News Article - Airbnb Employee request to implement verified ID denied, according to WSJ

[Michelle53]

"Airbnb denies a report that it rejected a plan to require government IDs to sign up for the home-sharing service because it might hurt growth"

"Home-sharing company Airbnb has a platform that can make it vulnerable to a host of problems, like theft, vandalism, and fraud. But when its safety team suggested that the company implement a government-ID requirement to join the platform two years ago, a new report from The Wall Street Journal says that Airbnb executives pushed back hard against the idea. "

Reporting at this link from Business Insider. The Wall Street Journal  article is behind a paywall. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-resisted-employee-advice-regulating-platform-2019-12

[Michelle53]

@Sarah977    I agree - the part that made me most distressed, too, was the apparent ignoring of the recommendations of "Trust-and-Safety". It makes one wonder just what other things have been proposed and ignored, in the name of "Growth". 

[Michelle53]

@Sarah977    Skift is reporting this. 

"Airbnb overtook Expedia in room nights booked in the first quarter of 2019, but questions loom for 2020. Will Airbnb lose its focus as it vows to go public and become a broader online travel agency? Will Expedia, which seems lost in terms of creating a revised strategy, find its way? So many headlines to come.

— Dennis Schaal"

https://skift.com/2019/12/30/the-most-important-story-in-online-travel-in-2019/

[Susan17]

@Michelle53

Ah...an article is Skift (Airbnb's favourite mouthpiece publication), by Dennis Schaal (Airbnb's favourite fan-boy reporter)... take it with a large grain of salt...

[Michelle53]

@Susan17  What interested me about the article was the angle which was being lauded - i.e. "room nights booked".   It's a view into what the company thinks is important, and therefore promotes in the fanboy media. 

[Susan17]

It's all about massaging the stats and data to produce whatever conclusions suits one's narrative, @Michelle53 .. but yeah, fascinating to observe the many different slants on the same stories/incidents/situations, depending on the writer, the outlet, the affiliations and the allegiances..  😉

[Michelle53]

@Susan17  Large companies generally have internal metrics/stats that they use to measure their performance against their stated objectives. Also, to incentivise employees (sometimes bonuses are attached, too). 

One such metric, for example, might be to measure CX on number or percentage of cases closed.   Of course, human behavior suggests that CX employees might rush to close cases prematurely, if they are measured on number/percentage of closed cases. (where do we see that happening?).

If one metric used is number of room nights booked (at all costs), then it becomes easy to see why quantity rather than quality is preferable, and why guests are given preference over hosts in most situations. 

[Susan17]

@Michelle53 

Of course, in the very short term, quantity over quality will give the better optics, every time - but when the over-arching consequence of that blueprint is overall quality dropping well below acceptable standards, then it doesn't matter how  impressive and vast the quantities, the consumers (guests) will rapidly switch their preferences to competitors who are still offering the quality they seek. Therefore, the humungous quantities then inevitably become redundant, in a very short time (Note - Airbnb's average nightly occupancy of as low as 11% in some markets) Quantity, at the expense of quality, is not a sustainable survival strategy for any business.

And Airbnb's metrics and stats, internal or otherwise, are not exactly famed for their accuracy or credibility.. 😉

In relation to how things operate behind the scenes for the Airbnb staffers of CX and other departments, employee review website Glassdoor offers some fascinating (and horrifying) insight.

[John1080]

I require all my guests have a verified ID uploaded. I had a recent guest who used a soccer club name for his name, so I called Airbnb to make sure that he was a real person. They assured me that he had uploaded his ID to the system and internally they could verify it was him based on his government ID. 

[Trude0]

Based on the above comments, it looks like Airbnb DON’T normally require government ID, unless we as hosts have instant book, in which case we can demand it?

But today I’ve had the same situation as @Katrina79: A new guest (as of Nov), no reviews, sent an enquiry. Good communication, felt OK and I pre-approved. The text “Awaiting verification” then appeared in the enquiry.

The guest then had issues making a firm booking, because he was required to upload both pictures of a government ID, and a selfie, via the app. Senior guest (75 year old couple) with older model phone, unable to install the app (model too old), so logging in via the website. I’ve been on the phone with customer service several times today, trying to help him solve the issue.

Don’t get me wrong, I do think that it is good if Airbnb require ID, photo etc - but I was under the impression that they do not normally, so was wondering if it was a misunderstanding, new rules or what.

The guest was finally able to send in a photo of approved ID by email, as instructed by Airbnb representative. Only to be told by the website he still could not book, because he had to also UPLOAD  a selfie. He was now close to giving up, but planning on going out tomorrow to buy a webcam, to be able to take a selfie and upload it from his pc. I called customer service again, and was told that the selfie could NOT be emailed, it had to be taken and uploaded directly by the same device (phone or computer). I asked if they really require a selfie, and was told all guests have to have selfies. The person in customer service was then very surprised to hear that my next guest has a “selfie” of a tree, and my first guest had a one of a couple of rocks... 

Finally, I was told that they would be able to skip the demand for a selfie for the guest, and they would contact the guest to instruct him to make a NEW enquiry, as apparently the first one, that I pre-approved, was not good. I informed the guest, and 2 hours later he replied that they were still waiting for Airbnb to come back with instructions.

It’s a miracle this couple have not given up and booked a hotel by now, after spending a whole day trying to book my guest house for 4 nights! 

[Sarah977]

@Gregory87 @Rowena29  So, it's obviously not a platform where "everyone belongs". You can't belong unless you are fully tech savvy and have zero issues with uploading your private information to Airbnb.

Yet somehow, brand new to the platform 18 year olds can book without any verified ID and trash people's homes.

[Rowena29]

@Sarah977  Couldnt' agree with you more.   Look, in theory, I do get the idea of making everyone verified. But to enforce it on a guest who's been on the platform 7 years and has a stellar record??   It's not like it REALLY  adds that much more protection - potentially it could but not the way airbnb seem to be NOT using the info.  

But  what really really  riles me  is the complete lack of education and information  to anyone about what's occurring.  No email from aribnb to inform this guest about the change in protocols.  She had made another booking just a few days previously with no difficulty. Then she tries to book with me -BAM -  blocked.  Needs government ID.  So who does she blame? Not airbnb who have remained stum. She thinks it ME. I get landed with a hostile message. ( actually for a while there I DID think it was me as I do have government ID as a requirement on my settings - but even when I disabled that, she couldn't proceed ). Would have been nice to have a heads up as to what airbnb were doing.  Both of us had spent hours and hours messaging each other, then it all came to nothing. And it was ME who had to do the leg work and investigation, and let her know that it was a change in airbnb policy.  Where is the customer service for the guests?  Anyway, she's left the platform. Can't see her coming back. And who can blame her?  As hosts we always complain airbnb is guest centric, but they've been pretty woeful in the guest department in this instance.

(To be honest, part of me thinks shes being a tiny bit inconsistent though. So worried about identity theft - but has happily had her credit card details stored with airbnb  for the last 7 years. Still, that's not really the point)

[Susan17]

Just to clarify - apart from the ID Verifications requirementof a random 25% of users that has always been in existence, (presumably, to satisfy whatever initial 2013 deal they had with Jumio, the controversial outfit to whom verifications are outsouced, and with whom Airbnb shares key backers in common), the company will not be requiring mandatory ID Verification for all guests. 

WSJ, Dec 26, 2019:

In an interview, Margaret Richardson, Airbnb’s vice president of trust, who focuses on user safety, said Airbnb has been innovating on safety issues throughout its history. “Our aspiration is to keep getting better and better on safety and doing everything that we can to address the issues that have been raised,” she said.

She said that requiring all members to provide a government ID, however, would exclude some Airbnb members who don’t have them, like those in some developing countries. She said the company has its own systems for verifying identities, which relies on phone numbers, social-media accounts and payment instruments. “This is the challenge of the internet era,” she said. “How do people’s online identities and offline identities—how do you match them?”

Airbnb’s Ms. Richardson said running background checks is seen by some as discriminatory against certain groups, including formerly incarcerated people. Some advocates for criminal-justice reform, she said, have advised the company “that doing background checks is not appropriate, and that people are unnecessarily excluded from travel” because of old criminal records.

[Jennifer1421]

@Rowena29 @Gregory87 

I have instant book, and require ID verification. I have also had guests without verification send requests to book. After communicating with them, I felt comfortable enough to accept the reservations, and they went through without a hitch.

I wonder if the difference lies between my unverified guests sending a Request to Book, vs your unverified guests sending an Inquiry? Of course it's impossible to know, and even calling CX is unlikely to help, since they probably don't know either. If this happens again in the future, it might be worth the experiment to NOT send the preapproval, but rather, in the message response, request that the guest go back to your listing and use the Book button, rather than the Contact Host link.

TBH, though, I would prefer that ALL members are required to upload ID (in whatever form that might take depending on the member's country) and a selfie, as that would encourage a higher level of accountability across the platform. There will always be outliers to any system, and folks without the capacity to meet the requirements (either through lack of technology or knowledge of how to use it, or through reluctance to comply with ID requirement) will be left behind. This is especially true of automated systems, where human intervention in the form of "exceptions" are unpractical. That's a shame, but, personally, I think that the needs of the many need to be weighed against the needs of the few in this instance.

[Patricia55]

@Jennifer1421 

I have to agree, that ALL members – guests & hosts - should be verified, as much as possible. Tbh, I much prefer to deal with guests who are au fait with the workings of Airbnb. I'm mid-60s myself and not totally tech savvy, but I do try my best, and I expect others (potential guests) to do the same, and will help them as far as I can...
[My situation/requirements: I don't use Instant Book but I do require government-verified ID. It used to be the case that I could set that requirement automatically. But then Airbnb changed it, so now I have to check it myself, for every booking. The carrot thing 😉 ]

[Rowena29]

@Jennifer1421   I do also agree in theory with your "the needs of the many" statement.  What really really riled both me and the guest however, was the complete lack of communication in the sudden change in her requirements.  She's been merrily booking through the platform for years, made another booking just a few days previously, and then suddenly got blocked needing ID requirements.   For a while there I was the fall guy, which i resent.

 It did occur to me to ask her to  try a different way, but by that stage she was in a temper with the platform. and on a high moral horse.  And I don' think it would have worked anyway.  Immediately after she reported it, I switched off my government ID requirement, created a new account and tried to book my place. I couldnt' proceed without government  verification despite me not having it as a guest requirement.   I have helped both of my sons and several of their friends create accounts over the last year or so and NONE of them have been able to proceed without the government ID verification. 

I hear what @Susan17 is saying but I got online and found a very recent report from airbnb stating that they were "making things safer" and rolling out new requirements including government verification so that very much looked to me like it's becoming more or less mandatory.     

In theory I dont' have a problem with it I guess, but I'm not sure it really helps us as hosts.  I'm not confident that it IS supporting the needs of the many.  From what I read on these boards, when airbnb has been approached by law enforcement or insurers to reveal the details they have, they won't/don't/can't.  And since I can verify as me, and then change my profile name to Marilyn Monroe with a picture to match I don't personally feel all that reassured that airbnb is really helping me that much by requiring government ID of it's guests.   

It's much more foolproof IMO to ask for full legal names of all guests  to view ID at check in ( as my insurer requires I do if I have guests booked independently off a platform).   My personal take, admittedly without knowing a lot about it, is that the verification thing is just a way of airbnb looking like they are being security conscious without it being of much direct or practical help.  As always , it boils down to hosts needing to have a raft of strategies in place to try to discourage and  weed out the undesirables