No Exam Without passport. Scam or Genuine Mistake

Question

I was not allowed to take my GMAT which was scheduled at 24th Dec 2015 at 1:00 pm in Mumbai, India.
The reason was that i didn't have my passport. Although i did carry other government authorized, valid ID proofs. 
My passport was in Indore(600km) from test center, so there was no way i could have produced it in time.
I suggested to produce the passport at Indore Center and may be they could coordinate, to which they obviously refused. There were 4 other people with same problem, hence your requirement certainly is not obvious.The coordinator even told me that the same thing happens with every batch.

Why can't they blatantly specify the requirements in confirmation mail?
 I have come to feel that it may not be a genuine mistake but a strategy to make more profit.

I know you must be thinking that i am just another frustrated guy since i lost my hard earned and strenuously saved $250. I certainly wont deny that but i have accepted the fact and have thought about it with a calm mind.
4 cases on an average in one batch at just one test center then imagine the amount they make from one test center.

Am i overthinking or there is somebody else who shares the same thought ?

ENGRTOMBA2018 · Answer

This is something that I have seen quite a bit of times over with candidates from India. I am from India and it is very surprising to see people do not read the fine print and the rules and regulations that come with their GMAT appointments. Refer to the attached image and you can clearly see passport is a must as an ID proof. Why would you not adhere to the rules and regulations? You are talking about blatantly mentioning in the email, they do talk about going to a particular link (picture 2) in the email.

It is not about money, as a person who is giving GMAT to get into an MBA school where an eye for details will be of immense importance, you should read the policies carefully.

siddy14 · Answer

I think you are slightly missing the point here, i'll redirect you. First you get a confirmation which says that "no matter what kind of ID you are supposed to bring it should be goverment accredited" and then some where in that 10-12 lines you will find this "please go on to mba . com / properID " . 
Nevertheless lets accept that they have still mentioned it in email so we should give them the credit but here is the catch when you actually visit the website "mba . com / properID" . In the very starting they have written "
 Acceptable forms of ID:

International Travel Passport*
 Government-issued driver’s license
 Government-issued national/state/province identity card (including European ID card)
 Military ID card
"

Now after this there is a whole set of page describing unacceptable form of ID . And then at the end they have written  View Country Specific Regulations for special restrictions . 
Now tell me does it still seem obvious to you. "special restriction" seriously, that too after 3 clicks and reading three pages which is specifying how government approved and valid IDs are good to go.
This is the reason why you see so many Indians or even people from abroad making the same mistake.

Don't get me wrong but I am not putting blame here i just wanted to share my story and make a naive observation.

akshayjain17 · Answer

The same thing happened with me on 5th Jan 2016. I went on the link in the email and it showed 4 ID's, so I took my Driving Licence. In the center at Delhi I was unable to take my test because I did not show them my passport, which was 300 kms away in Jaipur. I think this is just another way of making money as the link on the email shows 4 acceptable ID's first and then some 20 lines of crap and then there is a link to another page in which you are required to select your country and check which ID is acceptable there. I think the option to check ID acceptable in your country should be right on top of the link and the 4 acceptable ID's section should be removed. This is completely unprofessional as they first feed the test taker with false information. Also, on the website mba . com there is an option to select the country/region right on top, in which I had selected India. If the information and the advertisements on the page change just by selecting the region on top, so should the required ID page.

Black5tar · Answer

This is also apparent in Singapore. Happened to this other candidate taking the GMAT at the same time as me. She brought her national ID instead of passport and was refused admission. Apparently they are very strict about this (inherently benefits them to be). Thank God I checked the website for country specific requirements the very night before the test and brought my passport instead. Perhaps the confirmation email should consider your test country and be more upfront about it

nikhatk · Answer

The same thing happened with one of my friend's today.He was scheduled to appear in GMAT exam but was refused entry because of absence of passport.? Why could these specifications not given on the id page.Why student has to go within links to get that for India passport is the only valid ID.Inspite of having four other ID's like AAdhar card, driving license etc why in India passport is must for taking test of GMAT.For that fault a person is refused to take test and forefeit the fees.This is unjustified.,The hard earned money of the student should be refunded in this case.

satish060290 · Answer

Today I also faced the same issue. Just a ploy to rob us of our hard earned money. Why they need to make it a game "find me if you can" to let us know about the ID proof.

Sent from my Lenovo K33a42 using  GMAT Club Forum mobile app

shivani.singh1392@gmail.com · Answer

I absolutely agree that the way GMAT has presented this information is misleading. GMAT should send ID specific information when they are sharing the centre address and details. Once you receive an email confirming that government issued ids are acceptable, there is no incentive for us to check the country-specific details, in fact in the email we are not even aware that there are country specific id regulations. Even if there are, GMAT should at least refund the money for not carrying the id and let us take the exam with a proper ID the next time. Honestly, it seems like GMAT is just trying to mint off more money by misleading students.

I am guessing raising this issue with consumer courts will be useless?

I am guessing raising this issue with consumer courts will be useless?

ydmuley · Answer

Your frustration is understandable  siddy14

Though they have explicitly mentioned the requirement of passport on the website it is natural for us to forget. Most of us are not habituated to carry passport during our exams.

Not sure if it makes sense but you can give suggestion to GMAC so that they can make it more evident it in the reminder emails.

AjiteshArun · Answer

Although I agree that more could be done to highlight the need for a passport and that it must be very frustrating to have to book another appointment, the exam confirmation email does mention ID requirements:

shivani.singh1392@gmail.com · Answer

Hi  ajithesh  Yes it's very frustrating and no the email that I received did not include this warning. The link that they sent me just specified that any government issued id is accepted. Once you read that, why would you scroll down to country-specific requirements? And I strongly believe that GMAT should refund at least part of the fee for an exam canceled due to country-specific mandates and id issue. It's their responsibility to deliver information more efficiently.

I called the customer care and they mentioned that many students have reported this issue and have found the information misleading. The customer representative informed me that they have raised this issue to senior management a number of times but no actions have been taken. Clearly seems like this trap is laid intentionally and since it's added revenue for them, they are willing to let candidates make this mistake repeatedly instead of taking appropriate action.

smkeshav · Answer

Same story here. I'm the latest victim.

I had my GMAT exam scheduled on 29th August at K.P.B Hinduja College of Commerce (ID:100003545728). I couldn't take the exam since I didn't have the passport. Although, while looking Country wise ID requirements, I found that passport is mandatory in India, I couldn't find it explicitly mentioned anywhere in GMAT appointment sheet. Appointment sheet mentioned that the ID should invariably contain the exact name, photograph and a signature but nothing directly about the passport requirement. While filling the application itself, they could have made it a mandatory thing to submit ID numbers when we select the country. This could have avoided embarrassment and saved a lot of money for innocent applicants.

@PearsonVUE, please don’t take the advantage of the applicant’s failure to notice all the pitfalls. Not all the applicants are rich and lavish; I've just come out of a mishap, yet struggling to pay back loans taken for my father's cancer treatment. I agree that responsibility lies on my part too, but I request you to consider the proposal of making ID requirement a mandatory thing during the application stage itself. Due to this incident, I not only lost the opportunity to write the exam but also missed the desired colleges’ application deadlines.

Other posts here confirm that the ID thing mentioned in the appointment sheet is misleading. Even after so many incidents if they are not ready to make a small update in their application software, it clearly shows their negligence and possibly their involvement in the scam.

rdsingh · Answer

This is actually ridiculous and no its not clear anywhere in email about the requirement of passport. In the confirmation mail, why can't they mention along the centre that only passport will be allowed in india. They can specify centre details and phone no and route that may be taken but it's too difficult to write that passport is mandatory. Thats blatant nonsense.
All this just adds making more money.
Has anyone considered filing a case against them? I'm thinking of filing a lawsuit against them for undue profitability. Had they been considerate, they would have added/highlighted the same easily.

Posted from my mobile device

smkeshav · Answer

Yes bro, we should file a case. Even if they can't do anything in our case, any future incidents can be avoided. Considering that at a single center 2-3 such incidents occur in a week, nation wide it amounts to min. 250 incidents per month. They are getting enough feedback to take action on this issue, yet they are choosing to ignore.

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

OxfordKylin · Answer

Latest victim in Hong Kong. 2019.9.10

I will revenge with the highest GMAT score next time so the f**king GMAC won't earn a single extra dollar from me, I promise

MohitKS · Answer

Hey Guys,

Is passport mandatory for the Online GMAT Exam as well? Country: India

AjiteshArun · Answer

Hi  MohitKS ,

I don't think the GMAC will make its policies any weaker, especially for a less secure version of the GMAT. Please make sure that you have a valid passport.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Yes, I would be sure to have your passport even for the online exam.

ritwikk2 · Answer

I am the latest victim . Had my GMAT today. They refused to take the scanned copies of passport too.
Any alternate plans guys so that the fees is not forfeited.

Posted from my mobile device

ritwikk2 · Answer

With you on this. Totally agreed. We should file a case.

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