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Hi,
I'm sure this has been posted before, but I cannot stress it enough. If
possible confirm your exam is proceeding BEFORE travelling. I made a round
trip of 4 hours today to find out my exam was cancelled.
I was scheduled to take my CCIE written exam today, but upon arriving at the
testing centre I was told that there was a technical problem and that all
the test for the day had been cancelled. I am emailing Prometric (EMEA)
directly to complain, and to make a number of suggestions.
I was due to sit the CCIE R & S qualification exam today. When I arrived at
the testing centre I was told that all exams had been cancelled due to a
fault in downloading the exams. There was a lot of discussion with the
Testing Centre and Prometric about what had happened and when the exam could
be rescheduled.
I wanted to book the exam the following day, and was told that this was
possible. I rang another test centre and confirmed that they could take me.
I rang Prometric back. They proceeded to book me in, but said that the test
centre would have to call as the tests were finalised, and would need to be
reopened to allow me to take the exam. I rang the test centre, and explained
this to them, and they said they would do this and call me back in 15
minutes. An hour later I rang back and was told they were waiting for a
phone call from Prometric. An hour later I got a phone call to say that it
wasn't possible after all to sit the exam tomorrow, and Prometric were now
closed. I would need to ring next week and reschedule the exam.
I am really disappointed with this whole experience. And there were 20+
people in the same situation. I had taken a full week off work to prepare,
and had made an 80 mile trip. Once I learned the test was cancelled, I spent
the rest of the day wasting my time trying to reschedule it.
I understand that this isn't a life or death situation, but my CCIE
certification is important to me. I am approaching it in a professional
manner. I am treating it as importantly as I treated my University studies.
Today, I received no explanation or apology from Prometric, just the run
around.
I am suggesting to Prometric that at a minimum they should do the following:
1. Put a notice on email confirmations for exams, asking the candidate to
ring the testing centre to confirm the tests are taking place. Some will,
some won't. I would have rung if I had felt it was necessary.
2. The onus should be on Prometric and/or the testing centres to contact
candidates if they are unable to provide tests as scheduled. The testing
centre knew 3 hours before I left that I wouldn't be able to take my exam.
They claim that because they were unable to download the exams, they were
also unable to get a list of candidates. I think this is unacceptable. What
happened to telephone and facsimiles?
3. If Prometric and/or the testing centre fail to notify the candidate prior
to him arriving for his exam, they should forfeit the fee, and should offer
the candidate a free rescheduled exam. If I don't cancel my exam with
sufficient notice, I have to pay. Why shouldn't Prometric?
4. Backup measures should be in place to ensure that in the event of a
problem, an alternative is available, whether this is redundant links or a
alterative test centre. It shouldn't be possible for an entire day of exams
to be cancelled.
I now have to find another slot to re-sit my exam. It will be hard to
prepare as well as I had done this week. Another complication is that my
CCNP certification is due to expire in the next few weeks. I had planned to
take (and hopefully pass) the written, and then take the CCNP
recertification exam as soon as possible. I'll have to reconsider this.
In effect, today's problems have caused my other complications. I don't
think either Prometric or the testing centre really appreciate this. I don't
know who's fault todays problems were, but I don't really care to be honest.
I know it wasn't mine.
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