Online exam got cancelled

Question

Hi guys,

I am wondering if anybody else took the online GMAT exam and got suspended after 1 warning.

My story: After 10 minutes or so, somebody said in the chat 'I need to see your face all the time'. Ofcourse I thought I was visible, I was only looking down, writing on my whiteboard. But I said 'Sorry, I will' and placed the camera even further away, so more space became visible.
Three minutes later the examinator said (something like this) in the chat 'I have warned you, your exam will now be suspended and you can stop making the exam'.

I tried to show my desk, but the exam got closed. I was flabbergasted, really couldn't believe what was happening. I worked so hard for this, this was also my second time and I was really well prepared. Now I might not be able to start my master's in februari because of the difficulties of an online exam. Using a whiteboard is allowed, so how could I've used it differently?!

Now I really don't know who to contact, I didn't even get a chance to talk to the examinator at that moment. Right now I've been waiting on the phone for over one hour, trying to talk to someone. But so far I have been unsuccessful in establishing contact...

Did anybody else experience the same? And how should I go about solving this? Please help me out.

Jacky

AndrewN · Answer

So sorry to hear about this, Jacky. All you can do is appeal the decision. Since the test was recorded, GMAC™ will be able to make a decision, one way or the other. (Stay on that phone.)

Good luck.

- Andrew

prateekchugh · Answer

Hey What You could really do is to just mail them and appeal against the suspension. They could do a full refund or you have to pay in full again. Try to give the exam as soon as possible because you don't wanna lose your chances for the admission.

Best of Luck

Best of Luck

DisciplinedPrep · Answer

Jackyyyy  - I am sorry to hear about your experience. Please call your local Pearson VUE customer care team and request the team to open a case in order to thoroughly investigate what led to the abrupt suspension of your test. Given the entire session is recorded, if the proctor's decision is questionable, you will be provided with a full refund and/or a chance to retake the test.

sebo08 · Answer

I think they canceled my exam too, this morning. not because of the whiteboard, but because even though I asked the proctor if I could leave the desk during the break to go to the bathroom, and got the confirmation from him, when I returned they had already stopped my exam!

I totally understand the issue with the call center, they are super unresponsive and you need to wait sooo long to talk to them, even if you call at 9 AM when they have just started and there is no call traffic, and even when you do talk, believe me all you get is a case number which is referred to someone else to make decisions on it, the correspondents have no access to your case process, have no idea when the decision maker will answer, and have no access to the decision maker. I made a case today, and currently following up.

Let me know if you heard anything from them yet.

bb · Answer

Hi Sebo08!
I remember your last attempt to take the test. That was pretty crazy! Good luck this time!

P.S. you should not need to ask permission to leave the desk during the break.... many people left and came back during the break (showing the whiteboard that it was blank and erased before/after)... kind of crazy that they would cancel the test for leaving. What's the point of a break if you can't leave?

BB.

sebo08 · Answer

bb  The frustration is that I am somewhere in the middle, cuz it is not even canceled yet. the status is "pending" and the call center told me that the current exam is still "open" so neither cancelable nor reschedulable and I should wait. but how long? they do not have any info on it.

Now I was wondering if anyone got a refund from GMAC?

I ask this because I do not have much time left to send scores, and I might use my second chance of GMAT online, while not losing time waiting for their decision(either a 1- refund or a 2-final "canceled" status or 3-rescheduled exam (worthless option by then if I took my second chance) )
 
Unfortunately, their customer support system is one of the least intelligent and one of the weakest I have ever experienced.

bb · Answer

I hear you and agree about the support and transparency

Sorry about that....

sebo08 · Answer

GMAC offered me a reschedule voucher today.

For all who wonder how I got it

1- Pearson got confident that the fault was theirs, cuz they got the chat log and video, and I believe they checked the incident moment. Otherwise they would have not offered me a voucher

2- I first called the customer support number of my region, number is on the website, right after the exam. 
I made a case by explaining what happened, and got a case number.

3- I wrote emails, 5-6 of them, in 24hrs, marking them urgent, and sending reminders, and referring to my case number and kept insisting that I do not have much time left cuz I need to report the scores to the schools (it truly is the case for me).

4-I called and followed up again using my case number, 5-6times in 24hrs, and asked the agent to mark my status as urgent on my case and kept insisting that I want to talk to the decision maker cuz i do not have much time left for the results. They said I cannot talk to the decision maker but apparently they conveyed my message.
And an email came an hour ago with a voucher.

So I basically got results in exactly 36 hrs.

What’s very important is you need to have the following info right beside you when calling :

-Full name ( obviously 🤷‍♂️)
-Phone number as stated on mba.com profile
-Address AND postal code (if you have one) as stated on profile
-Gmat ID

-Each call will cost you at least 15mins if you are lucky

-They have this silly procedure that they ask all your credentials one by one as I mentioned earlier, to “locate your profile”

-you need to wait behind the line most of the time! I once even ate my lunch and washed the dishes while waiting

-call voice quality is low

- in every email you send, make sure to include all your credentials and your registration ID, because when they want to answer you by email, they AGAIN ask you for credentials and if you include it, you will save one back and forth extra email and hours of time!

For the sake of comparison, last time when I wanted to change my address 2months ago, it took 45 days until they did it for me.

So insisting and demanding and following up is what made this work. After all, we as customers who pay, also have some rights that should be met in the right timeframe.

Posted from my mobile device

sebo08 · Answer

isnt it weird how my whole future depended on a total stranger’s response time? 🤦🏻‍♂️ 😂

Posted from my mobile device

AndrewN · Answer

Thank you,  sebo08 , for following up and posting such a detailed response on how to light the fire under Pearson's/GMAC™'s a--e. It is unfortunate that you will have to take the test again so soon under such circumstances, but at least you won this battle.

Good luck, going forward (now that you can).

- Andrew

sebo08 · Answer

AndrewN  lighting the fire under them was the exact wording of what I intended to do in the first place, to have them look into my case!

I simply couldn’t find the right words to express it that clear.

One free 100% real feel mock test was what I got 😁

The fact that you do not know your results helps cuz you dont have a yardstick to measure yourself against, you simply move on while thinking “i can do better cuz now I am more experienced this time”

Posted from my mobile device

sebo08 · Answer

AndrewN  lighting the fire under them was the exact wording of what I intended to do in the first place, to have them look into my case!

I simply couldn’t find the right words to express it that clear.

One free 100% real feel mock test was what I got 😁

The fact that you do not know your results helps cuz you dont have a yardstick to measure yourself against, you simply move on while thinking “i can do better cuz now I am more experienced this time”

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

I’m rooting for you for your next attempt. Your journey has been crazier than anyone else’s and in my book, you deserve to get a major break!

Thx
B.

Posted from my mobile device

sebo08 · Answer

bb  thanks mate😁 cheers 🍻

Posted from my mobile device

sebo08 · Answer

One final very unusual obstacle I faced today when trying to reschedule:

To recap, my first attempt of GMAT online failed because of a technical error on Pearson's side. so I was offered a voucher.

- since my first attempt was unfinished, it is still marked "pending" (no idea when they are going to take that down)

- technically, that exam, although unfinished, still counts as an exam, so my next appointment NEEDS TO BE SOMEWHERE 16 DAYS AFTER ANY UNFINISHED OR FINISHED ATTEMPT and the system wont allow you to select dates before that timeframe.

- Solution : the call center agents FORTUNATELY have the privilege to override the 16 days timeframe policy, so I simply called, waited for 10 mins again (as always) to connect with an agent, and asked the agent to pick a time slot for me, so she just checked the available time slots with me over the phone and picked the one I wanted.

- time slots keep changing so don't get disappointed if you see your best possible slot doesn't show up! just ask them to refresh. I wanted sunday morning so on both ends, she and I checked the slots simultaneously and refreshed a couple of times and found a good slot.

- technically, asking the agent on the phone to do whatever you can do online YOURSELF, incurs a 10$ fee BUT this is exempt, so just in case the agent tells you you should pay a fee, remember that I didn't, so you do not have to either

cheers

AndrewN · Answer

Wow,  sebo08 . I think the admins should consider adding a separate bullet point to the bottom of the  GMAT Online - What We Know  thread:

* What to do if You Get Screwed Over and Your Test Gets Cancelled

Thank you again for posting such a detailed update. Glad you finally got everything sorted out and kept a little money in your pocket.

- Andrew

bb · Answer

Thank you  AndrewN . I am on it. Will update the first post.

Posted from my mobile device

AndrewN · Answer

Glad you appreciate my dry sense of humor. All kidding aside, I hope the master thread will indeed be updated with this information, since it seems as though some people, enough people, are experiencing such nonsense, and the community could benefit from knowing what those who have gone through the appeals process have to say.

Thanks,   bb  .

- Andrew

omeikle · Answer

I had a similar issue today. When I arrived at the break portion (and even one time before it) I pinged the proctor so that I could ask to go to the bathroom. After 2 attempts and probably about 90 seconds into my break with no response, I just decided to go. It's not clear in the rules if you can or cannot just get up and go during that time without asking the proctor. I've read some threads on here that indicate that some people have just gotten up during the 5 minute break, came back and had no issue, while others asked and weren't allowed to go, so it seems like a mixed bag. I used the online chat function to receive a case number for what happened and followed up via phone to confirm the timeline of what happens with the case.

I will be following up every day to see what the result is, I'm nervous that my case is rejected. If that happens, does that mean I can't write it online again?

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Online exam got cancelled

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