Test Center Power Outage During Pearson Vue Testing

thomas_

Has anyone ever had a test center lose power while taking an exam through Pearson Vue?  The test center said they would open a ticket with Pearson in the morning, since they couldn't log it tonight due to a lack of power.  Once the test is rescheduled do you start the same exam where you left off?  Do you start at the beginning?  Do you have to take it at the same testing center?  If I purchase another voucher for the same exam and re-take the exam will they issue me a voucher for a different exam?

tedjames

Several years ago when I took the Security+ exam, my test computer crapped out on me for 30 minutes. The proctor had to call tech support (halfway around the world) to help figure it out. By the time they got it running again, I had lost a good chunk of test time. They said, "You can finish your test now." I refused and said I wanted to reschedule, since it was their fault. I rescheduled at a different test center and started from scratch. I passed. I didn't have to pay again.

beads

Yes, twice while doing what became my first attempt with the PMP exam. First time, 45 minutes into the exam power was lost for about an hour. The second time in the same day lost power after an hour and had to restart a third time. After two false starts I simply told them to reschedule my exam as I was becoming exhausted from the ups and downs associated with restarting the exam.

I never went back to that exam facility again. Type of place that also houses a methadone clinic and a 7.5 foot tall hookah pipe in a store directly below. If I said its a crappy neighborhood it would be too generous. 

- b/eads

JDMurray

I've had exam computers crash but never experienced a power interruption/outage during an exam. Any testing center is susceptible to loss-of-power conditions from a variety of causes. This is a risk that can be mitigated in a variety of ways--the use of UPS units being the most obvious. (Most residential power interruptions are <5 minutes in duration.)

All the reputable testing services are now Cloud-based, meaning your exam answers are stored off-site in the testing service's Cloud provider. In addition, the state of the on-site network is being monitored by the Cloud-based testing service. An on-site power outage might cause you to lose your most recent change in the exam, but the exam provider would become aware of the loss of connectivity to the local exam center and be able to continue the exam with the appropriate time remaining when power and connectivity returned.

thomas_

The computers dtayed on due to them having individual UPS units, but they lost network connectivity.  I saw lights on their switch in the room, so it was probably an upstream network device or possibly an ISP device somewhere since a few blocks lost power.

Pearson ended up cancelling the reservation and processed a refund which will take 5 - 7 days to return to my card.  I’m not sure if it’s easier for them this way, but the call center rep had a thick accent and seemed like the fastest way to reach a resolution.

bigdogz

Some time ago I had noise issues. It sounded like the people upstairs were tap dancing with aluminum trash can lids.

I had to reschedule and I never went back there again.