Educational Testing Service (ETS)

Review: I took the GRE test through ETS and have had no problems with them when it came to sending my scores to graduate schools. I am currently trying to join the military and my recruiter requested an official copy of my GRE scores as part of the application process. I could not have the score sent directly to my recruiter because apparently ETS only sends scores to schools. I was told I could fill out a form and send it into ETS to get an official copy of my scores to give to my recruiter. I finally received the score sheet in the mail over 2 weeks after I faxed the request form into ETS (the website claims score requests will be processed within 5 days). When opened the envelope I realized that they had sent me the exact same score report that I could print offline for free, charging me over 20 dollars in the process. I would have had no problem paying the money if the report were actually one I could use, but it is an "unofficial" report that my recruiter cannot use. I called ETS again to tell them of the issue and they just kept telling me that they "only send official reports to institutions with institution codes". When I asked how I could get a report sent to my recruiter, the person he;ping me and their supervisor just kept telling me that same line.Desired Settlement: I either want my money back for the useless report they sent me or I want them to send me a score report I can actually give to my recruiter.

Business

Response:

Please see our follow up, below:?

I left a message for the candidate on Thursday 8/21/04 asking him to call me back to discuss his request for a SR to be sent to the military- Per a suggestion from Customer Fulfillment- we can send an SR as an employer copy or we can just refund the original $27 he paid- I am still waiting for a call back. Another attempt will be made today.

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 took the GRE test ($185) from ETS on December 13, 2013. After finishing the test, I requested that my scores be sent to the graduate department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The scores were never sent to the graduate university that I requested. I made an additional request on Feb. 10th, 2014 and was charged $25 to have the additional scores sent. The scores were not recieved in time of the deadline for application into the graduate program. ETS has failed to provide the requested service in a prompt manner, twice. I have invested over $200 into this test in order to apply for graduate school. Because of this poor service, my entry into graduate school is in question and I demand that I recieve, at a minimum, my $25 for the additional score request.

I have contacted the customer service department of ETS and spoke with two representatives, one being supervisor named [redacted], employee ID [redacted] was rude, inconsiderate, and unhelpful in refunding this fee. I can only assume that ETS employs snarky and sarcastic individuals in order to frustarate unsatisfied customers and bully others into paying exorbantly priced fees for minimal service.Desired Settlement: I require that ETS refund the $25. If ETS is at all interested in prooving that they place a value on customer satisfaction they will consider refunding all or part of the cost of the actual GRE exam in order to mitigate for their employee's poor and insulting service to their customers.

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:

Dear [redacted],

Your complaint to the Revdex.com (Revdex.com), Case [redacted], concerning your December 13, 2013 GRE Revised General Test has been forwarded to me for an investigation. Please accept our apologies for the misunderstanding regarding the reporting of your scores.

Under “UNDERGRADUATE INSTITUTION” on the GRE website and in the GRE Information and Registration Bulletin it states:

“Using the graduate code list at [redacted] enter the codes for your current or most recent undergraduate institution. If you want your GRE scores sent to the graduate school at this institution, enter the graduate school code in Score Report Recipients."

The confusion was that you selected University Nebraska Omaha as an “attending” institution only. You did not list University Nebraska Omaha as a “designated” institution. “Attending” institution is the school where you attended when you took the course. “Designated” institution is the school you want your scores reported to. Actually, you wanted to select University Nebraska Omaha as both an attending institution and a designated institution. I hope this gives you a better understanding of the score reporting process. Unfortunately, the $25.00 fee you paid is valid.

If you have further questions and you need to contact us, please refer to your case number.

Sincerely,

GRE Services

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: Their services were not delivered in a timely manner. After waiting nearly 2 months for my scores to be submit the first time, and 2 weeks after the second request, I do not believe that the extra fee of $25 is a valid price for the potential damage that may have result for their poor service.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:

Dear [redacted],

Your request for a refund of the $25.00 fee you were charged for your December 13, 2013 GRE score report has been approved.

The refund will be posted to the credit card that was used. Please allow 10-12 days for the refund to be completed.

Please accept my apologies for this misunderstanding. If you have further questions and you need to contact me, please refer to your case number.

Sincerely,

Test Taker Advocate

GRE Services

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 purchased two of the tests that the ETS Organization offers, [redacted] and [redacted], due to the fact that they are a mandatory request for applying to the graduate program in The Ohio State University. For scheduling these tests, I should create a profile first. I did it, but I made a mistake writing my last name. In my country Colombia, we have two last names, but we just use one with no problem, even though the second one appears in the ID. So I created my profile with my first name, my middle name and just one of my last names for both [redacted] and [redacted]. The [redacted] account (which is different from the [redacted]'s) also ask me my Passport number, my birthdate and my driver license number, which all I wrote correctly. I scheduled my [redacted] test for November 9th and the [redacted] for December 12th and I had to pay $180 and $185 respectively. The day before the [redacted] test (November 8th), while I was checking all of the data for the test, I realized the mistake I had made, and I tried to change the information on my profile with no success. So I went to the test center to present the test and they did not allow me to present it, and they give me a phone number for changing my profile information and rescheduling the test. Next Tuesday (Monday, November 11th was holiday) I called and they tell me that there were nothing that they can do and I have to schedule a new test, so they said that I have to pay the fee again if I wanted to take the test (What I must do if I want to get admitted to OSU). Also, they told me that the changes in the profile information must be done 4 days prior the test. So, really upset, I checked on my [redacted] profile and I realized that I had the same problem. Then, I called [redacted] center and ask them to change my profile (having into account that my [redacted] test is around one month from today) but they told me that they DO NOT DO changes in the profile, so that I should cancelled the test (which is just 50% refundable) and create a new profile. I will lose $92.5 alsoDesired Settlement: I would like to wait for the ETS Organization respond to this complaint and reschedule the test. However, due to the University deadline for applications I have to take the tests as soon as possible. So, I have to pay them this week in order to take them soon. My desired outcome is that ETS Organization refund me the money for the test I couldn't take.

Business

Response:

Communication with [redacted] was done via phone. A full refund has been processed.

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 registered online account to take GRE-using the name I go by ( middle name). On a later visit to website- I saw the ID requirements. I tried to change online acct name /create a new acct- to match my DL photo ID. The website would not let me do either. Since middle name is on phot ID- I reported to scheduled test & was turned away- even tho ID had first name/middle name/last name. I phone the company twice- no assistance/resolution. IN fact, the supervisor told me I would have to re-register and pay $199.00 again. Then she began telling me she could not hear me & told me she was disconnecting me ( I knew she was doing this because I was getting heated & told her so). Even if I could re-register...which I could not....the registration blanks would STILL not match my DL ID- because they ahve no slot to spell out middle name on reg form. Stinking customer service- no offer to help me make a new account & transfer credit for the $199.00 I had already paid.Desired Settlement: Refund- my online account edited to include my first name and a new appt to take test for FREE !

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:[redacted] ETS was notified by the Revdex.com (Revdex.com) of the issue with the identification you presented at the test center for the October 30, 2014 GRE Revised test administration. Prior to completing a registration, our test takers are provided the requirements for admission in the test center. This policy is emphasized on our Website, www.ets.org/gre, as well as Page 12 of The GRE Information Bulletin, “You are responsible for ensuring that the name you used to register exactly matches the name on the ID document(s) you will present at the test center.” It is unfortunate that you were not able to review this requirement prior to completing your registration. For security reasons, a profile cannot be changed once the registration is confirmed. The test centers may not allow our examinees to complete tests with name discrepancies, because once reported, we cannot change the name on the reported score. The name used at the time of the test becomes part of the test taker's permanent record. The discrepancy on this profile is determined to be a candidate error. As a one-time exception, a refund is issued to your account. Please allow 7 to 10 business days for the process to complete. We cannot change your name on this registration and so a new profile has to be created that will be an exact match to the ID requirement which you will present at the test center. The middle name field just needs your middle initial as this field is limited to one character. The first and last names, however, must be exact matches. If I may be of further assistance, please let me know. Regards, [redacted]Test Taker AdvocateGRE Program

Review: The business refuses to refund me half the value of my test fee because they claim that I never cancelled my test. I submitted two cancellation requests for which I received confirmation emails stating "If you paid by credit card, a refund will be processed automatically and will be credited to the original credit card or bank account ". These emails state the stipulation of the cancellation (that it must be completed 4 business days prior to the test date) but do not provide any further explanation as to how to cancel the tests. In addition to these emails I called the testing service a month prior to this complaint to obtain a confirmation of my test cancellation. The person I spoke with confirmed that if I completed the steps that I went through that I would see a refund within 12 weeks (which of course is an extremely large amount of time so that by the time I would expect to see the refund it would be too late and it would be within 4 days prior to the test date). 3 days prior to my test date I received an email stating that my test date is confirmed. I called both Prometric and ETS and both companies stated that I had not cancelled my test. Clearly this is untrue.Desired Settlement: I expect a refund of half of the test fee (97.50) as is stated on the website and in the emails that I received.

Business

Response:

A phone message was left for candidate to contact an Advocate here. We will be providing the $97.50 refund she requested.

Review: ETS administers the GRE exam. They have a website which does not allow applicants to enter long names or names including spaces. My non-American girlfriend registered for the exam, with my help, but the website does not allow her to enter her surname exactly as its appears on her passport, because it contains spaces. We called ETS for help but no one ever picked up after a 30 minute wait and we decided that entering her primary last name should be reasonable.

Elsewhere on the website, we eventually found a statement saying that the entire name must be entered *without spaces* (which is bizarre and counterintuitive), but this recommendation was not visible at the time she was registering, so she entered just her primary surname, one word out of three. She already paid the registration fee.

We called ETS after discovering in the fine print elsewhere on the website that we were supposed to not enter spaces, but they refused to correct her registration in the system. And they said they will refuse to let her take the exam, so they are planning to take her $$ without delivering the service.Desired Settlement: Instead of a refund, I would prefer that ETS simply lets my girlfriend take the exam this Thursday, but they said that they plan to deny her entrance. This is ridiculous because we told them in advance of the issue and they refuse to be of any assistance. It seems like they are deliberately trying to make her double-pay for the same service.

Ideally, ETS would do one of two things in addition to letting her take the exam or providing a refund:

1) Explain clearly on the same webpage where registration occurs: "Enter your name without spaces or accent marks, and truncate the name if too long". This would be simple, but ETS has made it difficult to find this bizarre information when needed at registration time.

2) Fix this badly-designed system so that a name can be entered exactly as on ID documents, because what ETS clearly states is "name must be entered exactly as shown on ID documents".

This should be easy to fix, but it seems that ETS has ignored the problem in the past.

Business

Response:

The response below is requesting that the candidate contact us due to privacy issues:From: TTA GRE Advocacy [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2014 12:35 PMTo: [redacted]Subject: The GRE® revised General Test/Case#[redacted]/Revdex.com Case#[redacted] Dear [redacted] I am writing in response to the complaint you filed with the Revdex.com concerning the GRE® revised General Test that your girlfriend was registered to take this month. Privacy laws require that requests to update or release information of a personal nature (such as identification, address, designated institutions, and account history) come directly from the test taker only. Please advise the test taker that a complaint must be filed by her directly. In addition, when filing a complaint, identifying information should be provided so that a profile can be located. Regards,[redacted] AdvocateEducational Testing ServiceTest Taker Advocacy Dept

Review: In September 2005, I was attending the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (UWL) to obtain a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. The State of Wisconsin requires all students to take the PRAXIS I Pre-Professional-Skills-Test (PPST) before entering a licensure program at Wisconsin universities for professional teacher education. I registered to take the PPST and shared the required information including my credit card for payment. I took a computer-based PPST at the UWL campus in September 2005. The scores were reported and I had to re-take the math portion in October 2005. Soon after, my passing scores were reported to UWL in order for me to enter the teaching program. Now, 9 years later, I received a bill from Educational Testing Services – ETS stating that I never paid for the PPST $120 + $20 late fee for a total of $140. I called ETS immediately, thinking it was a billing mistake. The ETS representatives taking my calls could not tell me anything about my bill. I was placed on hold repeatedly by several ETS reps and was told that ETS’ records do not go back that far so they could not offer any additional information. The ETS reps told me to just pay the bill or no longer use ETS. There is no possible way that this company would release my scores to UWL without full payment for the PPST. My scores were released and I was accepted into the teaching program. I am a very responsible person with a near perfect credit score. I do not have any overdue debts and I most certainly do not leave my debts unpaid. I did not receive any other bills from ETS stating that I did not pay for PRAXIS I Pre-Professional-Skills-Test (PPST) until 2014.Desired Settlement: To resolve the problem, I would like the Educational Testing Services – ETS to remove the PRAXIS I Pre-Professional-Skills-Test (PPST) test fee of $120 and the $20 late fee for a total of $140 from my account immediately. In addition, I would like an apology for the time and energy I spent speaking with the rude and threatening ETS representatives demanding that I pay the overdue bill or I will not be allowed to take another test with ETS. I have been a loyal customer of ETS for the past 10 years and I have spent hundreds of my hard-earned dollars on this company. I am very disappointed at such behavior and do not deserve this type of treatment.

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:From: PRAXIS [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 11:19 AMTo: [redacted]Subject: [redacted] Revdex.com[redacted] ID [redacted] Case [redacted] ETS was notified by the Revdex.com (Revdex.com) of your complaint regarding an outstanding balance on your account. In your complaint to the Revdex.com, you stated that you paid via credit card for the services you received in 2005 and now 9 years later you are receiving a bill. An extensive review was done on this case to identify any discrepancies which would have caused this bill to be generated. It is confirmed that you registered for and took the Praxis I Combined test. The credit card information you provided was declined by your bank and we were charged a $20 fee in addition to the unpaid $120 test. As a result an outstanding balance of $140 was charged to your account. In Year 2005, credit card payments were not processed in real time. As such, the declined payment and declined fee were not immediately added to your account until after the score for Mathematics retake had already reported scores. As customary, three notifications of the outstanding balance were sent to you informing you of the outstanding balance and the declined $20 balance. The first bill was sent on January 10, 2006, a second billing notification on February 21, 2006, and a third on April 4, 2006. After three notifications, a hold is placed your account but by this time all your scores were already sent to your score recipients. There is no record of any contact from you regarding any resolution to your outstanding balance. Through a systems upgrade, we located another record for you with a different date of birth. The date of birth discrepancy allowed you to create another account under which you completed the Praxis II ELED: CK. Because the outstanding balance was not linked to this account, the score was released to you and your score recipients. Both files were merged in March 2014. Activities done to files with outstanding balances will generate three new reminders of amount owed. For this reason you received the next set of three reminders. The first of the new billing reminder was sent on April 3, 2014, another on June 4, 2014, and the third on July 16, 2014. On June 24, you contacted our customer service department regarding the bill you received. I apologize if you felt that you were intimidated by our staff in providing you with the status of your account. As you know, you have only been sent three notifications on each account activity. Our agents do not play the role of bill collectors but rather inform our test takers (upon request) of information on their accounts. ETS does not employ the services of collection agencies and so outstanding balances will remain on accounts until test takers are able to reconcile any outstanding balances. We appreciate the time you took to call us to obtain your account status, and I want to thank you for giving us the opportunity to complete this investigation. Best wishes in your professional endeavors. Regards, [redacted]Praxis Program

Review: ETS is contracted to test to measure Highly Qualified Status for teachers in many states, including [redacted]. To apply for a teaching job, test results are required. ETS does not respond to countless emails, or faxes and their phone line is always on hold similar to the [redacted] phone line. If their data is required to apply for jobs, they need to respond to test score results.Desired Settlement: I would like them to respond to my many attempts to contact them so I can find the process to order a score report for a job.

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:

Dear [redacted]

Educational Testing Service (ETS) was notified by the Revdex.com (Revdex.com) that you submitted a complaint regarding an issue of not receiving a response from ETS on how to proceed with ordering an additional Praxis score report.

As per our telephone conversation of earlier today, it is my understanding that you were successful in contacting ETS and the Praxis Program where you were given the information you sought on score reporting. I am glad we were able to be of assistance to you and apologize for the delay of response that you experienced.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us and granting us with the opportunity to provide clarification regarding your complaint with the Revdex.com.

Regards,

Test Taker Advocate

Educational Testing Service

TRACKING NUMBER: [redacted]

Review: An unauthorized charge was billed to my debit card account. ETS claims they are only able to offer a 50% refund. The product ordered is not applicable for me, nor do I have the intention of using ETS services at this time. I am requesting a full refund in the amount of $120.00 (US).Desired Settlement: Full refund of $120.00 (US)

Business

Response:

Please see our customer response below:

From: TTA Praxis Advocacy [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2016 9:58 AMTo: [redacted]Subject: [redacted] / Case ID [redacted] Revdex.com:[redacted]

Dear [redacted]

ETS was notified by the Revdex.com (Revdex.com) that you submitted a complaint regarding a refund for canceling the Praxis II Physics Content Knowledge exam (5265) which was scheduled for the March 12, 2016 test date.

It is the candidate's responsibility to become familiar with all policies and procedures before entering in to a 'contract' of services to be rendered.

The test and registration fees we collect go toward the development, planning, and administration of tests as well as the scoring of response sheets and the reporting of scores. These fees support a multitude of activities needed to administer the tests, and score and report the test results, which include but are not limited to…

Registration system maintenance and support Test material production Shipping expenses Test center facility and staffing costs Scoring activities (which as you know, are very complex and involve a number of steps to ensure accuracy and fairness) Quality control for all activities

Before a registrant completes their registration and pays for their exam, they are presented with the following message:

"I hereby agree to the conditions set forth in The Praxis Series 2015–16 Information Bulletin, specifically those concerning test administration, payment of fees, the reporting of scores, and the confidentiality of test questions. I certify that I am the person who will take the test at the center and whose name and address appear on this form."

Therefore, a registrant is confirming before paying that they have read all policies and procedures set forth in the Praxis Information and Registration Bulletin at www.ets.org/praxis.

In lieu of the above information, we have made a one-time exception to policy and refunded 100% for this exam.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us and thereby granting us with the opportunity to provide clarification regarding refund of test fees. I wish you success in your professional endeavors.

Regards,

Linda M[redacted]

Test Taker Advocate

Educational Testing Service

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 completed the online payment for a test with their system and realized that I needed another test that was just below the test I paid for online. They have refused to refund me the total cost for the wrong test or simply assign me to the correct test at no cost differential. I received a standard email 3 weeks later informing me that I would have to loose 50% of the $135 testing fee and pay another $139 for the test that I need. I made 3 calls to the company to be placed on hold for 2 hours each time never to talk to anyone directly. After sending several emails and completing a (dis) satisfaction survey, I still have only received the standard email stating I must lose %50 of the cost of the test. Even the Airline allows a 24 hour change process for online purchases. I initially contacted them with in 10 seconds of the purchase and have not received a satisfactory resolution to date. This company has a monopoly on the academic testing service so I have no other option to use another company to complete the testing process. I do not think they should be allowed to take my money for very easy change that could be resolved by a step in their computer system that requests that you check to make sure the correct test is selected before purchased if their is not a full refund policy. It appears to me that the set of their computer application/system is gear to making money for mistaken selections of test. The test I registered for was 5623 the one I needed to register for was 5624. The minor difference in name was very misleading.Desired Settlement: I am requesting a full refund for the test which is presently scheduled for April 15, the company does not lose anything by refunding my money for a test that they can sell to someone else so far into the future.

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:

ETS was notified by the Revdex.com (Revdex.com) that you submitted a complaint regarding the registration of your Praxis II PLT exam for the Computer-delivered test administration. In your complaint, you notified the Revdex.com that you completed your registration for the wrong test and when you contacted ETS, you were only offered a 50 percent refund.

ETS makes every effort to provide all the information needed in advance so that our test takers may be fully informed before completing the registration. Also, at the end of the registration, the test taker is prompted to review the order and confirm its accuracy. At that time, the option is given to cancel or confirm. It is important to note that our registration process cannot be compared to that of the airline policies to which you referred because the processing of the registrations and parties involved in the process are entirely different. We employ third party entities who are able to provide the services locally and conveniently to our test takers. Once a registration is processed, the request becomes valid and our company is contractually obligated to offset all associated costs for services rendered. For this reason, partial fees from test takers to cover these expenses are required. When you are provided a full refund, ETS must cover those costs.

The letter to the Revdex.com alluded that you regard ETS as monopolizing these services. Let me assure you that this is only one of the many organizations to offer these services. Your score recipient chose this organization because of the credibility and reliability they find in our assessments and related services. It is noted that you were contacted and an exception was granted to provide a full refund and you will need to schedule the required exam.

I hope you find this information helpful, and I wish you success in your academic endeavors.

Regards,

Praxis Program

Educational Testing Service

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. After being contacted by the company, I was informed that I would be awarded a full refund as requested and that I could register for the original test that I tried to register for. The explaination of the computer process was incorrect as reported for changes after submitted, but I am satisfied with the company response. I will schedule the correct test during the same timeframe, no lost to anyone. As a former IT system developer I still believe they (ETS) can improve on their computer purchase system since there policy has an immediately stiff 50% loss refund policy.

Regards,

Review: I am bothered that the policy is this business conduct is harassment and particularly damages young people and poor people. The policy I'm speaking of is a re-stocking fee you were a re-paperwork fee that they give if you have to cancel your registration. The company has the audacity to charge 50% of the fee which is 150 - $180. This fee is incurred regardless of the time in which you give them notice. Furthermore it is near harassment because when you sign up for this test your put in a position that is if there are not any seats available are very limited and then if you don't hurry up and jump on the seat you going to lose it and so people probably sign up worried about that.I am bothered by this as a teacher a student and parent. Is my opinion that a company should not be able to charge such an egregious amount for a fee to reschedule transfer or refund somebody there testing money if they given a lot of notice. I can understand a small fee I can't understand A 50% penalty.even a credit card company does not charge a 50% penalty for a mistake.Desired Settlement: First of all I would like my refund fully instated; Second I would like to see this policy changed. There is no reason this company has to make students kids going to school pay 50% for a refund if they have any kind of legitimate excuse or any kind of early notice they give.The prices from this company's restocking are out rages the price of the test loans is out rages but the test refund is just robbery.

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:-----Original Message-----From: TTA GRE Advocacy [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2015 12:19 PMTo: [redacted]Subject: The GRE® Subject Test/Case#[redacted] Dear [redacted] I am writing in response to the complaint you filed with the Revdex.com concerning the GRE® Subject Test you are scheduled to take on April 18, 2015. According to your complaint, you are requesting that you receive a full refund for your test fees because you wish to cancel your appointment and register for the revised general Test. Please note, the reschedule and cancellation policies are clearly stated on the website, [redacted] You must reschedule or cancel your test no later than four days before your test date or your test fee will be forfeited. If you reschedule your test date, you will be charged a fee of US$50. If you cancel your test no later than four full days prior to your test date, you will receive a refund equivalent to half of the original test fee. Please note, when registering for an exam via the internet, you are presented with the following: "By clicking the "Complete Appointment" button below, you agree to all the terms and conditions related to payments, reschedules, cancellations, refunds and other policies set forth by your sponsoring organization." To complete your registration, you clicked "Complete Appointment". To cancel your test registration, contact GRE Services by phone or fax with your request. Your request must include your name, date of birth, address, registration number and test date. Mailed requests must be received no later than four full days prior to your scheduled test date. If you choose to cancel your test registration for your April 18, 2015 exam, you will receive the equivalent of 50% of your test fees as stated in the policy above. Refunds for paper-based tests are processed after the score reporting date for that specific test administration. I hope this information is helpful to you and wish you much success in your future academic endeavors. Sincerely,[redacted], AdvocateEducational Testing ServiceTest Taker Advocacy Dept.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

With all due respect, this reply fails to address my concerns. I am raising the ethics of ETS's business practices in various ways: 1) The fees they charge young people are outrageous; 2) The "service fee" for cancellation is exorbitant and unjustified - it is unjustifiable; 3) They represent a monopoly as no other companies handle these tests;

4) ETS's cancellation policy is unnecessarily complicated; they request students have to send a letter in writing to request a cancellation; this is tedious, takes time, and really outdated. Why can a student sign up online, but cannot cancel? The response given was the same old same old comment: "Our website clearly states..." This is a poor defense; since students are underprivileged, unexperienced peoples, they have little recourse to defend themselves. They do not have a large organization to defend themselves; they are not part of a large, organized group. The company summarily refuses to address these concerns. I feel strongly that legal action should take place; in a court of law, ETS would probably lose a big, class action suit and be forced to pay millions of dollars - as they should. Someone should litigate - it seems a pretty strong case, if you ask me. ETS could do the right thing and change their practices upfront - and perhaps that would go a long way in preventing litigation and/or huge restitution. What I would like is: 1) A refund; 2) A reduced cancellation fee for ALL students; 3) A simpler, quicker cancellation procedure.

Regards,

Review: As an international student enrolled in University of [redacted] the closest test center is University of [redacted] America. I've been busy with my research and not capable to check out the exact location of Test Center [redacted]. On test data Oct. 19th, a friend made it to drive me and another test taker to [redacted] campus earlier before required report time 8:30 a.m. Then we have trouble finding the test room.

The staff in visitor center and school map doesn't show anything about CESS building which the GRE test occurs. Since the website about GRE information in [redacted] is unavailable those days, we can only locating the place on the Admission Ticket with navigation services from [redacted] maps which unfortunately is so wrong. We've made several calls to [redacted] campus service but didn't get through. And there is no phone number about the Test Center on Ticket or online since the website was down.

After more than 1 hour's trial as calling, asking pass-bys, searching online and driving around, I finally found the right location from Foursquare map service at 9:12 a.m. After a short talk with officer in Physics Test room, he told us once the timer was set, none can go inside for the test again. I insisted to look at the rule for that since at the time I took GRE general in [redacted], there was 15 minutes tolerance of late. After confirmed for rules, the officer told us the timer was set at 9:21 a.m. which is during our conversation. Thus, we lost the chance of the last test for 2014 school year application.

Highlight:

1\ Rules do change between my 2 tests. Nothing is done wrong for the officer.

2\ Navigation services from [redacted] Maps doesn't provide reliable service.

3\ Test Center doesn't provide enough information for locating.

Website is down.

No contact information on Admission Ticket.

4\ ETS rules about late for test is unfriendly.Desired Settlement: Considerable make up:

1\ Reschedule a make up test for this situation.

2\ Official report about this case, including, but not limited to rule explanation, responsibility declaim of ETS & Test Center, future effort on preventing, etc.

3\ Refund test fee and gas fee.

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:

Dear [redacted]

ETS was notified by the Revdex.com (Revdex.com) that you submitted a complaint regarding a 100% refund because you were unable to locate the GRE® Subject Test facility that you were scheduled to test.

In your complaint, you state that you were unable to retrieve driving direction information from the test center's webpage because the webpage was down. We have verified with the test center that their webpage was in working order. There were 14 other candidates who successfully located the test center and were on time and able to test the GRE® Subject test on October 19, 2013. Also, the GRE® Call Center was open the entire day for questions on testing, locations, and any other issues that may have arose. We have no record of a call from you asking for assistance on that day.

As stated on the GRE® website at www.ets.org/gre, it states: Report to the test center at least 30 minutes prior to your scheduled testing time. If you arrive late, you may not be admitted and your test fee will be forfeited.

It is the candidate's responsibility to allow plenty of time to arrive by the designated time, regardless of whether there is traffic congestion, road construction, bad weather, car accidents, poor directions or any other incident that may delay arrival. If one is unfamiliar with the area where the test is being held, it is always advisable to locate the testing venue a couple of days before the test so that one is confident on directions to the center on test day.

As such, Educational Testing Service (ETS) is unable to comply with your request for a full refund. I understand why you would think that it would be acceptable to receive a 100% refund. However, this is ETS policy and the Revdex.com is very aware of the policies and procedures set forth by ETS.

Again, I regret that I cannot comply with your request of a refund and wish you much success in your future academic endeavors.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

As the picture I attached before, the website was down. And I also got confirmed from officer there that their website was not working well those days.

Secondly, the GRE call center might be working that day. But the number is not showed on admission ticket.

Before these are cleared, I won't accept the response.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:

Dear [redacted]

ETS was notified by the Revdex.com (Revdex.com) that you submitted a rebuttal complaint regarding the 100% refund expected due to the fact that you were unable to locate the GRE® Subject Test facility that you were scheduled to test. Please note, we are not able to view the picture you say was attached to the original complaint although the picture has no bearing on our ruling of this issue. Also, we cannot confirm the 'officer's statement' that 'the website was not in working order' on that date. We have no notification from our I.T. Department of such an issue. The fact that the call center was not available on the date of your test is no issue as ETS does not provide directions to test centers.

It is the candidate's responsibility to become familiar with all policies and procedures before entering in to a 'contract' of services to be rendered. If one is unfamiliar with the location of the test center area, it is the candidate's responsibility to allow sufficient time for locating the test center.

The test and registration fees we collect go toward the development, planning, and administration of tests as well as the scoring of tests and the reporting of scores. These fees support a multitude of activities needed to administer the tests, and score and report the test results, which include but are not limited to…

Registration system maintenance and support, test material production, shipping expenses, test center facility and staffing costs, scoring activities (which as you know, are very complex and involve a number of steps to ensure accuracy and fairness) and Quality control for all activities.

It is the candidates responsibility to be familiar with the Identification policy prior to registering. Before a registrant completes their registration and pays for their exam, they are presented with the following message:

"By clicking the COMPLETE APPOINTMENT button below, you agree to all terms and conditions related to payments, reschedules, cancellations, refunds and other policies set forth by your sponsoring organization." Therefore, a registrant is confirming, before paying, that they have read all policies and procedures set forth in the GRE® Information and Registration Bulletin (refund policy on page 15) at www.ets.org/gre.

As such, ETS is unable to comply with your request for a full refund or to reschedule a makeup. I understand why you would think that it would be more acceptable to receive a 100% refund. However, it should be considered that the fees we retain are used to recover the fees we are charged for seat time, which is assessed regardless of whether or not a person actually takes the test.

I regret that I cannot comply with your request of a full refund or reschedule of the GRE® and will be of no further assistance with this issue.

Sincerely,

L M, Advocate

Educational Testing Service

Test Taker Advocacy Dept.

TRACKING NUMBER: [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: I was at the address on admission ticket before the test. The website for the test center is down at that time.

Regards,

Review: I registered for a GRE test two weeks ago. I noticed that the registration page did not allow me to type in my second part of my last name in separate box or to correct it as it goes. It is hard to understand how this company that claims to have important polices about people’s name and last names does not have a more precise way to fill the application for test taker. In order to correct this matter, I had to create different account and cancel my previous registration. I lose half of my previous registration fee (95.5$) when I canceled it and I paid full fee for the new one. I find this a long and inconvenient way for costumers how believe that most of important US companies do the right thing.Desired Settlement: Full refund

Business

Response:

Customer was spoken to by phone today 11/25 and the balance of the test fee was refunded to equal the full amount of the exam.

Review: I recently sent in a fee reduction voucher last month to take the GRE, but the process was taking too long. Yes, I was informed that the process could take a while and that I could not cancel the fee reduction voucher. On July 27, 2013, I paid $185 to take the test on August 2, 2013 in [redacted] However, when I entered the testing center I was told that my test was in the system for August 1, 2013, so I was given a number to call. I talked to an individual who said this could have been a technical error, and was given another number to call. I talked to customer service and told them the issue I was having and was told there was nothing I could do and was informed that my fee voucher had been processed and I owed the remaining balance due. I asked to speak to a supervisor about why my test confirmation email that had a different date than the system, and he told me he could do nothing as well. In order to have the situation handled I would need to fax in proof showing that my test confirmation indeed shows 8/2/13 and not the 8/1/13 showing in the system. On today I called to get an update on my case because I was never contacted with an update of the case being finished or almost closed. I was told by a supervisor that I could not be refunded the $185 (again their system error), and that I need to pay the remanding balance. I do not have a problem paying the remaining balance to receive the fee reduction voucher, but why should I not receive my $185 back due to their error and not having my service rendered. I was told that once I pay the remaining balance for the voucher I would have 2 testing vouchers. My issue with that is I paid for my services and their system had the wrong date, so I want my money back. I do not need 2 two testing vouchers. That is completely unnecessary and they are unwilling to refund me my money back when that case of the technical error is of no fault of me but their own.Desired Settlement: I would like to be refunded the $185 to the [redacted] it was paid on, or use the $185 to pay the remaining balance of my fee reduction and credited the remaining balance.

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:

Dear [redacted],

ETS was notified by the Revdex.com (Revdex.com) that you submitted a complaint regarding the refund policy of your August 1, 2013 GRE® Test. When you contacted the Revdex.com, you expressed your concern that, after applying for a fee reduction voucher that you knew would take a while to receive, you went ahead with scheduling an appointment (online) and paid a $185.00 for the appointment of August 1, 2013.

Even though, immediately after registering, you were sent an email confirmation of the GRE® appointment scheduled for August 1, 2013 and a subsequent reminder email from Prometric on July 29, 2013, you proceeded to the test center on August 2, 2013 where you were informed that your appointment had been scheduled for the day before, August 1, 2013. The details of your appointment and ensuing activity is on record with our office.

I regret that I cannot comply with your request of a refund in the amount of $185.00 and you are required to pay the balance of $112.50 to obtain the voucher.

Sincerely,

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because: I paid for services that were not rendered due to a technical error on their behalf. I sent them the proof and I want my money back. I was not able to attend graduate school just because this ridiculous error. I want my refund and will pay for the fee reduction voucher.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:

Dear [redacted]

ETS was notified by the Revdex.com (Revdex.com) that you submitted a complaint regarding the refund policy of your August 1, 2013 GRE® Test. When you contacted the Revdex.com, you expressed your concern that, after applying for a fee reduction voucher that you knew would take a while to receive, you went ahead with scheduling an appointment (online) and paid a $185.00 for the appointment of August 1, 2013.

You were then given a voucher for a free test by the call center because you missed the August 1, 2013 appointment. You then scheduled a GRE appointment for September 17, 2013 with that voucher.

Since that time, in a couple telephone conversations you and I have had, you paid for and received a fee reduction voucher to schedule a test that you will not be able to use. To make a settlement of your case, you have been requested to send back, to my attention, the fee reduction voucher that you just received and I will issue a refund of $185 back to your credit card with which you made the original GRE® appointment of August 1, 2013.

I hope this information is helpful and await the fee reduction voucher so that we may settle this case.

Sincerely,

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 scheduled and paid for an ETS Praxis Test for testing in Middle School Mathematics. The test was scheduled for June 7.

As I was adding info to my State Licensing account, I was advised that, due to the new Common Core Laws, Praxis tests would no longer be adequate for licensing purposes. Instead, I would need to take the Pearson Vue test. Therefore, I cancelled my Praxis test. I was advised during cancellation, I would only receive half of my money in refund. Since the Praxis test phasing out was started in December and the target date for non use was May, I feel I should get a full refund of my money.Desired Settlement: I would like my full amount refunded.

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:

?From: TTA Praxis Advocacy [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Monday, May 19, 2014 1:31 PM

To: [redacted]

Subject: [redacted]

ETS was notified by the Revdex.com (Revdex.com) of your balance refund request for the Praxis II Middle School Mathematics (0069) for the June 7, 2014 registration. In your complaint to the Revdex.com, you stated that you no longer needed the exam as your State changed their mandated requirements. You requested a refund and got 50 percent and you are seeking the balance.

ETS is aware of the changes being made to the test requirements by the state of [redacted] While ETS and the [redacted] Department of Education continue discussion on the issue, we have identified the test takers who were impacted though no fault of their own. The 50 percent automatic refund you received was a result of the manual cancellation you ordered on your account. ETS is currently processing full refunds, or balance refunds for all [redacted] domiciled registrants as well as other test takers who chose [redacted] as a score recipient.

We appreciate your patience while we continue to identify these test takers and subsequently cancel and refund any outstanding balances caused by the new standards stipulated by the [redacted] Department of Education. There will a balance refund of $67.50 posted to your account within the next five days.

If I may be of further assistance, please let me know.

Regards,

Test Taker Advocate

The Praxis Program

Review: I went to take a teaching certification test, (which I have done successfully four times before at a different location)I was early and there was a line of people waiting to register. The staff there was late opening the door (30 minutes prior to the test as it states in the directions), so I went to my car to take one more look at my notes. When I returned a couple minutes after the stated start time, the staff had stuffed everyone in the registration room and refused to admit me into the room because I was "late". It didn't matter that I had been waiting there for a long time and that they were late. I was then lied to by the staff there, they said I had to call ETS and ask for their permission to enter, which I then did and found out that ETS didn't "grant permission" and it was all at the discretion of the testing center staff. I was then told to lodge a complaint to get my money refunded, which I did. I was told that while the CUSTOMERS are required to arrive 30 minutes prior to the testing time (which I did), the staff could admit them (which means stuffing them into the room, not actually registering them and getting their tests started) whenever they pleased. I was also told that it was perfectly alright for the staff to be late, admit registries late, and keep them waiting. Also, that the staff their didn't "lie" to me, they were just "mistaken". I went up 4 levels of personnel, all to be told I was wrong for assuming that the staff there was held to the same standard as the PAYING CUSTOMERS, and that I did not deserve my money back. It was very difficult for me to choose a topic for this complaint as I feel I was wronged on so many levels, but I chose misrepresentation because the directions lied to me about the behavior I should expect from the staff and yet I am still in the wrong because of the "rules on file" about the staff, all of which are not open to me or apparent, and thus leaves the directions fraudulent. I will make a stink about this.Desired Settlement: I want my money back, as the service was not rendered, I was a victim of fraud, lied to, and mistreated. I also want ETS to lose their non-profit status as they so clearly are not a charity, and the complaints department to be overhauled to include people that actually care - that or the name changed to denial of complaints department.

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:From: TexasCAT Sent: Friday, July 18, 2014 8:50 AMTo: [redacted]Subject: [redacted] Dear [redacted] I am writing in response to your Revdex.com complaint for the May 28, 2014, Texas Educator Certification examination, the MATHEMATICS 7-12 (1235) exam that you were refused admission to, due to arriving past the designated reporting time. Your concerns were forwarded to the Texas Management Team, which is responsible for overseeing the development and administration of these tests. When reviewed, it was determined that due to the reporting time being clearly stated both on pages 6 and 35 of the Registration Bulletin as well as on your admission ticket, a refund of your test fees is not warranted. The policy states: "You must arrive at the designated test center no later than the Test Reporting Time listed on your admission ticket. If you arrive after that time, you will not be admitted and your test fee will be forfeited." We can be of no further assistance to you on this matter and wish you success in all your professional endeavors. Sincerely, [redacted] AdvocateEducational Testing Service (ETS)Test Taker Advocacy DepartmentTexas Educator Certification Program

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

My complaint was not addressed.

Regards,[redacted]

Review: I recently rescheduled a test twice with the company and ran into refund issues. When I initially scheduled the first test for Nov 5th in Athens, I found an earlier testing date so incorrectly added a new day when I meant to just reschedule. I called support and was told that I would get a refund of the first amount aka 180ish dollars. At first I only got back half but after some emails got back 130 due to a processing reschedule fee that support said would not be applied. I later realized this new test date was not at my location in Athens so attempted to switch it back the Sunday before the Friday test (to be within the drop period). However that Sunday the online system would not let me reschedule and there are no office hours on that day. 8am Monday the system denied a reschedule due to policy but I could cancel. I scheduled a new test for the initial date of Nov 5th (in Athens) and contacted support. Besides the previous refund hey refuse to give me back 130 which is what I would not have had to spent if their system was not acting up Sunday. As a consumer, I feel their refusal to take responsibility for the digital system not working and refund a fair amount (as well as refund the first amount fully as promised is unethical. I ask for the promised full refund on the first amount (or 50 dollars) plus the amount back I overpaid due to their system problem aka 130 or 180 total. I feel this is a fair request due to verbal promise and tech issues on their end.Desired Settlement: I am asking back for the remaining amount of the first test that was refund promised (50ish) and the refund of the overpaid second test amount or 130 (180 - 50 reschedule fee). I feel this is a fair request as support said I would be refunded the first test amount fully (130ish only so far) and if the system would have let me reschedule on Sunday it would have been 50 not 180 charge. This request has been refused twice by the company unfairly.

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:

From: GRE_Test_Taker_[redacted] [mailto:GRE_Test_Taker_[redacted]]

Sent: Friday, October 25, 2013 9:43 AM

To: [redacted]

Cc: [redacted]

Subject: GRE Refund Request Case ID [redacted]

Dear Mr. [redacted]:

We are writing in response to your refund complaint:

Our records do confirm multiple registrations.

We are making an exception and issuing you a refund of $185.00 for the GRE exam. The refund will be issued to the credit card used to purchase the registration in 7-10 business days.

While the amount refunded should satisfy your request. We are not issuing a refund for the $50.00 reschedule fee. The fee is due to you for rescheduling.

Thanks for writing to us, we wish you much success with your future endeavors.

Review: I scheduled an appointment with this vendor on 7/29/2014, for a test five days later on 8/2/2014. I called the vendor five days in advance on 7/29/2014, to reschedule my appointment due to a family medical emergency. The vendor could not locate my reservation in their system, as they claimed there was a five-day backup in their system. Their stated policy for rescheduling is three days' advanced notice, which they could not honor. Therefore, I notified them that I was canceling the transaction with my credit card company, since the vendor could not honor their agreement due to its technology and customer service shortcomings. Since this time, the vendor has repeatedly and aggressively billed my credit card without my authorization. I recently received a statement from the vendor detailing $500 in cumulative charges for this $195 test. This bogus, aggressive overbilling has no place in our society in my view.Desired Settlement: This vendor needs to cease charging my credit card immediately and refund me all charges. As an alternative, they can honor my original request to reschedule, which, as mentioned, I made five days in advance. If their policy as stated is to reschedule within three days' advanced notice, they ought to enhance their information system to honor that policy and commitment. Otherwise, they should change their agreement remove their three day rescheduling policy from their website. It's severely if not purposefully misleading. In addition, this vendor should overhaul their customer service department, which I found to be ineffective if not useless.

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:From: TTA GRE Advocacy [mailto:[redacted]] Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2014 10:02 AMTo: [redacted]Subject: The GRE® revised General Test/Case#[redacted] Dear [redacted] I am writing in reference to the complaint you filed with the Revdex.com concerning the GRE® revised General Test that you were scheduled to take on August 2, 2014. According to your complaint, you received a bill from ETS "detailing $500 in cumulative charges." Please note, our records indicate that there is not a balance due on your account. According to our investigation, you registered on 7/30/14 at 12:28 P.M. At this point you were already within the penalty period for reschedules and/or cancellations. On 8/18/14 you processed a chargeback with your credit card company resulting in a delinquent account for a balance of $215 for the original test fee of $195 plus a service charge of $20 for the chargeback processed. On 9/21/14 ETS was successful in reversing this chargeback. On October 1, 2014, as a courtesy, ETS processed a refund back to your credit card in the amount of $77.50 which represents the 50% refund you would have received had you canceled outside the penalty period less the $20 for the service fee for the chargeback you processed. As previously stated, currently your account is up to date an there is no balance. I hope this information is helpful and I wish you success in all your professional endeavors. Sincerely,[redacted], AdvocateEducational Testing Service (ETS)Test Taker Advocacy Department

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:The the response does not address my two major points:Number one: I called within two hours of booking to reschedule, however my card had not been charged yet, and the vendor was unable to locate the transaction. To my knowledge, there is a 24 hour window of opportunity to cancel or modify transactions with credit cards. Therefore I cancelled the transaction with my credit card company immediately when it posted.Number two: the response claims I was outside the rescheduling period, which is incorrect. As previously stated, I called to reschedule five days ahead of my testing date. Again, their policy on the website and terms stated three days' advanced notice.On both if these accounts stated above, I'm expecting a full refund in the amount of $195. Again, it is not my responsibility they were unable to locate the transaction when I called them at approximately 3:30 p.m. on July 29 and July 30.I would appreciate any assistance in resolving this as soon as possible.

Regards,

Business

Response:

Please see our response to the rejection below:

From: TTA GRE Advocacy [mailto:[redacted]] Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2014 3:25 PMTo: [redacted]Subject: The GRE® revised General Test/Case#[redacted]

Dear [redacted]

I am sorry you are not satisfied with the results of our investigation however, we cannot comply with your request for a full refund of your test fees. Per the GRE® website, it states:

"Canceling Your Test Registration

Fees and Policies

•If you cancel your revised General Test registration no later than four days prior to your test date (10 days for individuals in Mainland China), you will receive a refund equivalent to half of the original test fee. For example, the deadline to cancel a Saturday appointment at a testing location in the United States is Tuesday. See Payment and Refund Policies."

Since you did not register for the exam until July 30, 2014, you were ineligible for rescheduling your exam or canceling your appointment for a partial refund. The partial refund that was processed was processed as a one time courtesy.

Please note, when registering for an exam via the Internet, you are presented with the following:

"By clicking the "Complete Appointment" button below, you agree to all the terms and conditions related to payments, reschedules, cancellations, refunds and other policies set forth by your sponsoring organization."

To complete your registration, you clicked "Complete Appointment".

If we can be of assistance on any other matter, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Regards,

[redacted], Advocate

Educational Testing Service

Test Taker Advocacy Dept.

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Dear [redacted]It appears that your dates are incorrect. As stated, I called to reschedule my test five days in advance. There was a lag in the ETS system and the agent could not locate my appointment. Therefore, this is not a "courtesy" refund, in fact. I am entitled to a refund, per the cited policy as stated. Furthermore, a fifty percent refund of $195 does not amount to $77, the amount credited back to my MasterCard.

Regards,

Review: Dear Sir/Madame:I set up an account with ETS-[redacted] teacher certification. Before I registered, I had difficulties with the website. The site provided very tricky, misleading and inefficient service. First, I set up an account with user name and password with TEA website and could not register for a test. I contacted TEA customer service several times and finally was informed I should set up another account with ETS since TEA website is just a gateway or portal to ETS's website. I finally could register a test with ETS user name and password. I read FAQ info on http://www.texes.ets.org/faq/ but before I tried to cancel a test, I searched the Frequestly Asked Question (see the link) on ETS web, I could not find any test cancellation info. After I logged into my ETS account, On My Home Page, in the left hand column, there is listed a link "Cancel Test" - see the copy past screen below +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Home Pageregister for a testmodify your registrationcancel a testscoreseligibilityadditional servicesaccount activityadmission ticketrequest an alternativetesting arrangementedit your profiletest preparation messageschange passwordtest preparation resources++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++You currently have no active registrationsRegister for a test Updating Your TEA Educator ProfileIf you need to update your mailing address, phone number or e-mail address you must do so through your Educator Profile on the TEA website.https://www.texes-ets.org/custom/public/pp_ap.phpI clicked on Cancel a test link, it let me cancel a test, without any info about the cancellation was notsuccessful. If it had provided me the info that the cancellation was not successful due to the fact it was not made 3 days earlier, I would have gone to take the test next day, for practice purpose. Therefore, I think the website of ETS did not provide useful and helpful info, I called ETS on it.Desired Settlement: I think ETS should give me refund due to the ambiguity or failure to provide test cancellation policy in FAQ (frequently asked question ) section which customer search info most often, also due to failure of the Cancel a test link on My Account Home Page to provide immediate and helpful info about the success or failure of a test cancellation done by a customer, thus the Cancel a test link was just a failing guarantee to customer that will be refund resulting in test cancellation.

Business

Response:

Please see the program response below:Case # [redacted] When a test taker registers for a Texas Educator Certification (TEC) exam, there are several “Compliance with Rules” statements the test taker must acknowledge before being allowed to continue with the registration process. One of those statements included the following text: “You must read and agree to the conditions set forth in the current Registration Bulletin concerning the test administration, fees, ID requirements and confidentiality of all test questions. Submission of your online registration will confirm that you have read and agree to the conditions set forth in the Registration Bulletin. By submitting your registration for a Texas Educator Certification Program test, you are agreeing to abide by all procedures and policies contained in the current Registration Bulletin, on the ETS TExES website and/or communicated to you at the test administration for which you are registering.” Upon acknowledging this, they are presented with another page and they have to manually mark the checkbox agreeing to this: “I acknowledge that I have had adequate opportunity to review the instructions, rules, policies and all other terms and conditions that apply to my test registration and administration that are contained in the current Registration Bulletin and on the ETS TExES website.” Once the correct test has been selected, and before the check-out page, they are again presented with this information which they have to manually acknowledge by marking a check box: “You may cancel a test for which you have registered through your account on this website. You may also cancel by completing and submitting the Test Cancellation form. The Test Cancellation form is available in the download library for the test you are taking. I acknowledge that I have had adequate opportunity to review, to my satisfaction, the test cancellation policy above and the cancellation deadlines and refund information in the appropriate Registration Bulletin.” The Registration Bulletin referenced throughout this process has a link on the left hand side of the main page of www.texes.ets.org. At the same time, it is also referenced in the FAQ’s which the complainant mentioned reading thoroughly. On page 32 of the 2013-2014 TExES Registration Bulletin, it clearly states the test cancellation policy: “If you register to test less than three days prior to the test date and then cancel, you will not be eligible for a refund. If the cancellation is processed online or by phone no later than three days prior to the test date, the full test fee (including the International Site fee) will be refunded, minus a refund fee of $30. Cancellations processed online or by phone less than three days prior to the test date will not be eligible for a refund.” [redacted] was scheduled to test on 10/15/2014 (Special Education EC-12 161) and she processed the cancellation online on 10/14/2014 at 11:54 a.m. Per the policies set forth in the Registration Bulletin and acknowledged and agreed to by the test taker, [redacted] was not eligible for a refund of her test fees. ___________________________[redacted] Teacher Licensure and CertificationState Based Educator Assessments[redacted]

Review: On October 2, 2013 I signed up to take the the following Praxis I tests at the following rates:

Writing $85

Reading $85

Mathematics $85

Total I paid: $136.76

Refund policy as stated on my receipt:

"Removing a test from your registration: to remove a test from your registration and request a refund online, click the "remove test" link on your order list or order details, or mail the refund request form found at www.ets.org/praxis/register/changes/. Requests must be received no later than three full days prior to your original test date. Refunds are given for test fees and surcharges (if applicable) only. Service fees are nonrefundable. Refunds will be in U.S. dollars. Payments made by credit card will be credited back to that account."

So, naturally I was surprised when my account was only credited for $67.50.

When going through the refund process the website stated (as I read everything) that would be getting a 50% REFUND FOR THE TEST FEES . . . 50% of the "test fees" is what I paid to sign up for the test (as buying "in bulk" gets you this discounted rate). So, when I saw the 50% refund, I assumed that meant 50% of the test fees, i.e. 100% of what I paid.

So, ETS (the monopoly) is getting away with crediting me half of what I paid, since I paid half the cost. Regardless of the fact that I was doing calculations AND reading the fine print, they still "got me"Desired Settlement: A FULL refund and full disclosure to future consumers.

Business

Response:

Please see our response below:

From: PRAXIS [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Monday, November 11, 2013 12:26 PM

To: [email protected]

Subject: [redacted] Revdex.com Praxis I Refund Policy Revdex.com [redacted] ETS Id [redacted] Case [redacted],

ETS was notified by the Revdex.com (Revdex.com) of your dissatisfaction with the refund you received from your request to cancel your Praxis I Pre-Professional Skills (0750) exam in the November 2, 2013 test administration. ETS takes great care to inform our test takers of our services and the costs to render these services while keeping our expenses to a minimum. To avoid this cost, we encourage our test takers to consult with their state department of education and their score recipients to ensure that these tests are required for the intended purpose.

Test fee refund with all related policies and guidelines are provided to all our customers via our Web site, www.ets.org and on Page 11 of The Praxis SeriesTM Information Bulletin (2013-2014). Although you took the time to quote some verbiage regarding our Refund Policy, an important section was omitted. The amount of refund to be issued is clearly stated in the next sub topic following Test Fee Refunds. Under heading, Paper-Delivered And Computer- Delivered Tests –our customers are given the following information: “If you cancel your registration no later than four full days prior to your test date, you will be eligible for a refund of 50% your test fees, (Service frees are4 nonrefundable.)…” The information guideline provided does not lend itself to any other interpretation. It simply states that if the refund request is received within a specified time, half of the fee will be refunded.

As such, your request for approved refund was honored according to our established agreement. You received 50 percent (67.50) of the $135 charged to your account. I am not able to comply with your request for a full refund. It is also important to note that we make every effort to publish the policy and information guidelines in advance of the test dates. This information is published online and in print. It is readily available to access at no cost or obligation and our customers are aware of this guideline prior to their test registration.

The letter to the Revdex.com alluded that you regard ETS as monopolizing these services. Let me assure you that this is only one of the many organizations that offer these services. Your score recipient chose this organization because of the credibility we provide in the assurance, security, and reliability in our assessments and related services. These qualities combined with our experience and expertise in the delivery, quality and integrity of the services encourage our clients to seek the services we provide.

We appreciate your inquiry, and we hope this information has been helpful to you, and we wish you every success in your professional endeavors.

Regards,

Consumer

Response:

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Simply restating policy on a matter is not an attempt to reconcile or compromise.

AGAIN: 50% of the "test fee" is what I paid in total. So, when your policy says I'm getting a 50% refund, I (the consumer) believe I will be getting back all the money which I paid.

Oh, and if I do not have a choice of providers from which to take my business- it is by definition a monopoly.

Regards,