The Work Number - theworknumber.com - Talx Corporation Charges for Employment Verification St Louis, Internet

Just want to say that when attempting to verify an applicant's employment history today, I had to contact the Work Number since the company outsourced.  I called the Work Number and was told that I would have to register and set up an account with them before I could verify the information.  I was asked to provide detailed information about myself and my employer in order to set up this account.  Once the account was arranged, and I was verified, I had to go online to login to the account in order to verify the applicant's information.  Finally, once I had begun to submit my request for the verification (nothing more than verification of dates of employment and salary by the way), I found I would have to pay a fee (either $14 or $17 depending on what details I needed).  I was not authorized to pay a fee by my employer.  I had to decline, could not verify the applicant's information, and wasted my valuable time.  I did follow up and notify the original company about what took place, but that doesn't help this applicant to get a job, nor does it help me to complete the background investigation I was working on.  I would presume that the company that outsourced to The Work Number has already paid a fee for this service.  They are basically charging twice to handle a person's employment information.  One charge to the original employer and one to the prospective employer.