TERMS OF SERVICE
Effective: Pending real-money go-live Last updated: 13 August 2026
These Terms of Service (the Terms) govern access to and use of THIS COST ME, a one-time paid digital messaging service operated by GHERVAN CĂTĂLIN PERSOANĂ FIZICĂ AUTORIZATĂ (the Operator, TCM, we, us). Operator details appear in the Legal Notice.
1. Read this before using TCM
TCM is one paid digital messaging product. A sender chooses a recipient, words and amount; pays TCM; receives a private recipient link and share image; and, only for an exact canonical message, may leave an explicit anonymous WALL opt-in enabled before checkout. Free-text is never eligible for the WALL. The recipient receives the message, not the money. A larger amount does not buy reach, ranking, placement, duration, reactions, access to the recipient or a reply.
If you are a consumer, mandatory consumer-protection law continues to apply regardless of anything in these Terms. Nothing here excludes statutory rights that cannot lawfully be excluded. Pending before live: s1-s4
2. Eligibility and age
For V1, the sending/purchasing service is 18+ only. By creating and paying for a TCM, you represent that you are at least 18 and have legal capacity to contract. This is a product-safety and compliance policy, not a statement that every jurisdiction sets the same contractual age.
Do not use TCM to target, expose or exploit children. Public WALL content that identifies or sexualises minors is prohibited. TCM does not knowingly offer the purchasing service to children under 13 and will apply child-safety controls as required by applicable law. [S22]
3. What you are buying
You buy a digital service consisting of creation of a TCM record, payment-status recording, encrypted message storage, private-link recipient delivery, Locked Provenance, THE SEAL, VERIFY ORIGINAL and a share-image rendition.
Your own words. Free-text receives the full private-link experience and is never published on the WALL.
Canonical words. The server derives the exact message from an approved canonical message ID. The private-link experience always remains available. If WALL opt-in is explicitly on, the canonical words may also publish anonymously after confirmed payment and valid Locked Provenance.
The amount you choose is part of the presentation and social signal of the TCM. The service is the same regardless of amount except for operational risk checks that may be applied to certain transactions.
4. Pre-contract information and formation of the contract
Before you place a paid order, checkout must show clearly: the words, recipient, chosen amount, total price/currency and applicable taxes/fees, private-link delivery, whether WALL is unavailable/off/on, exactly what becomes public if WALL is on, the fact that the recipient gets no money, and links to these Terms, the Refund & Withdrawal Policy and Privacy Policy. For Romanian consumers, required consumer information and pre-formulated terms must also be available in Romanian. [S1, S4]
Your order becomes binding only when you activate a button or equivalent control clearly indicating that the order entails an obligation to pay. The Operator must then provide contract confirmation on a durable medium where required. [S1]
5. Immediate performance and withdrawal consent
TCM is designed to start performance immediately after payment confirmation. Where EU/EEA consumer law applies, we will request a separate express request to begin performance during the statutory withdrawal period and an acknowledgement of the legal consequences of full performance. We will not treat payment alone as a blanket waiver of withdrawal rights. See the Refund & Withdrawal Policy. [S1]
6. Payments
Payments are currently intended to be processed using Stripe or another disclosed payment processor. Full card details and CVC should be collected by the payment processor, not stored by TCM. The amount, currency, processor identifiers and payment status may be stored by TCM for performance, reconciliation, fraud prevention, refunds, disputes and verification.
The total shown at checkout must be the amount charged, subject only to clearly disclosed taxes or charges. We may refuse, pause, cancel or refund a transaction where required for fraud, sanctions, payment-network, legal, safety or abuse-risk reasons. Such controls do not give higher-paying messages better product treatment.
7. Private recipient link
Every new paid TCM is accessed by its intended recipient through a secret link. Private means link-restricted, not identity-verified or technically impossible to copy.
You are responsible for sharing the secret link only with the intended recipient. Anyone who lawfully or unlawfully obtains the link may be able to open it. Recipients may screenshot, photograph, copy or forward what they see. TCM cannot guarantee that a recipient will keep it confidential.
We may revoke or disable a private link where reasonably necessary for security, fraud, illegality, legal orders or a serious Content Rules violation. Where such restriction affects a user and the DSA applies, a statement of reasons will be provided where legally required. [S7]
8. The WALL
The WALL is a fully anonymous public gallery limited to exact server-approved canonical messages. It never publishes free-text, sender/recipient names, username, handle, email, phone, link, location, personal caption, note or comment.
Canonical message + explicit WALL opt-in + confirmed payment + valid Locked Provenance publishes automatically, without routine pre-publication moderation. TCM may later report, hold, remove or revoke content for Trust & Safety, fraud, dispute, refund, legal order, security or administrative reasons.
No pay-to-rank. Publication order is recency/publication time. The amount does not buy a larger card, priority, featured placement, duration, impressions, algorithmic priority or guaranteed engagement.
9. Moderation, reports and illegal content
TCM may use human and/or automated tools for Trust & Safety enforcement, reports and legacy moderation, but these controls do not guarantee that content is lawful, true, accurate or harmless. Users can report specific content using the Report / Illegal Content mechanism.
Where the DSA applies to TCM as a hosting service, the notice mechanism will be electronic, accessible and designed to accept sufficiently precise and substantiated notices; decisions will be handled in a timely, diligent, non-arbitrary and objective manner. We will send receipt/decision notices where required. [S7]
Where we become aware of information giving rise to a suspicion of a criminal offence involving a threat to life or safety, we will follow the applicable law-enforcement notification obligations. [S7]
10. Content Rules
You must comply with the Content Rules, which form part of these Terms. Among other things, do not submit illegal content; threats; stalking or harassment; hate or dehumanising content; doxxing; impersonation or fraud; non-consensual intimate content; sexual content involving minors; unlawful defamation; scams; malware; illegal-goods content; spam; or content you do not have the rights to use.
The WALL cannot contain identity fields or arbitrary public text. Private-link content remains subject to all prohibited-content rules.
11. User content and intellectual-property licence
You retain the rights you lawfully hold in the words, images and other content you submit (User Content). You grant TCM only the licence reasonably necessary to operate the service:
For every message: a worldwide, non-exclusive licence to host, store, encrypt, process, reproduce technically, transmit and display User Content solely to provide private-link delivery, share-image generation, security, support, verification, abuse prevention, legal compliance and backup/recovery.
When canonical WALL opt-in is on: the licence also permits TCM to publish and display the exact canonical words with the amount, locked moment, TCM ID and seal on TCM public WALL surfaces. No identity or personal free-text licence is granted for the WALL.
These licences end when no longer necessary for the stated purpose, subject to legal retention, fraud/payment audit, backups, dispute preservation and already-created third-party copies. We cannot erase screenshots or copies made outside systems we control.
You represent that you have the rights and permissions necessary to submit User Content. WALL opt-in applies only to TCM's canonical wording, not to names or personal text.
12. Names, identity and verification
Display names are not identity verification. Anonymous or pseudonymous sending may be offered. TCM does not certify that a person named in a message is who the sender claims, that a relationship exists, or that the contents are factually true.
A VERIFIED THIS COST ME or TCM ID, where provided, confirms only the TCM payment/record information exposed by the live verification page, such as amount, currency, mode and current transaction status. It is not an endorsement of the message and not proof of truth, love, identity or consent by anyone named.
13. Refunds, withdrawals and non-conformity
The Refund & Withdrawal Policy forms part of these Terms. In summary:
- legacy SPOTLIGHT submissions already governed by the historical moderation promise retain that legacy refund treatment;
- duplicate confirmed charges are refunded when verified;
- statutory remedies for non-supply or non-conformity remain available where applicable;
- EU/EEA withdrawal rights are handled under applicable law and are not replaced by a blanket “all sales final” rule;
- a refund, partial refund, dispute or reversal may update or remove the “verified” payment state.
A recipient not opening the private link, not replying, rejecting the sentiment, or a relationship changing after delivery is not by itself a contractual failure by TCM, without prejudice to mandatory consumer rights.
14. Digital-service conformity
Where OUG 141/2021 or equivalent EU digital-content/service rules apply, TCM will supply the digital service without unjustified delay and remains subject to mandatory conformity and remedy rules. Nothing in these Terms limits remedies that cannot be waived. [S2]
15. Copyright and other rights
If you believe content infringes copyright or another right, use the reporting channel in the Report / Illegal Content Policy. For U.S. DMCA safe-harbour treatment, TCM must register and publish a designated agent before claiming reliance on 17 U.S.C. §512. The Copyright / DMCA Policy is therefore conditional until that registration is complete. [S18]
16. Intimate imagery and U.S. TAKE IT DOWN compliance
If TCM enables image/video user uploads accessible in the United States, it will operate the TAKE IT DOWN process described in the dedicated policy before that feature is enabled. Valid requests regarding covered non-consensual intimate visual depictions must be handled within the statutory timeframe, including known identical copies where required. [S17]
Until the process is operational, TCM should not enable user-uploaded image/video UGC for U.S. launch.
17. Suspension, refusal and removal
We may refuse creation, suspend delivery, restrict visibility, remove content, revoke a link, reject publication or suspend access where reasonably necessary to enforce these Terms, the Content Rules, payment/security controls, legal obligations or third-party rights.
When legally required, we will explain the decision, its scope/duration, whether automated means were materially used, the legal or contractual ground and available redress. [S7]
18. Availability, security and external services
We aim for reasonable availability and security but do not promise uninterrupted or error-free operation. The internet, browsers, payment processors, hosting providers and recipients' devices are outside our complete control. Mandatory statutory service-quality rights remain unaffected.
Stripe, Cloudflare and other actual providers must be listed in the Privacy Policy only to the extent they are truly used. Their own terms and privacy notices may also apply to their services.
19. No promise of emotional or social outcome
TCM sells a digital messaging service. We do not guarantee that a recipient opens the message, believes it, responds, changes their opinion, remains in a relationship, or that a WALL item or share image receives any number of views, shares or reactions.
20. Liability
Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded, including mandatory consumer rights and liability arising from fraud, wilful misconduct or other non-excludable grounds.
To the extent permitted by law, TCM is not responsible for losses caused by a user's unlawful content, disclosure of a secret recipient link by a user or recipient, third-party screenshots/republication, or external services outside TCM's reasonable control. Any limitation applied to consumers will be interpreted subject to mandatory consumer law and unfair-terms rules.
21. Governing law and consumer jurisdiction
These Terms are governed by Romanian law, without depriving a consumer of mandatory protections applicable under the law that would apply absent that choice. Where TCM directs activities to a consumer's country, Rome I consumer protections may apply. [S11]
Nothing in these Terms forces an EU consumer to litigate exclusively in Bacău or Romania where mandatory consumer-jurisdiction rules provide otherwise. EU consumer jurisdiction is preserved under Brussels I bis. [S12]
22. Complaints and alternative dispute resolution
Contact us first at /legal/contact/. Romanian consumers may also use the current ANPC alternative dispute-resolution (SAL) mechanism where applicable. [S9]
Do not rely on or link to the former EU ODR platform; the platform was discontinued and its underlying regulation repealed from 20 July 2025. [S10]
23. Changes to these Terms
We may update these Terms for legal, security, product or operational reasons. Material changes will be presented with an updated effective date and, where required, additional notice/consent. A purchase is governed by the version presented and accepted for that order unless mandatory law requires otherwise.
24. Contact
Operator: GHERVAN CĂTĂLIN PERSOANĂ FIZICĂ AUTORIZATĂ
Address: Municipiul Bacău, Jud. Bacău, Strada Prieteniei, Nr. 52A, Etaj 1, Ap. 7, România
CUI: 55120454
Trade Register: F2026034031001