GMAT Online

Question

Apologies if im posting it in the wrong forum

I had my gmat online scheduled for 10.15 am today (11th Oct) 
After logging in 40 mins before and waiting for the test to begin after uploading all the necessary photos, The application said "we're sorry but we couldn't begin your exam, click here for help". After waiting for another 30 mins to connect with a helpline agent who answered like 1 question every 3-4 mins he told me that a greeter will be with me shortly. After waiting for an hour at 11.15 my application closed automatically and i informed the agent about the same. He said that i couldn't give the test today anymore and he'll submit a case for investigation.

How pathetic. I had no fault whatsoever, its so incredibly sad. I NEEDED to give the exam today as i won't have time after today because of my job. I have no idea when can i reschedule next but i have a deadline of 31st Oct for the ISB as well.
I already mailed customercare and since its a Sunday, no call will help me. 
I'm in tears, i have no idea what to do right now, i cant find a date where ill be free and i cant definitely continue studying the same way.
Can't help but curse my luck. Sorry if I'm coming off as a crybaby, but I'm absolutely shocked by the unprofessionalism and the ethics displayed by PearsonVue. Any suggestions on what to do next would be appreciated. Thank you.

ashwink · Answer

Have you tried their customer care by phone? Usually, email responses take a long time and a phone call is faster. However, it is highly unlikely that they would come back within the deadlines.
Another suggestion would be to schedule a GRE(if the 16 day rule applies here) and then submit the application(so you're an R1 applicant) and then share the Adcoms your GMAT score once you complete it(say a week or 10 days after the deadline). It would be best to check with the Adcoms as well on this.

smitarth4 · Answer

Hey, thanks for the suggestion.
Yes I already tried calling but since today is Sunday, nobody answered. I'll try again tomorrow. 
I seriously doubt the 16 day rule applies here since it says "after successful completion of gmat online"
I shall mail the adcom rn, that sounds like a good idea.

Also, I don't mind giving the gre but apparently there are a lot of words to learn which I doubt I'd wanna do after spending 6 months on gmat prep.

Posted from my mobile device

rr10 · Answer

Hey  smitarth4

I faced the same problem today. My exam was scheduled for 9:00am IST. I logged in at 8:30 and uploaded all the photos. The screen showed : 'We aim to begin your exam in 15mins. ' I waited till 10:10 . Then the message was - we couldn't begin your exam, contact help.

Customer care was closed as it is Sunday, I filled the form for rescheduling the exam. Also I talked to the customer support and raised my query. My case was noted. Now I will get a reply in 5 days as I was told. I too had to wait for at least an hour in their chat system.

smitarth4 · Answer

That really sucks man. I can completely understand how you feel. I went from being mad, angry and annoyed to feeling helpless and broken in 20 mins. 
Goodluck to you tho, do let me know if they revert and tell you what's the earliest you can reschedule

If they are holding an online exam, they should be ready for problems like these. If the proctor doesn't join, what can the student do? There is no way to reach them either. It really sucks.

Posted from my mobile device

akmaraltoken · Answer

I had the same problem today. My exam was scheduled for 10:30, I spent 1.5 hrs after the appointed time just staring on my desktop. After check-in and waiting for 15 minutes the application said that the problem occurred and asked to contact customer service and not to close the program. But no one answered in the online chat window. I tried to reach them by calling, but today is a weekend. After 1.5 hrs, I tried to check in for the second time. This time the application said “Something wrong. Don’t worry we‘ll reschedule your exam free of charge.”
I was also relying on this exam results and now I’m gonna miss the deadlines. After 3 hours customer service texted me back and created a case. However it is not certain that I can reschedule the exam free of charge. Although I haven’t done anything wrong, I didn’t not pass my exam and I’m gonna miss my deadlines. Don’t know what to do. Also feel really disappointed:(

Posted from my mobile device

GMATaxe001 · Answer

Looks like taking the exam at night time IST is a better option

Posted from my mobile device

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Sorry to hear about this. Have you had a chance to reach to the folks at ETS by phone?

smitarth4 · Answer

Sorry Scott, totally missed the notif but yea I did, and thanks for asking.

Update: They refunded the amount back to me. It seems you can reschedule as soon as your exam is cancelled/refunded. There is no minimum number of days you have to wait before registering again. I've booked the online exam again for 24th but I took a break of ~6 days after the last exam so I am just hoping to at least get a 670 (my last official mock). Will write a debrief later.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions and good luck to those who faced the same problem.

TravellingGunner · Answer

Hi Smitarth,

Best of luck for the exam. Also were you able to get in touch with ISB Adcom and inform them of your troubles? In these crazy times several universities are accommodating with such issues.

ScottTargetTestPrep · Answer

Thank you for the update!

smitarth4 · Answer

Hey, yes I did mail them the day after my exam was canceled... They reverted with a mail saying that they have forwarded it to the respective team and that they will contact me shortly. It's been a while though and they haven't contacted me after that. They took way too long to reply to my original mail as well whereas all my queries before August were responded within 3-4 days. I'm not focusing much on that now... But surely will post another update if they revert

Posted from my mobile device

EducationAisle · Answer

Hi  smitarth4 , if things don't turn out your way, I am hoping you are aware that you can apply to R2 (Jan 10th) as well.

You just need to write to ISB about this (well before the 31st October deadline), and get permission on this. So, don't stress out too much. Things will turn out to be just fine.

smitarth4 · Answer

Hey, thanks for the info but I don't think I can apply there. You see I'm a fresh graduate and I applied for the ISB YLP program when I was still in college. ISB isn't really my end goal but it's the most reputed in India (my perspective) so I applied.
I'm not worried now but thank you for your concern. 
I am expecting their mail about the online scene.

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