NCARB / ProMetric Test Debacle
Just wanted to relay NCARB's poor handling of the ARE tests they administer through ProMetric, and their poor resolution of issues that arrive from their mismanagement.
I have now taken and passed three tests, after attempting five.
Two of the five were canceled by ProMetric.
One was an online test that I was on my way to passing, when ProMetric booted me (for unresolved reasons on their end). I wound up rescheduling in-person, but it involved taking an additional day of work.
The other was canceled a mere 15 hours before my test was scheduled to begin, and I was notified only by email (no call). Because I had already gone to bed for the evening, I drove to the test center only to find it closed. NCARB then rescheduled the exam "for the next available appointment," which was over two months away, and they rescheduled without my permission and without giving me the opportunity to choose the day or time.
The long and short of all this, is that right now they are at 60% success for being able to administer the tests I have paid them for. That's a D-. In other words, that's a score that won't get you past the first grade, much less cut it for a national organization. Every one of these tests means taking a day off work, so I've lost hundreds and hundreds of dollars in missed wages (never mind the cost of the tests themselves) for tests that I've been unable to take, through no fault of my own. This isn't unique to me; everyone I know taking these exams is having a similar experience.
NCARB refuses to even offer an exam seat credit, saying that tests they botch are out of their control. I spoke with an NCARB rep yesterday, who completely pawned off all responsibility on ProMetric. He told me that "national numbers are better than what you're experiencing," which of course is no help.
Do better, NCARB. This is a load of crap for a national company, and yuor handling of it is embarrassing.
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To join you in your misery, I'll share my terrible experience from this week...
Scheduled to take my first exam, PcM, on Wednesday via online proctor. First issue was that my exam accommodations (which took forever for NCARB to review and approve) weren't accounted for on the countdown clock when the proctoring software initialized. Second and much larger issue is that before I even tabbed to the first question of the exam, I received a pleasant [Test Ended] notification. My attempt was over before it even began.
There aren't many words to sum up the frustration involved with working your way up to that first exam, only for their system to fail spectacularly, waste your time, and delay your anticipated schedule. It took them another day to issue me a credit to reschedule the exam; however, the inability to retake the exam within the next 60 days is still applied to my record. Apparently they're working on getting that corrected, but provided no timetable on when that's going to happen.
Until then, I'm simply in limbo, while my official record displays a failed attempt. Maybe I'll be able to reschedule for next week...maybe next month...who knows! Yeah, I'm frustrated. You're not alone.
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I had a similar issue where my exam was cancelled out of the blue and then rescheduled at a new time and location w/o my consent or consultation. After speaking to NCARB Customer Service they let me know I would be able to reschedule my exam and would receive an email within 5 business days. 5 days passed with no email and now I have not been able to get through to anyone in Customer Service because their entire company is in "training". I have also sent multiple emails and received nothing back.
The whole experience has been extremely frustrating and is not the first problem I have run into with their customer support team.
I may just wait to take my next exam until the have completely switched over to the PSI testing centers in January....hoping that things will go more smoothly with that testing agency.
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