Loophole in the Blind Review System

[Carrie262]

So I found a loophole in the blind review process... the 48 hour window to edit your review.  Upon hearing from my cleaning team for the first and only time that the place was left a mess, with towels reeking of urine (gross), and baking pans that had to be thrown out, I checked all the blogs and conversations on Airbnb about whether to leave an honest post, and how to do it in a gracious way.  I saw that I received the guests' review, so now it was my turn.  I said that the guests were communicative the entire time (they were) and that they left the place a little messy, but nothing we couldn't clean or fix.  That's it.  When my review posted, I immediately saw a really glowing review of my place, all 5 stars, and how they were considering making it an annual location.  However, within the next few hours, I saw that the post was edited, and stars were taken away, and I was given a knock for value, noting that my place was now too costly for it's location (fyi, it's the least expensive airbnb stay in the entire neighborhood, I've checked).  I asked Airbnb support about this situation, thinking they must certainly be able to see the original post that I saw, and the Airbnb rep I chatted with could not see it, so nothing could be done.  I am grateful the review has been (and hopefully will continue to be) drowned out by other 5 star reviews, but it still is a lesson I have learned, and thought I'd share with the community. 

[Michael3362]

Thank you for this insight. I wasn’t aware. I hope this is a one-time occurrence for you. 

[Lawrene0]

@Carrie262 , are you sure you don't have the reviews mixed up? It was "Alex" to whom you gave the slightly negative review, but it is "Vitaliy" who wants to make it an annual weekend trip. 

It is not possible to edit a review once they are both posted. The 48-hour window applies only if the other review has not posted yet.

[Carrie262]

I hope you are correct about the 48-hour window closing once the host review posts, but I did see the original post, and the edited version.  Also, the Airbnb rep I communicated with did not say that my experience was impossible, rather just confirmed they can't see the original version.  Either way, it makes me think twice about the timing of when I post my review. 

[Emilia42]

@Carrie262 

Are you sure you aren't seeing the "Public Review" AND the "Private Feedback." Sometimes I have guests that basically copy and paste the private feedback (because this is asked first in the process) into the Public Review field. It is basically the same text but a couple words or a sentence might be changed. Take a look at the original email that Airbnb sent to you once your reviews became public. It will list both the public and private feedback.

[Dimitar27]

There is no such loophole. Reviews  can't be edited, once published by both sides.

[Sandra856]

@Carrie262 A guest cannot edit a review after a host has submitted one. Both guest and host got 48 hours to edit after the review has been written but ONLY if the other part hasn't already left one OR is leaving a review in the meantime. 

[Dimitar27]

I tried to edit one review last month because of a mistake made with the name of the guest. It was in the private part of the message, but it was not possible...

[Carrie262]

This is comforting to know, hopefully I've just lost my mind and was confusing the two reviews! 🙂  Thanks for chiming in, everyone.  Hopefully anyone who reviews this chain will see that the review process is truly blind. 

[Sandra856]

@Dimitar27 Do you mean within the 48 hours? I have edited many times. You can edit every category  - the review, star ratings and also the private message to the guest so it sounds strange that you couldn't? 

[Dimitar27]

No, everything was already published. I thought, that there is a way for me do edit the private part of the message...but there is no such way. Once both reviews get public, the review process is closed.