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Non-responsive cache owner


deckard0

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Had a DNF on 9/17. Posted and asked the cache ownern to investigate the area. I have a hunch that the cache is either destroyed by a newly fallen tree or has been taken. The last find was several months ago. The owner has logged into the site all this week and hasn't responded to my request. Can I report this to the "authorities" as a dead cache?

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Had a DNF on 9/17. Posted and asked the cache ownern to investigate the area. I have a hunch that the cache is either destroyed by a newly fallen tree or has been taken. The last find was several months ago. The owner has logged into the site all this week and hasn't responded to my request. Can I report this to the "authorities" as a dead cache?

 

I would post another note (maybe a "needs maintenance" this time?) and send another email. Then wait another week. If nothing, file an SBA note.

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Had a DNF on 9/17. Posted and asked the cache ownern to investigate the area. I have a hunch that the cache is either destroyed by a newly fallen tree or has been taken. The last find was several months ago. The owner has logged into the site all this week and hasn't responded to my request. Can I report this to the "authorities" as a dead cache?

 

I would post another note (maybe a "needs maintenance" this time?) and send another email. Then wait another week. If nothing, file an SBA note.

 

K will do. But what's an SBA note?

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While I try to get out and check my caches when I suspect a problem, I do not always get out in a few short days. Life circumstances have forced me to wait 2 - 3 weeks or a bit more before I get out to check it. I often don't give a lot of weight to a single DNF or request particularly from new cachers. A picture of the cache area would really help convince me something is wrong but short of that I usually wait for a 2nd confimation. Then I can temp disable until I get over to check it. Normally that is within 7 days but as I said - could be longer. After almost 5 years I have learned not to jump right out and check every DNF and problem report - most nearly all the time I used to, the cache was safe and sound.

 

Give it a bit more time and a second email. Send a picture of the area if you can. Be friendly. Use "needs maintenance" logs.

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While I try to get out and check my caches when I suspect a problem, I do not always get out in a few short days. Life circumstances have forced me to wait 2 - 3 weeks or a bit more before I get out to check it. I often don't give a lot of weight to a single DNF or request particularly from new cachers. A picture of the cache area would really help convince me something is wrong but short of that I usually wait for a 2nd confimation. Then I can temp disable until I get over to check it. Normally that is within 7 days but as I said - could be longer. After almost 5 years I have learned not to jump right out and check every DNF and problem report - most nearly all the time I used to, the cache was safe and sound.

 

Give it a bit more time and a second email. Send a picture of the area if you can. Be friendly. Use "needs maintenance" logs.

 

would've taken a few snaps had i remembered the camera.

ive posted a needs maintenance and will give it another week. thanks all.

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Had a DNF on 9/17. Posted and asked the cache ownern to investigate the area. I have a hunch that the cache is either destroyed by a newly fallen tree or has been taken. The last find was several months ago. The owner has logged into the site all this week and hasn't responded to my request. Can I report this to the "authorities" as a dead cache?

 

If you want to be contacted by the cache owner you might try sending them a polite email about the cache. Its possible they are not paying very close attention to the log notice emails, or maybe they are reading them but are not be in the habit of contacting everyone that logs a DNF.

And to echo what several have said, be patient :laughing: It hasn't even been a full week yet, it might end up being several if you're expecting them to go check and report back.

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Five days? I would have waited a couple of weeks... :laughing:

I never respond on a first dnf. For example I had one DNF'ed and a day later it was found. Also remeber that an owner cannot always jump up and run check on a cache. There are certain times of the year, month or week or what have you, I can't get to it. I hate it but thats real life for me.Be nice and patient.

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I reported 5 SBA's this year. The one that had been serviced the latest was 3 years ago. 2 of the caches hadn't been found or maintained in over 5 years. My general rule of thumb, due to living high in the Rocky Mountains is either 5 consecutive DNFs or 2 years of NO NOTES at all. Many of our caches here take an entire day to do, and some require an overnight camping trip. So there usually isn't that many finds on a cache.

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It does seem rather presumptuous to expect a cache owner to jump through hoops in only five days because "I suspect it is gone." Give them a couple of weeks, then e-mail again.

Found a cache once that had not been found in almost a year. It has had nine finds in five years, and seven DNFs. Everyone (most have not logged the DNF) says it is not there. Oh, it's there all right!

The same is true for the other old cache by the same hider. It's still there! Go find it.

Ah, the modern world. Every thing is 'Right Now!'

Patience, grasshopper.

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I reported 5 SBA's this year. The one that had been serviced the latest was 3 years ago. 2 of the caches hadn't been found or maintained in over 5 years. My general rule of thumb, due to living high in the Rocky Mountains is either 5 consecutive DNFs or 2 years of NO NOTES at all. Many of our caches here take an entire day to do, and some require an overnight camping trip. So there usually isn't that many finds on a cache.

not everybody logs maintenance visits - I do most but not all the time.

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Had a DNF on 9/17. Posted and asked the cache ownern to investigate the area. I have a hunch that the cache is either destroyed by a newly fallen tree or has been taken. The last find was several months ago. The owner has logged into the site all this week and hasn't responded to my request. Can I report this to the "authorities" as a dead cache?

I agree with the others here that a little patience on your part is in order. One DNF on a cache wouldn't cause me any concern either.

 

But that isn't why I am writing. I notice that you said in your first log that you wanted to leave a TB here so it could move west to California...It's not a good idea to leave a TB in a cache that is visited so infrequently. If it's your TB, that is certainly your call, but if it's someone else's TB they would probably like you to leave it in a cache that is visited more often.

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Maybe he's on vacation, and is waiting until his return to check the cache and respond. 5 days is an extremely short amount of time to wait before you SBA his cache. You've done your part, let it go for a while. Put a watch on the cache and see what happens.

 

I agree. You can live without this cache for a long time. In fact.....you could live without it forever!

 

Mellow out!

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The cacher is active, he's logging into the site, my guess is he believes it's there.

 

Have you gone back to look again?

 

I would certainly do that before I would say it's missing.

 

Anyone can DNF a cache, so a single previous DNF wouldn't worry me.

 

At any rate, while I would hope for a 14-day response, I wouldn't submit a SBA until 30 days have passed, and I expect the Reviewer will try to contact him and wait another 30 days, so you could reasonably expect 60 days to pass after your email.

 

Have fun,

Ed

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Yes, I am new also. But when I have DNFd so far, I have just logged it as such, to let the owner know that someone was looking, and put it on my watch list. One that I did this to has been found since, so I know that I need to return soon. Others have also been DNFd since by far more experienced cachers, so good possibility that they are gone, they will stay on the list so I can see if they are maintained or archived.

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what about non-DNF's, ones that have had several people log into their cache found comments that the cache needs maintenance?

 

I added a regular note to it after I found it & logged my Found It note, maybe I should go back & log a 'needs maintenance' note?

 

Or should I wait a bit since its a really active cache & see if any other cachers agree with me?

I know the owner doesnt work a steady 5days/wk schedule at his nearby worksite, but the comments have been made well over a month now & he has been in for shifts since then so he is in the area.

 

Any suggestions?

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what about non-DNF's, ones that have had several people log into their cache found comments that the cache needs maintenance?

 

I added a regular note to it after I found it & logged my Found It note, maybe I should go back & log a 'needs maintenance' note?

 

Or should I wait a bit since its a really active cache & see if any other cachers agree with me?

I know the owner doesnt work a steady 5days/wk schedule at his nearby worksite, but the comments have been made well over a month now & he has been in for shifts since then so he is in the area.

 

Any suggestions?

Email the cache owner. That's always the first step, no matter what else you do later. It's the polite thing to do. If they don't answer you in a week, email them again. And then if they don't email you in another week or so, post a needs maintence log on the cache.

 

The person who owns the cache in question has been caching for years, is still active, and has been online recently. You did the right thing to try to fix up the cache as best you could. No need to encrypt the info on the cache note--around here we look out for each other's caches. If I post a note on soemone's page that I removed mouldy soggy gunk and put in a new log, then the next guy will take along a new baggie and maybe some extra swag. That way, the cache gets spiffied up for other cachers and everyone is happy. If I want to offer to take over someone cache, I email them directly with that offer.

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There was a cache near where I lived that needed some serious maintenance. I repaired the cache and emailed the owner. He still ignored. I emailed again and asked if he would archive I would replace the cache. He archived, I replaced. Total time from first notice of need of maintenance to new cache, two months. Results new cache that provided a FTF. :laughing:

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Deckard, no offense, but like others in the group have suggested...If someone with 14 finds DNF'd on one of my caches, I wouldn't jump in my car and check on it immediately either.

 

I DNF on caches all the time that are subsequently found by others. It's just part of the game.

 

Several months isn't necessarily a long time between cache finds. I have a half-dozen caches of my own that haven't been found since before summer started, but I know they're still there.

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Someone may have said this already, but I had to post RIGHT NOW! :laughing:

 

If that cache is bothering you THAT MUCH....then put it on your ignore list! Because the ignore list is a bookmark list I am pretty sure you can activate the option to have it notify you when new logs are issued to the cache listings on that bookmark.

 

If you are not a premium member, then you are screwed! Either give it a month or so, or don't login to GC.com for a month so your not tempted to go back to that cache page and give the owner the what-for on not maintaining thier cache in over a week.

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Someone may have said this already, but I had to post RIGHT NOW! :antenna:

 

If that cache is bothering you THAT MUCH....then put it on your ignore list! Because the ignore list is a bookmark list I am pretty sure you can activate the option to have it notify you when new logs are issued to the cache listings on that bookmark.

 

If you are not a premium member, then you are screwed! Either give it a month or so, or don't login to GC.com for a month so your not tempted to go back to that cache page and give the owner the what-for on not maintaining thier cache in over a week.

 

well, if anyone is in the eastern Alabama area, i challenge you to go out and find the cache. :antenna:

btw, i wouldnt be concerned about a DNF if i didnt strongly feel that the area and/or cache had not been disturbed. also, this cache is essentially an all-day effort. i'll probably take along my dig cam next time to further legitimize my claim since evidently "newbies" have no clout. :antenna:

Edited by deckard0
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well, if anyone is in the eastern Alabama area, i challenge you to go out and find the cache. :antenna:

btw, i wouldnt be concerned about a DNF if i didnt strongly feel that the area and/or cache had not been disturbed. also, this cache is essentially an all-day effort. i'll probably take along my dig cam next time to further legitimize my claim since evidently "newbies" have no clout. :antenna:

It's true that the say-so of a newbie won't carry the same weight as that of someone with more experience. Experienced cachers miss finding caches, and newbies tend to miss finding more. But that isn't the problem in this case so much. We're telling you, man, that none of us would run out there in too much of a hurry even if the cacher who went looking had 3000 finds because one DNF isn't that many--all day hunt or park 'n' grab. Now if three experienced cachers had been there on three different days...well, I bet most of us would be hiking out there to see what was up.

 

It would have helped if you had taken pictures. The owner could look to see if the "newly fallen tree" was indeed newly fallen, or if it was the one in the hint--or if you were even in the right quarter section of the woods.

 

We found a fallen tree when we were still pretty new (oh, maybe 100 caches). It was in a rest area. The hint made us pretty sure the cache was supposed to be in that tree and the cords pointed to where the tree would have stood if it were still upright. Unfortunately, it was laying down. We searched the entire lower truck, but couldn't find an opening that we could reach that had a cache in it. Most likely it fell so that the opening with the cache was face down. It took three more people to email the owner after we did for him to go check on it. He archived the cache and wrote a note on the cache page explaining what had happend, but never did bother to answer our note to him.

 

Do let us know what happens if you go back!

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