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Business Profile

Transcription Services

American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers

This business is NOT BBB Accredited.

Find BBB Accredited Businesses in Transcription Services.

Complaints

Customer Complaints Summary

  • 3 total complaints in the last 3 years.
  • 0 complaints closed in the last 12 months.

If you've experienced an issue

Submit a Complaint

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

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Complaint status

Complaint type

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:04/04/2024

    Type:Customer Service Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    Their "certification exam" is a way for the AAERT to scam professionals out of money.
    I took the practical exam, and I received a score of 97.4%, which is barely below passing. Some of the feedback was so vague that I couldn't make sense of it, and the rest contradicted the Best Practices Guide. I asked for more information several times, and they refused to answer. The only feedback they gave was the snarky response, "We suggest you retake the exam." Well, obviously. In other words, please give us $95 and play this game again. I knew I passed the exam. If I was correct about even ONE of the contradictions, that clearly would have put me over 98%. Still, I studied AGAIN and retook the exam.

    This time, I got an even lower score. The feedback this time was almost laughable. It directly contradicted the actual TEMPLATE that AAERT tells you to use. When I asked to clarify, their response was basically that it's the responsibility of the test taker to study all kinds of materials and choose what info to use (huh???).

    I have been in the field of legal transcription for years. I have been the manager of quality control, written entire style guides for companies, trained new transcribers, and graded exams. The field of legal transcription is about word accuracy and applying specifications. How can one apply specifications if there aren't any clear specifications?

    I have now paid $520 to this organization, not including membership fees, and I have nothing to show for it. I am actually worse off now. In addition to the lost money, I am losing one of my contract jobs (despite being the highest rated proofer in the company). It is a shame that companies still consider this organization to be credible.

    The real kicker is that there is no appeal process. They say you can submit an appeal within 5 days of taking the exam, but they don't send your score for AT LEAST 7-8 days. In other words, it's a game and a scam.

    Business Response

    Date: 04/04/2024

    AAERT certification exams are taken by over 1,000 candidates each year. Examination instructions are provided on the AAERT website at ********************************************************** ****************************************************** *** *****************************************************Due to the critical need for an extremely accurate record of court proceedings, where the court transcript is the official legal record, the Certified Electronic Transcriber (CET®) Practical Exam, taken by about 200 candidates each year, is one of the most stringent. The scoring of the exam is performed by two (2) subject matter experts following the Federal Court Format. The average pass rate for the CET® Practical is  50% and there are currently 270 holders of the CET® credential.Candidates have five (5) business days after receiving their official score report to appeal their scores. Each appeal is reviewed by an additional two (2) subject matter experts as well as the CET Practical Examination Committee Chair.AAERT does not require any specific type of exam preparation or training, and the exams are not based on any single reference. AAERT credentialing programs and examinations are based on an Exam Specifications “blueprint.” The blueprints govern the competency requirements for each credential and provide the outline of topics for the examinations. Examination questions are developed from the blueprints and applicants should base their examination study on the blueprint.AAERT publishes and offers for sale a Best Practices Guide, which covers a wide range of professional standards. Candidates are not required to purchase or use the guide in order to qualify for or take the certification examination. PLEASE NOTE: As standards change and the profession evolves, some of the information in the guide may become outdated.As a courtesy to individuals interested in taking a certification examination, AAERT may publish on its website a list of courses and/or approved schools for examination preparation of which it is aware. AAERT does not endorse any specific person, product, resource, or service as a means of preparing for or achieving certification. Candidates are encouraged to plan their own course of study by reviewing the examination blueprint, identifying any areas of weakness, and securing the necessary resources to adequately prepare for the examination.

    Customer Answer

    Date: 04/05/2024

    Better Business Bureau:

    I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
    They have not addressed the specific issues in my complaint. If they are still unwilling to do so, then I would like to appeal BOTH scores. The ability to appeal within 5 days of the score was not the information listed on the website, so I was not able to appeal the first score. I did, however, try to ask about the details and received no response. 

    Regards,

    ****** ******

    Business Response

    Date: 04/08/2024

    AAERT will process your appeal and forward your exams to the CET Practical Exam Committee for their review and re-scoing.

    Regards, James

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:05/23/2023

    Type:Customer Service Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    I purchased an Exam for the CER Certification. I had to pay $275 and when I tried to log in for the practice exam (per their email instructions) the proctor from overseas clicked on my actual test. When I asked him if this would cause an issue on my test date he assured me it would not. When I logged on to take the exam, I got an error telling me it was no longer available and I need to purchase the test again. I called their number over 10 times, left several voicemails, emailed and chatted and got no response. The proctor had no clue how to help me. In fact, after he told me to open a chat support window on the site, he kept taking control of my mouse so I couldn't click on things. The fact that I am paying hundreds of dollars to take this test and cannot get any sort of real time support is unacceptable. I work in a courtroom, I don't have the luxury to just log on later. I had this scheduled and blocked out in my calendar for WEEKS and now I can't even get a response from them to help me.

    Business Response

    Date: 05/24/2023

    Original Email and Voicemail was responded to within 24 hours.

  • Initial Complaint

    Date:04/18/2023

    Type:Customer Service Issues
    Status:
    Answered
    Resolved:
    The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.
    Unresolved:
    The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.
    Answered:
    The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.
    Unanswered:
    The business failed to respond to the dispute.
    Unpursuable:
    BBB is unable to locate the business.
    I was scheduled to take a proctored CDR test on 4/18. They use a company called ********. These proctors are overseas and have no idea what they’re doing. I’ve taken proctored test before but this company ******** is horrible. The proctor who had control of my screen accidentally closed out of the exam as soon as it started and had no way of getting back in. The proctor claimed they tried to reach out to AAERT but to no avail. I just tried calling several times and received no response. I left a voicemail, email, and a ******** message. I paid 275 dollars to take this exam and the fact that there is no way to get in touch with someone in a timely manner in case of situations like this is beyond ridiculous. I need someone to assist me right away. I have saved all the proctor messages as my proof of what took place. Thank you.

    Business Response

    Date: 05/05/2023

    The issue has been resolved with the complainant to their satisfaction.

American Association of Electronic Reporters and Transcribers is NOT a BBB Accredited Business.

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