ProctorU FastPass / Fast Track ending?

[tsimmns]

I must admit I wish I could get one more $9 course. I initially signed up for membership on May 3 and so far have completed 12 credits, with the hope of completing 3 more before the membership expires. I'm debating adding Managerial Accounting (just finished Financial Accounting) because it seems there are no more coupons. I kept using all the ones in the list. While I didn't come out better than others, I did manage to get 3 of the 4 I bought for only $9. I keep trying codes, but I guess since I have used most of them they are not valid or the other ones are expired.

[jessikalauren]

Last I knew for sure, it was $5 if scheduled 72-24 hrs in advance, and $8ish to schedule within 24 hrs. Could be changed now, idk.

This is correct. $5 and $8.75. I gladly paid both for whatever option was available because I was trying to take 10 courses in a month.

But I'm with everyone, I would love for the "Take it Now" option to mean: I'm sitting down and ready to take this exam. But it seems during "peak hours" this is just not feasible. I had more luck with it after 9:30 PM or so, but during the day and in the evenings, forget it.

Here's a hack: I missed one of my finals because I was running late, and when I went in to ProctorU to reschedule it, it was missing from my list of courses. I got in the chat box with ProctorU and explained my situation, and the rep said "are you ready to take it now?" and gave me a link straight into a proctor who looked me up by name/school/course. I really wish I had copied and pasted this link to see if I could just use at as a bypass straight into a proctored exam.

[a2jc4life]

I paid $12 for the "Take it Now" option this week. IMO, that's a bit ridiculous, given that they're only scheduling proctor slots they already have otherwise just sitting unused. :/

I would much rather *not* have to schedule 3 days out, because I have both health issues and five children here that make it hard to plan to have everything settled and ready 3 days in advance, but an extra $12/test could really add up.

[davewill]

I paid $12 for the "Take it Now" option this week.  IMO, that's a bit ridiculous, given that they're only scheduling proctor slots they already have otherwise just sitting unused. :/

I would much rather *not* have to schedule 3 days out, because I have both health issues and five children here that make it hard to plan to have everything settled and ready 3 days in advance, but an extra $12/test could really add up.

That's the point. They're having to schedule proctors who might end up just sitting. Your fees have to help cover the inefficiency.

[a2jc4life]

They'd do better to fix their logistical problems that result in testing slots taking longer than necessary, and/or streamline the check-in process. It's not uncommon for it to take me longer to get through all the "intro" stuff with them than it does to take the actual test. Multiply an extra 10 or 15 minutes a test over hundreds of tests, and that REALLY adds up.

[davewill]

I'm sure that improving their logistics would be helpful, but you seem to completely not understand that allowing "on-demand" proctoring means extra expense for proctors on-duty or on-call.

[a2jc4life]

I'm not stupid, and you're being kind of condescending. The point is, they don't HAVE "on-demand" proctoring. They have the ability to schedule a test for a slot that happens to already be available, when their proctors are already there, not just whenever you want. The barbershop doesn't charge you more for a haircut when you get it as a walk-in, because you didn't make an appointment. Why? Their barbers are already there and being paid for a particular stretch of time. But by being a walk-in rather than having made an appointment, you have to deal with the fact that you might *not* get your haircut right away; you might have to wait ten minutes or fifteen minutes, or an hour, depending on how many appointments they already had during that stretch, and how many people walked in ahead of you.

ProctorU is already paying proctors. I would guess they probably work through particular shifts, which means as long as they're there, they're THERE. I would also guess that they already have to schedule "buffer time" because some sessions take longer than others to set up. And end up with extra buffer time when someone registers for, say, a 3-hour exam and then finishes it in 45 minutes. If I scheduled a 3-hour exam they set aside 3 hours for me. If I then only required 45 minutes to finish the test, they now have a 2-hour block they could offer to someone taking a shorter exam. Thus making the original exam fee for those 2 hours of the 3-hour block, plus the new exam fee for the 2-hour block, PLUS a hefty fee on top of that.

If they had truly "on demand" proctoring, I might buy the idea that the fee is really needed, but that's not what's happening here.

[dfrecore]

I'm sure that improving their logistics would be helpful, but you seem to completely not understand that allowing "on-demand" proctoring means extra expense for proctors on-duty or on-call.

I agree with Rachel, how is this an extra expense?  If my company is paying me to be there from 8-5, and I'm sitting doing nothing, then they are wasting money.  If someone wants to schedule a test for the time I'm already sitting there, not doing anything, then in all actuality, they are doing the company a favor by paying a testing fee.  To then charge extra for something when a time slot is open is just silly.  They are actually saying "I'd rather pay this guy $10/hr to sit there and do nothing, than to get a $25 fee and pay the guy $10/hr to do something!"

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They'd do better to fix their logistical problems that result in testing slots taking longer than necessary, and/or streamline the check-in process.  It's not uncommon for it to take me longer to get through all the "intro" stuff with them than it does to take the actual test.  Multiply an extra 10 or 15 minutes a test over hundreds of tests, and that REALLY adds up.

I 100% agree!  The amount of time I'm sitting there diddling my thumbs while they are getting a proctor, transferring me to someone else, having me show my ID even though I've already shown it, etc. is ridiculous.

They definitely need to come up with a more streamlined approach to this whole thing.  The amount of time wasted is stupid.

[davewill]

I'm quite sure that if they didn't have "take it now" they wouldn't have any open slots, they'd only schedule the proctors they absolutely needed. Nobody pays people to "sit there".

[dfrecore]

I'm quite sure that if they didn't have "take it now" they wouldn't have any open slots, they'd only schedule the proctors they absolutely needed. Nobody pays people to "sit there".

I'm thinking that if someone cancels (which probably happens quite often, I've rescheduled MANY times at the last minute), then the proctor has a time slot that is open.  At that point, it's too late for someone to schedule the time slot.  So it would just sit there unused.