7 Signs Your Background Screening Provider Is Letting You Down

Summary: A background screening provider might be the problem if turnaround times are getting longer without explanation, your team is chasing status updates, candidates can’t get support, or service quality has dropped after an acquisition.  Some of those issues trace back to courts or jurisdictions, but others point directly to the provider, and those are the ones you should be asking about before your next renewal conversation.

In this article:

1. Background Check Turnaround Times Keep Getting Longer 
2. Your Team Has to Chase Down Status Updates
3. Candidates Can’t Get Help When They Need It
4. Compliance Questions Get Vague Answers
5. Reports Are Inconsistent or Hard to Understand
6. Service Quality Dropped After a Merger or Acquisition
7. Your Provider Can’t Scale with Your Hiring Needs

Your background screening provider handles one of the most time-sensitive parts of your hiring process. A good provider relationship means results come back on time, your team knows where things stand, and candidates aren’t left waiting. 

When things aren’t running well, you tend to notice before you can name it: a search takes longer than expected with no update, a candidate calls your recruiter because they can’t reach anyone at the screening company, and compliance questions start getting half-answers. At some point you stop wondering whether it’s a one-off and start wondering whether it’s the provider. 

Here are seven signs the problem isn’t the background check.

1. Background Check Turnaround Times Keep Getting Longer

A background screening provider may be underperforming if reports routinely take longer than expected without a clear explanation. Some background check delays depend on courts, schools, or jurisdictions, and that’s normal. What isn’t normal is silence about why a search is taking so long. 

Most criminal background checks return results quickly, often in under a day. When a turnaround time extends beyond what’s typical for a given jurisdiction, the provider should be telling you why before you have to ask. If you’re regularly the one making that call, the delay is probably about communication, and the court has nothing to do with it. 

Every extra day a background check sits open is a day your candidate is waiting on an offer and possibly fielding other ones. A strong provider volunteers the update before you think to ask for it.

2. Your Team Has to Chase Down Status Updates

Employers shouldn’t have to track down their own background check results. A strong screening provider offers clear order tracking and proactive updates. When something needs clarification or escalation, that should be coming from the provider.

If your recruiters are spending their day chasing status updates instead of moving candidates forward, the screening process is creating work it shouldn’t. And when the person who picks up the phone can’t give you a specific answer without putting you on hold, the problem gets worse.

If the person answering your call has to ask which company you’re with, that tells you something about the support model. A generic inbox or ticket queue feels like starting from scratch every time.

3. Candidates Can’t Get Help When They Need It

Candidate support is part of the employer experience. Applicants who can’t reach someone for help with forms, identity verification, disclosures, or questions about their report create delays that your hiring team ends up owning.

Candidates who don’t understand what they’re being asked to complete can delay an entire order without realizing it. A candidate staring at a disclosure form they don’t understand isn’t going to call your screening company’s general support line at 6 PM and get help. If nobody’s there, the form sits incomplete and your start date moves.

Support hours and location matter here too. Some providers offshore their applicant-facing teams, which introduces language barriers and timezone gaps that your candidates end up absorbing.

4. Compliance Questions Get Vague Answers

A background screening provider should help employers navigate screening workflows, adverse action steps, and documentation requirements. If your provider gives generic responses to compliance questions or avoids the conversation entirely, pay attention.

FCRA-compliant screening involves specific steps at every stage: proper disclosure, candidate authorization, and adverse action handling. Employers who miss those steps carry the legal exposure. Your screening company should be able to walk through those requirements clearly and point you toward the right resources when you need them. If the best answer they can give is ‘check with your legal team,’ you’re paying for compliance support and getting a referral. 

5. Reports Are Inconsistent or Hard to Understand

Background check reports should be clear, organized, and easy for your team to review. If reports come back looking different depending on the search type or jurisdiction, or if your HR team has to interpret results before making a hiring decision, the reporting format may be part of the problem. It could be an indication that your screening provider uses a series of merged companies to get the job done.

This gets more complicated for employers hiring across multiple states, where consistent reporting matters regardless of which jurisdictions are searched. Your team shouldn’t spend more time decoding results than acting on them. 

6. Service Quality Dropped After a Merger or Acquisition

A change in ownership can affect screening service quality in ways that take months to show. Support teams get restructured and technology platforms get patched together. Pricing changes show up in the next renewal, and the account rep who knew your screening packages gets reassigned to a different book of business.

Many background screening companies have changed hands in the past few years. If your turnaround times have gotten longer, your support feels less personal, or you’ve noticed fees that weren’t in your original agreement, the acquisition may be the root cause. Employers don’t always connect those dots right away, because the provider’s name stays the same even when the operation behind it doesn’t. You won’t find any of that in the announcement email. You’ll find it in your turnaround times.

If your background check provider has been acquired, ask what’s changed in the support model, technology, and pricing structure. Vague reassurances that “nothing has changed” aren’t much of an answer.

7. Your Provider Can’t Scale with Your Hiring Needs

A background check company should be able to handle seasonal hiring, multi-state searches, high-volume periods, and changes to screening packages without your service quality dropping. If results slow down every time hiring picks up, the provider may not be equipped for your volume.

This shows up in a few recognizable ways: longer turnaround times during peak hiring, limited flexibility in configuring screening packages, or integrations that stop working reliably when order volume spikes. Your screening partner should be able to grow with your hiring needs.

Here’s what the difference looks like: 

What Employers Should Ask Before Switching Background Check Providers

If several of these signs sound familiar, it may be time to evaluate your current provider or start a conversation with a new one. Start with these questions: 

1. What are your average turnaround times by screening type?
2. Who supports candidates when they need help?
3. Will we have a dedicated account representative?
4. How do you communicate delays?
5. What compliance resources do you provide?
6. Can your platform support our hiring volume?
7. What happens when a report requires escalation?
8. How do you support employers during implementation?

Every answer tells you something about how the provider operates once the contract is signed. The best screening partners give the same answers a year in that they gave in the sales conversation. 

Frequently Asked Questions

If Your Provider Can’t Answer These Questions, Someone Should

At InfoMart, every client has a dedicated account rep who knows your account when you call. The team is U.S.-based with no offshored support and extended business hours that cover hiring workflows across time zones. InfoMart has been PBSA-accredited since 1992 and has stayed privately held while competitors keep changing hands.

If your current provider’s answer to a screening support problem is a ticket number, it might be time for a different conversation.

Not ready yet? Our Background Check RFP Guide covers what to ask before you commit to a screening provider.

About Tammy Cohen

Tammy Cohen, an industry pioneer and expert in identity and employment screening, founded InfoMart 30 years ago. Deemed the “Queen of Screen,” she’s been a force behind industry-leading innovations. She was most recently the first-to-market with a fully compliant sanctions search, as well as a suite of identity services that modernizes talent onboarding. Tammy revolutionized the screening industry when she stepped into the field, developing the first client-facing application and a due diligence criminal search that has since become standard for all background screening companies. Cohen has received national awards and honors for her business and civic involvement, including Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Top 25 Women-Owned Firms in Atlanta, Enterprising Women Magazine’s Enterprising Women of the Year award, the YWCA of Northwest Georgia’s Kathryn Woods Racial Justice Award, and a commendation in the 152nd Congressional Record.

About InfoMart

InfoMart has been revolutionizing the global background and identity screening industry for 30 years, providing businesses the information they need to make informed hiring decisions. They develop innovative technology that modernizes talent onboarding, including a first-to-market biometric identity authentication application and a verified sanctions search. The WBENC-certified company is a founding member of the Professional Background Screening Association, and they have achieved PBSA accreditation in recognition of their consistent business practices and commitment to compliance with the FCRA. The company is dedicated to customer service, speed, and accuracy, and it has been recognized for its success, workplace culture, and corporate citizenship with over 45 industry awards. To Get the Whole Story on InfoMart, please visit www.InfoMart-USA.com, follow @InfoMartUSA, or call (770) 984-2727.