Rookie questions - New AIS Acer phone, question about AIS Service

[Monkey Fish]

Been using a beat up old Nokia for years (8+), perfectly content. Wife just got me an AIS 3G (Super Combo), Acer Liquid Z3S.

It came with a SIM which I have not used yet. I put my old 12-Call Sim in it yesterday and got going. Logged in with Google and contacts/calenders synced without a hitch. Only made a couple calls and didn't do much anything else, but seemed like it was frequently syncing...

During the night I received 6 SMS's from AIS saying that I needed to top-up before doing whatever the phone was (independently) trying to do.

This morning tried to call AIS service (1175) to get a handle on what charges I'm looking at with the new phone. But I can't call them because the balance is now zero. Reluctant to top-up until I know what's going on.

A couple questions:

AIS charges to call their service center? Is there not a toll-free number to talk to them?

Is there a way to monitor the phones charges via phone or internet?

I'm sure these are questions that get asked and answered on occasion, but my searches didn't turn anything up. Also found the AIS website of little use.

Thank you in advance for any information or advice you can offer.

[PiPiFFS]

It isn't the fault of AIS it is the phone settings. You need to disable the push settings as it is connecting to the internet at a set time and that is eating your credit. Their customer service is very good. they have always sorted out any problems i have had quickly and they speak very good english. just call 1175.

[Monkey Fish]

It isn't the fault of AIS it is the phone settings. You need to disable the push settings as it is connecting to the internet at a set time and that is eating your credit. Their customer service is very good. they have always sorted out any problems i have had quickly and they speak very good english. just call 1175.

Thank you for the advice, Pipiffs. I will surely be contacting AIS service.

Call me crazy but I don't think I should have to pay AIS to speak with the AIS service center about my brand new AIS phone. Any advice regarding alternate strategies would be welcome. (Other than walking into a service center, which is my time-permitting backup plan.)

Just had a stroke of genius and looked in the sim packaging for info. It appears that they are eager to give me "eService", but only if I can read Thai.

15 minutes later - Have logged into eService on the AIS website and am finding it generally useless. Any responses to my initial questions still welcome.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Monkey Fish

[Monkey Fish]

Appears that what I want to do requires me to go into an AIS center with a passport to update my account, at which point I will be able to monitor usage (charges?) on my phone.

[RichCor]

Unless you choose

1. an add-on Internet Data Package with a download limit, or

2. disable the DATA feature either on the phone, or

3. disable the DATA with AIS ( *129*1# call/send)

then Google Sync and Google Play Store will use the 3G Internet for account sync and app automatic updates

-- and without an Internet Data Package selected AIS will charge your account for any data used at a per/minute rate, quickly depleting your account credit.

Many people either choose an affordable Add-on Internet Data package, or disable Internet Data both in the phone settings and through the AIS USSD code, then only use WiFi for sync and allowing updates.

[Monkey Fish]

Thank you RichCor. Very helpful.