CGFNS International, Incorporated

Dear [redacted]:
Thank you for the follow-up message. We are in the process of the research and investigation of this complaint. We respectfully request a little more time to resolve it and reply. The details as noted in the complaint relate to two services we provided to the applicant in...

2009 and 2011. Therefore we needed to research some archival material.  We do understand the seriousness of this complaint and want to respond appropriately.Sincerely,
Marta L[redacted]
CGFNS International
Professional Relations Liaison
###-###-####

Re: Customer: [redacted], CGFNS ID [redacted]
Dear [redacted]:
Thank you for bringing this concern to our attention. We have investigated this issue and determined,...

as the customer indicated, that there was a technical issue with her copy of the [redacted] report which prevented her from downloading the applicant copy of the [redacted] report. We have corrected the problem and advised the applicant by sending the following message to her yesterday, 11/16/2015:"We are pleased to inform you that your applicant copy of the [redacted] Professional Report is accessible to view through your CGFNS Connect account.
The applicant copy of the report is located in your online account, please go to [redacted]. Click on the Order Status link under Applicant Options, select your order and click the View [redacted] Applicant Report button. It will be available for one year from when your report was first issued.
To resolve your system compatibility issues with downloading the applicant copy of the report, we have also emailed a PDF of the report directly to your email account"
May I suggest that [redacted] contact me directly at the contact information below, to ensure she has successfully accessed her report and to assist her with any other concerns she may have.
Sincerely,
Marta L[redacted]
CGFNS International
Professional Relations Liaison
[redacted]@cgfns.org
[redacted]

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
[redacted]

I am writing in response to the Revdex.com complaint you had filed on Monday 2/1/2016. I have conducted research into the status of the review of your credentials. I have also noted that you had contacted us for assistance concerning the outstanding information we require from your schools and licensing...

authority in France. I asked the CES department to itemize those requirements and they are below.Please advise if you have been in touch with the schools and agency and requested these breakdown of hours and licensure. We would like to contact them by telephone to expedite the requests. I also left you a voice mail to this affect.
I look forward to your reply so we can move this forward. Please be assured we will make sure your application does not expire until we receive this needed information. Please understand we do need this information to complete the report for the New Jersey Board of Nursing.
Sincerely,
Marta L.
Professional Relations Liaison

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution, which is not satisfactory to me, will not get me a refund. I am moving on and hope that persons will do in depth research on CGFNS before applying and wasting money. Thanks Revdex.com!
Regards,
[redacted]

Dear [redacted]:
Thank you for bringing [redacted]'s concerns to our attention. To summarize, we have reviewed the issues she has detailed in the complaint and subsequently been in touch with her to resolve the multiple problems...

associated with completing her [redacted] certification application. As [redacted] notates, we mistakenly entered her California license with an exception and the timing for resolving this error took far too long. She wanted to purchase our expedited service which was contingent on fully processing her documentation. This data entry error kept her from doing so. Upon receipt of this complaint  on 12/9/2015 we corrected the error, scanned all of her documentation and had an International Credential Evaluator complete the review.  Her [redacted] certificate was completed and shipped to her yesterday via [redacted] next day service and will be delivered to her today. We have communicated the status to [redacted]. Of course, we did not charge her for expediting her application.Regarding [redacted]'s concern with security of CGFNS International's web site in October. There was a glitch during the time she completed her online application which caused a warning message to mistakenly appear indicating the site was not secure. Our IT department immediately conducted testing to ensure this was an anomaly and installed even more secure check points behind the scenes. Unfortunately, it was not an easy fix to get the outward facing warning message to de-populate this particular page so there was a delay in the removal of this warning. We realize this was a very concerning issue for our applicants and clients. However we were assured the site remained secure.
Again, thank you for the opportunity to hopefully resolve this concern to [redacted]'s satisfaction. We look forward to any follow-up from [redacted] to address any continuing concerns she may have.
Sincerely,
Marta L[redacted]
Professional Relations Liaison
[redacted]@cgfns.org

CGFNS: careless
Mr...
I hope everything is well. My name is Silvia ...
We spoke on JUNE 12TH 2017. We had a very long conversation regarding my case. During our conversation, you promised me that you were going to make a note that I would be notified regarding my case if any updates or progress occurred. I have not received any notifications since our conversation, which I take to mean nobody is working with my case. Ms. Mitchell, who was handling my case, began just completely ignoring my emails and my phone calls. Ms. Mitchell or anybody else I managed to speak to often cited the difficulty in speaking with the authorities in Russia due to the time difference. Since you are the Commission on Graduates of FOREIGN Nursing Schools, I do not believe time differences are a unique problem to this case. And of course, I do not think time differences explain why I have never been contacted as promised or had my phone calls returned.
Because of CGFNS’s mishandling my case, I can’t work in NJ, which means I can’t move and can’t provide for my family. Over and over I have been told; “please give us 3-5 business days and call us back”. It has been like that since December. I really would like to know how you or anybody else will feel in my spot, when your livelihood depends on an organization who can’t take care of their customers and show no interest in doing so. At this point I suspect your organization is just stretching this case until October, at which time I will be told I will have to reapply, pay again over $300 and begin the entire process over again. I am going to let you know that I will not accept that. I have done everything required of me and the current mess is completely due to the fact that CGFNS LOST my properly submitted Russian documents on October 27, 2016 (via DHL). I also wish to point out this entire application would not have been necessary if CGFNS had not disposed of my documents from when I originally applied in 2005 to work in New York State. (I was since told I could have preserved them for an additional fee, but I was never contacted and offered that option)
I am working as a nurse since 1998. Practicing in NY since 2006. When my patients call me, they need help and they don’t want to hear me saying, ”Call me in 3-5 business days.” I do my best to help them, I go over and beyond for them, because their lives depend on me. Now, I am in the situation where I need your help and I really hope that in 3-5 business days my case will be resolved and I will able to receive my NJ license, move forward with my life and continue to grow in my profession and help people around me. Right now your organization is negligently preventing that from happening.
Mr. Haqq if you would like, we can have a meeting face to face. Ms. Mitchell, Ms. McDuffy, you and myself with my husband.
I really hope that my situation can be resolved fast and easy. Ms. Mitchell has all the documents I sent to her, per her request.
I hope to hear from you this week.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Silvia Anthony.

PS: No response from CGFNS. When I called them last time( last week) the representive hang up the phone. Complete ignore.

I applied for CES report on November 2015, which got expired because my nursing school did not provided the course by course break down. I again had to requested the school to complete the nursing form in comokete break down of the course and I paid additional amount for the reprocess.

This time my nursing form was signed by controller of examination instead of registrar so I required for he verification letter. I asked them I would submit a new 3 paged nursing form signed with by the registrar as I had no idea how to get the verification letter and it was back on December 2016 but they insisted I should get the verification letter. Additionally, they also requested for course by course break down again from the nursing school(just that page) at same time period and I was told that it was not required to signed by any official and just the school stamp would work. I requested school to sent the course by course break down and at the same time verification letter from the registrar. Each time they would get the verification letter, they would require 20 business days and after series of mails and emails from the registrar, it was got verified. On August 11 2017, I get an email that they need a copy of my school leaving certificate and nursing form from my high school whereas in my account it's clearly illustrated that nursng school meets the requirement.

In my account, it says that I meet the requirements for the nursing but they are again requesting for the same three paged course by course break down nursing form with the updates. Everytime I make a call the rude customer care agents provides me different instruction. I called August 15 2017 and she said I need to send the transcript mailed from the schools directly and I called today then another agent said they have the transcripts but they need updated nursing form. Each and everyday they are changing the instructions and I feel like my reports never going to be released.

Desired settlement:I want them to release my CES report as soon as possible as I have wasted two whole years waiting for the report.

I am foreign registered nurse and one of the applicant of cgfns .I applied for credit evaluations since 2015 ,the cgfns didn't give me full information whenever I called them ,I keep me saying that my documents is incomplete and keep me waiting more than 1year. After that they said me to reprocess ,I did that also n sent documents ,but the sad part is that still they keep me waiting . I can't go back to my field until it done ,it's frustrating.

Review: I am an Australian registered nurse. The cgfns is required as a third party by ny state education department (nysed)to obtain my international registered nursing credentials in order to become a registered nurse In New York State.

They charge a $390 fee in order to get this information from my university and registration from the nurses board in Australia. They also give a six month time frame in order to do this. I completed the payment and application in October 2013. It is now the end of august 2014. All they needed to do was get two forms.... One for my proof of registration (which I am 100% registered) and my university transcript. They have not completed this task. It has now been over 10months. They sent an incomplete application to the nysed. In which now the nysed has contacted me to get the original documents that the cgfns has charged me $390 to do.Desired Settlement: I would ideally like a refund for the job, as they have not completed the task that they promised to do and I would them to complete the job in which they have so poorly done in the first place.

Business

Response:

Good Morning:We have been in touch with [redacted] regarding this complaint. Indeed the report was sent to the New York Department of Education without all the documentation. We regret that we were unable to acquire all the required documents within the time frame for New York. I have spoken with [redacted] and agreed to a full refund of her payment of $390.00.Sincerely,Marta L[redacted]CGFNS InternationalProfessional Relations Liaison

Review: I applied for a service from CGFNS to process my visa screen certificate which expired. I paid for the service in the amount of $540 last February 2, 2014. From 2-19-14 to 3-27-14 all requirements needed where promptly submitted thru international mail. To which CGFNS alerts me thru mail. The last and final requirement was received by them last March 27, 2014. However until now, they failed to deliver completion of this service. After 2 months since the last requirement has been received by them should be enough time to process the certificate. The last time I emailed them prompting for delivery of service was May 21, 2014, to which they replied that the certificate is still in the "re-verification process", whatever that means. To this day, June 2, 2014, my certificate has not been processed.Desired Settlement: Prompt issuance of my visa screen certificate ASAP. USCIS is waiting for me to submit this certificate so they can process my greencard.

Business

Response:

Re: Complaint [redacted]To: **. [redacted]The Revdex.com of Metro Washington DC and Eastern Pennsylvania Dear **. [redacted]:Thank you for forwarding the complaint to us for resolution. I have reviewed the status of the issuance of the VisaScreen certificate for **. [redacted] and as of today it has been completed. The delay was caused by a need to complete a re-verification of a license document. However, there was an unusual delay in this instance.The certificate will be mailed out tomorrow. I am very sorry for the delay in issuing **. [redacted]'s VS certificate. and it became necessary for her to enlist the assistance of the Revdex.com. We rake this very seriously and assure you we are sorry for your inconvenience.Please let me know if I may be of further assistance.Sincerely, [redacted]Professional Relations LiaisonCGFNS International

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

Regards,

Review: I requested a CES Academic evaluation in April. I went back and forth with my University and questioning why they did not accept it as official document if it came directly from CGFNS. I found out that their document were not properly handled by their courier [redacted] and was not placed in a sealed envelope. I emailed CGFNS and called and was told I need to PAY another fee so that they can resend the same document to [redacted] University. My student loan is still not disbursed because I am still not officially enrolled and will not have access to the school portal in two weeks because my school dues are unpaid. Why will I pay another $250 if CGFNS did not properly handle and send the documents as it should be. This is an important document that needs to be handled with care and discretion.Below is the exact message by ImageNow that handles these documentation for [redacted] University:Unofficial. Transcript came loose in a [redacted] envelope from Airport. Original envelope was not included. Without an envelope there was no signature from DOA or higher. Cannot verify chain of custody.Desired Settlement: To send the same report to [redacted] University electronically since their mailing process is very unreliable.S[redacted] is the email address they can resend it to.

Business

Response:

Good Afternoon:Please note that today we have communicated the following e-mail message to [redacted] to resolve the issue with her CES Academic report

Dear

[redacted]:

We

have received the complaint you filed with the Revdex.com and we

will respond to them directly. However I wanted to let you know as soon as

possible that we have re-sent

the

CES Academic report to [redacted] University via [redacted] tracking number [redacted]

I am sorry that we did not send it sooner but we only just had

confirmation from the school. I hope you can accept our apology for your

inconvenience. You did ask us to send electronically which is something we do

not do for security reasons. However, if there is someone at [redacted] University

who could e-mail me the authorization directly I could send it electronically

to them.

Sincerely

Marta L[redacted]

Professional Relations Liaison

Please avoid CGFNS at any cost, if you have this flexibility. They harass you, lie, lose your documents that your school will be sending, and they have devised a system so that it is not easy to communicate with them and while doing that they make enormous money. I have personally been a victim of this cruel entity. I had much better and efficient service with other credential evaluation companies.

Review: This organization has caused me years of suffering. I, like many others, have fallen victim to their poor, disorganized, and overall terrible services as well as customer service. All phone calls and e-mails were answered rudely and un-resolved. Customer support supervisors also treated me as well as representatives from both my American and Chinese nursing colleges with great disrespect.

Upon initially filling out the paperwork, submitting the application, and paying the required fees, the CGFNS said they had started the process and forced me to buy an additional study book through them. After waiting for the book for arrive, I found that they never actually sent it. I never received the book, nor did the local post office have any record of that parcel and no tracking information was provided to me. I attempted many times to require them to foster me a tracking number either by phone or by email and they could not. The CGFNS also stated they sent letters to my nursing college in China requesting transcript information. Upon speaking with the responsible department for this at my nursing college, I found that there were no letters sent/received.

I started this application process in 2009, they stated that the process should take 6-8 weeks to complete, and now it is 2014 and nothing has happened. They stated that if I wanted to speed up the application process I could pay them an extra premium fee. They also stated that if your case is open for a lengthy period, they will close it and you will need to pay a high premium to re-open it.

The last contact I had with them was demanding a refund and explaining what they had done wrong and telling them that if I had not received this application refund in a timely manner I would be filing a lawsuit against them. Their response was mailing me another application form and not honoring my request. That was one year ago. I still have the tracking information and read return receipt from that letter.

This trouble forced me to return to college once I got to America. I enrolled in college and was required to obtain this license to complete my BSN degree. Since I was not granted the license, I had to complete 2 years and transfer into a traditional nursing program which I have now completed and obtained my Registered Nursing license and BSN in New York State and no longer require the services which were not fulfilled as promised.

This organization calls themselves non-profit, but they are the only organization in the United States that are allowed to grant this service and it seems like they are abusing their rights and taking advantage of us foreign nurses.

In the defense of consumer rights for myself and the many other foreign nurses fallen to this, I ask for your help in seeking justice against them and getting back what is owed.Desired Settlement: What I would like to see come out of this case is my application refund in full (at the past time exchange rate equivalency as I paid in Chinese Yuan back in 2009). Also, since this is New York State, this organization also required me to pay for their additional Credential Verification Services for New York State (CVS). I paid a total $808.00 dollars for the applications and textbook in addition to needing to pay for an entire Bachelor’s degree program here in America. I have actually lost quite a bit more than this because of the Chinese Yuan Equivalent Exchange Rate of 2009.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:Thank you for the follow-up message. We are in the process of the research and investigation of this complaint. We respectfully request a little more time to resolve it and reply. The details as noted in the complaint relate to two services we provided to the applicant in 2009 and 2011. Therefore we needed to research some archival material. We do understand the seriousness of this complaint and want to respond appropriately.Sincerely,Marta L[redacted]CGFNS InternationalProfessional Relations Liaison###-###-####

Consumer

Response:

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Review: I requested CGFNS for a course by course evaluation. There are other credentialing offices but have decided to continue with them since I have had my professional credentials evaluated by them.

I called before paying just to make sure that they have all the transcripts needed and what other documents do I need to submit before they can process. I was told to send a letter waiving the HS diploma since this is not required by the university I wish to attend. They received the said letter on Mar 26 and was informed that they received it Apr 15. My daughter passed away that same week and was out of the country hence was not able to call them for an update. I called in today, April 22, and was told that they have not updated their file and that they still need my transcript from another university which was wrong. All three of the customer representatives verified that they have all the transcripts this is right after telling them that they received it in 2012, hence that's why they were able to process my CES professional report. The last two representatives who I spoke with were extremely rude, and the male rep was even lecturing me about everything and he hasn't even asked for my record number. Now, the evaluation has been delayed further more and will not be able to enroll for this term because of their lack of cohesiveness and dismissing the several calls and receiving generic email responses without updating my records accordingly. I have no problem with CGFNS but their customer service lacks knowledge and just takes calls without even updating my records. And to add, they are extremely rude and unprofessional. It was like talking to someone needing to defend myself all the time hence that contradicts the definition of customer service.Desired Settlement: For them to release the report immediately and not delay it because it was their fault that this has not been processed.

Business

Response:

Dear [redacted]:We are in receipt of the above complaint from [redacted]. I have done a preliminary review of the CES report status and have asked the Manager of the CES program to personally expedite the process.We do have a record of receiving the materials the applicant cites in her letter. Also we were in communication with her as of yesterday, April 22, 2014.Sincerely,[redacted]Professional Relations Liaison

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. have also received the evaluation last night.

Regards,