[shsubearkat]

Good afternoon,

I wanted to share my horrible exam experience with everyone…I scheduled my FAR exam for Saturday May 14th. I began the exam and I feel it’s going pretty well. My testlet started off as Medium – Hard – Hard In the middle of the 3rd testlet (I was on question 20 with 2 flagged) with 2hrs 40 min left on my exam clock (as I skipped all breaks) lightning struck the transformer outside and blew the power to the facility. It has been a nightmare since as I have my audit exam scheduled on June 10th. I’ve been on the phone with Prometric and NASBA all morning…NASBA is saying it may take up to 5 business days to respond to the email. I have all of this FAR knowledge in my brain that I need to test on right now so I can move on to Audit. Has anyone else experienced difficulties like this between the organizations? The prometric site made a report gave us a ticket number told us all we would have to do is call their candidate care phone number and we could be rescheduled but that has not been the case. I contacted the TSBPA they say that from what they can tell I was marked absent and didn’t take the exam…had to send them an email, had to email NASBA and I keep getting the run around. This is beyond frustrating I feel like I just want to EXPLODE!

FAR 80
AUD 79
BEC 7/31

[leglock]

had a similar situation at around the 3:30 mark. All computers froze in the testing center and the power on all was cut off The proctor stated all data was saved in real time, and seemingly it was as when power was restored, I was able to continue on from where I left off. Sounds like your power never came back on to complete the test. Don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but the fact you are showing as absent is not a good sign. These scenarios seem to be very frequent and I'm surprised this issue is not dealt with more comprehensively. It happens too frequently

[Vanessachy]

@shsubearkat, sorry to hear that, that have never happened to me, but I am sure that I would be frustrated.

Far 10/26/2015, 64, 1/4/2016, 82
Reg 7/10/2015, 60, 2/27/2016, 86
Aud, 5/9/2016, 74 (ouch), 7/26/2016, I cannot wait to take this test again
Bec, 6/10/2016, 70,9/8 retake

[shsubearkat]

Yeah it's beyond frustrating. It's showing on the Texas State Board that I was marked absent but I'm guessing on NASBA it doesn't. They can feel free to pull the film, check the finger prints, driver license photo, and the sign in log. It is so crazy that they don't have a contingency in place for all of this! Yeah the power did not come back on in the testing rooms it was about 38 people testing at the time 12 of us stayed 3 hours after the initial incident hoping the power could be restored to the testing room. Everyone scheduled on the 15th was canceled as well and that's one of the busier testing centers in Houston.

FAR 80
AUD 79
BEC 7/31

[Trele6]

I take my tests in Houston, was this at the Harwin location or a different one?

First go at the CPA! Only using Becker
Reg / Nov 2015 - 87
Far / Apr 2016 - 79
Bec / May 2016 - 80
Aud / Aug 2016

[shsubearkat]

@trele6 yep that's the one I was testing at the Harwin location on Saturday.

FAR 80
AUD 79
BEC 7/31

[Sang]

I'm sorry to hear about your situation.
I hope everything works out for you.

I will be taking my test at that location next week also.

FAR: (05/24/16) | (07/15/16) | (10/22/16)
AUD: (09/07/16) | (11/29/16) |
BEC: TBD
REG: TBD
Using Roger CPA Review + Ninja (MCQs, Notes, Audio)

[Jezzie]

I am really surprised they do not have backup generators to keep the testing centers functioning. I would be so infuriated if that happened, especially on FAR. So sorry that happened to you, keep us updated on how they are going to resolve this since the power goes out so frequently around the Houston area.

FAR 2/23/16 76
AUD 5/13/16 69, 7/5/16 87
REG Nov 2016
BEC Sept 6

[shsubearkat]

Thank you everyone! I'll keep you updated. @Jezzie here's the weird part the building was on back up generator but the lightning strike and transformer blow fried the servers and circuits for the testing labs. The suite itself had power and the people onsite tried everything to get the test going again but nothing worked. I don't fault them they did a great job of trying to get everything back up onsite I fault all of these companies (NASBA, TSBPA, and Prometric) none of them had any kind of communication and it seems like they were caught with their pants down….no contingency for this type of thing at all. A 5 day response time is unacceptable especially with something as time sensitive as the CPA exam. I guess I also forgot to add that Prometric rescheduled me for tomorrow then turned around an canceled it because they said I had already began the exam…I was about ready to blow then I told them yes…I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF TAKING THE EXAM WHEN THE POWER WENT OUT! Then the suggested I contact NASBA. I hope no one else has to go through this its utterly ridiculous.

FAR 80
AUD 79
BEC 7/31

[livealittle]

I had a similar issue with it not saving my exam and the testing center people IT people saying they could see an exam at 3:04 pm. I didn't finish until 3:47 pm. I found out later that if I had complained that something was wrong at the center, i could retake as long as I did so before my test was released. This came from one of the partners at my firm who called someone at the AICPA who he served on some board with.

good luck. Keep calling people and see if you can get it rescheduled ASAP. so sorry this happened to you.

I totally agree as big a deal as this test is, something should be in place for situations like this.

BEC - 8/8/16
REG - 66, 77
AUD - 81
FAR - 9/8/16

[Trele6]

Your situation does suck, but try to get the positives out of it. You just saw a good bid of the exam. Which questions gave your trouble, go brush up on those and then go retake it and nail it!

First go at the CPA! Only using Becker
Reg / Nov 2015 - 87
Far / Apr 2016 - 79
Bec / May 2016 - 80
Aud / Aug 2016

[Vanessachy]

@shsubearkat, so what is going to happen? Do you need to wait for the next window to take it? Do you need to pay it again? It would be awful and can destroy your plan.

Far 10/26/2015, 64, 1/4/2016, 82
Reg 7/10/2015, 60, 2/27/2016, 86
Aud, 5/9/2016, 74 (ouch), 7/26/2016, I cannot wait to take this test again
Bec, 6/10/2016, 70,9/8 retake

[Tuthegreat]

i was supposed to take mines sunday. then i went to the test center and it was pitch black. a girl sat there and gave me a card to call..i rescheduled and took mines yesterday…atleast you get to see what was on the exam and retake it. 2 for 1 special..honestly.. i wish the electricity went out on me…that was what i was praying for the whole time

[shsubearkat]

@tuthegreat it's not that simple…that's what's causing this whole ordeal…they were saying because I was in the middle of the exam they can't just reschedule it. I would be find picking up where I left off but of course that wouldn't happen. I don't see it as an advantage because I have another exam coming up in a few weeks that I haven't started studying for yet because I still need to test on FAR. I'm thinking about canceling my audit exam on 6/10 because of this I can't be really prepared for it if I don't get a chance to test this week. This is a freaking nightmare not an advantage at all.

FAR 80
AUD 79
BEC 7/31

[Tuthegreat]

yeah I have AUD on the 8th…score expired summer last year…if i dont pass FAR this window..im screwed cause my REG score expires July..then BEC score expires in Jan (AGAIN…2nd passing score)..i wish these credit never expires..

[Trele6]

The Becker email I got detailing all the changes for 2017 said they were considering increasing the credit lives and possibly allowing you to retake a section in the same window if you failed it. I hope they do make those changes.

First go at the CPA! Only using Becker
Reg / Nov 2015 - 87
Far / Apr 2016 - 79
Bec / May 2016 - 80
Aud / Aug 2016

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