Monday, November 9, 2026 · Customer reviews of US businesses
The Fair Hearing score
Great
3,953 reviews
Sterling, A First Advantage CompanySelect a line to read only those reviews.
Honesty, pricing, process and quality scores appear once 5 customers have rated them.
Sterling was acquired by First Advantage on October 31st, 2024. First Advantage (NASDAQ: FA) is a leading provider of employment background screening, identity, and verification solutions. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, First Advantage performs screens in over 200 countries and territories. Visit the Company’s website at https://fadv.com/.
Sterling, A First Advantage Company (sterlingcheck.com) has 3,953 customer reviews on The Fair Hearing, with an average rating of 4.1 out of 5.
Showing 742 reviews with 1 star · Clear filters
Sterling has very poor customer service. I rang so many times regarding an issue and they were not useful at all. I also rang so many times waited on the line 1-2hours to get a answer but they pick the phone up and hung up on me.
By Shapla A.
I called this company today and I must say the customer service lady named Lisa was very helpful, and she was very polite. I'll give her five stars, we need more people like her in this world during this time of this pandemic plus it was a blessing to know that there are still some people out here that care enough to make your day a blessed day as well as their own. Thank you so much Lisa for being such a good help and a pleasant person.
By A happy C.
This company wanted all my W2s from all the companies I worked for and that information is PII so I refused. They also wanted check stubs from those same companies whose payroll was all online and I lost access to those accounts when I left those companies so I said I could not supply them. Their questions are more intrusive than the Financial Disclosure forms required by government agencies. They are also crossing the line on PII because that has my SSN and financial information.
By Ronald P.
The representative was supposed to email me and never did. I have no way of contacting that representative again, so now I will have to go through the whole process of explaining everything to a new representative. And before I spoke to the rep. that didn't email me- not that it was her fault- I got disconnected from the call, there should be a way to look up the rep I just spoke to if you get disconnected, because honestly I think she was doing a more through job than the rep that didn't email me.
By Emily T.
Terrible background check company. First time I had to use it and I hope last. They had some ‘discrepancies’ on my report based on information they weren’t able to find, that is not my problem, especially when I provided all documentation that they asked, if you need more proof ask for it but don’t just go by the first try. They can ruin lots of employment opportunities like they did with me.
By AKC10
terrible processing, i was supposed to start my job a week ago but their slow actions have delayed my start date and caused me a bug headache!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not impressed, never a good idea to out source customer service. very foolish
By Matthew G.
They do not speak English very well and they transferred me to several different people and STILL didn't resolve my issue.
By Robert M.
Not only could I barely understand the customer service representative, he could barely understand me and there was always a huge pause in between questions and replies. He was not able to assist me with anything I needed answers to or more information about and I ended up hanging the phone up. Very aggravating
By Stephanie G.
