Ais 1-2-Call New Quick Credit Expiry Scam

[jcw]

I am looking to change Thai Telco's. I have been using AIS 1-2-Call for years now, I don't use my phone much, but the new expiry period are just ridiculous.

When you top up with:

50B the credit expires in only 5 days now

100B the credit expires in only 10days now

I have been told that 300B dies after only 30 days now, reduced from the old 6 months to use your credit.

This new policy from AIS is just nuts, and I am going to change company.

Can anyone input how long you get with Cat, True, TOT and Dtac?

I note on another thread today this.

"True Prepaid 365 day activated cards 99 baht."

Edited December 3, 2012 by jcw

[ggold]

I have 86 baht credit on my phone (ais) valid till 23/11/13. I have not heard about this supposed new time limit as the OP says. I would suggest if that really were the case then a lot of Thai's would be up in arms over this?

Sent from my GT-P6200 using Thaivisa Connect App

[Heng]

DTAC prepaid allows you to buy days (pushing back the expiration date for your credit) for a small fee, something like 10-12 Baht for half a year.... so you can be good for a hundred years for less than $100. I prefer AIS for business, but for a lot of our less key employees we have them on DTAC prepaid.

[lomatopo]

You can purchase extended validity with One-2-Call - ring them on 1175 to discuss - or

http://www.ais.co.th/12call/en/validity-transfer.html

3 baht/20 days so 54 baht for 360 days.

TrueMove have the Inter SIM which offers 365 days validity for a single top-up of as little as 10 baht.

Happy (DTAC) have a never-ending SIM but you need to use it at least once every 1,000 hours, (~ 43 days). Happy also offer extended validity purchase, I think 2 baht per 30 days, so 24 baht for 360 days but you may need to eb a customer in good standing for at least 90 days?

[jcw]

Thanks, I just tried it, it is only for people who put in 200b with a 30 day validity.

Like banging my head on a brick wall, I think AIS will loose many customers with the greedy money mungrel mentality.

Dtac or True is looking good right now.

[topt]

Thanks, I just tried it, it is only for people who put in 200b with a 30 day validity.

Like banging my head on a brick wall, I think AIS will loose many customers with the greedy money mungrel mentality.

Dtac or True is looking good right now.

I fell foul of this earlier this year so it has been in place for a while. Keep thinking I am going to change supplier but when you have had a number for a few years (I know you can supposedly transfer the number now but it seemed like too many hurdles at the time) it can be difficult to let go.

But yes I agree when it first happened I found it very frustrating.

[TheGhostWithin]

I have a 1-2-call card with a great number, I visit 3 months or so for every year.

I went into 1-2- call with my partner, who spoke to them in Thai at the Service Center at Central Bang Na. We were told that extending in any way was not possible, beyond the limitations of the extensions on the top ups. This means I would need to top up from home to keep my number more than a month.. a neuscence as I would pay money to have this number reserved for me.. I have people I interact with (businesses, the guy I rent my condo from etc) who know that this has been my number for years. If this is the new policy, it is a slap in the face for someone like me, who spends 300B/day when I am in Thailand.. I spend a lot of time taking conference calls etc at times.

Upon going to the airport they did give me a number that I could interact with (the same as topping up via keypad) after topping up 300 baht which would extend me out for another 6 months, but when I tried to do it at So-yoo-wanna-boom-boom the service was apparently "busy", but not busy enough to tell me it was not busy

If this is the new policy, I can only assume that my number has now expired, wonderful. At least I have all my old contacts to give them my new non-1-2-call number next time I am in Thailand, then.

[lomatopo]

Thanks, I just tried it, it is only for people who put in 200b with a 30 day validity.

Like banging my head on a brick wall, I think AIS will loose many customers with the greedy money mungrel mentality.

Dtac or True is looking good right now.

Sorry, what does this mean exactly?

You called 1175? They said you could not extend the validity?

I am pretty sure you can extend the validity of your own number by paying 3 baht per 20 days:

Dial *700 and press 3 to select “Validity Transfer” service

• Enter the desired number of validity days for transfer.

• 3 Baht is charged for service fee.

Press 1 = 5 days

Press 2 = 10 days

Press 3 = 20 days

Did you try this?

Do you want to keep your number?

AIS do have a bunch of promotional SIMs which give extended validity: The Tesco SIM gives 60 days for any top-up of 50 baht or more. The Sawasdee Nang Jun SIM gives 60 days for any top up greater than 10 baht.

FWIW, all the service providers have cut down on their validity/payment ratios.

Edited December 3, 2012 by lomatopo

[williewolf]

I am also with ais and my validity is also 50b for only 5 days. When I first purchased the sim I did not notice this as I was here for holidays so I was topping up quite a lot because of phoning the UK. Now I live here it is a pain in the butt. My g/fs phone is also on ais and she seemed to have validity for ever (always using my phone to save her credit!). Not long ago ais contacted her with some " wonderful" promotion that she accepted . When this promotion finished she was also put on this rate that 50b lasts 5 days. She was mad at this and went to the ais shop to complain but they said there was nothing they could do. They gave her a leaflet with numbers on to dial that gives access to various promotions but that was all.

Her dad was on true but the rest of the family said it was to expensive to call him.

I often wonder how the Thais always seem to be on their phone and I asked one of her nieces who is always phoning and she told me she pays 9b a day and can call all ais numbers for free so this probably helps to keep their custom.

To extend my validity I dial *500*9# this costs 30b but gives me 30 mins "free" to be used in 5 days but extends the validity of the remaining balance by 30 days

[topt]

To extend my validity I dial *500*9# this costs 30b but gives me 30 mins "free" to be used in 5 days but extends the validity of the remaining balance by 30 days

I do this as well but note that even if you have credit but your validity has expired you need to add a credit (can be 10/20baht) before you can extend the validity for a further 30 days.

[jcw]

lomatopo You to put 200B credit min to activate this validity service. Tells you as a recorded message. Edited December 4, 2012 by jcw

[HalfSquat]

Thanks, I just tried it, it is only for people who put in 200b with a 30 day validity.

Like banging my head on a brick wall, I think AIS will loose many customers with the greedy money mungrel mentality.

Dtac or True is looking good right now.

Sorry, what does this mean exactly?

You called 1175? They said you could not extend the validity?

I am pretty sure you can extend the validity of your own number by paying 3 baht per 20 days:

Dial *700 and press 3 to select “Validity Transfer” service

• Enter the desired number of validity days for transfer.

• 3 Baht is charged for service fee.

Press 1 = 5 days

Press 2 = 10 days

Press 3 = 20 days

Did you try this?

I tried this, got to the end and then it said "this service is temporarily unavailable, try again later" and it hung up on me!

I have about 500 baht credit on my AIS that I hardly ever use, because each time the credit expires I have to top up again to reactivate it.

What a con! Who should I switch to? Is there anyone that does a prepay service that includes 3g or wifi around Bangkok?

Thanks.

[Chivas]

For me its True Intersim everyday............

As the Top man Lomatopo says extra 365 days of Validity for a minimum top up............. When combined with their 1 Baht a minute to virtually all Landlines Worldwide its pretty hard to beat.

[MKAsok]

I am pretty sure you can extend the validity of your own number by paying 3 baht per 20 days:

This is wrong. The 3 baht charge is not for the validity; it's the service charge for someone else transferring some of their validity to you. Someone still has to pay for the validity.

e.g. I have 365 days of validity, you have no validity. I transfer 20 days of my validity to you. You gain 20 days of validity. I lose 20 days of validity and pay 3 baht to AIS for the transfer of that validity.

[TS79]

It's hardly a scam, just not very good for customers.

[BrianCR]

If you stay with AIS for a prolonged period of time you get a very long validity even if you only top up 50 baht - my current validity expires sometime near the middle of 2013 and I usually only stick 100 baht a time in it - mind you I been with them maybe 8/10 years

[RandomSand]

I previously had a AIS Sawadee pre-pay sim that came in a pink packet. Six months validity so favoured by the locals. Don;t know if AIS has reduced the validity on the sawadee sim cards but guess better than 12call even if have already done so.

[jcw]

It's hardly a scam, just not very good for customers.

I disagree, I have used this AIS sim for over 3 years and in the last 3 months this has been happening. There is no way I would have chosen these T&C that they have imposed onto me.

True is looking better now. Anyone use CAT ? I have a CAT line of sight, AIS doesn't even work in my home, I keep the phone in the car as it just doesn't work.

I am wondering if there is a True 3G signal mounted on the CAT tower as I think they are in bed with 3G. IS True 3G still 850MGhz ?

Edited December 5, 2012 by jcw

[RandomSand]

I previously had a AIS Sawadee pre-pay sim that came in a pink packet. Six months validity so favoured by the locals. Don;t know if AIS has reduced the validity on the sawadee sim cards but guess better than 12call even if have already done so.

Sorry above information is wrong. I do remember now, the validly being 60 days, on any amount of top-up... Not six months. Still fairly decent.

Edited December 5, 2012 by RandomSand

[jcw]

Anyone know if CAT has sim cards. I can't see them at 711.

[muratremix]

Is there a way to extend it 1 year in one time?

[topt]

Is there a way to extend it 1 year in one time?

If you are talking AIS/12call then yes. As long as you have the required credit then ring up the call centre (1175?) and say you want to do that and they will take 12 x 30baht payments so 360baht. Or that is what i was told once when I spoke to them.

[lomatopo]

I am pretty sure you can extend the validity of your own number by paying 3 baht per 20 days:

This is wrong. The 3 baht charge is not for the validity; it's the service charge for someone else transferring some of their validity to you. Someone still has to pay for the validity.

e.g. I have 365 days of validity, you have no validity. I transfer 20 days of my validity to you. You gain 20 days of validity. I lose 20 days of validity and pay 3 baht to AIS for the transfer of that validity.

Yes, your interpretation appears to be correct. I guess the OP could get someone to transfer validity to him?

I am pretty sure there are ways to pay for extended validity but this would require that the OP ring 1175.

The *500*9# send command seems like another option, this extends validity by 30 days and gives 30 minutes of free calling for the next 5 days. WHile this promotion seems linked to the "Mao Mao" feature set, it does appear to be available to any user.

Finally, I've been out of the AIS fold for a while but their top-up "schedule" does seem to offer increased validity for subsequent top-ups, if I understand this chart correctly:

Top-up #1 300 baht/30 days

Top-up #2 200 baht/30 days

Top-up #3 150 baht/30 days

Top-up #4 100 baht/30 days

Top-up #5 50 baht/30 days

Top-up #6 any amount gives 365 days

http://www.ais.co.th/12call/en/prepaid-ais-shop.html

[Humbugged]

I am confused....I topped up 100b recently and it is valid till dec 2013......so whats the deal.

[lomatopo]

Anyone know if CAT has sim cards. I can't see them at 711.

I believe My by CAT is still post-paid, only.

Assuming you do not have any 3G data requirements maybe look into the TrueMove Inter SIM - assuming you have 1800 MHz legacy TrueMove coverage (ask neighbors) - which will give 365 days validity with a single 10 baht top-up.

I am confused....I topped up 100b recently and it is valid till dec 2013......so whats the deal.

Can you share your top-up history? I suspect that you have built up expiration over some period of time by adding more value, and using it, or maybe through a longer term series of top-ups, which result in a maximum of 365 days validity for any value top-up.

[Humbugged]

Anyone know if CAT has sim cards. I can't see them at 711.

I believe My by CAT is still post-paid, only.

Assuming you do not have any 3G data requirements maybe look into the TrueMove Inter SIM - assuming you have 1800 MHz legacy TrueMove coverage (ask neighbors) - which will give 365 days validity with a single 10 baht top-up.

I am confused....I topped up 100b recently and it is valid till dec 2013......so whats the deal.

Can you share your top-up history? I suspect that you have built up expiration over some period of time by adding more value, and using it, or maybe through a longer term series of top-ups, which result in a maximum of 365 days validity for any value top-up.

No idea, have had this number for several years and simply top up as needed 50 or 100b each time. Usually that is once or twice a month, every so often more frequent. I am no big spender on the phone.

[lomatopo]

Anyone know if CAT has sim cards. I can't see them at 711.

I believe My by CAT is still post-paid, only.

Assuming you do not have any 3G data requirements maybe look into the TrueMove Inter SIM - assuming you have 1800 MHz legacy TrueMove coverage (ask neighbors) - which will give 365 days validity with a single 10 baht top-up.

I am confused....I topped up 100b recently and it is valid till dec 2013......so whats the deal.

Can you share your top-up history? I suspect that you have built up expiration over some period of time by adding more value, and using it, or maybe through a longer term series of top-ups, which result in a maximum of 365 days validity for any value top-up.

No idea, have had this number for several years and simply top up as needed 50 or 100b each time. Usually that is once or twice a month, every so often more frequent. I am no big spender on the phone.

OK, so you are using your money/minutes before coming close to the expiration, and building up validity, which is now at the maximum. So a 100 baht top-up likely adds 30 days for you, based on your longer term usage as a customer, but if you top up again in less than 30 days then you get extended back out to 365 days, which is the maximum. Or you are into that category where, based on your history, any top-up extends the validity to 365 days.

If you were to start out as a new customer today, a 100 baht top-up would give 7 days! Maybe that helps with any confusion?

I'm still not sure why the OP hasn't experienced the same thing, but we'd need more detail re: his top-up history. Or he could simply call 1175 and ask about options re: extending validity.

Edited December 6, 2012 by lomatopo

[Rsquared]

I also have been frustrated like jcw as I hardly use my phone at all, but in this day and age we all need one.

I just topped up my card 100baht and got a validity for only 15 days. So I just tried *500*9# and got an extra 30 days on top of the 15.

I checked out the link supplied by lomatopo http://www.ais.co.th/12call/en/prepaid-ais-shop.html and at the bottom of the table is what I am after.......any top up gives 365 days validity.

I am only guessing here......but do you need to go into one of their stores to get this done or can you do it online somehow?

Cheers.

[jcw]

Good find, It will be another week for me till I can go near a AIS shop, I will follow this up, but if anyone else does in the mean time, please report.

Ais, the HUB of frustrations

[CP3]

The link say you have to do it at Telewiz outlet. But the table looks confusing