SCEA Voucher Expiry

[Chris Be]

Guys,

I have the following problem:

I have registered for the SCEA exam using my vouchers. Now I am trying to reschedule my exam beyond the voucher expiry, but BEFORE the expiry of the registration period (valid one year after registration).

According to the voucher conditions in the SCEA FAQ, and the experiences I read from other SCEA takers, this should not be a problem.

However, Prometric referred me to Sun. After the guy I contacted at sun had clarified his confusion of voucher expiry (in my case 31 Jan 08 as per voucher) and the registration expiry (in my case 20 Jan 09 as per registration confirmation), he then sent me back to deal with Prometric.

So it appears that I am being sent around in circles. Does anyone actually have a contact at Sun or Prometric who is across the voucher conditions and has helped before?

I appreciate that ideally you'd complete the all exams and assignments prior to voucher expiry to avoid the problems. But in my case this is not possible.

Thanks for your help.

Chris

[Chris Be]

All,

I am having difficulty proving to Sun the voucher conditions. My voucher is a voucher I received by Email and there are no conditions listed.

Would anyone be able to scan the voucher conditions of their voucher to prove the point?

Thanks a lot, hope I'll have some proof before next Thursday for when my exam is scheduled.

[Swami nathan]

Understand from Sun that voucher's expiry date and registration expiry are tied. Rescheduling of exam beyond voucher's expiry date cannot be done.

This is for vouchers that are directly bought from Sun. Not sure about registering for exam by paying directly through Prometric.

Moderator, please update the FAQ.

[Chris Be]

All,

I think there is a bit of insight I gained from talking to all sorts of people in the meantime.

As it appears, there used to be (back in 2002 or so) a time when an exam
could be taken past the voucher expiry date, provided that it was
within 1 year from registration. The Sun FAQ nowadays clearly states:

 You must register and take your exam prior to the expiration date
of your voucher. Neither Prometric, Authorized Prometric Testing Centers,
nor Sun Microsystems are responsible for vouchers that are not redeemed by
the expiration date.
   

Internally, I know from a Sun insider that the vouchers are provided by a third party, and neither Thomson Prometric nor Sun have any real power over the vouchers whatsoever. Sun only pays that third party, and Thomson Prometric only receives money for each voucher.

So appears that I am in back luck this time, and my voucher will go unused.

Moderator, please update the misleading FAQ. It will save someone else a few hundred bucks.

Chrisbe
[ January 28, 2008: Message edited by: Chris Be ]

[David Brossard]

Hi all,

Just so you know: I bought a Sun voucher that expires Jan 31st 2008. I read somewhere on this forum (or thought I did - I probably misunderstood) that provided you booked the appointment w/ Prometric by the end date, you could then reschedule to a more convenient date after the initial expiry date.

I just had Prometric on the phone: it's not true. I wanted to reschedule my part III to next week. I won't be able to unfortunately...

Just so you're aware.

NB: in general don't leave anything to the last minute. Not good for the nerves at all

This confirms what is said in this thread...

[k space]

Hi all,

I had different experience. My voucher also expires on 31-Jan-2008. I scheduled a test online on 25-Jan-2008, and the test is on 22-Mar-2008. Please note that Prometric only allows you to schelude a test within 8 weeks.

From the status of my exam schedule, it says the registration expiration is on 25-Jan-2009, i.e. one year expiration starting from the day I scheduled the test. That means, I can still reschedule it if I am not ready for the test by 22-Mar.

Please note I did not talk to any persons either from Sun or Prometric, instead I dealt with their computer systems directly.

Hope this helps.
[ January 29, 2008: Message edited by: k shing ]

[Andrew Monkhouse]

Originally posted by Swami nathan:

Understand from Sun that voucher's expiry date and registration expiry are tied. Rescheduling of exam beyond voucher's expiry date cannot be done.

This is for vouchers that are directly bought from Sun. Not sure about registering for exam by paying directly through Prometric.

I have not looked into this in some time - it used to be that different countries had quite different rules. So some countries had vouchers that were only valid for a month, others for 3 months, others for a year. Some countries allowed booked exams to be postponed, others didn't. It would be nice if they have standardized.

Perhaps you could put something in the FAQ stating what the rules are in your country (and stating the country), and if others follow suit then eventually we will have a collaborative document that will be useful for others.

Originally posted by Swami nathan:

Moderator, please update the FAQ.

The FAQ is a Wiki page - feel free to update it as suggested above.

Originally posted by Chris Be:

Moderator, please update the misleading FAQ.

The FAQ is a Wiki page - feel free to update it as suggested above.

Regards, Andrew
[ January 29, 2008: Message edited by: Andrew Monkhouse ]

[David Brossard]

To be specific my experience is based on the fact that I'm a UK resident taking the exam (all parts) in London as part of a CAP package. My Prometric registration also says it expires a year from the first time I booked part III. But the system won't let me see dates after Jan 31st and calling them didn't fool them

Smart people!

Again, I want to stress this is entirely my fault for leaving it up to the last minute (doing diagrams at the moment )

[Chris Be]

Originally posted by k shing:


Please note I did not talk to any persons either from Sun or Prometric, instead I dealt with their computer systems directly.

K, which country are you in? I tried the same, but no matter how clever I think I am, the system will always tell me any date past the expiry date is after the expiry of the voucher. And I have tried to convince it in a gazillion ways, including booking, rescheduling, cancelling, rebooking, rebooking in a different country....

[k space]

K, which country are you in?

I am in Australia. Not sure the country makes a difference, or the voucher itself has different classes - like air ticket.

[Chris Be]

Originally posted by k shing:


I am in Australia. Not sure the country makes a difference, or the voucher itself has different classes - like air ticket.

Hmm, I am in Australia too. My voucher is from the SCEA Accelerator Package, and part of a Sun partner program. Sounds like the fly-and-learn (yours?) may have different restrictions. Or maybe you were just lucky.

[k space]

Originally posted by Chris Be:

maybe you were just lucky.

Definitely the luck, I got my voucher after filling in the SCEA 5 survey - free of charge.

[Ritwika Jain]

That was smart of you Singh. Was it really simple and doable, is what i was wondering at? Is it possible in all countries ?

[Emilian Mihailescu]

Hello,

My voucher is also expiring, I as far as I understood I can not extend this period. Unfortunately I don't have time to learn now .

I think I have a retake option on my voucher. Do you think if I will go like this and I will fail the exam I will be able to use the retake even after the expiration date ?

Best regards

[Bess Moore]

Emilian Mihailescu wrote:
I think I have a retake option on my voucher. Do you think if I will go like this and I will fail the exam I will be able to use the retake even after the expiration date ?

Mind you re-take is also valid within a year. which mean if you brought your voucher on 31st June 08 then your exam + re-take need to be done within 31st June 09.