TXTEarth.com

I am writing this letter to inform you of a company called TXTEarth. This is a company that is a total scam and they are literally committing fraud. I received an e-mail from my friend's e-mail address/name informing me that she had pictures that she wanted to share with me via her e-mail. When I clicked on the link to open up the pictures, it said that I was now enrolled in a program that I would have to pay $9.99 per month. At this point I realized that the e-mail was not from my friend (although the e-mail was sent to me using her actual e-mail account name) but a company called TXTEarth. I immediately contacted TXTEARTH and they said that they would close my account but I never signed up/opened an account to begin with (from the time that the account was opened and closed was about 2 minutes). On my next cellphone bill I saw that there was a charge of $9.99. I contacted TXTEARTH. I had to call at least 20 times and send numerous e-mails until they told me to fill out a refund request form.

I filled out the refund at least 6 times, on 6 different days and they still have not mailed me my refund. I have e-mails to prove that I have been requesting a refund from TXTEarth and they acknowledge the receipt of my request by assigning me a ticket number on numerous occasions. I have been requesting my refund since September 2011. Although they state in their e-mail" inquiries are generally handled by the next business day, they still haven't given me my refund—and it has been 6 months.

In order to receive a refund there are 3 steps that you have to complete. First, TXTEarth wants you to fill out something called a request form which they give you an assigned ticket number. I was given 6 assigned ticket numbers. Once they assign you a ticket number they are then supposed to e-mail you a refund certificate; the reason why I had to fill out a refund form 6 times is because they never e-mailed me a refund certificate. On November 22, 2011 I wrote TXTEarth a stern letter and only after they received this letter did they e-mail me the refund certificate. The third step is that once you receive the refund certificate they want you to fill out the refund certificate and then mail it to them. Then once they receive the refund certificate then they are supposed to mail you your refund, but they never do. Please note that you have to call and e-mail about 20 times before they even send you and assign you a ticket number; but then you have to call an additional 20 times to receive a refund certificate in which you have to fill it out and then mail it in. Then you still don't receive your refund.

I filled out the certificate months ago and still have not received my refund check. I have been writing e-mails, mailing letters and making phone calls and I still have not received my refund check nor have I received a phone call, although their answering machine service says that they will call you the next business day. I know that I may be going over-board but I really think that this company should be closed down. They commit fraud by sending you an e-mail using your friend's name and tell you that she has pictures that she wants you to see via e-mail but there are no pictures—then they charge you $9.99 a month for nothing. I only make $7 an hour (below minimum wage) and although $9.99 may not seem like a lot to some people, it is an hour's work of physical labor that I have to do.

Additionally in the letters, e-mails and voice-mails that I have sent I have requested that they remove me from their mass e-mailing, but just yesterday I received another fraudulent e-mail using my friend's e-mail account telling me that she has pictures that she wants me to see. I have documented e-mails and phone records proving that I have been trying to receive a refund since August 2011. I have contacted the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

I have had to send "stop" to TXTEarth over and over and just lately went to their site. They asked for my number and then emailed me a code which, according to them, allowed me to cancel my "subscription" (the one I never took out with them!). Either way, I'll let you know if this does not work in the long run. I did receive a text from them saying that they would no longer send me any of their "messages" or texts.

My wife was reviewing our Verizon bill last month and questioned a charge for $9.99 for premium text service. When she checked into it more, she found the charges have been added to the bill for over a year! Our bad for not catching it sooner, but we never signed up for this. It is a scam, and now I will try to get a refund since there were no services used by me from this rip-off company. They need to be investigated.

I was charged for $9.99 for premium messaging on my cell phone bill which I did not authorize. I contacted my cell phone provider and was told to merely text back the word 'Stop'. However, they could not remove the charge. I received my next month's bill and again was charged for $9.99 for premium messaging. I then called Text Earth to unsubscribe. I am waiting to see if another charge occurs at the end of the next billing cycle. I did not subscribe to Text Earth and do not feel they should get away with charging for premium messaging without actual subscription. I believe the business is a scam, and should be investigated thoroughly by FCC

I was charged for $9.99 for premium messaging on my cell phone bill which I did not authorize. I called the customer support and was told to request for refund on their website, http://www.txtearth.com/RefundRequest.aspx, and submit a refund certificate. However, I never received the actual refund request. I tried to follow up with the customer support, but no one responded. I believe the business is a scam, and should be investigated thoroughly by FCC.

I have been billed on more than one occasion for Txtearth.com Alerts that I never signed up for. Apparently, this has been going on for over one year now so when is someone like the FCC going to do something to this people? I wish I had a racket like that I would be rich. I guess this is just a ** forum so I will try to contact the FCC to complain for real.

A $9.99 charge shows up on my CREDO cell phone bill supposedly for downloading TxtEarth. I had no knowledge of this. I called CREDO and they told me to text the number with the message "Stop," which I did. I got a return message saying that I had opted out. I see from this site that this has been going on for more than a year. They wasted my time and subjected me to unnecessary expenses.

I got my Verizon bill, 19.98 from TXTEarth, for 2 messages. I never signed up for it and just appeared. Verizon said they can't do anything to stop the company from billing our accounts? Sounds real funny to me!

I received a text message on my cell phone form this company frew month ago i don't know what so i deleted,it come bak again so i deleted again last month i got charge $30.00 dollars i called verizon they block it i as why they do that verizon say they will block and than verizon toll me to called so i did i let the message and i cell phone number they never called me back i think verizon in on the too.

This scam is so frustrating. I spent about one hour with my carrier to resolve the issue. I have never consented to the charges and I have to go through much pain to dispute them. What a waste of time! How is something like this allowed?

Got a text from TXTEarth. Asked me if I don't want another text to text back "stop". So I did. Next text came, a few seconds later, saying that I won't be charged any further for my subscription. I don't know who they are and I never asked for a subscription. I'm pissed. I have to call them and my phone company and fill out a form requesting refund then print it out on my computer with color ink only and use my stamp and wait months for a refund.

Apparently, if you don't text stop after the first message, you are automatically charged the monthly fee of $9.99. What really blew me away was she said they had an email form me (had my correct email address) requesting the service! I don't know how I could have emailed them since I had never heard of them before and had no idea who they were or what services they offered. They did send me an email to request a refund, which I did. I also called my cell phone service provider and explained the situation and they removed the charge and put a block on so I could not receive any future texts from them.

The thing that irritates me is how can a company like this charge you for services you did not request and then say they had an email requesting the service? Sounds like a real scam operation all the way and I think they need to be investigated.

I received an email from this company, TXTEarthAlert, with one of my friend's name on it. Once I viewed the message, I received a text stating that I was being charged $9.99. For what? So, I called them and the representative stated that she could not stop the charges but would stop future charges and remove my mobile phone from their database. When I asked why I was charged, she told me that I had completed their subscription. What subscription? I never entered any information or agreed to be charged. The representative could not answer any questions, only that she would send me an email to fill out and get a refund.

A few seconds later, I opened this email with a certificate of refund. Not only do I need to provide a stamp, they require that I send this certificate in for a refund along with the form. This certificate is and only will print in color, not only did it eat up all my ink but now, I have to wait for a refund. Who knows how long it will take? This form is so plain and unprofessional looking. They also have a disclaimer stating that they are not responsible for lost, late, damaged or misdirected mail. Basically, if I don't receive a refund, all they need to say is that they mailed it out. I called them back to speak to a representative to let them know how irritated I was but only a voice mail came on!