Fed up with VUE

Some of you knwo I took my switch exam a few weeks back, about 20 min in to it the compuer froze up and I got a jarva script error on the screen.

10min of there IT unit fiddeling around and then being moved machines, I eventuly got back on with the exam 15 miniutes later and back at the start of a simulation I had been working on for about 10min (boy i was impressed how tough it was)

Any way I ran out of time with a few questions to go and scored jsut below the pass mark. So I thought I would put raise an issue and see if they would let me sit it again as it was there machine that had crashed.

this is what i got back...

"Please note that candidates try to do something that the simulation is not expecting, or that will not help resolve the problem, then it can look as if the simulation is not working as expected – in reality, this is part of the simulation, showing that you are doing the wrong thing to solve the simulation problem. "

So now you know, in future if your PC crashed half way though an exam, then this is planned by cisco to tell you you are doing some thing wrong..

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Comments

peanutnoggin

DevilWAH wrote: »

So now you know, in future if your PC crashed half way though an exam, then this is planned by cisco to tell you you are doing some thing wrong..

That's funny (not what happened, but your response)!!! I had a similar experience with my CCNA... (True Story) The testing center conducted a scheduled building power test during my CCNA exam. Well, everything in the building held up with the electrical test with the exception of the switch in the rack that connected my computer to the lan. As soon as I lost lan access my test errored out! I had to wait a week for cisco to issue a refund and allow me to retake my exam. It was the equivalent of failing! All my buddies at work said: "That was cisco's way of seeing how I would react in a power outtage"! I feel your pain. Sorry that had to happen and I hope that my similar experience can humor you a bit!

ciscog33k

Ack, sorry, I skimmed and misread part of your post. You were asking for retake and I agree that you should get one.

Their response was dumb.

Sett

I had similar issue on my BCMSN exam - the exam crashed with an ugly error message and they had to reboot the PC. Fortunately I was not in the middle of a lab and besides of a few lost minutes there was no big impact. When I took ONT exam about two weeks ago the interface looked a little different. The buttons weren't the same and the overall look seemed changed... Maybe they update the software and I hope there will be no more crashes.

As to the reply it is really, really retarded. I advice you to demand for your rights - they should have some tech logs after all.

earweed

ciscog33k wrote: »

No offense, but if it crashed and they fixed it and you didn't lose time off the clock, I don't see why that should entitle you to a passing mark... If you did lose time off the exam clock then you have a legitimate issue, but otherwise, why should they give you a freebie? Hell, you even got 10 extra minutes to think about how to answer the sim. ;p

Their response was dumb, but I don't see how you were wronged in any way unless you failed to tell us something.

He did lose the time he had been working on the sim before it crashed so that may have been time off the exam clock. They should prbably check the exam center before sending him that statement to verify that the testing center had a problem and issued him a free voucher for a resit. Shouldn't have to pay for a retake if the testing center had problems.

Good luck on your retake Devilwah

trackit

peanutnoggin wrote: »

All my buddies at work said: "That was cisco's way of seeing how I would react in a power outtage"!

Sounds like CCIE lab

Paul Boz

I don't know why its so hard for vendors to put on tests that actually work as intended. Half the time on Cisco exams which feature SDM the labs don't work or the graphics are horribly fuzzy. Also, I don't know anyone that's ever taken a sans exam with practical labs that actually did them because they either don't work or are such a small part of the test it doesn't matter.

DevilWAH

god this goes on

VUE accept no responsibility for what happened, if they had been polite I may have left it at that. But seeing as they took 2 weeks to tell me nothing, and just suggested I reported it to CISCO, in a very unhelpful mannor.

I sent Cisco an email yesturday lunch time and have already had two back, asking for clarification of a few things (impressed with there customer service so far!). So may be they will be nice and give me a re-sit. Only trouble is I been having a few weeks of, and baby due in 2!! so might have to put in on hold for a few months

just have to see how things turn out. going to spend the next week really brushing up on the bits I was weak on and see if I can get this done before baby comes...

DevilWAH

Finally !!!! got a message from CISCO saying that they would give me a voucher to retake the exam

only taken a month+ to sort out!! still not very impressed with VUE and the place I took the exam

Now the problem is my first child was due today (not arrived yet though), so I don't think the retake will be for another month or so. But thank fully the certificate is valid for a year so should get it out of the way by then.

Hucaby who wrote the certification guide, has said he will be adding some more topics to it and posting them on the cisco site under the CCNP SWITCH discussion . As well as including them in the next version of the book. So I might wait for them to come out and just start learning the BCSI/ROUTE topics when and if i get any time over the next few months.

Not making any definite plans over the next few months apart from learning how to cope with a baby

peanutnoggin

DevilWAH wrote: »

Finally !!!! got a message from CISCO saying that they would give me a voucher to retake the exam

only taken a month+ to sort out!! still not very impressed with VUE and the place I took the exam

Now the problem is my first child was due today (not arrived yet though), so I don't think the retake will be for another month or so. But thank fully the certificate is valid for a year so should get it out of the way by then.

Hucaby who wrote the certification guide, has said he will be adding some more topics to it and posting them on the cisco site under the CCNP SWITCH discussion . As well as including them in the next version of the book. So I might wait for them to come out and just start learning the BCSI/ROUTE topics when and if i get any time over the next few months.

Not making any definite plans over the next few months apart from learning how to cope with a baby

That's good news... what will be even better is once that baby is born!! Good luck with your studies, but more importantly, good luck to you you and your family!!!

earweed

You better get some sleep now devilwah because that baby's gonna be keeping you up at night soon

notgoing2fail

I was thinking about this myself today during my exam. I looked down and I didn't see any UPS. And I was wondering what would happen if there was a power outtage.

My testing center seemed to be using pretty decent equipment, the PC's didn't look old or anything...

But still, I would hate to deal with JS crashes, OS crashes or any other kind of crash, only for some fool to send a canned response, "Oh, this is part of the test, sorry buddy, you failed.."

That would make my blood boil!!!!

tanix

I had similar issues with Prometric taking an MS exam. Test crashed 5-6 times and I had up to a 45 min wait during one crash while they worked on the issue. Missed the test by a question or two and I am sure I would have passed if things weren't such a mess, I have terrible test anxiety and that didn't help. It is kind of funny, RL deadlines and under pressure situations don't bother me at all, but make an official test and sit me in a room to take it and I freeze up. *chuckle*

Ryan82

My TSHOOT beta exam was a nightmare. The first set of multiple choice questions went without problem, but when it got to the trouble ticket simulation it kept having some sort of java issue and kept crashing. I was at the test center for an extra 2.5 hours with my testing center on the phone with vue. They kept manipulating the region settings (I am an American working in Germany) and it wouldn't work with US keyboard settings. Finally when they got the right combination of settings, the ? did not work. So I had to take the whole damn test without the use of the ?.

Nuul

earweed wrote: »

You better get some sleep now devilwah because that baby's gonna be keeping you up at night soon

Everyone told me this, but I didn't believe them

. They want to eat every two hours at first. Even if you're not the one feeding them you'll still be woken up by the cries. I was a walking zombie for about 6 weeks until my son would sleep 4 hours between feedings.

DevilWAH

Nuul wrote: »

Everyone told me this, but I didn't believe them . They want to eat every two hours at first. Even if you're not the one feeding them you'll still be woken up by the cries. I was a walking zombie for about 6 weeks until my son would sleep 4 hours between feedings.

I am so glasd I get 3 weeks paid leave for this!!! I have a feeling its going to be tough

Thankfully I never sleep more than about 5 hours a night, So hopping I will cope ok.

Should be fun though

I'm going to keep beliving that she will be a perfect child and no crying or trouble...

Yes I know its a dream but its a nice one

Nuul

DevilWAH wrote: »

I am so glasd I get 3 weeks paid leave for this!!! I have a feeling its going to be tough

Is that a mandated benefit in the UK? In the US fathers don't get much of anything, you have to burn your vacation time. I used a week for his birth then another week after my wife's mother went home to Japan. The first week back to work was rough. I fell asleep in a meeting that week, thankfully my boss thought it was funny. All he said was "welcome to fatherhood" when I woke up and realized I had 5 people staring at me.

'grats on the baby btw

DevilWAH

Nuul wrote: »

Is that a mandated benefit in the UK? In the US fathers don't get much of anything, you have to burn your vacation time. I used a week for his birth then another week after my wife's mother went home to Japan. The first week back to work was rough. I fell asleep in a meeting that week, thankfully my boss thought it was funny. All he said was "welcome to fatherhood" when I woke up and realized I had 5 people staring at me.

'grats on the baby btw

3 Weeks is good. I work for the public service / Goverment so our leave is really good. Most places I think get about a week.

But I so greatfull for it, hope the weather stays nice and I can spend lots of time getting to know the little one

cheers