why airbnb are guests allowed to see hosts review before they(guests) write one?

[Obinna0]

It was my understanding that reviews  are made available when both parties had completed said task of writing a Review.  In my recent experience a guest messaged me why I left a thorough review about their stay before they wrote their review. Airbnb please make this make sense, right now a guest that cancelled a reservation  wrote a review that I cannot see until I write one back. There is absolutely no honor in the airbnb host/guest review process 

[Alexandra316]

@Obinna0You are correct: the guest can't read your review until they post their own, but they do get notified that a review has been written, the same as you do as a host. They can't read the contents until they have written one themselves or 14 days pass, whichever comes first. Maybe the guest just received the notification that you had written one and made some assumptions?

[Obinna0]

@Alexandra316 yeah I was naive too but no assumptions here, guest had full access to content and was very specific when she messaged me about the review. And this exchange was followed by a retaliatory review from the guest. This is why most hosts leave gloating reviews for guests

[Alexandra316]

@Obinna0 Wow, that sucks.  I've heard that as a guest, if you get a really bad (low star) review, the automated system sends you a warning even before you've written your review. I've also heard about customer service reps telling guests the content of the review before it's published, which is really unethical. I would ask Airbnb to remove the review if you have a trail that shows that the guest had access to your review ahead of time. I like contacting them on Twitter @airbnbhelp.  

I've been a guest a number of times, and the Airbnb system providing guests with advance access to reviews definitely isn't normal. 

[Colleen253]

@Obinna0 Review content is fully hidden from both parties until both have been written. There is only a notification to the other party that a review has been written. So if you are claiming that that process was breached somehow, that's a huge concern. @Airbnb @Nick @Lizzie can someone get to the bottom of this please?

[Obinna0]

@Colleen253 @airbnb @nick @lizzie I do welcome an investigation into this matter, from my point of view it only confirmed that airbnb caters more to guests than hosts

[Fred13]

Good that you brought this to the forefront @Obinna0. This is a classic example of an 'uneven playing field', which I am sure is quite understandable and acceptable to Airbnb (and every tech company today, all appear to be cut from the same cloth). If this practice comes across to you as irrational, it should because it is.

[Sarah977]

@Obinna0   I don't see any review on your profile like what you are talking about. There's only one bad review from way back in 2019 from a guest you said stole things and generally behaved badly. Then there is the latest review that simply says "It was okay" and which in your review of that guest you simply said they smoked in the room the whole stay.

So what bad retaliatory review are you talking about?

[Obinna0]

@Sarah977 I'm not trying to fault or call out the guests on here it's more about how Airbnb allow guests to see Reviews from Hosts before they post theirs.  The review process also consists of value and other ratings as well.

[Sarah977]

@Obinna0  I didn't say or think you were trying to call out or fault guests- I just didn't see what I would consider a  retaliatory review that a guest could have written after somehow seeing yours before publication.

And I haven't ever read before of a guest being able to see a host's review until the reviews were published.

But if that did happen, it's of course concerning.

[Andrea6194]

he said they messaged him and asked about his review before it was published.... not that they wrote a retaliatory review.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Obinna0 Sorry but where is your proof that guests see reviews before they write theirs. Or is this just a random conspiracy theory?

[Obinna0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 didn't waste any time did you? the proof is in the message I received from the guest before the they posted their review. I don't have time to entertain this

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Obinna0 I'll take it as a conspiracy theory then. Strange you have time to post an accusation but no time to prove it.

[Adrienne212]

@Mike-And-Jane0 that's an unkind thing to say. I agree with @Obinna0. I just had a guest leave a very surprising review- poor, after I'd gone to great lengths to ensure they had a great stay-and when i asked her about it she said it was because mine was very short and "blunt" . Mine was i9n n o way negative but she rated me badly and now my 5 star rating has dropped.