Air BnB paused payouts and not verifying ID

[Kieran106]

Hello all,

I hope someone on here can help me who may have experienced similar issues.

Air BnB have paused my payouts for the past few weeks, saying I need to add account info, ie upload ID to verify myself and my co-host.

However I have already uploaded all of the relevant documents and have been waiting for weeks now for Air BnB to verify them and release payouts. We are currently waiting on about £2k to be paid out. 

I was first contacted by Air BnB a few months ago to verify the listing and I followed all of the steps and payouts were resumed. But then a just a few weeks ago, payouts were randomly paused again and they asked me for ID once more, which I provided a second time for myself and the co-host. 

Each link they send me takes me to a page saying 'You're all set, thanks for uploading ID'. 

I recently changed the payout method on the account from a regular bank account to a savings one, so I am not sure whether this has had anything to do with the current issues? 

Every phone call I make to the help centre is met with the same response that my issue has been passed to a 'specialised team' who will soon contact me, but never do.

We rely on our payouts to pay our mortgage and this issue is causing us a fair amount of worry and we feel as though Air BnB are not taking it seriously.

I've seen a few other hosts on here have issues similar to this and was wondering how they managed to resolve the problem? 

Any help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks,

Kieran

[Helen3]

What did your cohost suggest you do @Kieran106 ?

Have you tried posting about this publicly on Airbnb's social media channels ?

Changing  your bank account  may have had an impact . Have you tried changing it back and just transferring the money across to a savings account? 

[Kieran106]

Update from me this morning Helen - the issue has finally been resolved and payouts resumed. Was finally sent a link which worked and I could upload my co-hosts ID. 
An agent confirmed that changing the payout method was the reason they asked for ID a second time - but why it took so long for them to approve it I do not know. 
Maybe the initial pictures I sent of the driving license weren’t clear enough for their system? 
We’re glad it’s over now and we aren’t going round in circles anymore as it felt like we weren’t getting anywhere!

Thanks again all for the suggestions. 

[Joan2709]

@Kieran106 

This is the second time I have heard of the Co Host needing to verify their ID, yet the Owner's payouts are suspended?

Just curious, were you able to speak to Airbnb CS on the phone to get this resolved? Did the Co Host have the "ID not Verified" callout on their profile?

[Helen3]

Hello @Kieran106 

great you have got it sorted out but a little confused in your original post you  said you needed to verify ID for you and your cohost - but on the property description the person nominated as the cohost appears to be the owner? 

are you the cohost or the owner?  Beautiful place will definitely add it to my wish list . 

it does make sense if you change your payment they want to verify ID but not why it took so long. 

[Joan2709]

@Kieran106 

Many have been caught in the endless loop by Airbnb regarding the ID Verification process. Here is the link to another thread and how the Host resolved it. Apparently there are bugs (not suprisingly) in the bot process and unless you do something drastic, you won't get anywhere. I understand Airbnb provides broken links in the email that just result in error messages as well.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help-with-your-business/Payouts-Paused-No-Help-from-ABNB-Support...

Basically, you need to wait until after 7-8pm at night to get a real human to see what is happening and respond, then delete your ID and upload it again. That should trigger CS to contact you. Be prepared to provide whatever documentation they require.

You could also try @Helen3 's suggestion, but I fear that what's you are in the ID needs verified loop, you have to go through the above to get it resolved.

Let us know what happens....

[Kieran106]

Hi Joan, thanks for this. We still haven’t got anywhere thus far despite being told the ‘specialised team’ are on the case. 
One advisor informed us that changing our payout method has triggered this latest request for ID. But we are unsure why it’s taking so long for them to approve it a second time. 
How do I go about deleting my ID from the account? I have played around with the site and can’t find an option to do that. 
And re speaking to a real human, do you advise messaging them after 7/8pm and starting up a new case? 
Many thanks,

Kieran 

[Joan2709]

@Kieran106 

I would call them after 7pm...not message. Start a new case and be sure to get the case number from the CS Agent.

Did your Co-Host change anything? Ask them if they see ID Needs Verification on their account. Sometimes the issue is not actually what Airbnb is telling you...confusing right? This is because there is an automated response/error message that may not be directly related to the problem. This could mean no matter what documentation you provide that they have asked for, it won't solve the problem. It takes a human to understand what is really happening and resolve it.

Savings vs Checking Account

You may be having issues with the Savings Account, as Airbnb normally verifies the bank account with a small deposit to the bank account. Did you see a small deposit appear in your savings account from Airbnb? If not, that is what the issue might be. Also, if the name on the savings account doesn't match your ID exactly, that could be causing issues.

"Info doesn’t match. Make sure the name on your payout method matches the name on the payment account. Avoid using special characters, apostrophes, or hyphens in the name field."

If you've checked all that and there is still an issue, I suggest you change your payout back to a checking account, or use PayPal and then direct your PayPal payments to then go to the savings account (if they allow that).

Payouts 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/54

"In some countries, we'll confirm your account info by depositing a small amount (less than $1 USD) before sending you a payout. This usually happens when a new payout method is added. When it’s ready, the earnings will be released to your payout method for processing. You can check the status of your earnings at any time from your earnings dashboard."

ID Status

Go to

Account

Personal Info

ID

If it says "ID verified" you won't be able to delete the ID. If it says something like "ID not verified", then click that and see if there is a way to delete what is there? Not sure as all the Hosts I work for have their IDs verified. Don't upload another ID. CS should be contacting you about you're deleting the ID. 

 Switch to Traveling and see if this Callout appears:

@Kieran106

[Kieran106]

*Update* 
Hi Joan, thanks so much for the detailed response. It’s been a frustrating few days but the issue has finally been resolved today, much to our relief. 
I received a message from Air BnB with a link that actually worked for me to submit my co-host’s ID, and it has now finally been approved by them. 
Still unsure as to the delay but our payouts have been released now which is the main thing for us. 
The agent confirmed that us changing the payout method triggered Air BnB to ask for ID once more.

If similar issues arise in future I’ll be sure to use the above. It seems just pestering Air BnB support every day about the issue finally got us somewhere, even when it seemed impossible to deal with their customer service team. 
Have a great day everyone!

Best, 

Kieran 

[Helen427]

Good morning @Kieran106 

Airbnb are not able to cross check and verify you are exactly who you are with your Passport/ Driver's License as they are not the issuing Government Department.

There have been broken links since at least 2019.

There's also International Privacy and GDPR regulations in force which Airbnb are required to comply with and is a serious matter all in ABB Community Centre and there Business Process Outsource Customer Services (BPO) need to up there understanding of.

You may like to contact and speak to the Privacy Commissioner's office in the UK and ask John Edwards to follow up on this.

We contacted our Privacy Commissioner here in New Zealand who advised us, and confirmed there are other Options to verify who a person is, and as we have stated all along, to be paid, one needs a Bank account.

It's our understanding the UK when they issue a Birth Certificate as a baby it has a Government Identity number on which many of us have used when opening a Bank Account.

Depending on which country one is a resident of impacts on the level of Customer Due Diligence/ Enhanced Due Diligence which ABB is to this day not complying with because they have no access to our personal financial affairs.

There's a number of "Processing" related matters ABB were advised several years ago by the DPC Ireland to sort out which they to this date have not.

We have posted elsewhere about there Customer support contracted Agents who are understood to now be through Telus International who are also under scrutiny with SEC.

There's also still a pending and in process case undertaken with nyob, an Austrian based Privacy Law company in relation to a variety of matters.

Airbnb repeatedly fail to apply there own Policies which is most unfortunate and has caused endless Reputation harm for all parties.

This has been problematic with Payments since era 2019 for whatever reason from the information contributors have made here in CC.

It's overdue they had a clean out of their own Agents.

[Joan2709]

@Helen427 

Do you have any suggestions to help @Kieran106 resolve his current problem?

[Helen427]

We have provided @Kieran106 with suggestions

@Joan2709 , why do you ask?

@Brian also needs to sort this long standing problem out as it as it's an In House back ground Engineering and lack of application of ABB Policies problem that he needs to ensure his Staff/ contracted Agents fix up with Human Input.

Who is to know what action ABB as a contracted agent with Telus International may also take in light of the recent filing with SEC in relation to allegations Telus have mislead investors with there AI.

[Joan2709]

@Helen427 

What are your suggestions for @Kieran106 to help him resolve his current issue?

[Helen3]

I can't see any suggestions you have made that in any way helps @Kieran106 . @Helen427 

All you said is speak to the Privacy Office (we don't have one) 

Kieran is looking for tangible advice on what he can do to get Airbnb to verify his ID .

can you speak to this rather than a rant about their customer services or privacy offices /GDPR.

[Helen427]

Do the UK not have the Information Commission Office ICO anymore?

It's our understanding that the former Privacy Commissioner here in New Zealand, Mr John Edwards, left and went to the UK to undertake a role at the equivalent office, that of the ICO in UK.

I sincerely hope I'm not incorrect in stating a known fact as we hold John in high regards and he did a great job with Privacy Laws in New Zealand and is doing a good job in the UK too.

@Kieran106 

@Helen3