So the power went out during my GMAT test and I thought I would share what happened and what you should ask before going into the test.
Right before I was going to click Next to start taking my GMAT all the sudden the power went out. The staff did not know what to do and they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. There was no backup generator or UPS to keep the computers on during the black out, so I would suggest asking your testing facility if they have a backup generator. Next, the staff did not know if my test would resume in the same spot when the computers came back on, so probably get clarification on that. Lastly, the power was estimated to be off for 5 hours from the time it shutoff, so the way it works is that you can leave and reschedule your GMAT or stay and wait for the power to come back on. I left because they would not let you leave the testing room unless you decided to stop taking the test. WTF wait in the pitch black for 5 hours? I am guessing this was not the policy and the staff was just making things up.
Anyway, they gave me a number to call to reschedule the GMAT. I thought the number would be a Person phone number, but it was for GMAT customer service in India or something. I was yelling at the customer service rep just so he could understand me and I could not understand anything he was saying, but that's not important. The important thing is that you have to get an incident number from your testing facility to give to GMAT so they can prove the power outage. That took days to do and finally I end up with an email saying that I can take the GMAT again free of charge within one year.
That's my story in a nutshell. I am not sure if it was an act of God that stopped my test, but I am not sure what to do now... Do I retake ASAP or do I ponder, wait, and ask myself or some higher authority why the power went out right as I was going to click Next to start my GMAT