My two bookings got canceled because of a "subject issue."
Here's the message I received from Airbnb: "It looks like the photo you added is a copy of your ID. To make sure it's really you, we need a photo of your real ID, not a copy."
So, what did I do?
I took a photo of my ID, carefully edited it on my computer to strike through all the numbers (because they told me to) and uploaded it. Clearly, my photograph, DOB, and name are crystal clear and legible.
But hey, I guess this "copy" of the ID I snapped with my phone and edited as per instructions isn't good enough.
What exactly does "copy" mean in Airbnb’s world?
It would be amazing if Airbnb could kindly explain how to do this properly, step by step, if we choose to upload the ID from a computer.
I totally get that an AI algorithm is probably behind all this. But what I still can’t wrap my head around is:
- Why no customer support person has gone to check this, even after I’ve spoken to several of them.
- Why my case was just closed by support with zero resolution. With same message.
I'm not sure if the support team will read this to improve the system, but one thing is clear: to resolve this issue and complete bookings, people will likely start sharing their unedited government IDs, putting their personal information at risk online.
