I hate PearsonVue so much

StrikingInfluencer

So I recently took the AWS-CSAA and AWS-CCP.  The CCP I took online and it was fairly straight forward but obviously the CSAA I had to take in-person.  Now when I got to this particular testing center it was an older man working the front desk and he had me sign up and take a picture, etc..  Fast forward, I completed the test and take the usual survey portion at the end before the score.  I get to the final screen and I passed!! Whooo!  I am absolutely ecstatic so I leave the room and the old man is gone and it's a newer younger lady now working the desk.  She says that AWS does  NOT have print offs / she got no score sheet and also the previous person working had me fill out the wrong sign-in sheet so I she had me refill it out...  I thought that was odd as I've never finished an exam and not received a score sheet.  I asked her if she is absolutely sure that is correct and told her that I wanted a score sheet to show my manager for reimbursement purposes.  She said I'd get the results via email..  Okay?  This is where I should've put my food down and maybe stayed but I didn't as I was too happy.  

Fast forward to later in the evening and I started getting nervous as I still had nothing via email.  I started logging into PearsonVue accounts and nothing, all I see is CCP and a practice exam I took.. Odd.  Next business day I call PearsonVue and their support is awful.  They tell me they don't know why but they see the status as 'Delivery Failed'.  I logged onto my account and also now saw 'Delivery Failed'...  I am getting really frustrated as I've spent lots of my time and money studying for this and it was a pass.  I then call up the PearsonVue testing center and it happened to be the same old man that had me sign in.. He said that when he came into work this morning the computer still had my test screen open with the 'Congratulations You Passed!' screen on.  He said he clicked the exit button.... WTF?!  I was furious, you're only job is to run a testing center (with 6 computers) and you didn't notice this?!  So now I have a case open with PearsonVue and I've called, emailed, and chatted with their support and none of them will tell me what is happening.  All they will say is my case is being reviewed and they will tell me in 5 business days.  If I have to retake this test I am going to absolutely go mental...

Has anyone experienced this before?  Should I start studying again??  I'm very concerned and also angry. I work in academia part-time and I am now 100% committed to torching PearsonVue and actively avoiding them in any way possible.
  

Grafixx01

I'd study just in case. I have a few friends who signed up for tests and then got emails from the center saying they had to reschedule at another center. I also got a call from one site that I had booked a test at. Apparently it was a "private testing center" and did not do anything for the public. Mind you that this was NOT in a college or tech school so I have no idea truly why. I also know, in the two friends instance, they said that GIAC had notified the testing center that they were not authorized any longer to be used.

stryder144

PV is, indeed, horrible.  I had a situation where I couldn't log in to the CompTIA membership site and I, for whatever reason, ended up with a second login.  When I realized that, I called CompTIA, they resolved the issue (merged accounts), then told me to contact PearsonVue to make sure that everything is good-to-go (something about cross-linking between sites, if I remember correctly).  So I used their ridiculous chat feature, they tell me to call, I can't understand half of what is being said, and, ultimately, the guy on the line from PV decides to build me a second account (not what I asked for and even told him not to do).  He gives me my new username and...nothing else.  Call ends.  Now, mind you, he didn't take down my email address or anything.  When I go to log in, I only know my username, I don't have a password, I decide to click on the forgot password link, and they ask me for an email address.  I type mine in and it says that it isn't associated with an account.  It took me nearly three months to get it fixed. 

A student of mine needed to have accommodations due to medical reasons.  We contacted CompTIA, they said "sure, he can have all the time he needs as far as we are concerned.  Unfortunately, PearsonVue needs to give him the extra time".  No worries, or so we thought.  That was a joke.  He had to have his doctor send the same information multiple times before they begrudgingly gave him an extra twenty or thirty minutes.  The man had a TBI, for pete's sake!  They acted like we were trying to milk it for all it was worth.  Ugh!  That process...well over a month.

If I could avoid them, if there was actual choice, I would never go back to a PearsonVue center ever again.  Given the amount of money it takes to become an authorized testing center and how little the center makes per exam, it just isn't worth it financially. 

Yet many businesses will get it so that their customers can be better taken care of...like the school I worked for.  Their systems routinely go down, updates tend to break things worse than most other application vendors products do, and they rarely take responsibility.  Contrast that with PeopleCert.  If you indicate that English isn't your native language (at least here in the US), they will give you an extra twenty or so minutes to take the ITIL Foundation exam.  Network connection breaks?  No problem, the exam timer stops at the exact second connectivity is lost.  Reconnect, continue with your exam, and nothing to worry about.  If they are having system issues, they own up to it.  They very quickly reschedule exams where there is a technical problem on their end, with no attitude.  PV?  You must have caused their issue...I can't tell you how much I hated dealing with them and their attitudes!

Honestly, customer service is really easy:  listen to your customers and give them anything that is reasonable.  Not PV...decent customer service is beyond them, let alone great service.

stryder144

Grafixx01 said:

Apparently it was a "private testing center" and did not do anything for the public.

If the center is private, PearsonVue is not supposed to make it publicly viewable on THEIR site.  You should never have had the opportunity to select it.

Grafixx01

stryder144 said:

Grafixx01 said:

Apparently it was a "private testing center" and did not do anything for the public.

If the center is private, PearsonVue is not supposed to make it publicly viewable on THEIR site.  You should never have had the opportunity to select it.

I was able to select it though. I did it because it was closest to my house and I figured rather than driving to work (45min-1hr) to sit there for like 2hrs then drive all the way home, that I'd just stay home and get some extra study time. But on like Monday of that week of the test (being on Thursday), the test center guy called and said exactly what you said. He said he'd call the company and tell them (the company for the test I was taking, NOT PV).

stryder144

@Grafixx01 that is the weirdest thing.  I believe you, of course, but I wonder why their facility was listed in the first place.  It's a good thing they contacted you before the day of the exam.  Knowing PV, they would make you prove it was not your fault before allowing you to reschedule the exam.

DFTK13

I understand about PearsonVue, I took my lpi Linux essentials exam through them and honestly you’re really at the mercy of the testing center. My CCENT exam center proctor was excellent, very professional and courteous, and the location was roomy and well kept up. LPI Linux was a completely different experience, I couldn’t pick the nice location as they didn’t offer lpi exams, and really only had this hole in the wall place that was close enough to my work and this guy who was a complete jerk who kept looking away and talking away from me even after I told him I was deaf and needed to see his face to read his lips. It was really cramped in the exam room, like a small bedroom feeling, and it was filled with fake plants that were on the computer desks and were totally distracting. Thankfully I passed the exam and will never take another exam there if I can help it. 

beads

Feel for you, StrikingInfluencer. Been through too many nightmares to recount without sounding like I was forced to crawl up hill in the snow, barefoot to test and all so I will skip it or dodge tomatoes for the rest of the thread.

Once you find a testing center that works for you, it will be worth the drive to wherever it may be to keep that good experience going. My personal favorite site closed and I am still looking for a comparable site that I feel a bit more valued than something best left in the trashcan. They do exist but often take a while to identify. Ask around your community and hear what others have to report. Skip the small closets with a PC, 120 degree temps and no air circulation types. Close to me but also closed after a year or so of operation. Likely do to complaints.

Some sites are really good. Others... not so much. Do you homework and identify those that have a better reputation among examines.

Good luck!

stryder144

Choosing your test center wisely is good policy.  Oddly enough, one of the dark hole-in-the-wall centers that I have used in the past is the most convenient and has some really nice folks that run it.  Their equipment and the spacing between workstations is horrendous, but the people more than make up for the questionable equipment.  At least their internet connectivity is spot on.

StrikingInfluencer

Update, my results got passed to Amazon finally and they had my score.  Thank goodness I don't have to take that one again...  Still hate PearsonVue. 

bigdogz

@StrikingInfluencer Congratulations on the pass!!!

Your experience is what happens when the people working the test center are not familiar with the various testing processes of the various vendors.

itdept

Just my two cents on an experience with Pearson Vue. I tried to do the AWS Cloud Prac exam at home. Well the software PearsonVue uses for proctoring failed even though the computer passed all the system tests. This was a pretty bare bones machine. It did have Windows 7 installed so maybe that is a strike against me but the system tests should pick that up.
You apparently cannot reschedule a AWS exam more than twice. The 2nd time it was Pearson rescheduled but that counted against me.
The tech support was just about complete trash. Basic comprehension is not a trait for their tech support
Going forward it looks like I won't be doing anymore online exams but due to Wuhan coronavirus I may not have a choice...

metaprog

Best. Thread Title. Ever.  Glad I found this.  I despise PearsonVue.  Just took the AWS-CCP (online).  The proctor jumps on...first problem, can't understand what he's saying.  Super thick accent.  We muddle through the communication process.  So be it.  We then spend literally 15 very frustrating minutes going through a variety of checks he wants to perform, many of them multiple times despite clear & obvious indication / proof of what he seeks.  "It's too dark - turn the lights on".  Okay I go turn the light on.  Show him multiple angles of my desk area from laptop webcam. He's satisfied. I get up very quickly to turn the lights back off, returning to my desk within 2 secs (literally...if not sooner).  Though the exam has yet to start, apparently this is enough for him to trigger a repeat of the ENTIRE verification process.  Finally get to the actual exam.  During the exam - multiple unsolicited chat msgs asking if I'm okay or need anything.  Multiple false accusations of looking up at the ceiling, or speaking out loud, etc.  Any redirecting of viewing angle toward the screen stemming from trying to alleviate a neck crick, any sigh or loud exhale stemming from e.g. frustration about an exam question, any slight stretch (while still seated & still staring directly at my screen), and immediately he'd send me a chat msg threatening to stop the exam.  More time burned & mental energy wasted on trying to explain to him that he's hallucinating (my exact words were more tactful).  And when it came time for me to ask a question, i had to hit the "Chat" request button a total of 7 consecutive times before he answered...clearly him being a vindictive prick.  Exam ends (fortunately I passed)...I call PearsonVue customer service.  I get "Max" - obviously not his real name, and clearly from the same country as the proctor (I'm of the same ethnic background, so it's easy to recognize).  Midway through my complaint, I get hung up on.  Infuriating.  I call back...get a different rep.  Proceed again, both times without any profanities & not yelling.  I **** you not - I get hung up on again.  Basically as soon as I've provided enough context for the rep to know I'm pissed about something, they hang up on me.  

Obviously B.S. to deal with.  And yet unfortunately we have no recourse.  Nothing will change.  The antics will continue.  The service will remain shitty.  And PearsonVue will continue making $$ with nary a care in the world.  Without consequence, change won't come.

The idiocy & utter incompetence is very real.