NCEES Reviews (%countItem)
NCEES Rating
Address: 200 Verdae Blvd, Greenville, South Carolina, United States, 29607-3900
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I took my profession engineer exam back in October 2019 and the exam results were released in early December, but I never received my exam result. So, I contacted the NCEES code enforcement manager regarding this issue. He said that my exam was forwarded to the *** Board for further review and it could take from FEW DAYS TO FEW WEEKS. It has been 9 weeks (TWO MONTHS) since then and 17 WEEKS (4 MONTHS) since I took the pe exam, but I have not heard anything. I've followed up several times, but still, no updates and the code enforcement manager did not even respond to any of my followups. I have been feeling more and more anxious and depressed as the April PE exam date is approaching. NCEES is negatively impacting my mental health and career by violating my right as an examinee to know my exam result and not providing their service in a timely manner. I'm not the only one suffering from this.
Below is our exchange with the complainant through our customer service system:
On 12/12/2019, Mr. sent the following to NCEES:Hi, I have received an email couple hours ago saying my exam result is released, but this website still shows Result Pending. Could you please look into this for me. Thank you.On 12/13/2019, Bob W responded with:Information about your exam will be sent to the *** Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists for their review. NCEES will update your result status once that review has been completed. That review may take a few days to a few weeks to complete.On 12/13/2019, Mr. responded with:Thank you for your quick response. Could you please be more specific on the process? Was my exam graded and what is the review for?On 12/16/2019, Bob W responded with:NCEES needs to wait for the *** Board to complete their review. You will be contacted once that review has been completed.On 01/21/2020, Mr. sent the following to NCEES:Good Morning Bob,After three months of patiently waiting and more than a month since everyone else's results were released. May I ask you to provide an update on my exam status please.On 01/28/2020, Bob W responded with:As previously advised, information about your exam was sent to the *** Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists for their review. Once that review has been completed, NCEES or the *** Board will contact you.(There is no record that Mr. viewed that response.)On 01/27/2020, Mr. sent the following to NCEES:In early December, you told me that my PE exam was forwarded to *** Board for review and it could takes from few days to few weeks to receive my results. It has been almost two month!!! Can you please provide an update on this. It is my RIGHT to know my exam grade and it should be posted on the NCEES pages like everyone else.On 01/28/2020, Bob W responded with:As previously advised, information about your exam was sent to the *** Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists for their review. Once that review has been completed, NCEES or the *** Board will contact you.(There is no record that Mr. viewed that response.)
Below is further information being supplied to Revdex.com:
NCEES cannot release his test results until we hear from the *** Board of Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologist. We cannot control their work schedule and are legally bound to abide by their decision since the complainant was their applicant. The complainant is free to contact the *** board about this matter. That is his proper venue for contact at this point in time.
My Daughter signed up for two exams, and subsequently cancelled one. She was charged a $ 50 administration fee. We were not aware of any fees when signing up for the exam. This is robbery.
The cancellation fee is disclosed on our website through the NCEES Examinee Guide. The applicant also attests that they have read the Guide and agree to the terms. Below is the language from the Guide:
You may cancel your computer-based exam as long as you do so more than 48 hours in advance of your scheduled appointment. Cancellations that are received more than 48 hours in advance of a scheduled appointment will be eligible for a refund of the NCEES registration fee less a $50 administrative fee. Cancellations are not allowed within 48 hours of a scheduled appointment.
If you decide to change your exam discipline or select a different licensing board after registering, you will need to cancel your existing exam and re-register for the new exam. You will be eligible for a refund of the NCEES registration fee less a $50 administrative fee.
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.
Regards
The first time I schedule my FE exam with Texas board and I didn’t pass, my own fault. I paid the $175 fee again and reschedule it for an appointment three months in advance. I had a confusion with the date and I was shown as a no show the day of the exam.
I called the company and the customer service lady was rude. She said they don’t provide refunds or account credit and I would have to pay $185 again for the THIRD time.
I have worked in the customer service for 8 years while attending college. So I know how to deal and help customers because without your customers you fail as a business. They need to change their business model. They should send reminder email or at least give us the consumer, some type of credit to reschedule. They even charge a $50 fee just to reschedule.
This experience with NCEES made realize that they don’t care for their customer and that they only care for the money that people spend with them.
I wish there was another license board because NCEES is terrible and I would of gladly went somewhere else.
NCEES has convinced too many state licensing boards to grant them a monopoly on too big of a chunk of the professional licensing process. That results in NCEES charging excessively high fees for poor quality service. If you have an issue or dispute with NCEES they simply refuse to help and I have found them to be arrogant and rude, which given their monopoly status I guess they can get a way with.
This is ***, I have paid the fee of the exam a year ago to talk the exam. I am international student in the United States. I was just graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering.
My plan was to work under the OPT and take the test, but I did not get any work offered to me so I have to leave the United States because my situation was not allowing me to stay any longer.
I got accepted in graduate program and I was planning to come back to the US way sooner than Aug of 2018, the visa took more time than I expected and it costs me to not be able to attend a semester.
Because of the above reasons I would like to get full refund because it is not reasonable to lose $50 over something I have no control over at all.
I was trying to contact them via their website before of the end of the one year period to schedule the test, but their response was to get refund minus the $50.
Sincerely
The complaint has been in contact with several members of the NCEES staff concerning his complaint. The policy regarding rescheduling an exam is clearly stated and candidates must acknowledge and agree to these conditions when they apply to take an NCEES exam. The complainant has provide no information which would necessitate NCEES from excepting him for this policy. NCEES incurs an expense when a candidate registers for an exam and is justified in retaining a portion of the registration fee to cover those costs.
NCEES feels no obligation to refund additional monies to this candidate
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.
I paid the fee of the exam to sit for the test on Aug 2017 but I have never scheduled a test date. There was additional fee to get approved for taking the test on the state of Illinois. I have explained to them my situation as I am not a US citizen and I am on a student visa, I could not stay in the US if I did not get a job offer which was my situation. I left the US and I apply for a student visa as I am doing a graduate program at the moment. My plan was to comeback to US earlier than I did but the visa took more time than I anticipated for no clear reason.
In addition, when I come back to the US before the end of the one year period ends I contacted them again to use the fee I paid to schedule the test for the first time, this time in another state as I am doing my graduate program in another state other than Illinois.
It seems to me they never really read my emails and understand what I was asking, all I heard back from them was getting refund minus the $50.
I believe that because the situation I have been into I completely deserve to get full refund.
Regards
I have attached the email exchange with the complainant which contains the supporting documentation. On every occasion where he has contacted us we have explained he is entitled to a refund of $175 ($225 less the $50 cancellation fee) but that we need his mailing address in order to send a check. The card he used originally is no longer in use so we could not "credit" the $175 back to his card. He acknowledged the policy regarding the $50 cancellation fee when he registered for the exam and has been treated the same as any other customer in the same situation. It would not be fair to the others to make an exception in this case where one is clearly not warranted.
NCEES is a testing and records body for Engineering. I have completed the state specific registration and set up a file with NCEES to facilitate interstate reciprocity but they are refusing to recognize my Canadian education as ABET accredited. I graduated Metallurgical Engineering in 1993 form the University of Alberta, a program accredited by Engineers Canada. Engineers Canada has a formal MOU with ABET that recognizes this program, in addition to the Washington Accord of education recognition. Their actions violate the ABET/EC MOU and Washington accord, in addition to providing a contrary action to the actual licensure board (Texas) where I am licensed. Additionally this violates NAFTA Annex 1210.5.
ABET does not issue engineering licenses in the U.S. The member boards of NCEES have determined that some programs that are recognized by the Washington Accord are not equivalent to a U.S. based engineering degree. As such, NCEES requires an evaluation of the degree to determine if it satisfies the requirements for licensure in the U,S.
Jerry C
NCEES Chief Executive Officer
I bought " FE Electrical and Computer Practice Exam 1 " over a year ago and it "expired" i've never seen a book that "expires". They refused to give me a new one and refused to refund me. SAVE you money and get a hard copy!
The FE study guides were previously offered in an electrical format which required that their use be limited in terms of time of use. Due to concerns expressed by customers, NCEES transitioned these study guides back to hard copy during 2017 and are available for purchase on the NCEES Web site.
NCEES has a monopoly on US engineering examination and licensure. NCEES uses this monopoly to provide inadequate customer service.
I recently appeared at an FE Exam appointment scheduled through NCEES. I am an international, Canadian student and brought 4 pieces of adequate, government-issued ID, but was refused entry into the exam because I did not bring my international passport. The documentation I provided proved my identitu beyond any reasonable doubt. However, after talking to customer service with NCEES and the testing center I was informed that they would not refund any portion of the $225 exam cost.
NCEES stated that the full exam cost will remain for the session instead of a fee or penalty. However, NCEES does not provide a price breakdown for the test cost. NCEES states that the cost is used to book the appointment with the testing center. However, talking with the testing center employees I was made aware that no further proctors or examination seats were required for my test. I also did not receive the test as a good or service. I am not subject to the costs of creating the test questions or processing the answers of the completed tests. I am liable for the costs of printing the test booklet and shipping it to the testing center. I do not believe that the booklet costs $225 to print and ship.
NCEES does not provide adequate details on what identification is required for international students. There is a piece of small text on the e-mail receipt for the test. However, the information is not noticeable enough to validate a full void of the purchase. I was made aware by the testing center that my experience is common with Canadian international students and the employees of the testing center apologized profusely. After talking to more Canadian students at my university, I found that my situation is common and NCEES provides no refund opportunities.
NCEES commonly faces this identification problem with international students, yet continues to provide inadequate information or customer service.
NCEES is a confederation of all the state and territorial engineering boards and accordingly, the exams developed by NCEES are the only technical exams used to qualify candidates for licensure in the U.S. Mr. was provided access to an "Examinee Guide" and attested that he have read and understood all rules and requirements and that he agreed to be bound by these terms. This document identifies the type of IDs that are acceptable for admission to to the exam, the exam fee and the refund policy. Since Mr. did not arrive at the test site with the proper identification, he was not admitted and marked as "failed to appear." NCEES was responsible for the charge by the test center for the seat that had been reserved for Mr. for seven hours which is the lions share of the $225 costs of the exam. Part of being successful as an engineer is the ability to read and follow instructions which was not the case for Mr..
Jerry C
CEO
NCEES established a professional record for my civil engineering license and transmitted this record to Texas in January of 2016. In October of 2017 I went to retransmit this record to TN, which was unchanged i.e. no further work experience since March of 2015, and discovered that I needed to initiate a merger of my 'old account' with their new account system. Unfortunately, their new system wasn't compatible with the old data and as a result some of the information was lost / or too many characters for the new account which required editing AND an important date was corrupted / changed during the merger.
1. NCEES merger from old account to new account corrupted my record and changed my end date at *** from 3/15 to 12/15.
2. NCEES software then automatically listed dates that were unaccounted for with my work experience. I could not edit these dates! I could only provide an explanation.
3. NCEES claimed my references were out of date, but I had no further experience since my record was approved and transmitted in January of 2016.
4. NCEES customer service was not able to resolve these matters, apologize or provide a refund for my time.
We upgraded our portfolio program software last year to eliminate the amount of material that was required in hard copy form which has greatly enhanced the efficiency of the process. No previous information submitted by Mr. was "lost" and Mr. confused the process when providing the updates to his Council Record. This required some additional effort on his behalf.
Since we acknowledge that Mr. was required to update his experience and references due to the change in software, I am authorizing a refund of his $70 transmittal fee and have directed that he be contacted by a member of the NCEES staff to ensure that his Council Record is up-to-date going forward.
We apologize for any inconvenience that cause Mr..
Jerry C
Chief Executive Officer
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.
In fact, NCEES software changed my end date with *** from March 2015 to January 2015. It then automatically created a form for unaccounted time that was pre-filled except for my explanation of that time. In fact, my record was transmitted to the Tennessee Dept. of Commerce and Insurance prior to catching the corrupted end date. Hence, no NCEES review took place of my work history prior to transmittal because it hadn't been edited to date! Upon notification of the discrepancy in end dates by TDCI, I did go back and edit my end date to March of 2015. Furthermore, my application couldn't be submitted without 3 of my references 'being current' even though my work history hadn't changed since the last NCEES transmittal.
***, NCEES needs to note these glitches or software design mistakes and make the necessary changes to prevent this from happening to their clients in the future.
Regards
We have responded directly to Mr. to ensure that his information is correct and up-to-date and provided a refund of $70 for the fee paid to transmit his record. The changes that we made to our software have been well received by the vast majority of individuals that have a Council Record with NCEES. We have reviewed Mr. additional comments and will incorporate those in our processes going forward to continue to provide the best possible customer service that we can.
Jerry C
Chief Executive Officer
I paid for a scheduled a Professional Engineer (PE) test with the state. After some confusion on the date, I did not attend the exam. Being a standardized national test, I understand why a make-up test is not feasible. However, NCEES has provided no refund for a missed test, not even even allowing some costs to be applied to a retest in 6 months. This excessively harsh penalty for missing is not aligned with actual costs incurred by NCEES. It takes advantage of a consumer who is already in a difficult situation. And yet NCEES is the only available option for attaining this professional licensure, so there are no alternatives and customers are forced to put up with this exploitation.
The complainant was provided an exam authorization by this organization which specifically set forth the date, time and location of the exam. An examination was produced, coded with the complainant's information and shipped to the exam site. A seat was reserved for the complainant at the exam site and proctors were hired to oversee the examination based upon the total number of candidates. I am not sure what confusion the candidate referenced in his complaint but there was certainly no confusion about the date of the exam since pencil/paper exams are only offered twice each year and those dates are widely noticed.
NCEES incurred the expense for creating the exam and having accommodations available for the candidate to take the exam. As such, we see no justification for NCEES to provide a refund to the complainant.
Jerry C
Chief Executive Officer
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.
I acknowledged in my complaint that some costs were incurred by NCEES and therefore a full refund should not be provided. However, from my perspective as a consumer, I never took the test that I paid for. Therefore payment above the costs incurred by NCEES is opportunistic gain from a consumer in a difficult situation. There was no designation of a non-refundable deposit for a spot reservation, and ultimately I did not receive the product.
Regards
The candidate failed to appear at the exam site and NCEES incurred expense in order that the candidate would be able to take this important examination. The candidate failed to appear at the designated time and location and there is no justification for NCEES to accept a financial loss due to the candidate’s failure to adhere to the rules.
Jerry C Chief Executive Officer
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.
Once again, I am not asking for NCEES to accept financial loss. I am simply asking that NCEES not profit from the circumstances. I am asking for a partial refund equivalent to the difference between true NCEES costs and the $350 paid by myself, applied as credit towards my next test.
Regards
No, I was not promised any refund during communication with NCEES. My complaint is against the business practice.
This company sells a service that they do not deliver. It is a bait and switch type operation that does not honor what it sells. Additionally, their customer service provides guidance that is incorrect then they always have some excuse why they cause me tremendous amount of additional work. Their agents have been trained well to repeat the same tag lines like: "they have been having problems with that" or "because they just switch computer systems". The customer service agents never ever are able to help.
This latest instance, I need 5 verified references and have had 5 verified references since my original application to NCEES. Because 3 of my 5 references email addresses have changed, they have not been receiving correspondence from NCEES so I needed to update them. Their agent guided me to remove them and add them back with the new email address. Which got done immediately. Now I do not comply because we lost them as verified references and now only have 2 of the 5 verified. Of course the agent said, yes we have an issue with that but of course, nothing can be done about it.
A review of Mr. account indicates that at 12:10 pm on 8/24/17, Mr. complained to NCEES about the lack of response on his request to have his record transmitted to North Carolina. At 3:13 pm. a member of the NCEES staff contacted Mr. with information about his account and he replied "thank you." At 4:26 pm, Mr. was able to purchase the transmittal to North Carolina and his Council Record was electrically transmitted at 5:11 pm. It would appear that any delays were partly due to Mr. by Mr. in updating his Council Record and the failure by some of his references to respond in a timely manner to the electronic requests. NCEES did amend its in mid-2016 software which caused some confusion by individuals who established their Council Record prior to 2008 and NCEES has taken steps to mitigate and problems assoticated with the transition to the new system.
Mr. is welcome to contact me directly should he have any additional issues associated with the NCEES Council Record.
Jerry C
Chief Executive Officer