So the process for getting an illegitimate review taken down is a very slow and lengthy one... I'm sure we all agree that it should NOT be easy to get a review pulled, and it should not be possible for a provider to game the system and get any review taken down just because she's not happy with it. That much is clear.
HOWEVER.... As it is now, when a provider suspects or knows that a review isn't real, she has to first PM the reviewer asking him to remind her of the session and of who he is, then wait 72 hours for a response, then contact TER presenting her evidence that the session did not occur. Then she has to wait up to 24 hours for TER to respond, at which point they will send the guy a PM, and tell the lady to "be patient" and contact them again in 48 hours. At THAT point, when she contacts them after 48 hours and they finally respond (so it's already been 72 + 24 + 48 + 24 hours in some cases), if the guy still hasn't signed into TER since admin sent the PM, they just tell the lady once again to "be patient," and that they will pull the review if he signs in and ignores their message, or if he doesn't sign in in a "reasonable amount of time." Whatever that is. My issue is that in the case of a false review, all the while this is going on, that review is still up there for everyone to see. If the review happens to be a truly damning and vindictive review, even if it is ultimately proven false and pulled, a lot of the damage has already been done. Not to mention the guy has already gotten his free VIP days for writing it. This just doesn't seem right or very charitable towards the ladies, who are the ones who keep this site going. If the review is real, in the vast majority of cases the guy is going to respond either to the provider or to TER & defend himself. If it's nothing but radio silence from him, doesn't that suggest he is NOT willing to stand behind his review? Especially when he has no prior review history. I think a more reasonable policy would be to provisionally pull the review at some point (say, after the first 72 hours has passed and TER has PMed the guy... or even 24/48 hours after that), and then if he DOES respond and proves the review's veracity, just go ahead & put it back up. Because honestly, once a provider's reputation has been sullied, that can't really be undone. Even it people see the review is gone, they'll probably just assume she pulled some strings to get it taken down and that she's "one of THOSE girls" who games the review system. It just really irks me that the way this is handled is so obviously biased towards the guys. Like I said, if the guy is a serious reviewer and his review is based in fact, he WILL respond at least to TER, if not to the lady, and defend himself. Why should the lady be punished with a fake review remaining up there indefinitely, just because the guy can't be bothered to sign into his TER account? And no this is not about me, so please, no responses saying, "but that review isn't bad! STFU already!" Yes I happen to be going through the process right now which is what prompted this post, but I'm suggesting the change in policy thinking not of my own case (since the review in question is not at all damaging), but the case of another SF provider who recently had a whole string of obviously fake reviews from some sort of stalker, and they were up there FOREVER before they were finally pulled.It can't be too easy to have reviews removed either. Otherwise there would be a flood of providers claiming they have fake reviews and cluttering the system every time they have a review that they don't like.
While it may not be feasible to speed up the process too much, I personally wouldn't see the great harm in putting the review in the "deferred" status when a hobbyist's reply isn't forthcoming within a specific period of time. You have to also remember that not all reviewers log into TER daily and they may not get the message immediately which is why TER waits until they log in. Should they be penalized why away on business or vacation?
Fake reviewers should be banned or at least lose review privileges and providers who abuse the process or cry wolf too often should be suspended or banned themselves.
Again, I don't see the big harm in using the deferred status more often or perhaps a little sooner, but not for long time and experienced reviewers. They should get the benefit of the doubt, but new reviewers do need closer scrutiny.
Yes, I fully agree that active members with a review history should be given the benefit of the doubt. Consider everything I said in my OP to apply to new members/new reviewers only. Thank you.
Call it a "temporary injunctive relief" while the facts are sorted out.
if the review is legit it will be there for all to see in perpetuity. The only caveats to this that I would like to point out is when more harm could be done by pulling the review than by leaving it up. The possible cases I can think of are the obvious "cash and dash" ripoffs by a new provider who's goal is to rip off as many guys as possible before the word gets out.
That said, those would be an incredibly small percentage of the contested reviews, and I completely agree that malicious reviews should be taken down as soon as possible to avoid undeserved damage to a ladies business.
Congratulations, you have convinced two of the boards biggest assholes and "misogynists" that your suggestion has merit, lets hope you can get some traction with it.