CookInMyHome, [CIMH’s] Dispute Moderation for Reviews

  • Moderating for bias
  • Moderating for relevance
  • Moderating for canceled reservations

As the CookInMyHome, “CIMH” community and product continue to grow, we remain committed to updating this policy when necessary to help ensure that reviews reflect the honest, first-hand experiences of our Cooks and Foodies.

Removal of reviews

We believe that a healthy review system is one that respects and protects our community’s genuine feedback. For that reason, we take the removal of any review very seriously. You can read CIMH’s Review Policy in full, but in short, this means a review will be removed if:

  • The review is in violation of CIMH’s Content Policy,
  • The review is biased, or
  • The review is irrelevant to the author’s experience on CIMH.

Moderating for bias

Our community benefits most when reviews present an unbiased picture of the member’s experience. CIMH removes reviews when they exhibit inappropriate bias - for example because the reviewer is attempting to extort the person being reviewed, has a conflict of interest, or competes with the person being reviewed.

Extortion or Incentivization

Any attempt to use reviews or review responses to force a person to do something they aren’t obligated to do is a misuse of reviews, and we don’t allow it.

People who use CIMH aren’t allowed to tie positive reviews to promises of compensation or to threaten negative reviews if a desired outcome is not met. Violations may result in the restriction, suspension or termination of your CIMH account.

This policy prohibits:

  • Foodie threatening to use reviews or ratings in an attempt to force a Cook to provide refunds, additional compensation, or a reciprocal positive review.
  • Cooks requiring a Foodie to leave a positive review or rating, or to revise a review in exchange for a partial or full refund, or a reciprocal review. Cooks also cannot offer a free or discounted listing in exchange for a Foodie revising an existing review.
  • Cooks or Foodie asking someone to take specific actions related to a review in exchange for the resolution of a dispute.

This policy does not prohibit:

  • A Foodies from contacting a Cook with a problem prior to leaving a review.
  • A Cook or Foodie seeking refunds or additional payment and leaving a review - where that review is not used as a threat to sway the outcome of a resolution.
  • A Cook from asking a Foodie to leave an honest positive review or rating reflecting a positive experience.
  • A Cook or Foodie from revising a review within the time constraints for revision.

Why reviews can be left for order or booking that require CIMH intervention

When things go wrong with an order or bookings, Cooks and Foodies have two options: they may request compensation (a refund or additional fee), and they may also share their experiences publicly in a review. In order to encourage fair dispute resolution and an unbiased review system, Cooks and Foodies must be able to use both of these tools.

For instance, if a Cook has a Foodie that breaks his/her rules, we want that Cook to share their experience with future Cook and CIMH via the review or a Foodie has a Cook that breaks his/her rules, we want that Cook to share their experience with future Cook and CIMH via the review. Additionally, there may be times that a Foodie breaks rules  AND a Cook provides an unclean listing, so we don’t want to prohibit one party from participating in that feedback process.

That said, we will remove reviews in situations where we can determine that one party has attempted to extort the other to manipulate the content of the review. Additionally, if the review left after a dispute violates any of our content policies - for instance, it contains discriminatory content or a violent threat) - the review will also be removed.

Conflict of interest

We will remove reviews where there are signals that the reservation was made for the sole purpose of inflating a person’s overall rating, or where we suspect that the stay never occurred.

Accepting fake reservations in exchange for a positive review, using a second account to review yourself or your own listing, or providing something of value in exchange for positive reviews, are not allowed. Violations may result in the restriction, suspension or termination of your CIMH account.

Competitor reviews

Reviews written by competitors - for example competing businesses, listings or experiences - for the purpose of dissuading others from booking those listings or experiences or driving business to other listings or experiences, is not allowed. Violations may result in the restriction, suspension or termination of your CIMH account.

Moderating for relevance

Reviews provide community members with information and insights that help them make better booking decisions. Reviews are most helpful when reviewers accurately recount their experience and provide their honest opinions.

Where a review contains information that is unrelated to an experience as a Cook or Foodie, or is focused on something beyond the control of the person being reviewed, our moderation team will weigh the relevance of the review by assessing:

  1. Does the review recount the reviewer's experience and provide their personal perspective?
  2. Is the review helpful to other members of the CIMH community? Does it provide essential information about a Cook or Foodie, listing, or experience that would help others make more informed booking decisions?

If CIMH determines that the review contains no relevant information about a Cook or Foodie, listing, or experience, the review will be removed. Reviews that contain mostly irrelevant information are also subject to removal, but only where the otherwise relevant information would not be expected to meaningfully inform the booking decisions of other community members.

Moderating for canceled order or booking by Cook or Foodie

If you decide to leave a review for a canceled order or booking, we ask that you keep your feedback relevant to what you have personally experienced. In cases where CIMH can confirm that a review was left for a canceled order or booking, and the review contains information irrelevant to our community, the review will be removed.