I took the toefl ibt in Sept. As expected reading was tough, listening, speaking, writing easy. But I faced a different kind of problem.40 mins of my time were wasted.
As the speaking section starts, the test taker is supposed to answer a question that sets the microphone. In my case the microphone didn't recognize my voice. I tried again without success.Raised my hand for assistance. no one came to assist. I went out of the room and spoke to the supervisor. As per her,my voice wasn't loud enough and asked me to keep trying.
I went back and tried again and again, still no success. The supervisor wouldn't move from her seat, just gave me weird gestures. This time i went back to the supervisor, she said there's nothing she could do. At this point I requested help from an attendant who was standing nearby (her job was to escort students from hall to the supervisors table). I asked her if she could help with this problem. This lady stood near my cubicle as I attempted the microphone testing question. Later,she changed the headset and made adjustments to the microphone. At this point my speech got recognized and the microphone was set.
Due to this delay the test that i was supposed to finish at 2pm, got over at 2:40 pm.
REMEMBER: the toefl bulletin say, raise your hand for assistance, they forgot to mention " DON'T EXPECT ASSISTANCE JUST BECAUSE YOU RAISED HAND).
To the Test Makers:
We students put in lots of time, money and efforts to prepare for the toefl test. Please appoint supervisors who are oriented towards their work. Such cold response affects the test takers and demoralizes.