@Denis227 @Branka-and-Silvia0
Interesting to note from the article you posted that Clara Liang is now VP and General Manager of Airbnb Luxe.
Last time we heard from Clara, as part of the June 2018 Q&A, she was a Product Director and described herself as the person who "looks after all our hosts" (although none of us had ever heard of her, or from her, prior to that event). During the live Q&A - with Brian Chesky sitting right beside her, nodding in agreement - Clara categorically stated that guests who cancelled, but had never actually set foot in the listing, could absolutely not leave a review - and if that somehow did happen, then hosts could simply call Customer Support, and the offending review would be taken down immediately.
Some days later, Grégory, a long-time host from France and a leading contributor to the French CC, was faced with that very issue - but CX were flatly refusing to remove the retaliatory 1 star review left by a guest who had never entered his home. Ģrégory, who had seen the Q&A, posted his issue in what was to become an epic 3-week thread here in the CC, and he was joined by scores of equally bewildered and confused hosts, in calling for clarification on the subject. (He also engaged in weeks of futile, time-consuming - and often surreal - back and forth communication with Airbnb CX, but was ultimately unsuccessful in having the 1 star revenge review removed.
Clara Liang never once responded to Gregory's many attempts to contact her, or gave an answer to his very valid questions. Instead, the Q&A video was quietly edited to remove the comments she made regarding the removal of reviews, and the following correction was slipped in at the bottom of the video transcript (where few would ever even see it, of course)
Correction: Previously we stated that guests who cancel before check-in, without seeing or visiting the space, shouldn't be able to leave a review, and that if hosts contacted us, we would remove reviews left by these guests. But it’s not always that simple. We only remove reviews which violate our content guidelines. We apologize for any confusion we may have caused in the Host Q&A. We take this seriously, and moving forward, we’re committed to being more clear.
Just days later, Ms Liang was promoted to General Manager of Professional Hosting, a position she still retains, along with the more recent title of VP of Luxe. It would appear that taking the rap from afar, while keeping your head down and staying schtum, is a wise career move at Airbnb, Inc.
Here's Grégory's 23-page thread.. the first few and the last few pages pretty much tell the whole story..
https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/To-Clara-Liang-Product-Director-Last-min-cancellation-be...