Thank you for sharing your concerns about the BedandBreakfast.com reviews program. I'd like to take this opportunity to clarify a few issues in your comment.

Our reviews program was designed to be useful to potential guests and fair to innkeepers. When we launched the program in 2006, we needed to address the problem of false critical reviews; false positive reviews are rarely a problem.

We have multiple verification steps for both positive and critical reviews. The first is that all reviewers, both positive and critical, are required to verify their email address. We also have an internal validation system that checks each review for suspicious patterns (we do not rely on IP addresses). Every review on the site is read and posted by a Support department employee in our Austin office -- never a computer or automated system. Positive and mixed reviews are posted based on these verifications. Critical reviews have one additional verification step, wherein the guest supplies us with proof of their stay by email, fax, or mail.

This process ensures that the critical comments come from people who have actually experienced the property. Potential guests can trust that the negative reviews on BedandBreakfast.com are not from someone posting maliciously – they come from travelers who didn’t enjoy their stay, and who have taken the time to share their experience.

Both positive and critical reviews are posted on a daily basis. The reason why there are more positive reviews on the site is simple: we receive far more positive comments than negative. We encourage guests to write critical reviews; we also work with innkeepers to use the comments as constructive criticism.

Our complete reviews guidelines and FAQ are available here (it is also linked from the page where guests submit reviews):

http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/ReviewGuidelines.aspx

We encourage any traveler with questions about our reviews program to contact our Support department directly. Our phone, email, and online chat contact information is available here:

http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/about/contact.aspx

As the leading online bed and breakfast directory, we feel it is necessary and appropriate to require verification for our reviews, as described above. We’re always happy to discuss and clarify our procedures with anyone who would like to speak with us.

asked by BedandBreakfastcom B. on 3/10/10