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GMAT Testing Center - Experience

by brainwill » Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:19 am
Has anyone had bad experience with GMAT Pearson testing center in Bellaire Houston. They seem to be totally unfair. Due to severe weather conditions (tornado watch), I was not able to reach the testing center on time. Simply Rude and Arrggance! I have to reschedule my exam and pay the complete registration cost again.

Please feel free to share your general experience with the testing center and how to get some justfication.

Do we have any other testing option other than to go thro this discriminatory testing centers.

Thanks
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by gmat_enthus » Wed Apr 04, 2007 7:48 am
Now that you bring it up, I had similar experience ..... but never thought of complaining.

I wasnt late or anything, but I am of an Indian origin. In my test center the person who locks the computer during the test-breaks made me loose almost 10 minutes. She didnt know what she was doing and she didnt understand a word I was trying to say to her and was very rude also.

I got a good score so I had nothing to complain about. But I hear you! some of my friends also had similar experience of rudeness. I did make a complain (there is a 800 number you can call). see gmat.com website for that. They might actually refund your money after investigating the case (although I dont think they will rule in your favor, since you may not have any proof of any kind).

Hope this helps
Last edited by gmat_enthus on Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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by aim-wsc » Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:19 am
gmat_enthus wrote:
I wasnt late or anything, but I am of an Indian origin. In my test center the person who locks the computer during the tests made me loose almost 10 minutes. She didnt know what she was doing and she didnt understand a word I was trying to say to her and was very rude also.
Is it anything to do with you being Indian?

Why she didnt understand a word is it because of accent?
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by beatthegmat » Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:00 pm
gmat_enthus wrote:Now that you bring it up, I had similar experience ..... but never thought of complaining.

I wasnt late or anything, but I am of an Indian origin. In my test center the person who locks the computer during the tests made me loose almost 10 minutes. She didnt know what she was doing and she didnt understand a word I was trying to say to her and was very rude also.

I got a good score so I had nothing to complain about. But I hear you! some of my friends also had similar experience of rudeness. I did make a complain (there is a 800 number you can call). see gmat.com website for that. They might actually refund your money after investigating the case (although I dont think they will rule in your favor, since you may not have any proof of any kind).

Hope this helps
Wow...it makes me sad to hear about this. I think you should write a letter to GMAC or Petersens if you felt like you were discriminated. :(
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by gmat_enthus » Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:12 pm
aim-wsc wrote:
gmat_enthus wrote:
I wasnt late or anything, but I am of an Indian origin. In my test center the person who locks the computer during the tests made me loose almost 10 minutes. She didnt know what she was doing and she didnt understand a word I was trying to say to her and was very rude also.
Is it anything to do with you being Indian?

Why she didnt understand a word is it because of accent?
I am not sure, but I felt so. I have been working in US for past 5 years, also did my masters (full time) here. I never had any problems communicating with any of my colleagues/clients/representatives ever.

It may not be racial, but it was probably because of her lack of exposure to Indian community, she was probably not familiar with the accent at all. I did feel a bit offended, but I had mixed feelings at the end of the test. I made a formal complaint after coming back and that was that. I hope they looked into the matter.
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by beatthegmat » Wed Apr 04, 2007 8:14 pm
gmat_enthus wrote:
aim-wsc wrote:
gmat_enthus wrote:
I wasnt late or anything, but I am of an Indian origin. In my test center the person who locks the computer during the tests made me loose almost 10 minutes. She didnt know what she was doing and she didnt understand a word I was trying to say to her and was very rude also.
Is it anything to do with you being Indian?

Why she didnt understand a word is it because of accent?
I am not sure, but I felt so. I have been working in US for past 5 years, also did my masters (full time) here. I never had any problems communicating with any of my colleagues/clients/representatives ever.

It may not be racial, but because her lack of exposure to Indian community, she was probably not familiar with the accent at all. I did feel a bit offended, but I had mixed feelings at the end of the test. I made a formal complaint after coming back and that was that. I hope they looked into the matter.
Glad to see you followed up with a complaint. I hate hearing about these kinds of experiences...
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by gmat_enthus » Thu Apr 05, 2007 5:24 am
thanks :)

brainwill,

If you would like to lodge a complaint, I suggest you do that immediately:
https://www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT/TheE ... in2006.htm

Be very elaborate about the whole experience. I hope you receive positive response. Sorry to hear about your experience.

regards,
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by gmat765 » Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:39 pm
I often heard of complaints to the staff at GMAT test centers. The GMAC seems to know it but do not take action.
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computer error

by rdxb » Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:16 am
I had my Gmat on 7th august in Dubai. In the middle of the exam, the computer screen showed an error saying "data will not be saved " and all... i called the guy ..and he tried to resolve the problem , while my time was rolling (i cud see time fly by... behind the error window., on the real gmat exam window..top right!!) finally he restarted the pc, by straight away pushing the restart button on the cpu..
after much delay, the pc restarted, showed some more errors, we had to choose windows VUE from the screen, then the guy fed his password and all... finally i was asked to continue with the exam.
the same question followed, but time and concentration was definitely lost.
i sent a mail to pearson security place, no reply.. another to gmat customer service, even sent them a fax...no reply till yesterday , when i fwded both the mails again
yesterday i got a reply from the customer service giving me an incident number and telling me that they wud ANALYZE the test for errors and time lost.
What to do? how to follow up? i think they wud just let time pass by and wouldnt care. My score was nothing wat i expected> 650 it was....:(
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by rdxb » Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:13 am
Hey! The GMAT guys replied, and have agreed to take a retest after 31 days, but they say that my previous score wudnt be revoked :(
It wudnt matter if I score good right?
They have asked me to mail them the new time , date and center for the exam.
Any views? Should I ask them to revoke my scores?
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by aim-wsc » Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:29 am
rdxb wrote:Hey! The GMAT guys replied, and have agreed to take a retest after 31 days, but they say that my previous score wudnt be revoked :(
It wudnt matter if I score good right?
They have asked me to mail them the new time , date and center for the exam.
Any views? Should I ask them to revoke my scores?
Really sorry to hear your experience.
Don't ask to revoke your earlier score at any circumstance. I hope you're allowed to write the exam after 31 days for free. Let us know.
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by lion147 » Tue Aug 12, 2008 11:12 am
gmat_enthus wrote:
aim-wsc wrote:
gmat_enthus wrote:
I wasnt late or anything, but I am of an Indian origin. In my test center the person who locks the computer during the tests made me loose almost 10 minutes. She didnt know what she was doing and she didnt understand a word I was trying to say to her and was very rude also.
Is it anything to do with you being Indian?

Why she didnt understand a word is it because of accent?
I am not sure, but I felt so. I have been working in US for past 5 years, also did my masters (full time) here. I never had any problems communicating with any of my colleagues/clients/representatives ever.

It may not be racial, but it was probably because of her lack of exposure to Indian community, she was probably not familiar with the accent at all. I did feel a bit offended, but I had mixed feelings at the end of the test. I made a formal complaint after coming back and that was that. I hope they looked into the matter.
Don't feel too bad, I'm British and have been in the US for over 4 years, and still I get people looking at me like I'm speaking a completely different language! I've even been told to "Go and learn English"!
:shock:
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by rdxb » Tue Sep 23, 2008 5:31 am
aim-wsc wrote:
rdxb wrote:Hey! The GMAT guys replied, and have agreed to take a retest after 31 days, but they say that my previous score wudnt be revoked :(
It wudnt matter if I score good right?
They have asked me to mail them the new time , date and center for the exam.
Any views? Should I ask them to revoke my scores?
Really sorry to hear your experience.
Don't ask to revoke your earlier score at any circumstance. I hope you're allowed to write the exam after 31 days for free. Let us know.
Hey thanks for the reply! I was so relieved about the retest, just returned from a long vacation down home :D
Yep the retest is free, and the date is 29th of october, couldnt get any sooner date. I am certainly at loss as I wouldnt be able to apply in round 1, but I think round 2 is not a bad option either.

So all hopes for the 29th ,and Round 2! :wink:
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Jinxed GMAT

by rdxb » Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:41 pm
As you all could see, how excited I was and how many hopes I had from the D-Day i.e 29th October.
Well, here goes the story, seems to be a normal procedure for me now, so not too emotional about it anymore, just plain frustrated !
I confirmed my appointment for yesterday, reached the test center with my bottle of juice and energy bars.. all ready , a bit nervous , but nevertheless, I had built up enough confidence with the help of this forum.

So, the same guy there, asked me to wait for some time(I reached half an hour before the appointment) after going thru my Confirmation letter (like it happened last time). I had a little water, washed my face,got prepared for THE test. I was trying to calm myself, reading nonsense stories about a Mouse trap!(they didn't have any magazine, so I was just going through some their promotional brochures)

Two more guys came for the test, pleasant smiles exchanged.All three of us were trying to relax, in a chill pose, but we couldn't help but fiddle with our fingers, toes or pick the same brochures again and again , just to realize how full of crap they were. In short, we were all suffering from "test anxiety". We could see some confusion going among the staff, but, that was none of our business then.

Then, comes the guy, (the center official ) saying "Err.. I've got a bad news for you all" . Moment of silence... "We are having some problem with the internet, and ITS NOT OUR FAULT, its with the company that provides us internet connection". I thought to myself, "your fault, their fault... tell me WHATS MY FAULT?" He repeatedly said that it wasn't their fault, asked us to write our names on a piece of paper and wait at our homes for a "mail from Pearson VUE/GMAT regarding the rescheduling". We all left the center, some relieved, some frustrated.

Now this isnt professionalism . Is it? I still haven't received any reply. This is so not done! The Gmat has become a real pain, Its not easy to prepare for a test: take leaves from job, try to put in your best and then have to face this, that too for the second time!(Scroll up for the first fiasco). One of my friends commented, It doesn't look like an exam, looks like a court case, with dates extending on and on..

GMAT owes me , a lot!!
P.S: Dubai is supposed to have the tallest building in the world, and from today , the world's largest Mall too. Should I add, the sloppiest of test centers too?
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by xyirl » Thu Apr 28, 2011 11:53 am
It should be my exam right now, but I was not admitted for the test. I had a horrible experience of human rudeness at Pearson center in Austin, Tx
First of all, we have two centers in Austin with the same name. I called before the test 2 of them to make sure I`m going into a right center (I couldn't see that on line,they just show the name of location,but not the address). The woman on the phone even didnt want to answer where I registered for the test (confidential information)..Finally,she said, " yes, you are registered at our location"
I arrived at the center early.I had my ID with me. Here started all my problems. They wouldn't admit me to the test because of my ID. I presented my valid Texas driver`s license, the woman even didn't look at it,and said that if you are not a US citizen, you need present your passport. I dint have passport with me,and an opportunity to go back home for the passport,because i live 45 min from the center. I was asking her if something I can do about it, ask my husband to bring passport during the test, send fax copy, just to be admitted for the test. But she said they can not help me,because of GMAT rules. I called customer service, they said the same. But what was the worst, the woman at reception was threatening me to call security if i wouldn't leave. I was so upset about it, and I left. Than I came back to ask for her name and last name, she didnt tell me,and called the security to remove me from the building.....!!!!!!!! I didnt do anything wrong, i was polite all the time.
Since when a valid Texas driver license is not an appropriate identification????
Why dont they warn us BEFORE we come for the test that our driver`s licenses are not valid by their GMAT LAW?
Are they an independent country inside the country?
How to get some justification??
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