@Gillian166
I have no idea if any beta testing was done. I know that I was told some months ago that the review process was being re-evaluated and asked if I would like to participate in the host feedback, and I said yes, but I never heard about it again...
Plus, the last 'feedback' session I was asked to participate in was about the changes to the host cancellation policies, only we were all on 'mute' and it took place the day before the announcement was made, so clearly the decisions had already been made and our feedback was irrelevant.
There are a few issues here, some of which you have mentioned. IF we have to report the guests, then what are CS going to do with that? They are supposed to 'educate' the guests, so obviously that means informing them. That surely is counter-productive, as it's just going to encourage a retaliatory review, unless CS explains clearly that review would then be removed. However, it's easy enough for a guest to punish the host in the reviews/ratings without it coming across as obviously retaliatory.
And, there is also the problem of how easy it is for a guest to simply create a new profile if they get a negative review, warning or whatever. I have seen this first hand.
I had a guest with a really bad review try to book with me. I turned her away (her communication was also awful). She then tried to book under a new profile (also showing as verified). This time, it was flagged by Airbnb. I called CS and was told to block and report her, which I did. But, they did nothing about it. Both her 'verified' profiles were allowed to remain on the system and she was able to book stays. Meanwhile, I was dinged on acceptance rate.