Review summary

Sterling, A First Advantage Company has room for improvement based on customer feedback, though some mention concerns about customer service and communication.

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CE

Christopher Everett

1 out of 5 stars
Absolutely awful company

Absolutely awful company. I work in a large educational establishment and they keep requesting information from us for a reference. All the information they have given us is literally a name which doesn't exist on our records. We keep replying asking for further information so we can help but they just keep spamming us with the exact same request over and over again. We have replied to 7 of their identical emails so far with no response even though it says to reply if we have a query. We are not signing up to their app to provide the reference as it is our policy not to due to potential phishing or data breaches. I can see why so many people are left waiting for references when they are unwilling to read replies, spam messages with the same utterly useless content or even provide basic information so we can actually write a reference.

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CS

Carolyn Stephens

1 out of 5 stars
I have been waiting for 15 days already…

I have been waiting for 15 days already with no resolution. I have called Sterling several times and they say it’s complete. HR says differently. I have done a lot of work on my end to ensure the information was given. I keep getting the run around from Sterling. I am awaiting clearance and it is extremely frustrating as they do not give the correct information. This has been incompetence

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K

Kisha

1 out of 5 stars
Been 2 weeks for the self enclosed form…

Been 2 weeks for the self enclosed form for a 30 year conviction. No way it takes that long. They need better team to get people working ASAP.

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JW

Jessica Wrotny

1 out of 5 stars
Uneducated

The company is just a complete mess

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Company details

Electronics & Technology

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All reviews

60 total • Write a review

Showing 1 - 20 of 56 reviews
RB

Incredibly disorganised

Incredibly disorganised. The whole team constantly ask for the same material. I have sent the same documents several times over and over. It's been 2 weeks with almost no progress, this has delayed my start date.

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TK

Horrible company just want to take your…

Horrible company just want to take your money. My results came back not clear and then after waiting they wouldn’t refund me the amount I payed. Lady was very inconsiderate. Don’t use this company for your back checks.

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OH

im yet to receive missing items for an…

im yet to receive missing items for an order that I purchased through amazon, asked me for details but then never got back to me

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JE

The worst and most diabolical website…

The worst and most diabolical website and company ever to exist. Never use this they just want ur money and waste your time. Whatever you’re trying to do like apply for a job online or bank it’s genuinely such a rip off. This company needs to go bankrupt ong.

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DD

Sterling background check is the worst…

Sterling background check is the worst experience ever of a background check company, they very incompetent, I had to redo the form many times for a job and they had to rely on me to give them information and addresses and phone numbers of the companies that I worked for in the past, I found them very useless that I had to do my own background check for them.

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JL

Awful

Awful. I’ve had to submit forms via Sterling for 2 jobs so far. They drip-feed requests for information instead of being clear about what they need in one go. Without exaggeration I’ve already spent 2 hours filling out initial forms, then received almost 20 emails so far asking for odd bits of info. Often having to resend things I’ve already uploaded. They often ask you to send documents containing sensitive personal info (e.g. passport and financial details) via email with no security or passwords. Finally it just looks so unprofessional, no branding, banners or logos in the emails so they look a lot like phishing scams. One of my references actually contacted me to ask if it was a scam before they clicked the link in the email. 4 weeks and counting since this process started, with no end in sight….

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KM

This company is horrible avoid at all…

This company is horrible avoid at all cost I have been waiting on a background check for two months my company is losing money daily because of them and nobody wants to help me .. I can’t even contact them unless I email or talk to a automated system on thier website this is the most frustrating thing I have ever experienced and I will give bad reviews on every site until they complete my check I haven’t had anything on my record besides a speeding ticket 9 years ago there is no excuse for this

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LB

They don’t answer emails!

I have been going through a background check with Starling, I have been very responsive to the tasks they sent. At one point my employer asks me to get in contact with Sterling as they were having trouble verifying my educational background- getting in contact with my school, but they did not provide any email to contact Sterling. I called Sterling multiple times, asked for an email so i can share my school’s contact, but I never got an answer, I must have sent over 6 emails but no answer. Meanwhile my employer losing patience and spamming me with emails in order to get my university to get in contact with Sterling, AGAIN WITH NO EMAIL CONTACT or with an email NO ONE RESPONDS TO. This gives me a bad image for my employer getting them to think I am not responsive/efficient!

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CB

Poor communication

Poor communication. Constantly asking for the same information. They must use a workforce from abroad that works off a script. Shocking company and Uber should get rid. Wasted £42 for nothing in return.

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K

Joke of a comapny

Going through a background check like most people here, Mine took 4 weeks and had to be re sent. Zero communication, zero support, zero ability to ask what is going on and why it takes so long. I went through the process 4 years previous and it took 3 days, since then all I've done is gain a degree, so I struggle with why it takes this long, and I still have not heard back.

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CK

I've been trying to get hold of someone…

I've been trying to get hold of someone at Sterling for days now. The first time I used the call back approach. No one called me. The next two times I waited on hold for over 30 mins each time. With no answer. I could hear someone clicking a button to keep putting me on hold every 10ish mins. Personally I would never use this service if I was a business owner.

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AM

Background check applicationapplication…

Receive the application to fill out the forms for my background check. No password was provided when I created a password it was rejected by the system. I had to reset three times before it finally worked. While filling out my information for the application the software was very slow lagged very hard and constantly asked me to fill up the same thing repeatedly without indicating what. I have gaps in employment and when I tried to indicate those gaps it constantly rejected the way that I try to enter them. Then when trying to reach out to the staff regarding the issues with the software there was a whole convoluted way of reaching them through contact us or you could call them and I hate calling people unless I'm getting paid for it! worst company ever!

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W

Poor local knowledge

I'm not sure where Sterling's workers are based but they had trouble understanding some of my employment history. I worked in Northern Ireland for a branch of an Irish company, but they flagged as a mismatch that it was a UK address and P60 tax summary provided. Northern Ireland is part of the UK so there is no issue with this documentation, and the employer was structured on an all-island basis so was an Ireland registered employer. This wouldn't be confusing to someone with local knowledge but is tedious to have to respond to as a candidate (and the way their email was worded would have been seen insensitive by some).

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AW

Not recommended!!

It appears Sterling has operational issues. They asked for the same information twice as their system seemed to have "lost" it. First time I did it on my computer but they only did half of the background checks they were supposed to, but apparently "lost" the rest of my sensitive personal information, and tried to tell me they hadn't actually collected it. I filled in the form, so I know what was provided. They asked me to do the exact same online form a second time. I tried to complete it using my phone as by then I was travelling and without a computer. The form would not allow me to enter a street address on my phone and thus advance through the screens. I had other folks in my group also try thinking maybe it was just me. It was not. Sitting with folks having dinner in a restaurant when they called. I offered to give them the info needed to complete the background check over the phone but they wouldn't or couldn't do this.

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MT

After reading some bad reviews I was…

After reading some bad reviews I was anxious but then I had a good experience as a new hire. In 2 days and half I was cleared. Even after the first day I chatted with them to check the status and they told me exactly what is remaining. I however uploaded everything during my consent to expedite it, paystubs from previous jobs, 1040 form, college degree, so I think that helped somehow

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MM

As a job candidate

As a job candidate, I dealt with Sterling in 2018 and now dealing with them in 2025. They were super slow in 2018 and still slow today. Background check submitted in April and I’m still waiting. I immediately sent them all the education credentials and W-2’s they requested. They’re just super slow and will constantly change your ETA date of completion. At this point I got another job offer, but when I saw they also use Sterling I’m still job hunting. At this point, it’s best to get hired by a company that does not use Sterling.

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MM

I would rate this zero stars as all it…

I would rate this zero stars as all it does is lie to you, they take your money and say they will be 12 to 15 days when it has been over 2 months these frauds have cost me 2 jobs and taking myoney for nothing.

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MP

Calls are recorded for quality…

Calls are recorded for quality services. Well, service is absolutely crap. No person answers, all automated. If you know your parties extension press, etc I was never provided an extension number or a comprehensive report on my back ground screening. I was left with a lot of guesswork work. My SSN screening came back "unperformable" without any reason why this was. Navigating the phone prompts was a nuisance and so was the online bot service. (I understand this is a new trend for non person interaction). I did get a voicemail after endless calls to their directory; a challenging tone, questioning why I would give a zero star. You qualify for a zero star because trafficking people's info for profit" and then not satisfying the consumer needs is a Zero!!

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FM

Hopeless

Hopeless. They contacted me about a former employee by phone. So far so good - I provided them with my e-mail adress and double checked they had written it down correctly. Next thing they e-mail the company's generic e-mail account (rather than me). I respond - it bounces back. I try responding from a different account - it bounces back again. I call them and they give me a different e-mail address to use. Then I get another e-mail to the company's generic e-mail account. I am not going to reply again.

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SS

They have been processing my background…

They have been processing my background check for a month. It’s still not ready to this day. They allowed me to come into America because I was promised that an express tag would be applied to my check which would ensure that is ready by time I got to the United States. However I’ve been here for 4 days now, I have to be staying in a hotel as I can’t move into company housing without a clear background check and they are asking me for all the documents that were previously submitted and accepted. If you want to be stressed out and taken for a fool, use Sterling, that’s the only thing this company guarantees. I’ve never come across a business and a set of associates so unprofessional. They lack empathy and integrity.

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