VATEUD-Hinders status upgrades

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The topic got your attention? I hope it did!I'm so frustrated at VatEUD at the moment. Its a farce! They implement a procedure for upgrading which is both stupidly over-complex and it doesnt work.Dont know what I'm talking about? 2 exams are required for EACH upgrade,yes thats right-two. One is with VatEUD and then the other with your own ARTCC. My first Question-Why? One exam would surely suffice!Sorry,let me first go through the whole Procedure for upgrading your controller status...for anyone lucky enough to not be restricted to VATEUD's regulations and procedures:1) Apply for the test on the VATEUD website.2) Recieve a test straight away,you answer the multiple choice questions and then send the email back,the answers are checked straight away and you should get a response back within a few hours at most.3)Once that exam is passed,you're eligible for requesting another exam off your Trainning chief in your artcc. But WAIT(!),VatEUD must first let the chief know that you're elgible. Why cant I just forward on the confirmation mail I received?4)About a week later(if you're lucky),you take the test,hopefully pass and then wait for the whole process between an ARTCC and VATEUD HQ to process the upgrade.Seem Complicated? A few Points: 1) The website is down,I have for at least 2 months being trying to request an upgrade to Senior student but every time receive an error(#504 saying I already have a request being processed). I am apparently not alone,all of my colleagues in SATEIR are getting the same error-NO ONE IS ABLE TO EVEN GET PAST STAGE 1. I sent at least 5 emails to VATEUD training department informing them of this error and a month after my last email-I have yet to get a reply. I presume this is because,with such an over-complicated system-they're simply overcome.2) Again,because of this long winded,complicated and resource consuming system,this process can take a lot longer than it should.3)IMO,a STUPID protocol-why is neccassy? It yet again adds more and more time onto a process which should at most take a few days. This stage alone can take up to a week!4)See article 3.My suggestions:Let each ARTCC handle its own upgrade requests,allow the chiefs to upgrade their students. This system reduces time,reduces resource hogging and is overall more user friendly and efficient.You may ask why I've posted this-Its simply because I have no other way of reaching VATEUD,I have sent 5 emails over a 2 month timescale and have yet to get a response-not even an automated one at that!We're are living in the Information technology era...VATUK,VATCAN,VATUSA all seem to have their protocols adjusted to take advantage of the resources available today-Why is VATEUD still stuck in the stone age where everything must be done manually-I mean everything!? Its actually funny-the only automated system they have(upgrade request on their webpage) hasnt worked for months.I ask you...no-I plead you-to "get it togethere" and start acting like a professional oranisation!From a frustrated vatsim user,Johnhttp://www.bavirtual.co.uk 650Hours ;)P 2.53 GHZ512 RAMWINXPGFORCE 4 128MB Ti4600http://vatsim.pilotmedia.fi/statusindicato...tor=OD1&a=a.jpg