Tuesday, May 17th
2022 Background Check Service Reviews
US Search
- In business for over 25 years
- Search by name, phone number or address
- Unlimited basic monthly searches for under $20
- Pay per report for background check records
- 5-day trial for $1.99
US Search is one of four services owned by PeopleConnect that offer background check services (the other three being Instant Checkmate, Truthfinder, and Intelius). This one proudly advertises having been featured by CBS, CNBC and CNN as "America's Public Records Search Company" .
Do you have a lot of time?
Out of the four PeopleConnect platforms, US Search strikes us as the most cumbersome. There isn't even a search box on the landing page. Instead, they put a "get started" button there and then you can click to the part where you enter a name, phone number, or address (which also took a long time to load). Buckle up for a long process: you'll have to answer questions about why you're trying to do a background check, who you're looking for, and so on - and every click seems to take more and more time. When you finally get to the place to enter your name and email, you land on a report preview that tells you very little.
Not as expensive as its partner sites
Despite being tedious to use, US Search is the least expensive of the four sites in the PeopleConnect portfolio. There's no need to wait for big discounts: you'll automatically get a $1.99 five-day trial and/or a monthly membership with unlimited searches for $19.86. Given that all four services return results from the same databases, you might as well pay less for it.
Get ready for the upcharge
Wondering what the catch is? We'll tell you: US Search (and the other three sites) only perform a basic people search at the outset, even if you enter the target information as a background search. To get the kinds of detail most clients expect, you'll have to pay extra for "premium" reports. At no point during the signup process does US Search tell you what that will cost: it's only revealed after you've paid to access the basic results and are left wanting. If our research is accurate, it's safe to expect per-report fees around $20. In other words, every time you run a background check here, you're paying for the monthly membership and a surcharge for additional items such as court records and criminal history.
Costs
- $19.96 for month-to-month membership
- 5-day trial for $1.99
- Per-report fees for detailed background check info
Needs to be more transparent
US Search would benefit from being more direct with prospective site users. With no preview of matching reports, hidden fees for "premium" data, and a more challenging search process, is it any surprise that people are disappointed? We didn't find a ton of glowing praise from customers that used this site for background checks.
Top of the bottom?
Is there any honor in being the best of the worst? Maybe. You won't spend a ton of money to check out the background check capabilities here, if you're mindful of the trial period and cancel it before it renews. That would let you see if there's enough details returned for the purposes of your background check, or if you need to purchase the one-off, comprehensive report. We'd recommend looking at US Search's competitors before spending your energy (and money) here.
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Where Can You Get the Most Accurate and Affordable Background Checks?
You're already well aware of the fact that you can find out lots about people with a simple Google search, but what if you need to know more? There are plenty of reasons to pay for a background check, from vetting your newest love interest to making sure a childcare provider doesn't have a criminal past.
These paid platforms can access records that won't show up in a traditional search - and they save you time by pulling together information from thousands of databases into one place. When you run a background check, most services will give you two tiers of pricing: basic and "premium" . What's the difference? A basic search typically renders results showing a person's known aliases (like maiden names) and relatives, address history, phone number, email addresses, and possibly social media accounts.
Background Check Service FAQ
Continued from above...
To get to the kinds of records you've probably got in mind, like criminal and court proceedings, you'll have to upgrade to the premium service. That may be included as an add-on to a monthly subscription cost or as a one-off fee each time you conduct a search.
As you consider whether or not to conduct a background check, it's important to understand that some uses are strictly prohibited - and every service will require you to acknowledge those limitations at some point during the process (usually with an "I accept" or "I agree" checkbox). Identified as FCRA (short for Fair Credit Reporting Act), this regulation means that you can't use a background check service to influence decisions on employment, tenant applications, insurance, and several other scenarios. There are a small number of services that offer FCRA compliant searches, but expect to pay accordingly.
No matter which background check service you ultimately select, there's one good reason to visit more than one site: to protect your privacy by requesting that your own records be removed from their listings. Look for a link at the bottom of the site that says "Opt Out" or "Do Not Sell My Information" . From there, you'll either conduct a search for your own records (at no cost) or provide the URL you got when you looked up your own profile previously. Once you click the link sent in a confirmation email, it can take several business days for your info to be deleted (though we've seen it happen almost instantly as well).
With so many platforms offering background checks, which one is right for you? Keep in mind these criteria as you make your decision:
- Accuracy of Information. Background check services don't guarantee that their reports are accurate: public records can have errors, and with common names it's not unheard of to have incorrectly-attributed results. However, some services have a better reputation for quality data. You may want to search for your own report to get a feel for how on-target your results will be if you do a background check on someone else.
- Value. What will you get for what you spend? Is there a trial period that lets you test out the background check service before committing to a paid plan? How does that monthly fee compare with rival services?
- Reputation. What do other customers say about their experience with running background checks with the service? Has the Better Business Bureau given the provider a favorable rating?
- Customer Support. Some background check services let you get one-on-one help to find the information you need. Are support reps easily reached if you have questions or issues with billing?
To help you get all of the information you need. TopConsumerReviews.com has evaluated and ranked the most popular background search providers available today. Are you ready to find out more about your neighbor, date, or coworker? Choose one of our highest-ranked services and see what you discover!
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