My horrible GMAT test center experience!

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My horrible GMAT test center experience!

by krishnas » Sat Oct 17, 2015 10:13 am
After preparing for a long time I wrote my GMAT yesterday. I got a 620 (expected atleast a 700 as I always scored above 730 in the GMAT prep exams). I am certain that the amount of problems I had in the test center was the main reason for my score.

My test center was in Coimbatore (India) and I had no idea it would be so miserable. I have sent an email to Pearson and am still awaiting their response. I am hoping for a compensation through the means of a retest or atleast a 50 mark addition to my overall score.

Any advice regarding how I tackle this would be appreciated. I think it is very unfair that a candidate's career is in jeopardy because of a test center.

Here is a copy of the email describing the attrocities at the test center -

Hi,

I completed the GMAT exam today at the Indira Institute of Education in Coimbatore (India) and I am extremely disappointed with the test center because of the following reasons -

1. The monitor was grainy with the screen shaking a bit. This was extremely disturbing and gave me a headache. When asked about this, I was told that is was an issue and that all the monitors were the same. Once it was rectified (the cord was just pushed harder into the socket by the invigilator) I was advised to sit still - not touch the monitor / shake the desk or the keyboard. Even though the invigilator rectified the monitor during every break (upon my request), the monitor continued to be grainy, on and off, throughout the exam.

2. I was not provided with scratch pads on time. After giving me three scratch pads, I was first asked to use a temporary one with just one side and then asked to reuse the one I was done with (it had 2 sides blank at the end) while the invigilator wiped my used one down.

3. The invigilator wasn't attentive. Very often if I raised my hand quietly and signaled (as mentioned in the GMAT rules), I wasn't acknowledged. I had to call out to him to get his attention. Furthermore, there was a time when the invigilator was missing. Upon calling out to him (for want of a scratchpad), someone else asked me to wait for a few minutes before the invigilator returned.

4. When I completed the exam, I lodged a complain with Mr. Karthipan (the owner of the center) regarding the above problems. With respect to the availability of scratchpads, I was told that a candidate is assigned only 4 scratchpads for the entire exam. Had I known this before hand, I would have rationed my scratchpads. I had also asked the invigilator multiple times before the exam began and was told that according to the GMAT rules, I could take unlimited scratchpads.

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by OfficialGMAT » Wed Oct 21, 2015 5:35 am
sru_kri wrote:After preparing for a long time I wrote my GMAT yesterday. I got a 620 (expected atleast a 700 as I always scored above 730 in the GMAT prep exams). I am certain that the amount of problems I had in the test center was the main reason for my score.

My test center was in Coimbatore (India) and I had no idea it would be so miserable. I have sent an email to Pearson and am still awaiting their response. I am hoping for a compensation through the means of a retest or atleast a 50 mark addition to my overall score.

Any advice regarding how I tackle this would be appreciated. I think it is very unfair that a candidate's career is in jeopardy because of a test center.

Here is a copy of the email describing the attrocities at the test center -

Hi,

I completed the GMAT exam today at the Indira Institute of Education in Coimbatore (India) and I am extremely disappointed with the test center because of the following reasons -

1. The monitor was grainy with the screen shaking a bit. This was extremely disturbing and gave me a headache. When asked about this, I was told that is was an issue and that all the monitors were the same. Once it was rectified (the cord was just pushed harder into the socket by the invigilator) I was advised to sit still - not touch the monitor / shake the desk or the keyboard. Even though the invigilator rectified the monitor during every break (upon my request), the monitor continued to be grainy, on and off, throughout the exam.

2. I was not provided with scratch pads on time. After giving me three scratch pads, I was first asked to use a temporary one with just one side and then asked to reuse the one I was done with (it had 2 sides blank at the end) while the invigilator wiped my used one down.

3. The invigilator wasn't attentive. Very often if I raised my hand quietly and signaled (as mentioned in the GMAT rules), I wasn't acknowledged. I had to call out to him to get his attention. Furthermore, there was a time when the invigilator was missing. Upon calling out to him (for want of a scratchpad), someone else asked me to wait for a few minutes before the invigilator returned.

4. When I completed the exam, I lodged a complain with Mr. Karthipan (the owner of the center) regarding the above problems. With respect to the availability of scratchpads, I was told that a candidate is assigned only 4 scratchpads for the entire exam. Had I known this before hand, I would have rationed my scratchpads. I had also asked the invigilator multiple times before the exam began and was told that according to the GMAT rules, I could take unlimited scratchpads.
Hello,

Could you please send this information, along with your registered email address and GMAT ID to [email protected], so we can work with Pearson VUE to follow up?

Thank you,
Jeremy
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by krishnas » Wed Oct 21, 2015 11:03 pm
Hi Jeremy,

I have sent the email (addressed to you). Pearson has logged an incident. I have added the incident number to the email as well.

I would be much obliged if you could please follow up from your side.

Thank you so much.

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by essaysnark » Thu Oct 22, 2015 6:05 am
sru_kri wrote:After preparing for a long time I wrote my GMAT yesterday. I got a 620 (expected atleast a 700 as I always scored above 730 in the GMAT prep exams). I am certain that the amount of problems I had in the test center was the main reason for my score.

My test center was in Coimbatore (India) and I had no idea it would be so miserable. I have sent an email to Pearson and am still awaiting their response. I am hoping for a compensation through the means of a retest or atleast a 50 mark addition to my overall score.

Any advice regarding how I tackle this would be appreciated. I think it is very unfair that a candidate's career is in jeopardy because of a test center.

Here is a copy of the email describing the attrocities at the test center -

Hi,

I completed the GMAT exam today at the Indira Institute of Education in Coimbatore (India) and I am extremely disappointed with the test center because of the following reasons -

1. The monitor was grainy with the screen shaking a bit. This was extremely disturbing and gave me a headache. When asked about this, I was told that is was an issue and that all the monitors were the same. Once it was rectified (the cord was just pushed harder into the socket by the invigilator) I was advised to sit still - not touch the monitor / shake the desk or the keyboard. Even though the invigilator rectified the monitor during every break (upon my request), the monitor continued to be grainy, on and off, throughout the exam.

2. I was not provided with scratch pads on time. After giving me three scratch pads, I was first asked to use a temporary one with just one side and then asked to reuse the one I was done with (it had 2 sides blank at the end) while the invigilator wiped my used one down.

3. The invigilator wasn't attentive. Very often if I raised my hand quietly and signaled (as mentioned in the GMAT rules), I wasn't acknowledged. I had to call out to him to get his attention. Furthermore, there was a time when the invigilator was missing. Upon calling out to him (for want of a scratchpad), someone else asked me to wait for a few minutes before the invigilator returned.

4. When I completed the exam, I lodged a complain with Mr. Karthipan (the owner of the center) regarding the above problems. With respect to the availability of scratchpads, I was told that a candidate is assigned only 4 scratchpads for the entire exam. Had I known this before hand, I would have rationed my scratchpads. I had also asked the invigilator multiple times before the exam began and was told that according to the GMAT rules, I could take unlimited scratchpads.
This does sound like a difficult experience and hopefully you'll be able to retake the test. Just wondering though, did you cancel your score? It seems like a situation where that would be warranted. Schools no longer see canceled scores on score history reports so it would not hurt you to do so.

Please come back and let everyone know how this is resolved for you, and good luck with your bschool applications!!
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by krishnas » Thu Oct 22, 2015 8:00 am
Hi essaysnark,

Nope, I did not cancel my scores. As per my knowledge (I could be wrong of course) the schools would not see my score, but they will know that I sat for the exam and did not report the score.

It was a personal decision - I decided I would rather report my score as opposed to have a "sat for" on my score report. Hopefully, it was the right decision.

I will definitely keep you posted once I get a response. Hopefully, Jeremy is following up. :)

Regards,
Sruthi,

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by OfficialGMAT » Thu Oct 22, 2015 3:07 pm
sru_kri wrote:Hi essaysnark,

Nope, I did not cancel my scores. As per my knowledge (I could be wrong of course) the schools would not see my score, but they will know that I sat for the exam and did not report the score.

It was a personal decision - I decided I would rather report my score as opposed to have a "sat for" on my score report. Hopefully, it was the right decision.

I will definitely keep you posted once I get a response. Hopefully, Jeremy is following up. :)

Regards,
Sruthi,
Hello,

I am following up on my end about this and will provide any additional information I receive. To your note about cancelling your score: as of July 19th of this year, cancelled scores are no longer indicated in any way on score reports. You can read more about this change here: https://www.mba.com/us/the-gmat-blog-hub ... tures.aspx.

Thanks,
Jeremy
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by krishnas » Thu Oct 22, 2015 9:18 pm
Hi Jeremy,

Shoot. I missed that. I was going based on the instructions given in the GMAT Prep software unfortunately.

Thanks for letting me know. Will keep this in mind when I retake the test.

Also, thank you once again for following up from your side. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards,
Sruthi.

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by OfficialGMAT » Fri Oct 23, 2015 11:35 am
sru_kri wrote:Hi Jeremy,

Shoot. I missed that. I was going based on the instructions given in the GMAT Prep software unfortunately.

Thanks for letting me know. Will keep this in mind when I retake the test.

Also, thank you once again for following up from your side. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Regards,
Sruthi.
Hello Sruthi,

I've just heard from my team. We've escalated your message to Pearson and you should be hearing from them directly shortly.

Thanks,
Jeremy
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by krishnas » Mon Oct 26, 2015 12:25 am
Hi Jeremy,

Thank you so much for the escalation. It obviously worked as I just heard back from Pearson.

This was their response - Dear Sruthi,

Thank you for contacting Pearson VUE.

As per the investigation we found that TA took all necessary steps to address any issue we are not able to honor any request.


I find this completely unacceptable.

I do not understand how 'pushing the cord harder into the socket, asking me not to touch the monitor or shake the desk / keyboard and not give me scratchpads when I needed them' is the invigilator addressing my issues.

I will reply to Pearson asking them for a more detailed response right away and will CC you.
Would be extremely grateful if you could please follow up with them once again.

Thank you.

Regards,
Sruthi.

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by OfficialGMAT » Mon Oct 26, 2015 12:24 pm
sru_kri wrote:Hi Jeremy,

Thank you so much for the escalation. It obviously worked as I just heard back from Pearson.

This was their response - Dear Sruthi,

Thank you for contacting Pearson VUE.

As per the investigation we found that TA took all necessary steps to address any issue we are not able to honor any request.


I find this completely unacceptable.

I do not understand how 'pushing the cord harder into the socket, asking me not to touch the monitor or shake the desk / keyboard and not give me scratchpads when I needed them' is the invigilator addressing my issues.

I will reply to Pearson asking them for a more detailed response right away and will CC you.
Would be extremely grateful if you could please follow up with them once again.

Thank you.

Regards,
Sruthi.
Thank you for the update, Sruthi. I will provide this information to my team.

Jeremy
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by krishnas » Thu Nov 19, 2015 3:38 am
Hi Jeremy,

After a lot of back and forth, Pearson has finally given me the opportunity to retake the test in another center at the discounted rate of $50. I cannot thank you enough for your help! :)

Regards,
Sruthi.

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by essaysnark » Thu Nov 19, 2015 6:00 am
sru_kri wrote:Hi Jeremy,

After a lot of back and forth, Pearson has finally given me the opportunity to retake the test in another center at the discounted rate of $50. I cannot thank you enough for your help! :)

Regards,
Sruthi.
That sounds very fair indeed Sruthi! Thanks for coming back to post how it got worked out.

Good luck on this next attempt, and with your apps this year!!!!!!

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by OfficialGMAT » Thu Nov 19, 2015 11:26 am
sru_kri wrote:Hi Jeremy,

After a lot of back and forth, Pearson has finally given me the opportunity to retake the test in another center at the discounted rate of $50. I cannot thank you enough for your help! :)

Regards,
Sruthi.
I am so glad to hear that, Sruthi. Thank you for reaching back out to confirm that you got the assistance you needed. Please let me know if we can help with anything further.

Thanks,
Jeremy
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by Shubham_Jain » Sun Aug 14, 2016 7:45 pm
Thanks Sruthi and Jeremy!

This post helped me a lot in reporting my horrifying experience at one of the GMAT test centers, and even I received a discounted price of $50 for the next appointment. Although GMAC says that I have to call the customer care and book the appointment via phone, reporting my incident number. Is there a way that I can schedule my appointment(at the low cost of $50) online, without calling the customer care? I'm saying this as international call costs are huge in India.

Thank you,
Shubham

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by OfficialGMAT » Mon Aug 15, 2016 11:32 am
Hi Shubham,

Unfortunately, when scheduling your GMAT Exam online, there isn't an option to enter your incident number and pay for the exam at the discounted rate provided. Please reach out to Pearson VUE Customer Service in India at +91 120-439-7830, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Indian Standard Time.

Shubham_Jain wrote:Thanks Sruthi and Jeremy!

This post helped me a lot in reporting my horrifying experience at one of the GMAT test centers, and even I received a discounted price of $50 for the next appointment. Although GMAC says that I have to call the customer care and book the appointment via phone, reporting my incident number. Is there a way that I can schedule my appointment(at the low cost of $50) online, without calling the customer care? I'm saying this as international call costs are huge in India.

Thank you,
Shubham
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