Ok, this whole thread has inspired me to actually follow through with my complaint against the Pearson testing center in central Phoenix. For the record, this one did have a water cooler.
I did bring a drink & a snack. The guy in charge of signing people in had me put my stuff in a janky little basket under the desk, because they were out of lockers. Really? $150 doesn't buy me a locker? Anyway, he said to separate any meds, drinks, snacks I might want to get at during the break & also turn off my cell phone.
At break, the supervisor for the center told me that I couldn't get at any of my personal items. She said that if I insisted, she would document the variance. Of course, I'm not stupid, I'm not going to jeopardize my score over a snack. I told her that no, I wasn't going to access my items, but I would need her name & the name of the guy working the desk earlier. She was insistent that the entire grounds were the "test room," and when I pointed out it said I could get at my stuff during break, she kept pointing at the part about during the test (insisting that the break was also part of the test).
When I finished the test, she had already left for the day, and the gal at the front desk told me that she couldn't release the manager's name, but if I referred to her as "the manager," they would know who I was talking about. Yeah, of course the manager didn't leave that information for me.
I was going to let it go, at least until the test scores came in, & figured perhaps she was right / it wasn't worth my effort to find out otherwise. But this thread proves she was just being a... so & so.
ETA: The reason I share my experience, besides that I will rant to whomever will listen about what a racket Pearson's running, is because I don't want anyone else to be surprised when something like this happens to them. I walked into the next section of the test frustrated, which probably lowered my score on the essay & RC a bit. (Poker players call it "playing on tilt.")
