest™ quit programme, your PTP and related support group functions at any time you should fail to respond to G-Nostics' attempts to moderate, or intentionally or recklessly attempt to sabotage any of the moderation procedures which we implement.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our Privacy Policy or the Terms and Conditions, you should contact G-Nostics at info@g-nostics.com.

About this site

G-Nostics' business involves the application of pharmaco-genetic diagnostics technology developed by Oxford University and Cancer Research UK. G-Nostics have developed a diagnostic web-based infrastructure (supplied and hosted by its partner Van Mierlo Communications Consulting Inc. ("V-CC Systems") to provide the NicoTest™ Quit Programme to its customers as well as free access to a support group.

The NicoTest™ Quit Programme

The NicoTest™ Quit Programme (the 'Programme') utilises the NicoTest™ kit and the principles of the Transtheoretical Model and the Stages of Change to facilitate smoking cessation.

The NicoTest™ is a simple and safe procedure that can be carried out at home in the same way that Diabetics self-test for blood-sugar. NicoTest™ is CE Marked for both 'Home Use' by consumers and 'Clinical Use' by professionals. The NicoTest™ establishes an individual's genetic propensity / response to nicotine replacement therapy in a variety of product formats and, when combined with a personal questionnaire, generates a Personalised Treatment Programme (PTP) which is designed to increase compliance with and the efficacy of nicotine replacement therapy and other specified pharmalogical treatments for smoking cessation by:

informing users as to their smoking patterns;
delivering PTPs and recommendations (via the NicoTest™);
engaging users in a personalised NicoTest™ quit programme that includes coping plans for withdrawal, a reward plan, an exercise plan, a diet plan, and a stress reduction plan;
offering users the opportunity to participate in an online 24/7 behavioral modification process that also acts as a reference source, a peer support group and an interactive service for the entire duration of the cessation period;
providing inspirational email support;
providing a smoking cessation community via email, an instant messaging facility and a chat room that is moderated by qualified nurses; and
providing one-on-one email support through our support group.

If a user should 'slip', the interactive process allows the PTP to be revised at no cost to the individual and without continually drawing on the precious time of the clinician.

When visiting this site and in order to participate in the NicoTest™ Quit Programme or to become a member of the NicoTest™ Support Group, G-Nostics will require certain personal data from you. The way in which we collect, process and use this data is in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and is detailed in our Privacy Policy.