TERRIBLE experience with ProctorU!!

[dfrecore]

Can I just start by saying that ProctorU sucks beyond belief?!?

A few weeks ago, I decided to sign up for ProctorU's new premium service. It was the $25 Platinum option, with "Take It Now" availability. It was also supposed to have a UCard creation, which meant that the time-consuming 15-minute pre-test setup was supposed to be simpler.

Well, to start with, when I went to schedule my exam, there were not many times available. So the Take It Now option didn't really apply. I thought that it meant you could actually take it right then, but it didn't. What Take It Now means is that you can take it when they have time available. If that's not Now, then too bad. Then, when I went to schedule my 2nd exam for later that night, it wouldn't let me. That's because their system apparently only lets you schedule 1 exam at a time, and you can't schedule another exam until after you've completed the first exam.

When I went to the live chat for help (being that today was the deadline), I got the rudest person who told me to contact the school and get an extension, because she could not schedule my exam for me. Then told me I shouldn't have waited until so close to the deadline (thanks Shealynn T, you're a peach:reddevil. I have been very sick this week with strep throat, and coughed through the night for the last 3 nights with almost no sleep, so I was not in the best position to be taking a test right then. Which is why I waited until the last minute, because I thought I could take my exams up until the deadline.

Anyway, when I went to take my first exam, the proctor took forever to come on the line, and I still had to go through the entire verification process, as normal. It took a good 20 minutes from the time my exam was scheduled before I could start. I finished as quickly as I could, so that I could try to schedule that 2nd exam before the deadline. Needless to say, all of the time slots before the deadline were taken, and I missed it.

Now, while I am going to talk to someone at TESU tomorrow to discuss this, I have no reason to think that I'll be given an extension. But, I am going to make sure that they know that ProctorU is not a great company, and that as the deadline is looming, students can't take exams because ProctorU doesn't have time slots available. Or they won't let you schedule a second exam. And their customer service lacks...service.

But I'm also going to complain to ProctorU, about their non-premium "premium" service, and about the person working there who needs a different job, one where she doesn't interact with the public, and one that is not THERE.

I just wanted to let everyone know, and may my stupidity be a warning to those who think they can wait until the last minute to take their exams. You can't, so don't take the chance.

It sure would have been nice to know this going in, I wouldn't have wasted my money on the "premium" service that did nothing, and I would have scheduled my exams earlier this week instead of relying on them to have openings.

Thanks for letting me vent!!

Oh yeah, and I passed Public Relations, but it was much harder than I thought it would be, and the IC cards weren't as helpful as I would have liked.

[Leherself]

I understand your frustration - I haven't been all that impressed with proctoru's premium service either. It seems like they still have some bugs to work out (to me, "take in now" means now, not just sometime today if there happens to be a time slot available).

I've had a few exams expire on me too (CLEP and UExcel though, not TECEPs) so my policy at this point is that I don't sign up for an exam until I already feel ready to take it, and I try to get it done as soon as possible. Treating it like an academic term and waiting for the deadline hasn't worked out well for me, personally.

[dfrecore]

I've had a few exams expire on me too (CLEP and UExcel though, not TECEPs) so my policy at this point is that I don't sign up for an exam until I already feel ready to take it, and I try to get it done as soon as possible. Treating it like an academic term and waiting for the deadline hasn't worked out well for me, personally.

Unfortunately, with TECEP's, you can't just sign up when you're ready. Unfortunately, I'm 4 down and 4 to go, and can't not take those remaining 4. I can't afford to pay the $3300 enrollment fee, especially when I have a much cheaper option available to me. So I get to suck it up and take another 4 TECEP's and deal with crappy ProctorU.

[dfrecore]

Update: when looking at their website now, there is no "premium plan" options. What in the heck happened?

[sanantone]

Thank you for being the guinea pig. CSU Global used to use Kryterion or something like that. They were more professional than ProctorU. I don't have experience with the new company.

[Al2010x]

This good feedback as i was about top sign up for premium service this week for new term starting tomorrow for my TECEPS but NO MORE. I just hope Shealynn T is just a bad apple (or a Peach...lol) and is not a reflection of their entire customer service staff. I understand you were looking for assistance and not the counseling on when you should register for test. Is there a way to send a link of this to Proctor U and TESU? I strongly believe TESU should allow student to choose proctor from multiple companies, may be Kryterion is another one??

Sad to know that premium service is NOT so premium in any way.

[Inteljustice2]

Sorry to hear that you had a bad experience with ProctorU.

I just started using ProctorU this weekend, while I didn't experience the issues you had, I was able to knockout quite a few of my exams with the take it now option. I didn't sign up for the premium service though, I had to pay 8.75 every time I used the take it now option.

I do find it funny that most of my proctors looked to be about 18-22 years old. Just goes to show that a company like this is hiring young job applicants as I'm sure they are more concerned with the bottom line vs. actual customer experience.

Will be interesting to hear about the response from TESU especially considering you weren't at fault with how ProctorU has a flawed scheduling system.

Good Luck and maybe next time you will have a better experience with them.

[cookderosa]

ughhh. So crappy.

ProctorU is really the only big player in this game, they need a competitor. Entrepreneur anyone?

[jsd]

I've always had good experiences with Examity, they seem poised as a decent competitor. It's a bummer they outsource all the work outside the country, though.

Never seemed to have issues scheduling same day (though usually within a couple hours, not immediate), though I imagine that'd change if they got more popular. The ID process was about 5 minutes. Not sure what pricing is like since it was paid by the school and not me personally, but that might mean it's cheaper than ProctorU if the school was choosing them.

[sanantone]

Kryterion had a middle-aged lady for me who was dressed business casual and in her own cubicle. They must be small. I wonder why CSU Global switched to Examity. The offshoring must make them cheaper.