Nasty debit card dispute with AIS....

[moontang]

I was logged in to my prepaid account.  It wouldn't take my us cc.  Used my Thai Visa debit..got a OTP, entered it, got a confirmation from the bank that payment to AIS was successful.  But got nothing from AIS.  There was no way to resolve this online, so I went to the AIS store at the local mall.  The more proof I gave them, the more they acted like I was SOL.  I think always avoiding debit transactions here is a good idea..everyone knows it is tough to get refunds here, but if you have a good cc, it is like turning on a light switch..it puts you in charge.  Their inability to resolve a small matter, with a five year customer in even a remotely efficient manner is dispicable.  I hate to get angry, but am glad I vented to them, they deserved it.  AIS..Africa Is Smarter..

Edited September 1, 2019 by moontang

[Puchaiyank]

Your experience is not unique...many farang are mistreated by businesses when there is a refund or product warranty issue...????

 

 

[JamJar]

Have you confirmed that the money has actually left your account? Have you tried the AIS call centre?  They would be the people to contact, not a shop.

They can even give you a goodwill package if necessary.

 

Call centres have always resolved any issue one way or another. I can assure you that AIS has given me a full refund when a package didn't turn out as expected. But you have to go via the call centre....and don't shout. It's not the fault of the operator. When you want to get mad, take a breath and repeat what you just said. They will get it eventually.

Try to not be offensive.

 

[NCC1701A]

8 hours ago, moontang said:

There was no way to resolve this online, so I went to the AIS store at the local mall. 

call the call center. they speak perfect English and are very helpful.

 

[moontang]

41 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

call the call center. they speak perfect English and are very helpful.

 

Hard to call the call center with no credits.  Didn't want to add more time, because that would have just made the water muddier, and surely didn't want another black hole.  It was a major AIS branch, too, not just a phone sales shop, but complete account servicing.  They could have searched their payments for my name, card number, or even bank...not rocket science.  As usual, they had to make multiple calls.  They do have the capability to make adjustments.  And I did verify the money was gone, and showed them, as well as a message confirming payment made by my bank.  AIS store in CM was 50 times more efficient.  The semi annual messages telling me to bring my passport to the office kind of tells me their heads are in about the same place as the IO.

Edited September 1, 2019 by moontang

[JamJar]

12 minutes ago, moontang said:

Hard to call the call center with no credits.  It was a major AIS branch, too, not just a phone sales shop, but complete account servicing.  As usual, they had to make multiple calls.  They do have the capability to make adjustments.  And I did verify the money was gone, and showed them, as well as a message confirming payment made by my bank.  AIS store in CM was 50 times more efficient.

 

Don't create a drama. 12 baht at a Boontherm machine will solve that issue

[NCC1701A]

14 minutes ago, moontang said:

Hard to call the call center with no credits. 

did you try?

[moontang]

30 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

did you try?

Yes, I did, don't know if they were saying need credits, or all busy at call center, but it did not work.  1175...the store may have been coordinating with the call center, but needed an hour to get a response.  I went and ate, came back and got amazingly stupid responses.

[NCC1701A]

2 minutes ago, moontang said:

Yes, I did, don't know if they were saying need credits, or all busy at call center, but it did not work.  1175...the store may have been coordinating with the call center, but needed an hour to get a response.  I went and ate, came back and got amazingly stupid responses.

sorry you are having a problem. 6 years with AIS and no problems past the culture shock of how cellphone companies work here. 

so you have seen your bank balance drop and AIS balance not increase? right? 

 

[moontang]

11 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

sorry you are having a problem. 6 years with AIS and no problems past the culture shock of how cellphone companies work here. 

so you have seen your bank balance drop and AIS balance not increase? right? 

 

Correct, and the same card was used the last time to topup, and credit took less than ten seconds.  These third party Thai Bank verifiers seem to be problematic.  There can be multiple verifiers for the same company.  You know that pop up when you make an online payment.  For one thing, they should be upfront about rejecting foreign Visa cards, but that might get them in trouble with visa, same with the merchants tacking on 3% fees...they do it anyways.  MEA takes the same us cc that AIS rejects...PowerBuy pulls the same <deleted> as AIS.

Edited September 1, 2019 by moontang

[NCC1701A]

5 minutes ago, moontang said:

Correct, and the same card was used the last time to topup, and credit took less than ten seconds.  These third party Thai Bank verifiers seem to be problematic.  There can be multiple verifiers for the same company.  You know that pop up when you make an online payment.  For one thing, they should be upfront about rejecting foreign Visa cards, but that might get them in trouble with visa, same with the merchants tacking on 3% fees...they do it anyways.  MEA takes the same us cc that AIS rejects...PowerBuy pulls the same <deleted> as AIS.

have you tried paying AIS directly from your Thai banking app? or just pay at the AIS kiosk in a mall?

[timendres]

I have paid my post-paid AIS bill for over 2 years directly from my KBank mobile app, and never once an issue. I once had a problem with a KBank online account payment to True Internet, but after 36 hours the payment somehow filtered through the system and the problem went away. Maybe you have hit such a road block (which, in my case, neither True nor KBank could properly explain). You mention that you used your "Thai Visa debit". What exactly is this? A Thai bank debit card?

[moontang]

8 minutes ago, timendres said:

I have paid my post-paid AIS bill for over 2 years directly from my KBank mobile app, and never once an issue. I once had a problem with a KBank online account payment to True Internet, but after 36 hours the payment somehow filtered through the system and the problem went away. Maybe you have hit such a road block (which, in my case, neither True nor KBank could properly explain). You mention that you used your "Thai Visa debit". What exactly is this? A Thai bank debit card?

Yes, with a Visa logo on it, so it is as good as a credit card at most stores.

[moontang]

1 hour ago, JamJar said:

 

Don't create a drama. 12 baht at a Boontherm machine will solve that issue

I was trying to take advantage of the promotion, which gives 30 days of 64 kbps data with 100 THB purchase...otherwise I could have gone to the lobby minimart and put 12 in their machine.

[timendres]

2 minutes ago, moontang said:

Yes, with a Visa logo on it, so it is as good as a credit card at most stores.

Within Thailand, you are correct. You may have more success talking to your debit card bank, and asking them why the payment was not credited to your account at AIS?

[sfokevin]

Curious?... How much was the initial debit to AIS you lost?

[moontang]

2 minutes ago, timendres said:

Within Thailand, you are correct. You may have more success talking to your debit card bank, and asking them why the payment was not credited to your account at AIS?

The acknowledged that payment was made to AIS, by message and in person..but there was discussion on the record on the payment not having my mobile number on it (it was done within my online account with AIS, accessed with the mobile number).  There was no way to add a memo to the payment.

[moontang]

2 minutes ago, sfokevin said:

Curious?... How much was the initial debit to AIS you lost?

Enough to prevent my phone and data from functioning...100 THB, and it is irrelevant how small or large anyone thinks it is.

[JamJar]

24 minutes ago, moontang said:

Enough to prevent my phone and data from functioning...100 THB, and it is irrelevant how small or large anyone thinks it is.

 

Agreed that it isn't the amount that is important, but that it works.

100 baht for 64 kbps isn't a good deal, given that DTAC charges 30 baht for the same thing, but for the whole life of the SIM, not just for one month.

Added to that, for a new AIS SIM, they offer a month of 4 Mbps(32 GB in volume) for 100 baht.

 

So 100 baht for 64 kbps is very poor.

[moontang]

6 minutes ago, JamJar said:

 

Agreed that it isn't the amount that is important, but that it works.

100 baht for 64 kbps isn't a good deal, given that DTAC charges 30 baht for the same thing, but for the whole life of the SIM, not just for one month.

Added to that, for a new AIS SIM, they offer a month of 4 Mbps(32 GB in volume) for 100 baht.

 

So 100 baht for 64 kbps is very poor.

It is free, but you gotta put 100 on your phone.  Subsequent 30 day periods only require you to add 50 to your phone, alledgedly.