71-663 beta exam update

Thanks for the info. For those of us who still get to do the beta though (or already have), does this mean it will be longer till the results are made available or will they still likely be around the same time as when the finalised exam goes live?

Also, am I the only one that never got a score report in the mail for the 71-662 beta exam? I know I passed as my Prometric and MS transcripts confirm, but it's always nice to know how much of a pass it really was!

[...] story and details: here Posted: 7 Dec 2009 12:12 PM by Sander van den Burg | with no comments Filed under: Exchange 2010, [...]

Another week, another MSL fail. Expect next green fail tomorrow.

[...] [...]

Take a deep breath, let it out.

I'm sure everyone here knows the feeling that accompanies the realization that something just 'went' wrong. Personally I think there's been way to much whining here recently. The professionals at MSL have taken a tremendous amount of flak over policy changes that are obviously beyond their scope of responsibility or ability to change. They’re just the messengers getting shot. So when something comes up that was an actual error on their part they get a response that is disproportional to the issue.

I think a free voucher is a huge coup for this kind of error. I would have simply said sorry your beta exam is cancelled; your input is no longer needed for this test.

Here’s your cookie.

For folks who have already taken it, should they expect to get results or might they also get calls saying they'll have to re-do it once out of beta? Thanks for the update!

While I did not take this beta exam, I appreciate that you have "owned up" to the mistakes. I can only imagine how hard this can be in such a public forum. Congratulations MSL on realizing the impact this can cause, and handling the situation with pride.

I was one of those bumped! Except Prometric never bothered to contact me! - My good friend @markmorow asked me to check my registration status and where I was signed up for an exam on the 21st, poof it had disappeared!

I guess Prometric didn't feel it necessary to inform me of my consequences, even though I registered within minutes of registration going live! doh!

Hey, you guys are human and make mistakes too. You did the right thing by taking care of the over-alotment folks that had registered. Very happy to hear that "Microsoft Learning reads EVERY comment"!

Ouch! And that's me saying :-(
I took a day off and drove 30 miles this morning to take this beta exam ... only to find it blocked! It was there and I actually started the test ... and then an error message appeared stating that I was trying to do the exam on a date prior to the first available day (1st December). Today is the 7th. This exam had been scheduled since Nov 20th. *Puzzled* was the least I could say then.

A couple phone calls later, I have Prometric's Candidate Care line saying they're sorry but it was a Microsoft mistake and that Microsoft (yes, that’s right, they said Microsoft) will contact me explaining the situation, and I'll get a free voucher to take the final exam, again, from Microsoft.

People, this things happen. It sucks they do, believe me, I know, but they are a life’s fact. And yes, a "sorry, we made a mistake" was all one could demand from Microsoft.

That said, I really hope next time (I guess we can count there might be a next time, errors are always going to be around) someone (either Prometric or Microsoft) contacts the candidates ASAP and avoid the useless trips and lost time to everyone.

So far I have a Prometric person telling me Microsoft will contact me and compensate the issue … and a Microsoft blog telling me that Prometric will contact me and compensate the issue. What will it be, then? I’ll take the call/email from either one.
I guess the fun is far from over on this one :-P

But I took the time out, I prepared, I went to the Prometric testing center and all that does have some costs associated, so I think it's also sensible from Microsoft to acknowledge that effort.
Enters the free voucher.
Somehow I don’t feel overcompensated, but I’ not felling disappointed either. It comes across me as a fairly decent outcome for such a mundane issue.

And folks, that’s one of the reasons I’m gladly willing to spare some of my time to Microsoft: in the end, it has always been a win situation for me, all the way through. Even when Microsoft makes mistakes, I end up on the winning party.
(I might have to revisit that last part if that sweet voucher doesn’t come true, though ;-) )

Thanks Microsoft, and don't let the ocassional error take a toll bigger than it should.

I also didn't get a score report for 71-662 yet. Prometric told me a problem occurred while trying to print out my report. That was a week after I first e-mailed them about a report, and it's been a month since their feedback without hearing anything from them. It'd be nice to know how I did on the TS exam while preparing for the PRO one--would be sad if all that got hung up by a paper jam or the dreaded PC Load Letter problem, but I'm not holding my breath. ;)

Back on-topic: if I were one of the people who were dropped off the beta list, I would have initially been annoyed (synonym for a stronger word), too, but the promise of a voucher for the live version of the PRO exam seems to be pretty good compensation. I hope for all who need it that the voucher program goes through without any kinks.

Looks like I was bumped too, don't mind that much though since I did not start preparing yet. Now I can focus on the virtualization exam :)

The explanation helped to clarify all the "behind the scenes" work that MS Learning has to go through in order to put out quality exams that are relevant to job requirements, all in spite of resource constraints and cost cutting. I believe that beyond the initial frustrations, the majority of the beta testing community appreciates that fact.

A major reason why Exchange has been able to dominate the market is that there are knowledgeable resources out there to support the product and I am of the opinion that education and certification is a major component of that success.

Thank God for Twitter. It was there that I found out that my exam was canceled. Where the heck is my cancellation notification?!?

I guess when you say, "Prometric will unfortunately be contacting some candidates..." you mean that not all candidates whose exams were canceled will be contacted. Nice.

That's two FAILs in one week. I think a free voucher is in order.

Went to your #Microsoft exam and found it was canceled? Go to http://www.prometric.com/appeals for expenses reimbursement.