Quick Summary:
They forced me to pay a deposit, but right after I paid, they stated they do not support my target country. Despite this being due to their own misleading information, they refuse to refund my money. This is essentially fraud, and I strongly advise everyone to avoid paying anything to this service.
Long Story:
I purchased a phone number via Zernio to send SMS messages. Prior to the purchase, they never disclosed that my target country was unsupported. The phone number itself cost $3, but the platform forced me to deposit a minimum of $10 to proceed.
Right after the purchase, the screen indicated that the phone number could only send SMS to Canada. To resolve this, I decided to try using a Sender ID. According to their documentation/page, Sender IDs cannot send SMS to the US/Canada, but are supported in all other countries. However, after I integrated the Sender ID API, the system returned an error stating that my target country was not supported there either.
They lied about their service capabilities before taking my money and provided misleading information. Logically, since I was misled into making the payment, they are legally obligated to issue a refund. Yet, after a long email exchange, they refused and tried to force me to spend the remaining deposit on their platform instead. HOW COULD I SPEND IT IF YOU DON'T SUPPORT MY COUNTRY?
I believe this practice is fraudulent, and I strongly recommend everyone to stay away from this service.
Thanks Elena! Appreciate this incredibly