Took Bug Not Listed in Cache

[+hallycat]

And when I went to grab it, it was last logged as being in British Columbia in July. That person did not log a find at the cache I found the bug. Do I still say I grabbed it from that user? Help

[+ClayC]

If you have the bug in your possession, and the person who it shows currently holding the bug does not, then I would say your entitled to grab the bug from them.

 

Your only other option is to have them log that they dropped the bug into the cache, then grab it from the cache, but if they havent logged the find, then who knows.

 

You got it, you log it.

[+hallycat]

If you have the bug in your possession, and the person who it shows currently holding the bug does not, then I would say your entitled to grab the bug from them.

 

Your only other option is to have them log that they dropped the bug into the cache, then grab it from the cache, but if they havent logged the find, then who knows.

 

You got it, you log it.

 

I looked at his finds and he was near (less then a mile) two days ago from where I found it. I will look later today and maybe he will log it otherwise I will grab it from him.

Thanks for the input.

 

Barb

[+Renegade Knight]

I would say that grabbing the bug from that cacher just because you can would be rude. You should email them and give them the chance to catch up the bugs logs. That way the travel bug's history and movement are right. Once you grab it, it's screwed up forever. Sometimes you have no choice because the person who moved it never does log and then it's the best fix available.

 

First email the prior holder and ask them about catching up on the logs. That may be just the jog to their memory they need.

[+hallycat]

I would say that grabbing the bug from that cacher just because you can would be rude. You should email them and give them the chance to catch up the bugs logs. That way the travel bug's history and movement are right. Once you grab it, it's screwed up forever. Sometimes you have no choice because the person who moved it never does log and then it's the best fix available.

 

First email the prior holder and ask them about catching up on the logs. That may be just the jog to their memory they need.

 

Thanks, he is obviously traveling so I can understand he grabbed a cache and then had to catch a plane or whatever and hasn't logged. I will email him instead of just waiting one day.

[+ClayC]

ahh well that makes a difference. I thought you meant the bug had been sitting there a long time. Yeah, email the guy, or give him a few days to log it.

[+hallycat]

ahh well that makes a difference. I thought you meant the bug had been sitting there a long time. Yeah, email the guy, or give him a few days to log it.

 

At first I did think it had been a while but realized I was wrong. Emailed the dude and as I thought he had just arrived home and it's all set now.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I would say that grabbing the bug from that cacher just because you can would be rude. You should email them and give them the chance to catch up the bugs logs. That way the travel bug's history and movement are right. Once you grab it, it's screwed up forever. Sometimes you have no choice because the person who moved it never does log and then it's the best fix available.

 

First email the prior holder and ask them about catching up on the logs. That may be just the jog to their memory they need.

 

AARGH!!!! It happened to me again!!!! (Sorry. I need to vent!!) I picked up a bug in Milford, Pa, a few weeks ago. We visited the Tut exhibit in Philadelphia last week, and did some geocaching. (Vacation trip with a friend, and my sister.) I dropped the bug in a cache in Philadelphia. An hour (and three caches later) we caught the train back to New York, and the guagua to New Jersey. 9 PM by the time we got home. We logged the caches early the next morning. (Okay, so we're old, and were exhausted. It was hot in Philly!) I find this note on the geocoin that I dropped:

I guess he forgot to log it.

(Most of the words I was thinking cannot be used in a forum such as this.) I dropped it at 4 PM, and noted it in the log. The place where the cache I dropped it is located closes at 9 PM. Perhaps another cacher picked it up and dropped it where the bug snatcher claims to have found it. (Though the bug snatcher logged the cache.) A week later, and the bug snatcher has not dropped it in another cache, so it's not as if the immediacy were necessary. And this geocoin will not have its trip to Philadelphia logged.

I did send an e-mail suggesting that he log it into and out of the cache where I left it.

Rude? That describes it. "ME! ME! Me! To heck with anyone else." That seems to describe such geocachers.

There are some other thoughts that I'd like to post, but geocaching guidelines prohibit them. Yup. It took me seventeen hours to try to log the bug drop.

I guess he forgot to log it.

Rant mode off. I have to think why I bother tying to move Travel Bugs.

[+mblitch]

It also pisses me off to no end when the inconsiderate people just make the log without thinking. At least wait a few days. Unless you absolutely HAVE to drop it off again that day, just keep it. Discover the dadgum thing, place a watch on the item, and then log it when the drop is made. People travel and cannot get to a computer immediately. The whole idea of TBs is to move around, and usually not just in a local area.

[momandtom]

And when I went to grab it, it was last logged as being in British Columbia in July. That person did not log a find at the cache I found the bug. Do I still say I grabbed it from that user? Help

 

I have similar problem. I retrieved a TB from a cache before the "dropper" had a chance to log it. I logged it as a "grab". He has since logged his drop. I want to go back and say I retrieved it, but I'm not given that as an option when I go back to this TB's page. Any ideas?

 

I guess I don't quite understand the fun or purpose of a "grab". Can anyone explain it to me?

 

Thanks

[+BlueDeuce]

And when I went to grab it, it was last logged as being in British Columbia in July. That person did not log a find at the cache I found the bug. Do I still say I grabbed it from that user? Help

 

I have similar problem. I retrieved a TB from a cache before the "dropper" had a chance to log it. I logged it as a "grab". He has since logged his drop. I want to go back and say I retrieved it, but I'm not given that as an option when I go back to this TB's page. Any ideas?

 

I guess I don't quite understand the fun or purpose of a "grab". Can anyone explain it to me?

 

Thanks

 

He just logged the cache, he didn't log the bug you still have in your possession.

 

What you need to do is post a log on the cache you found it in, select the bug and drop it. Then do a Retrieve so that the bug get credit for visiting that cache and the mileage tracking is accurate.

 

Typically you use Grab when you take it from another user.

Retrieve is taking it out of a cache.

[+elrojo14]

I believe it is very important not to "grab" a bug until you have tried contacting the last person to have it and waiting a few days. The grab should only be used if you are certain the logs are not going to be caught up in a few days and someone is just dropping the ball.

 

Nothing irks me more than when I am traveling and a person won't even give you 24 hours to get the hotel and log the bug in. They just grab it from you.

 

Wait a few days. If you can't, you can at least leave notes and say that you want to log the bug properly, but need the last guy to catch up.

[+vels]

I have the same problem, happened 2 times in a day because i was on vacation without internet a few days - same guy did the "grab" 2 times on some bugs i dropped, now in the log they never made it to the destination i dropped them in.

 

Emailing him has not helped.

 

has anyone tried...

 

- Grab it back present date.

- Do a drop log on the actual drop date.

- Delete your newly entered grab note.

 

will this work ?

 

Cheers

J

[+BlueDeuce]

I have the same problem, happened 2 times in a day because i was on vacation without internet a few days - same guy did the "grab" 2 times on some bugs i dropped, now in the log they never made it to the destination i dropped them in.

 

Emailing him has not helped.

 

has anyone tried...

 

- Grab it back present date.

- Do a drop log on the actual drop date.

- Delete your newly entered grab note.

 

will this work ?

 

Cheers

J

 

Where's the bug right now? In a cache?

 

If you grab it out of his possession you'll need to have him grab it back. If you wait until it's dropped into a cache then you can do the back drop and replace it back into the current cache listing.

[+Harry Dolphin]

I have the same problem, happened 2 times in a day because i was on vacation without internet a few days - same guy did the "grab" 2 times on some bugs i dropped, now in the log they never made it to the destination i dropped them in.

 

Emailing him has not helped.

 

has anyone tried...

 

- Grab it back present date.

- Do a drop log on the actual drop date.

- Delete your newly entered grab note.

 

will this work ?

 

Cheers

J

 

Where's the bug right now? In a cache?

 

If you grab it out of his possession you'll need to have him grab it back. If you wait until it's dropped into a cache then you can do the back drop and replace it back into the current cache listing.

 

Yup. The TB wanted to visit new states. So we dropped it in an event (in a state that it had not been to.) The (what's a polite way to put this???) Grabber logged it from her cell phone! Goodness gracious! WE were back home in less than two hours. But ME! ME! could not wait. We grabbed it back, and logged it into the event, and e-mailed her to pick it up again. Of course, being one of 'instant gratification' types, she did not, and logged it into another cache with a Note. She ignored the e-mail, and didn't log it properly. Good thing we figured out where she put it, and logged it into that cache. Such lack of consideration is inforgivable.

Update on the last coin grabbed from me (in less than an hour). A month later, and it still has not be put in a new cache. What was the urgency? Why not permit cachers to log these things properly?

Self-gratification, or stupidity? Or both?

[+BlueDeuce]

I have the same problem, happened 2 times in a day because i was on vacation without internet a few days - same guy did the "grab" 2 times on some bugs i dropped, now in the log they never made it to the destination i dropped them in.

 

Emailing him has not helped.

 

has anyone tried...

 

- Grab it back present date.

- Do a drop log on the actual drop date.

- Delete your newly entered grab note.

 

will this work ?

 

Cheers

J

 

Where's the bug right now? In a cache?

 

If you grab it out of his possession you'll need to have him grab it back. If you wait until it's dropped into a cache then you can do the back drop and replace it back into the current cache listing.

 

Yup. The TB wanted to visit new states. So we dropped it in an event (in a state that it had not been to.) The (what's a polite way to put this???) Grabber logged it from her cell phone! Goodness gracious! WE were back home in less than two hours. But ME! ME! could not wait. We grabbed it back, and logged it into the event, and e-mailed her to pick it up again. Of course, being one of 'instant gratification' types, she did not, and logged it into another cache with a Note. She ignored the e-mail, and didn't log it properly. Good thing we figured out where she put it, and logged it into that cache. Such lack of consideration is inforgivable.

Update on the last coin grabbed from me (in less than an hour). A month later, and it still has not be put in a new cache. What was the urgency? Why not permit cachers to log these things properly?

Self-gratification, or stupidity? Or both?

 

I'm sorry, are we talking about the same bug(s)?

[+kruzrrr]

Well, to offer up my experience, I had a cacher retrieve a bug from a cache logging grabbed from me before I had a reasonable chance to log my dropping the bug. Still having the bug # I grabbed it back and then logged it into the cache I had placed it in and promptly sent him an email telling him what I had done and why. I also told him , politely, that he would have to relog his grabbing the bug.

He understood and all was right with the bug.

And that's my tale.

[+Hose502]

I don't understand why people would be upset if a TB gets grabbed before the previous holder gets to log the drop. I get all my bookkeeping done as soon as possible after a caching run because that's what *I* need to do to stay organized. If I hold a TB that hasn't been dropped in the cache I retrieved it from, I immediately grab it, drop it in the cache that I found it in, and then retrieve it. Mileage is correct, the state of the TB is up-to-date, and it is in my inventory so I can't accidentally drop it unlogged. So what is wrong? If I'm on an extended trip where I can't get computer access and I find a TB I dropped that got grabbed before I could log it, I'd be happy to know that it got picked up so quickly.

[+UncleJimbo]

 

AARGH!!!! It happened to me again!!!! (Sorry. I need to vent!!) I picked up a bug in Milford, Pa, a few weeks ago. We visited the Tut exhibit in Philadelphia last week, and did some geocaching. (Vacation trip with a friend, and my sister.) I dropped the bug in a cache in Philadelphia. An hour (and three caches later) we caught the train back to New York, and the guagua to New Jersey. 9 PM by the time we got home. We logged the caches early the next morning. (Okay, so we're old, and were exhausted. It was hot in Philly!) I find this note on the geocoin that I dropped:

I guess he forgot to log it.

(Most of the words I was thinking cannot be used in a forum such as this.) I dropped it at 4 PM, and noted it in the log. The place where the cache I dropped it is located closes at 9 PM. Perhaps another cacher picked it up and dropped it where the bug snatcher claims to have found it. (Though the bug snatcher logged the cache.) A week later, and the bug snatcher has not dropped it in another cache, so it's not as if the immediacy were necessary. And this geocoin will not have its trip to Philadelphia logged.

 

I am relatively new to geocaching and geocaching.com, but it would seem to me that many of these problems could be solved if the software on the website were changed to allow corrections. Then again, perhaps this was evaluated in the past and caused even more headaches.

 

From what I have seen so far there are a lot of confused and/or thoughtless cachers out there.

 

I guess one option is to leave a note with a TB when you drop it saying something like "Please do not Log your find online until xxx date to give me time to Log my drop. Thanks."

[+UncleJimbo]

I don't understand why people would be upset if a TB gets grabbed before the previous holder gets to log the drop. I get all my bookkeeping done as soon as possible after a caching run because that's what *I* need to do to stay organized. If I hold a TB that hasn't been dropped in the cache I retrieved it from, I immediately grab it, drop it in the cache that I found it in, and then retrieve it. Mileage is correct, the state of the TB is up-to-date, and it is in my inventory so I can't accidentally drop it unlogged. So what is wrong? If I'm on an extended trip where I can't get computer access and I find a TB I dropped that got grabbed before I could log it, I'd be happy to know that it got picked up so quickly.

 

How can you be certain whom to grab it from?

It is possible the TB traveled around through other caches and hands before it got to where you found it. If that is the case, then grabbing it would not result in correct mileage.

[+Hose502]

How can you be certain whom to grab it from?

 

I cannot not, but the log entry says, "Grabbed it", not "Grabbed it from cacher x".

 

It is possible the TB traveled around through other caches and hands before it got to where you found it. If that is the case, then grabbing it would not result in correct mileage.

 

Yes, that is possible. The mileage is a cool thing to track, but there is a good chance it won't be correct. In the rare case that I grabbed a bug, and the mileage isn't correct because of that, and the bug owner would like to have the entries corrected and is willing to cooporate, and the previous cacher is also willing to cooperate, I'm all about helping out with fixing the logs. It is way more overhead to do detective work anytime the travel bug state happens to not be up-to-date. If that makes me thoughtless, then I apologize in advance for any bugs I may "grab", but I will continue to do so.

[+UncleJimbo]

How can you be certain whom to grab it from?

 

I cannot not, but the log entry says, "Grabbed it", not "Grabbed it from cacher x".

 

It is possible the TB traveled around through other caches and hands before it got to where you found it. If that is the case, then grabbing it would not result in correct mileage.

 

Yes, that is possible. The mileage is a cool thing to track, but there is a good chance it won't be correct. In the rare case that I grabbed a bug, and the mileage isn't correct because of that, and the bug owner would like to have the entries corrected and is willing to cooporate, and the previous cacher is also willing to cooperate, I'm all about helping out with fixing the logs. It is way more overhead to do detective work anytime the travel bug state happens to not be up-to-date. If that makes me thoughtless, then I apologize in advance for any bugs I may "grab", but I will continue to do so.

 

The other potential problem is that if someone grabs a TB from me before I can log my drop, I am most likely not going to be able to log my drop (without help via emails, etc.) since I don't keep a record the TB codes.

[+Hose502]

The other potential problem is that if someone grabs a TB from me before I can log my drop, I am most likely not going to be able to log my drop (without help via emails, etc.) since I don't keep a record the TB codes.

 

True, and I also do not keep a record of the TB codes. But, that is why I like to get the bug in my inventory as soon as possible because it then doesn't require the code to drop. I once made an unlogged drop by accident where I picked up a bug and dropped it on the same day, forgetting to write down the number. Luckily, I realized this on the way back home and I was able to return to the cache to write down the number. Now, to prevent that happening, I always try to pick up and drop off each TB on different days, and for the times where that is not desirable, I get paranoid and write down every single number I see that day in my notebook so I can sort it out when I get home.

 

Key point is that if I don't immediately grab the bug, it increases the chances that I will make a mistake by forgetting about a small bug stuck at the bottom of my bag, or dropping it off the next weekend without logging it because the previous drop status is still unresolved. Watching TBs move around is the fun part and keeping the current state accurate is important but these are not records for the National Archives.

 

From what I've seen, the common case is the TB just simply wasn't logged. Uncommon is that the previous cacher hasn't yet logged the one drop, but with the grab, drop-and-go, the logs correctly reflect what happened. Rare is where it has passed through multiple hands or caches (or desired drop-and-gos) before a log has be recorded. I'd rather work on correcting errors in the rare cases when the rare cases occur (and the TB owner would like to help fix it), than to have to worry about the rare case every time a TB state is not up-to-date. Sometimes it might not even matter. A case where it would: previous cacher did a previous drop-and-go in a "goal" cache (or a cool cache) that was requested by the TB owner. A case where it wouldn't: the TB owner is unresponsive or is okay with the current logs.

Edited September 26, 2007 by Hose502

[+BlueDeuce]

How can you be certain whom to grab it from?

Every bug will show its current location. If it is being held by another cacher the bug page will show:

 

Recently Spotted: In the hands of "X"

[+BlueDeuce]

How can you be certain whom to grab it from?

 

I cannot not, but the log entry says, "Grabbed it", not "Grabbed it from cacher x".

 

It is possible the TB traveled around through other caches and hands before it got to where you found it. If that is the case, then grabbing it would not result in correct mileage.

 

Yes, that is possible. The mileage is a cool thing to track, but there is a good chance it won't be correct. In the rare case that I grabbed a bug, and the mileage isn't correct because of that, and the bug owner would like to have the entries corrected and is willing to cooporate, and the previous cacher is also willing to cooperate, I'm all about helping out with fixing the logs. It is way more overhead to do detective work anytime the travel bug state happens to not be up-to-date. If that makes me thoughtless, then I apologize in advance for any bugs I may "grab", but I will continue to do so.

 

The only detective work required is that you do a drop and retrieve in the cache you found it in.

 

If the bug had traveled through other caches and hadn't yet been logged, the person who knows what cache those were can do the back logging to keep the tracking accurate.

 

Bugs have a higher chance of getting lost when someone finds a bug that hasn't been logged in and simply places it into another cache without grabbing it and logging it into the current cache. It will now be two caches off track.

 

If you are out caching and move a bug from one cache to another then yes I would recommend grabbing the bug away, logging it in and out of the cache you found it in and then do the drop into the current cache. Keeping the bug on track is very important.

 

But if you take the bug home it is a reasonable request to wait 2-3 days (or more) before grabbing it away so that the current holder can do the correct logging.

[+Eartha]

The only time it's urgent to log a travel bug right away is when you've dropped it in a cache. If it's in your possession, you can afford to wait a few days for it to be logged properly, and try the contact the other person route.

If it's been a long time, go ahead and grab it from somewhere else, log it into and out of the cache you found it in, then log it where ever it goes next.

If someone else logs it in the meantime, before you've had a chance to get home and log it, you can email them and try to straighten it out. Also, it's good to keep in mind that MOST cachers NEVER read these forums, and just do not know.