HireRight  Reviews 709

Poor communication

Relentlessly I tried. I told the csr (Jahnomi) the problem > I could not recall the dates of my previous residency. He could not understand what I was asking. He comes back to tell me the reason it's not accepting my info is because I only provided 5 yrs of residency. I told him I know, I am asking what do I do to get the system to accept my information. After 2 hours of trying, he tells me to reach out to my future employer. I did, she tells me it doesn't have to be exact dates. I told her I tried 3 times. HireRight was not accepting it. I called HiredRight, I was on hold for 16 minutes then call hung up.
There goes a possible job for me.
Unbelievable! I have the chat transcript should I need it.

OMG I passed million background checks in UK and US they are dwelling on my school diploma for a few years when I studied in Ukraine. They are not interested in anything else. I passed all background checks for law firms and green card but they are dwelling on my school and realky interests in Ukraine. This is for review in US.

This company takes so long to reply that's if you do get a reply. I've been going through checks now for nearly 3 weeks. Sent all the documents and then when they finally get back (another person that is) they ask for the same stuff I've already sent?? At one stage it was completed then over a week later they re opened it. They don't seem to use their brains where it corresponds to certain documents.

If your potential employer is using this company to do your background checks for them, buckle up because you are in for a wild ride. Asking for uploaded documents multiple times. Sending references questionnaires most of whom won't understand and many more. Just go over other reviews. I believe there is a pattern for poor experience with their services. Btw, I have bought many products off the internet but I have never seen anything get a 1-star review so you get the idea.

Worst and most unprofessional background checking service I've ever have the privilege to bring a part of. They move at a snails pace, rely on you to do everything for them, and then when something doesn't match up with "their database" they assume the discrepancy is a truth and don't do anything additional to resolve the matter. Entire background team is outsourced overseas. Absolutely useless service. Companies should not be paying for this.

Terrible, lengthy, frustrating experience with this referencing company. The whole process took 3 weeks, there were unnecessary roadblocks and no clear method of communication. At times my queries went unanswered, and their requests would disappear without explanation.

They just don't know what they are doing. Absolutely pathetic. Their agents have no knowledge. The all share different pieces of information. They will confirm something one day and the next day go back on it. They won't do updates in the system. They give incorrect information. Multiple follow ups required. Candidates have lost jobs because they keep sitting on background checks. I have no idea how they are even surviving in this day and age. I can go on and on about the issues I have faced with this company. I would never ever recommend them to anyone. It's so frustrating.

Unhelpful ,rude spreading fake laws. They gave 1 day deadline to the company to reply and their communications look suspicious like spams.

Only putting one star because I cannot select zero. What a complete pain this company is. Hopefully businesses quit
using this trash.

Wow, the poor CLIENTS and people trying to get hired.

i am a former employer, being contacted for verification (ie: HireRight's whole job is this interaction)

the rep did not know why they were calling me - - i was asked for my CLIENT ID - -i am not the client ...i am a former employer of one of their subject background check jobs (again , their whole reason for existing) - - the rep said - ok we could hang up now!!! they finally reached a former employer willing to do a verification, and they try to hang up before starting.

if you need background check services, never hire this company. obviously nobody reads these reviews ...but just in case. no matter how cheap it is, dont do it.

My experience with HireRight was extremely frustrating and disappointing. The entire process felt disorganized and inefficient. They repeatedly asked for documents that I had already uploaded multiple times, which clearly shows a lack of coordination on their end.

What made it worse was being asked to provide information that can easily be found online with a simple search. For a company that specializes in background checks, it’s shocking that they expect candidates to repeatedly supply basic information instead of doing proper verification themselves.

The constant back-and-forth, repeated document requests, and unnecessary questions caused delays and a lot of frustration. The process felt unprofessional and poorly managed. A company responsible for background screening should have a much more efficient and competent system in place.

I wish I could give them -10 stars. It’s an absolute horror show. The most incompetent and worst company I’ve ever had the nightmare of dealing with… They constantly ask for the same information and documents numerous times. They expect you to do their work for them and everything takes so long that your start date at your new job has now passed before the checks are completed. Awful Awful Awful.

Rude Staff. They don't put in any effort to resolve issues, I had to spend hours trying to get one random country criminal background check to come back, even though I have no record. They held up my start date.

This company is a horrible service company. They make you go back and forth for information and delay your process to be hired. They expect you to do all their work, they literally get paid to ask you for all the documents they need to do their own research for. They make you go through hell and never have completed information.

Very unprofessional service by HireRight. I don’t understand why companies are still using their services after all the applicants bashing out their frustrations out there.

They don’t care for your time. For every single information they waste 48 hours, if weekend comes that it goes to 96 hours to someone work on the request. They don’t bother to check all the information provided before updating the case and after they made the update they won’t check again for 24 hours !

It’s horrible out there. I feel lost and helpless.

My experience with HireRight has been disappointing.

The screening process takes an excessive amount of time, with very limited transparency about what is actually happening. You receive little insight into the status of the checks or why additional documentation is being requested.

I was also asked multiple times to provide information that I had already submitted earlier in the process. This repetition makes the process feel disorganized and unnecessarily prolonged.

What stood out most is the lack of contextual judgment. In my case, this concerned a graduate intern position. Nevertheless, the process felt like a generic checklist being applied without considering whether certain requests were proportionate or relevant to the role, like boarding passes to prove I travelled during a gap year. There seems to be no distinction between screening an intern and screening for a senior, high-risk position.

Overall, the process feels rigid, inefficient, and poorly tailored to individual circumstances.

My case was handled in the most unprofessional and horrible way by HireRight. I'm mentioning a few examples here -
1) My background verification case was returned to me for clarification because I had mentioned the name of one of my technical certification as "ABCD-Enterprise" and the background checker found the certification is called "ABCD Enterprise". The only difference was a hyphen/dash "-". Can you imagine?!!
2) The background checker was asking for clarifications and sending this case back to me multiple times for the same document which could have been asked at the same time instead of sending this case back and forth multiple times. For example, when I was contracting through the agency called "ABC XYZ Talent", first I was asked to provide the lastest copy of the contract and later I was asked again to provide the first copy of the contract, which could have been asked altogether at the same time, to reduce the waste of time by sending this case back and forth!!
3) I was asked to provide the details of when someone will be present at an address where I lived more than 15 years ago!! That was more than 15 years ago and I was renting that place and have no details of the person anymore from whom I was renting. I don't even know if the same person still owns that place or not? I would have liked to know, the person who asked for this information from me, if they themselves know all the details of where they were living more than 15 years ago!!
4) Also, after a certain instance of sending my case back and forth, I was no longer getting notification emails when my case was assigned back to me requesting clarifications or documents. So there was no way for me to know if my case was sitting idle on me to provide the details they were looking for. Who would have so much time in their hand to login to HireRight portal once every hour to check if the case is assigned to me looking for some information? I feel this was done deliberately from their end to purposefully delay the case citing the reason that the candidate has delayed in producing the requested information. This is one of the worst ways to operate, shame on HireRight!
If this is the quality of background verification by HireRight, then I have to say that this is one of the worst background verification company that I have ever come accross in my entire career. I wonder how they continue to keep customers and clients with such horrible quality of service!

My experience with HireRight has been frustrating due to poor communication and a baffling 30-day delay in reporting a lost specimen. I completed all requirements by January 15, yet I was only notified on February 19 that my initial drug test sample was missing.

It is difficult to understand how a specimen can be "lost" for an entire month without the candidate being notified, especially when I was told on Feb 13 that the process was "automated" and nearly finished.

This lack of transparency forced my employer to postpone my start date three times. While the customer support team is accessible via chat, they were unable to provide any concrete ETAs or identify the missing specimen issue until it was far too late. I recommend that future candidates stay extremely persistent in following up, as the system's "Completed" status may not reflect the actual state of your requirements.

I’ve had an extremely frustrating experience with HireRight. Despite being a background check company with the ability to access verification services through the Social Security Administration and IRS (services they could pay for and automate), they instead push the burden entirely onto the candidate.

I’ve received over 40+ emails, often one per day, each asking for another document or clarification. Most recently, they demanded historical W-2 forms — something many people simply don’t keep indefinitely. Rather than using modern verification methods, they rely on manual, piecemeal requests that create unnecessary delays and stress.

At this point, I view HireRight as poorly designed, under-automated, and overly dependent on candidates doing their internal work for them.

Frankly, going forward, if a company tells me they use HireRight, I will strongly reconsider working with that company. This has been one of the worst onboarding-related experiences I’ve encountered.