Tb Grabbing Rant

[+The HERB5]

Just back from Devon; it was greeeat.

Anyway, the week (or two) before going I went round nabbing a few TB's and coins to take on hols.

 

While away I subsequently moved the items on. I don't need to remenber the numbers because I haved them logged.

Being away from home and having no Internet I was intending to do all the logging once home.

 

I get back after a lovely week away to see that three of them have been grabbed.

 

I have one email saying I've grabbed the TB, I know that it's bloody gone init.

And no emails asking what I'm going to do.......

I can't grab them back as I have no record of the numbers.

And none of the items have been logged into the said caches, so no mileage.

I shouldn't have to email the owner, it's not their fault.

 

SHOW SOME PATIENCE PLEASE!!!!

 

My question is this.

Could the GRAB option have a time delay to stop this happening or is it a case of user education ?

 

Or am I not doing it right....

 

 

HMMMPHH

[+Gralorn]

I can see why they were grabbed, there is a definite shortage of TB's in Devon from what we experienced last week in North Devon. 15 caches we found and not one TB, no they were not all micro's!!!. Left a micro coin in a micro in Somerset on the way home, so did our bit. Rarity they must be TB's, so that's why yours were probably grabbed. I understand now whay they came all the way to Wiltshire to grab a white jeep!!

[+Jaz666]

The best solution if you know you're not going to be able to log the TB movements online for a few days is to mention it in the logbook of the cache.

[+KiwiGary]

Hi,

 

Yes this is annoying indeed, I now use wap.geocaching.com to drop bugs if I can't get near a computer that day.

 

Its a pain, but it prevents the issue of people grabbing the bugs and stuffing up the mileage.

 

See ya...Gary

[+The Bolas Heathens]

I do sometimes grab them like this as we do a lot of caches and move a lot of TB's over the course of a few weeks so it's the only way I would not forget to log them correctly.

 

I do, however, make a point of dropping them into and out of the cache I found them in so as not to mess up the mileage and so the person I grabbed them off can see what I have done. I also make obvious notes on the TB logs to say what I have done and why.

 

We rarely read the logbooks of caches we visit (unless it's in a really quiet spot and we can be sure we will not be disturbed) so I don't think the option of mentioning it there would work for some cachers.

Edited June 12, 2006 by The Bolas Heathens

[+MartyBartfast]

How about posting a note to the TB's page (or sticking a postit on the TB) saying that you're intending to drop them off on holiday and won't be able to log them until dd/mmm/yyyy and asking subsequent finders not to log their finds until after that date?

[+maxkim]

If you have missed out like this you could always 'discover' it, We always try to record the numbers as well, always helps in the long run. Cheers MaxKim.

[+minstrelcat]

How about posting a note to the TB's page (or sticking a postit on the TB) saying that you're intending to drop them off on holiday and won't be able to log them until dd/mmm/yyyy and asking subsequent finders not to log their finds until after that date?

 

That's what we do too, and it's worked so far.

 

I did get a bit annoyed once when we dropped a geocoin off and got home the same evening to find it had already been grabbed. The person who grabbed it even put in his log that we must have forgotten to drop it into the cache! Give us a chance!

 

Lisa

[+Boardslider]

I can see why they were grabbed, there is a definite shortage of TB's in Devon from what we experienced last week in North Devon. 15 caches we found and not one TB, no they were not all micro's!!!. Left a micro coin in a micro in Somerset on the way home, so did our bit. Rarity they must be TB's, so that's why yours were probably grabbed. I understand now whay they came all the way to Wiltshire to grab a white jeep!!

 

Depends where you go, up here my nearest 15 caches have a total of 4 coins and 3 bugs (athough I think one of the bugs is awol). But the logging problem is worse because a lot of folk come here on holiday and don't get on line perhaps until they get home, so the logs can be out of date. I went to 'discover' a nice coin the other week only to find it had been gone about 4 days, but replaced with another.

 

Whenever I have grabbed a traveller from a cache I hold off from logging it until at least it appears in the cache - if say aftr 4 days it hasn't I'll email the previous holder and wait a couple more days before grabbing it. This is probably fine for me because my activity is quite low, but I suppose someone who bags 20 or more caches in a day could soon get in a bit of a TB mess if they were this laisse faire (sp?).

[+Alibags]

This happened to me after the recent Carry on Camping event. I had considered that this was likely to happen, due to to the sudden influx of cachers into the area, and so I was chilled out when indeed it did. I put a note on the cache page in my log and also on each TB page to say where I had dropped it off (and it had been grabbed from). If the TB owners want to manipulate the logs to get the mileage straight (I would) then it's up to them.

 

One time, a few months ago, I had a TB grabbed the same day that I had dropped it, before I had a chance to go home and log it. Mildly annoying... however, there was a TB marked as being in that cache which was long missing and the grabbers put in their log (and apparently emailed the mods too) that I must be up to something dodgy as they found a TB that I had not logged as dropped and there was a missing TB. Now that did make me mad!! However, a brief email conversation with these newbies soon reolved all the issues and unwound me!

[+Sue and Bernie]

We don't suffer this problem - when we pick up TBs we keep them with us until we can log them and only then do we drop them into another cache.

 

All this grabbing malarkey only happens when you just hop a TB from one local cache to another, particularly on the temporary visit.

 

Just hold 'em till you can log them, resist the temptation to drop them like hot potatoes and bingo! - sorted!

[+purple_pineapple]

We don't suffer this problem - when we pick up TBs we keep them with us until we can log them and only then do we drop them into another cache.

 

All this grabbing malarkey only happens when you just hop a TB from one local cache to another, particularly on the temporary visit.

 

Just hold 'em till you can log them, resist the temptation to drop them like hot potatoes and bingo! - sorted!

 

We do the same thing, (where possible) which seems to stop most problems! However, not much you can do if you go out caching for the day, drop a TB, and someone else grabs it before you can get home that evening! As the OP says, a little patience can help at times! I'm sure we all know that though!

 

Dave

[+Alibags]

We don't suffer this problem - when we pick up TBs we keep them with us until we can log them and only then do we drop them into another cache.

 

All this grabbing malarkey only happens when you just hop a TB from one local cache to another, particularly on the temporary visit.

 

Just hold 'em till you can log them, resist the temptation to drop them like hot potatoes and bingo! - sorted!

 

Not so, I am afraid. The TBs I recently dropped were all picked up before I set off for the Peaks and were then dropped off in caches. They were grabbed from my inventory. I could have dropped them off instantly via wap log... but then again, other cachers could behave! ;-)

 

If I pick a TB up which says it's in another cache, or in somebody's hands... I will give it a few days before I retrieve it.

[+Sue and Bernie]

...clearly I have failed to make myself clear!

 

When we pick up TBs, we do not drop them off again until we have got to a computer and logged them.

 

Sometime this means waiting until we return home from a trip... but no-one else can "grab" them while they are with us, the travel bug er!... travels.

 

Once we have the blighters logged them into our inventory, we then put them out next time we go caching and set them on their way. No problem with impetuous "grabbers"!

 

TBs can only be "grabbed" when then grabber has the coin/TB and can see the code/registration number on the item. If they cannot see it, they cannot grab it.

 

Resist the urge to immediately drop the TB/Coin like a hot potatoe into the next, nearest cache and instead take it on a trip with you. After all, that is the point...

 

Enjoy...

Edited June 17, 2006 by Sue and Bernie

[+Alibags]

...clearly I have failed to make myself clear!

 

 

No :-(

 

I had taken them home and logged them. I then moved them to a different part of the country, dropped them off somewhere nice and took pretty photos of them. Then I returned home to log them and they had been grabbed... physically from the cache and virtually from my inventory.

 

Do people picke them up and drop them the same day? Most people I know tend to lug them home to log them, find out what their missions are (if not labelled) and relocate them somewhere else.

 

Hey, well we are not arguing... grabbing is not neccesary most of the time!

[+purple_pineapple]

 

Once we have the blighters logged them into our inventory, we then put them out next time we go caching and set them on their way. No problem with impetuous "grabbers"!

 

 

Ah, but Ali's issue is that during that 'next time she goes out caching' they have been grabbed by someone who found the cache immediately after her - got home first, and couldn;t wait to grab it. ie very impetuous! As far as I can tell, the only way to stop this is WAP logging, and not everyone can do this (and why should we?).

 

We did once drop off a TB before we'd got home to log that we picked it up, but it needed to stay in the county and we were on holiday at the time - we were fortunate cos it wasn;t moved in meantime!

 

Still, as I said - this is only educating the educated!

 

Cheers!

 

Dave

[+Sue and Bernie]

...clearly I have failed to make myself clear!

 

 

No :-(

 

I had taken them home and logged them. I then moved them to a different part of the country, dropped them off somewhere nice and took pretty photos of them. Then I returned home to log them and they had been grabbed... physically from the cache and virtually from my inventory.

 

 

A class act! That's a new one on me! That can only be an inexperienced person at work. A polite email and grab them back again, log them in properly to the cache and then invited the impetuous "grabber" to post a note and collect them again.

 

How irritating!!....

[+John Stead]

TBs and coins can of course be grabbed from your inventory if someone has the logging number - and occasionally someone publishes a photo with the number visible or even puts the logging number in their log. I have just emailed a newbie who did just that explaining what can happen.

[+Alibags]

 

A class act! That's a new one on me!

 

Really? That does suprise me. Mind you, I had the facilities to WAP, but decided that I would not bother (bad signal, I was hot and tired and then there was the matter of all this booze to be drunk...). I had mentally prepared myself on this occasion for a spot of grabbing... and only about half the bugs I dropped off were grabbed, the rest were retrieved properly once I had dropped them.