Re: ISC2 Fee Ripoff

gdesilla · ‎07-10-2019

Hi All, its not often I rant on forums but....

Ethical / Legal / Yes / No ?

Contacted member support and paid my fees for CISSP in March 2019 ($170USD). ISC2 confirmed renewal of certification to March 2020. Numerous mails back and forth to gain assurance CISSP would not be cancelled due to the fee restructure. Emails go unanswered (I'll need to check with IT why we never received your mails excuse). Did not want to renew CCSP only CISSP.

July 2019 - Account Suspended on all certifications.

Bordering on robbery. Can I please have my refund from March 2019 if all my certifications have now been suspended?

Very very disappointed in ISC2. One of the only certifications I actually felt worthy of maintaining.

Scottmage · ‎07-10-2019

This lady posted in another Thread to contact her directly avance@isc2.org

I am having a similar issue and I believe it stems from the fact that date Awarded shows December 31, 9999

I also just paid in May of this year to save $40 per all of the emails I received on the subject.

AlecTrevelyan · ‎07-11-2019

@gdesilla wrote:
Hi All, its not often I rant on forums but....

Ethical / Legal / Yes / No ?

Contacted member support and paid my fees for CISSP in March 2019 ($170USD). ISC2 confirmed renewal of certification to March 2020. Numerous mails back and forth to gain assurance CISSP would not be cancelled due to the fee restructure. Emails go unanswered (I'll need to check with IT why we never received your mails excuse). Did not want to renew CCSP only CISSP.

July 2019 - Account Suspended on all certifications.

Bordering on robbery. Can I please have my refund from March 2019 if all my certifications have now been suspended?

Very very disappointed in ISC2. One of the only certifications I actually felt worthy of maintaining.

This is an error caused by the new AMF system and it's obviously affecting quite a few people including me:

https://community.isc2.org/t5/Member-Support/Erroneous-Member-Profile-Warning/td-p/24627

gdesilla · ‎07-11-2019

Thanks for the link. Looks like an absolute mess.

My verification comes back with no results (out of band of the main dashboard). So they've more than likely suspended mine.

Looking forward to either a reinstatement or a full refund. Honestly cant believe this mess the've made. Credibility gone.

Gary

dcontesti · ‎07-11-2019

For what it's worth.....Sorry to say folks this is not a system error. For those of you that decided to let a cert lapse....read on.....

I carry five different certifications from the organization (CISSP, ISSAP, ISSMP, SSCP and CSSLP) got a bill from the company in March saying I owed $575 in fees according to the new schedule.

So I looked at my certs and said which do not I not need (truth be told, I don't need any of them) and made the decision to let my CSSLP go (that was $200 of the cost). So I called, was told to simply not pay the fees and the cert would lapse (turns out this is bad advice).

So on July 1st, I thought all was good and decided to input / validate some CPEs....only to find that my entire account was locked....not just the CSSLP.

When I questioned this, I was informed that in order for my account to be unlocked / un-suspended, I would need to pay the $200 US for the CSSLP certification and then come 2020, I would only need to pay $125 for all my certs.

I was informed this was policy.....no if's and's or but's about it.

So I paid the additional $200 US and now my account is once again usable.

Also note, I was told that if you do not pay by September 30th, there will be a $600 US reinstatement fee

WHY do I keep highlighting the US dollar fact in my note: I am Canadian and for every dollar that I spend in the US, it costs me an additional 35% depending on the day of the week. So my $575 US bill was closer to $775 CDN and the $200 US outstanding is $275 CDN......and I pay my own fees, the organization that I work for will only pay for one and in my case, I chose a different organization whose fees have always been more.

AppDefects · ‎07-11-2019

@dcontesti wrote:

When I questioned this, I was informed that in order for my account to be unlocked / un-suspended, I would need to pay the $200 US for the CSSLP certification and then come 2020, I would only need to pay $125 for all my certs.

I was informed this was policy.....no if's and's or but's about it.

Yikes! Maybe (ISC)2 should get into the collections business!

emb021 · ‎07-11-2019

Part of the problem, I believe, is in how ISC2 has handled the AMF fees.

Up to now, we paid fees at the end of the 12 month period, so it is money 'owed' to ISC2, so to speak.

With the new fee structure, we are paying 'in advance'. Think in terms of any membership fee. You pay the membership fee, and you are then a member for the next year. Where have you joined a group as a member and paid the fee at the end of the period? But that is basically how the AMF fees were setup.

This was why for many of us it we were paying more to move over to the new structure, because we had to pay all those 'owned' fees. I only have 2 certs, and I had to pay more then I would have liked to to get over to this new scheme.

I think ISC did a poor job on this. I think they should had graced a lot of this, as I have to wonder if they are that strapped for cash.

---
Michael Brown, CISSP, HCISPP, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CRISC, CDPSE, GSLC, GSTRT, GLEG, GSNA, CIST, CIGE, ISSA Fellow

AlecTrevelyan · ‎07-11-2019

@dcontesti wrote:
For what it's worth.....Sorry to say folks this is not a system error. For those of you that decided to let a cert lapse....read on.....
...
...

It was a system error for me, which has thankfully been fixed now:

https://community.isc2.org/t5/Member-Support/Erroneous-Member-Profile-Warning/m-p/25045#M4921

AppDefects · ‎07-11-2019

@emb021 wrote:
I think ISC did a poor job on this. I think they should had graced a lot of this, as I have to wonder if they are that strapped for cash.

Is the organization at risk of insolvency? Are we really strapped for cash? Whose great idea was this? The Board directs leadership right? Shouldn't they be answering these questions? Maybe they are too busy flying to exotic places and fine dining to care about the membership minions.

dcontesti · ‎07-11-2019

@AlecTrevelyan wrote:
@dcontesti wrote:
For what it's worth.....Sorry to say folks this is not a system error. For those of you that decided to let a cert lapse....read on.....
...
...
It was a system error for me, which has thankfully been fixed now:

https://community.isc2.org/t5/Member-Support/Erroneous-Member-Profile-Warning/m-p/25045#M4921

Glad that your issue was not related to a lapsed cert and that it has now been resolved. I think Amanda deserves a huge thank you from all of us.