Pifini is built on honest first-person reviews. This policy explains what we allow, what we remove, and the multi-stage review system we use to decide. It complements our Terms of Service.
How we verify reviews
We publish reviews from anyone, and we show honestly whether — and how — each one is verified. We never ask happy and unhappy customers differently, and we never make any badge, status, or reward depend on how positive a review is.
- Verified visit— shown only when we can actually confirm the person was there: a ticket scanned at the door, or a check-in at the place. This is the strongest signal, and it's one Pifini can offer because we handle the tickets and check-ins ourselves.
- Ticket holder / RSVP'd — a real signal that the person bought a ticket or said they were going, but not proof they attended. We label these for exactly what they are, never as a confirmed visit.
- Says they visited — self-reported, with no signal behind it. Shown plainly as self-reported.
- Material connections— if a reviewer tells us they're the owner, staff, family, or otherwise connected to a business, or that they were given something in exchange for the review, we display that on the review.
Reviews we judge to be low-trust (see moderation below) may be excluded from a listing's average, but we never present the reviews you can see as if they were all the reviews that exist.
What's always welcome
- Honest first-person opinions about your experience — positive or negative.
- Specific, verifiable details (dates, what you ordered, who served you).
- Photos and videos you took yourself.
- Constructive criticism. Businesses can respond publicly to any review.
What we remove
- Defamation & false statements of fact.Saying “the food was terrible” is opinion. Saying “the owner is a criminal” without proof is a factual accusation and is removed.
- Harassment & hate speech.Personal attacks, slurs, threats, or content targeting someone's identity.
- Doxxing / private information. Home addresses, phone numbers, workplaces of identifiable individuals (other than the business itself).
- Fake / paid reviews. Reviews posted as a competitor, reviews paid for by the business, or reviews written without actually visiting.
- Review brigades. Coordinated pushes of positive or negative reviews.
- Spam, promotions, scams. Reviews that exist to drive traffic elsewhere or to advertise.
- Illegal content. Anything that violates applicable law — including CSAM, incitement to violence, and content that would expose Pifini or the member to legal liability.
How moderation works
Pifini uses a three-stage pipeline so that honest reviews publish instantly and risky content gets more scrutiny.
Stage 1 — on submission (AI quality check)
Every review runs through an AI quality score (specificity, plausibility, tone). Clean reviews publish immediately. Empty reviews, generic one-liners, and suspected promotional content are downgraded.
Stage 2 — on flag (AI second-pass)
If a review is reported, has a high suspicion score, or contains specific accusations, it enters a second automated pass that checks for defamation risk, illegal statements, and hate content. If the pass clears, the review stays up. If the pass flags it, it proceeds to stage 3.
Stage 3 — human review
A Pifini moderator reviews the content and the context (reviewer history, business response, original report). Decisions: keep · edit · remove · remove-and-warn · suspend. Every human decision is logged for audit, along with the reason.
If your review is removed
You'll receive an email with the reason. You can appeal once by replying with additional context (receipts, booking confirmations, photos with EXIF timestamps, etc.). Repeated policy violations can lead to account suspension.
Business rights
- Any claimed business can post one public response per review. The response is permanent — once posted it can't be deleted unilaterally.
- Businesses can flag a review for moderation by clicking Report on the review. Our team investigates within 2 business days.
- Businesses cannot pay to remove negative reviews, and cannot pay to suppress specific reviewers.
Pifini's platform role
Pifini provides the platform. Reviews reflect the opinions of individual members, not Pifini. Pifini is not liable for user-submitted content beyond applying this Fair Use Policy in good faith. Users agree to indemnify Pifini against claims arising from their own content.
Reporting
Report abusive content via the Report button on any review, listing, comment, or profile. Legal concerns (DMCA, defamation claims, law-enforcement requests) should go to legal@pifini.net.