- #1
Jack21222
- 212
- 1
I am so angry right now that my hands are shaking as I type this. Let me give you a timeline of events:
August 3rd, 2011: I take the general GRE, which comes with 3 free score reports. After the test, I select the University of Maryland as one of my free reports, and I select that both general and subject tests are to be sent.
October 15th, 2011: I take the subject GRE.
November 2nd: General GRE scores come out
November 12th: Subject scores come out. At this point, the My GRE website shows the following:
Note that it says "GS" under scores requested, which means both general and subject. So naturally, I assume that both the general and the subject scores will be sent out.
January 15th: I submit my application to the University of Maryland. They claim that I am missing my subject test score, but they have in capital letters to NOT email the admissions department about missing items until 3 weeks after the application is submitted.
February 5th: 3 weeks have passed since I submitted my application, and it still says I'm missing my subject score. I email the admissions department.
February 6th: The admissions department tells me that they do not have my subject score.
One hour ago: I call ETS to see why they did not send out my score. Their answer: I requested the subject score too early, so when they sent out the score report, the subject test wasn't processed yet. It is their policy to never send out the subject score when it becomes available unless it is requested, and it doesn't matter that I did request it, because I didn't request it a second time.
So, it doesn't matter that I get a free score report (three, actually), and that I requested the free score report before I took the subject test. Because I requested it TOO far in advance (at the end of the general test), they refused to send the subject score. This is all despite the fact that their website says both the general and subject tests were requested to be sent out.
So, I ask them to please send out the report to University of Maryland. "No," they respond. It's too late now, and I'd have to pay their 23 dollar fee for them to send it out. I argue with the person for a few minutes that this is a service that I paid for in my test fee, and it is a service that I requested and wasn't completed. He won't budge, so I ask to speak to his supervisor.
His supervisor argues with me for 20 minutes about how it's my fault that I didn't read the legalese buried in their website somewhere that I'd have to request the subject test a second time. She refuses to give me a one-time customer accommodation and send out the test score free of charge (as I was entitled too.) She then claims that if I had called in, say, December, she might have made an exception for me and sent out the report, but February is too late. This is despite the fact that I would have had NO WAY OF KNOWING that they did not send out the subject test score, because the website says I requested both the subject and general to be sent. I naively assumed that meant they actually sent out the subject and general test.
I ask to speak to the person above the supervisor, and she claims that there is nobody else I can speak to. I end the call with a parting shot about wondering what a small claims court judge would think of their policy.
The worst part is that it would cost them practically nothing to send out the scores. Much of this is done electronically, so with the click of a button, Maryland would be able to see my score. Because they're trying to milk me out of something that I already paid for, they refuse to do this to make my life easier. Instead, I'm likely to be rejected from Maryland because of an "incomplete application" that is only incomplete because of some arcane policies imposed by this monopolistic corporation.
The worst part about this is that the ETS is a non-profit organization, so they don't even have to pay taxes on how badly they're ripping off their customers here, and as a monopoly, there's nowhere else that I could take my business (not that I'm ever taking another GRE), and this rant will be meaningless, because there is no other competitor to which future test-takers could go. What are they going to do, just skip grad school because the ETS is a corrupt den of non-profit thieves? At least with the SAT, you can choose to take the ACT instead. I am aware of no alternative with the GRE.
I've emailed the University of Maryland explaining my situation, and I've asked if they'd accept an unofficial score report (a screenshot of my scores). I'll probably see tomorrow what they say, but I expect them to say no. They have far too many other well-qualified applicants that the ETS didn't screw over to go through.
That comment about small claims court might not even be an empty threat. I feel that they did not live up to their end of their agreement, and this caused my application fee to Maryland to be wasted. I feel I'm entitled to a refund of my subject test fee as well as be reimbursed for the application fee to Maryland.
Any advise for me? Any other ETS horror stories to share?
I guess that I'll just conclude with this: If you or somebody you know ever has the opportunity to take the ACT rather than the SAT, go for it. Avoid giving ETS any of your money when possible.
August 3rd, 2011: I take the general GRE, which comes with 3 free score reports. After the test, I select the University of Maryland as one of my free reports, and I select that both general and subject tests are to be sent.
October 15th, 2011: I take the subject GRE.
November 2nd: General GRE scores come out
November 12th: Subject scores come out. At this point, the My GRE website shows the following:
Note that it says "GS" under scores requested, which means both general and subject. So naturally, I assume that both the general and the subject scores will be sent out.
January 15th: I submit my application to the University of Maryland. They claim that I am missing my subject test score, but they have in capital letters to NOT email the admissions department about missing items until 3 weeks after the application is submitted.
February 5th: 3 weeks have passed since I submitted my application, and it still says I'm missing my subject score. I email the admissions department.
February 6th: The admissions department tells me that they do not have my subject score.
One hour ago: I call ETS to see why they did not send out my score. Their answer: I requested the subject score too early, so when they sent out the score report, the subject test wasn't processed yet. It is their policy to never send out the subject score when it becomes available unless it is requested, and it doesn't matter that I did request it, because I didn't request it a second time.
So, it doesn't matter that I get a free score report (three, actually), and that I requested the free score report before I took the subject test. Because I requested it TOO far in advance (at the end of the general test), they refused to send the subject score. This is all despite the fact that their website says both the general and subject tests were requested to be sent out.
So, I ask them to please send out the report to University of Maryland. "No," they respond. It's too late now, and I'd have to pay their 23 dollar fee for them to send it out. I argue with the person for a few minutes that this is a service that I paid for in my test fee, and it is a service that I requested and wasn't completed. He won't budge, so I ask to speak to his supervisor.
His supervisor argues with me for 20 minutes about how it's my fault that I didn't read the legalese buried in their website somewhere that I'd have to request the subject test a second time. She refuses to give me a one-time customer accommodation and send out the test score free of charge (as I was entitled too.) She then claims that if I had called in, say, December, she might have made an exception for me and sent out the report, but February is too late. This is despite the fact that I would have had NO WAY OF KNOWING that they did not send out the subject test score, because the website says I requested both the subject and general to be sent. I naively assumed that meant they actually sent out the subject and general test.
I ask to speak to the person above the supervisor, and she claims that there is nobody else I can speak to. I end the call with a parting shot about wondering what a small claims court judge would think of their policy.
The worst part is that it would cost them practically nothing to send out the scores. Much of this is done electronically, so with the click of a button, Maryland would be able to see my score. Because they're trying to milk me out of something that I already paid for, they refuse to do this to make my life easier. Instead, I'm likely to be rejected from Maryland because of an "incomplete application" that is only incomplete because of some arcane policies imposed by this monopolistic corporation.
The worst part about this is that the ETS is a non-profit organization, so they don't even have to pay taxes on how badly they're ripping off their customers here, and as a monopoly, there's nowhere else that I could take my business (not that I'm ever taking another GRE), and this rant will be meaningless, because there is no other competitor to which future test-takers could go. What are they going to do, just skip grad school because the ETS is a corrupt den of non-profit thieves? At least with the SAT, you can choose to take the ACT instead. I am aware of no alternative with the GRE.
I've emailed the University of Maryland explaining my situation, and I've asked if they'd accept an unofficial score report (a screenshot of my scores). I'll probably see tomorrow what they say, but I expect them to say no. They have far too many other well-qualified applicants that the ETS didn't screw over to go through.
That comment about small claims court might not even be an empty threat. I feel that they did not live up to their end of their agreement, and this caused my application fee to Maryland to be wasted. I feel I'm entitled to a refund of my subject test fee as well as be reimbursed for the application fee to Maryland.
Any advise for me? Any other ETS horror stories to share?
I guess that I'll just conclude with this: If you or somebody you know ever has the opportunity to take the ACT rather than the SAT, go for it. Avoid giving ETS any of your money when possible.
