Over the years I've taken many Excelsior college exams either through Prometric or Pearsonve & have had a satisfactory experience each time, until now. About 2 weeks ago I started trying to cancel the Basic Genetics exam On-line. I've cancelled or rescheduled exams easily in the past (including a cancellation on-line last month), but when I attempted to do so this time I'd get all the way through the cancellation page until a message appeared: "credit card is invalid" & I was unable to Complete the Cancellation. The invalid message baffled me as I had prepaid & been charged for the exam about six months hence. I assumed they could credit that same card with the refund for not taking the test but looked through the site to find a place to insert another or the same credit card for them to refund; but there was no such place to insert a credit card number on the test takers home page (I know you can insert a number, as I have done so, when you sign up to take a test, but that did me no good in this circumstance). Also, there is no Email Customer Service contact info on the test taker home page or website. There is a phone number, which I called after several aborted on-line attempts (I figured it might just be a passing "glitch" & the available phone hours was very limited). The Rep I got asked for multiple items of information including my credit card number & told me there would be a fee for canceling the test: I knew this & ok'd the fee but I wanted to know why I couldn't complete the Cancellation on-line & paid no fee, as I had done in the past. The Rep told me that you couldn't cancel on-line. I pointed out that I had less than a month ago & that there was a Cancellation or Rescheduling web page. Then he told me I had probably just done it wrong & I offered to let him walk me through it (he didn't even reply to this) though I knew I had done everything correctly (not complicated @ all). Again, I told him that I had no problem paying for the cancellation but if the IT glitch that wouldn't let me use the no cost (you're not charged & your $50 original fee is returned if you cancel 7 days before the test is scheduled, or so it's advertised & stated as policy) on-line cancellation wasn't addressed, Pearson VUE was ripping people off by making them pay the "call in" cancellation fee. The Rep then put me on hold (heavy metal hold music, by the way) & after several minutes came back on the phone and asked me if I wanted to pay the cancellation fee. I affirmed I did but that I'd still like the inability to cancel on line to be addressed. I told him that an assurance from him that he would report it to someone in authority would satisfy me. The Rep told me I could contact Pearson on the website via Email & I told him there was no Email complaint address. He told me there was & I asked him to find it for me. He couldn't find an address to give me & abruptly put me back on heavy metal hold. I waited 22 minutes on hold before I hung up & recalled the same service center number after checking the website to see if my test had been cancelled (it was still showing as active). I got another Rep who told me, after putting me on heavy metal hold for 2 minutes, that the test had already been cancelled. I told him I was looking @ the web page & the test was still active & asked him how long I could expect before it was up-dated to cancelled. He didn't know. I then attempted to reiterate my inability to do an on-line cancellation but could tell that this new Rep knew no more nor was any more interested in my problem than the first Rep & I stated thus & thanked him & went on my merry way.
Not that it matters, but both these REPS were obviously from off-shore service centers with no "skin in the game" as far as attempting to do anything but collect $. They had no interests in the Pearson VUE system they were supporting nor were they knowledgeable about the websites. If my calls were recorded, I would welcome Pearson VUE to listen to them. They are getting poor value for whatever they're paying these "customer service" centers to represent them.
Again, I started trying to cancel the Basic Genetics test Online intermittently in December & was unable to do so. I would have been required to pay no fee if I doing so was possible. The system did not allow me to do so.
When I did try to contact Pearson VUE's customer service via a couple of Email addresses I googled I could never reach their servers. My computer would freeze trying to reach the websites. So I'm on this website. Complaining about poor service. Does Pearson VUE care about these problems? Are they widespread? Does a class action suit need to be considered to get their attention.
Pearson VUE Reviews
Over the years I've taken many Excelsior college exams either through Prometric or Pearsonve & have had a satisfactory experience each time, until now. About 2 weeks ago I started trying to cancel the Basic Genetics exam On-line. I've cancelled or rescheduled exams easily in the past (including a cancellation on-line last month), but when I attempted to do so this time I'd get all the way through the cancellation page until a message appeared: "credit card is invalid" & I was unable to Complete the Cancellation. The invalid message baffled me as I had prepaid & been charged for the exam about six months hence. I assumed they could credit that same card with the refund for not taking the test but looked through the site to find a place to insert another or the same credit card for them to refund; but there was no such place to insert a credit card number on the test takers home page (I know you can insert a number, as I have done so, when you sign up to take a test, but that did me no good in this circumstance). Also, there is no Email Customer Service contact info on the test taker home page or website. There is a phone number, which I called after several aborted on-line attempts (I figured it might just be a passing "glitch" & the available phone hours was very limited). The Rep I got asked for multiple items of information including my credit card number & told me there would be a fee for canceling the test: I knew this & ok'd the fee but I wanted to know why I couldn't complete the Cancellation on-line & paid no fee, as I had done in the past. The Rep told me that you couldn't cancel on-line. I pointed out that I had less than a month ago & that there was a Cancellation or Rescheduling web page. Then he told me I had probably just done it wrong & I offered to let him walk me through it (he didn't even reply to this) though I knew I had done everything correctly (not complicated @ all). Again, I told him that I had no problem paying for the cancellation but if the IT glitch that wouldn't let me use the no cost (you're not charged & your $50 original fee is returned if you cancel 7 days before the test is scheduled, or so it's advertised & stated as policy) on-line cancellation wasn't addressed, Pearson VUE was ripping people off by making them pay the "call in" cancellation fee. The Rep then put me on hold (heavy metal hold music, by the way) & after several minutes came back on the phone and asked me if I wanted to pay the cancellation fee. I affirmed I did but that I'd still like the inability to cancel on line to be addressed. I told him that an assurance from him that he would report it to someone in authority would satisfy me. The Rep told me I could contact Pearson on the website via Email & I told him there was no Email complaint address. He told me there was & I asked him to find it for me. He couldn't find an address to give me & abruptly put me back on heavy metal hold. I waited 22 minutes on hold before I hung up & recalled the same service center number after checking the website to see if my test had been cancelled (it was still showing as active). I got another Rep who told me, after putting me on heavy metal hold for 2 minutes, that the test had already been cancelled. I told him I was looking @ the web page & the test was still active & asked him how long I could expect before it was up-dated to cancelled. He didn't know. I then attempted to reiterate my inability to do an on-line cancellation but could tell that this new Rep knew no more nor was any more interested in my problem than the first Rep & I stated thus & thanked him & went on my merry way.
Not that it matters, but both these REPS were obviously from off-shore service centers with no "skin in the game" as far as attempting to do anything but collect $. They had no interests in the Pearson VUE system they were supporting nor were they knowledgeable about the websites. If my calls were recorded, I would welcome Pearson VUE to listen to them. They are getting poor value for whatever they're paying these "customer service" centers to represent them.
Again, I started trying to cancel the Basic Genetics test Online intermittently in December & was unable to do so. I would have been required to pay no fee if I doing so was possible. The system did not allow me to do so.
When I did try to contact Pearson VUE's customer service via a couple of Email addresses I googled I could never reach their servers. My computer would freeze trying to reach the websites. So I'm on this website. Complaining about poor service. Does Pearson VUE care about these problems? Are they widespread? Does a class action suit need to be considered to get their attention.