The Birthdate

When I arrived in Canada a few months ago, I quickly realized I'd need to find a new intermediary between PokerStars and my bank account. When my CIBC debit card wouldn't work, I looked on the deposit/withdrawal options and decided to go with Moneybookers because they first listed first and seemed to be the most legit. While I encountered a few issues in the beginning, the site served its purpose -- I was able to transfer money from my bank account on to their site and move a portion of it to Stars.




In late September, I tried to cash out for the first time and everything went smoothly up until the point where I was asked to verify my birthdate. I entered the information and clicked 'Submit,' only to be informed that the birthdate given did not match the one on file. I tried it again, being extra careful this time, and still no dice. Weird. I figured I must have entered it in wrong upon first signing up, and emailed Moneybookers with a copy of my license, hoping to settle the situation.

Nope.

The first picture, a photo of my California Driver's License, was sent on October 1st and apparently was "too blurry" to be verified. So I sent another. Weeks later, I was told the second picture, a higher resolution version of the first, didn't contain all the necessary information. Seriously? Fine. How about a copy of my passport? On November 4th, I was told the document was "accepted" but they wanted more --

1) Please also send us a full colour copy of an alternative valid identification document, such as your international passport (double page), national identity card or drivers licence (front and back).
2) Please make sure all four corners of the above requested document are clearly visible and that the documents have not been altered in any form or way.

I, uhh, thought I already sent that. But like a good boy, I sent SIX different pictures back to them, three of my license and three of my passport. Surely, that would settle everything.

Wrong.

Today I received this email:

Dear M. Barone,

We thank you for your response.

Please be kindly informed that we have received your documents. We have noticed a discrepancy in the registered date of birth. We kindly ask you to provide explanation.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience. Once the explanation mentioned above has been received, the verification of your account may take up to two business days, you will receive confirmation that your account is fully verified. Please be advised that we are legally obliged to freeze your account if it is left unverified.

We thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

Kind regards,

Ivomira
Skrill (Moneybookers)Verifications Team

Err, that's beautiful name Ivomira.

Anyway, if I read this correctly, all that's left for me to do is provide an explanation for the discrepancy. Hopefully "I may have entered the information wrong" will suffice. What other possible explanation would there be?

Honestly, I don't get it -- I understand this is all done in an effort to make my account more secure, but that hasn't happened unless keeping me from my money ensures its security. Considering my spending habits, that might not be a horrible argument.

***Update****

Less than 20 minutes after posting this, Ivomira emailed me back.

Dear Mr. Barone,

We thank you for your cooperation and the provided explanation.

The verification of your account may take up to two business days. You will receive confirmation when your account is fully verified.

Thank you for choosing Skrill (Moneybookers) as your online payment processor.

Best regards,

Ivomira
Skrill (Moneybookers)Verifications Team

Boom? Hopefully boom.