I don't know if this fits here, but I need to scream into the void. TL;DR: I paid >$250 to take a test, couldn't take the test, and now they want me to pay again to take the test.
I (M25) am trying to become a licensed agency counselor (LAC) in my state. To do this, I have to take the NCE, basically a test that says “Hey, this person knows how to do therapy for people.” Confident in the comptence of people who administer tests like this for a living, I started the application process, which included paying a registration fee ($275).
However, the registration process requires two different websites: CCE, which grants permission to take the test, and PearsonVUE, which allows users to schedule their test. The fee went to CCE. While I was hacking my way through Pearson's flavor of suboptimal web design, there was a small emergency and I had to walk away from my computer long enough for the “User has been inactive for too long; security lockout” to kick in. Thing is, that never shut off, so I could never log into my Pearson account again. It would keep locking me out every single time.
I placed multiple phone calls to their contact number (which is suspiciously difficult to find); they couldn't or wouldn't help me. I emailed people, and received instructions to call Pearson and have them schedule the test. “Great,” I thought, “I have a workaround.” And I was able to schedule the test in that way. However, come time for test day, I found that I needed to sign in to my PearsonVUE account to get the code of “Take your test, hopeful peasant,” which was problematic because I still could not sign in to my PearsonVUE account. It was still automatically locking me out for security reasons.
The cutoff for my test came and went and I couldn't make it. They told me to request an extension due to technical issues. Today, I just heard back from CCE, saying that my login information was incorrect and that I need to register (and pay) again.
I was present at the time of my test. I was in compliance with their technical requirements. I had studied and was confident in my ability to test. I am not responsible for their poor web design, and I had made multiple efforts to bring their failings to their attention. My login information was not incorrect; I had my username confirmed by Pearson's website directly, reset my password for Pearson, and had google autocomplete keep track of both. But I'm just one person, so I have no real recourse against this dickishness.
And to top it all off, after getting that email, my PearsonVUE account just magically started working again. Literally as I was on the phone with tech support again it started working; one sign in attempt got automatically locked out, the next let me in about ten seconds later. I got confirmation from the agent; he didn't do anything. Just magically fixed. Huh. How about that.
My takeaway from this experience for this community is Organize. They will trample any one of us without concern.