Thinking back to posts about missing CPA exam scores we’ve written over the years on this website, I knew there was at least one in the recent past. By “recent past” I thought maybe 2018 or something but nah, try January of this year. I shouldn’t have to explain why six months ago feels like it might as well be September 15, 2008. Anyhoo.
Today I spotted yet another FAR exam on the run, and I’m pretty sure this horror story tops the one from January simply because we now have corona in the mix. Is there nothing this virus considers sacred? Obviously not.
I was taking FAR Saturday 6/27 and three-fourths of the way through the exam, it crashed. Myself and one other person, who it also happened to, were sent to the waiting room to see if they could recover our exams. They couldn’t. They gave us a card to contact Prometric with a confirmation ID and ticket #.
I have tried calling and emailing Prometric to see how to reschedule. I have also tried to call and email NASBA to try and see if they will extend my credit given the situation and the nightmare with COVID. I have not been able to get into contact with anyone. No phone calls or emails have been answered.
I normally would wait it out, but I have a credit expiring in two weeks. I need to reschedule my exam or have my credit extended! (which should have already happened IMO). I am in New Jersey.
What do I do now?
According to the Prometric coronavirus response page, test-takers are urged to use the online self-service tools when possible but obviously this particular scenario requires a living, breathing human being. In those cases, Prometric advises to use their Contact Us page and expect a response within five to seven days. Five to seven days seems like a long time, but what does time even mean these days anyway? As far as phone lines, Prometric says that “all telephone lines for testing accommodations remain open but are also experiencing longer than normal wait times due to the volume of rescheduling requests received,” so while I wouldn’t count on getting someone on the phone, you can still keep trying.
In the meantime, blow NASBA up on their social channels and maybe the poor person(s) forced to read hundreds of angry tweets every day will see your message.
Once you’re done plastering your issue over Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest should NASBA have one (I mean, we do, who knows), reach out to your state board of accountancy, copying NASBA and Prometric customer care, to let them know what’s going on. It sounds like you’ve already emailed, feel free to keep following up every day if you have to but try not to let your messages unravel into caps-laden, profanity-laced rants. Telling Ken Bishop to go fuck himself will not bring your exam back, I’m sorry. But feel free to mumble that under your breath in the privacy of your own home should it make you feel better.
Once you’ve done all that, sit back, pour yourself a drink, and wait. That’s literally all you can do at this point. Keep in mind that the profession is starving for new CPAs, no one in charge actually wants this to happen and certainly not at a time like this. So let’s just hope they’re working tirelessly behind the scenes to recover your exam data, or at least drafting a PR department-approved email letting you know they’re working on it and what your next steps are.
Oh and hey who’s excited for the launch of continuous testing tomorrow? Yayyyyyyyyyy or something.
