So I get this odd email from a GC owner...

[+DrAwKwArD]

I placed a new cache last month in a semi-remote area and with summer coming on I thought why not place a geocoin as it's always a fun thing when placing a new cache. Well, 3 weeks have gone by and no FTF.

 

So today I receive an email from the owner of the geocoin telling me thanks for letting his kids down, etc. etc. and basically chewing me out for placing my cache with malicious intent. Is there some trackable etiquette I disregarded here? His goal for the coin simply said, "Please don't keep this coin. We would like it to travel North America, from cache to cache."

Edited July 1, 2008 by cache-n-dash

[+intolerable]

For what it's worth, I try really hard not to drop coins into remote caches when the mission is to travel. Of course, as all I've cached recently has been more remote caches, I've found that I'm holding onto trackables way too long.

[+Renegade Knight]

...today I receive an email from the owner of the geocoin telling me thanks for letting his kids down, etc. etc. and basically chewing me out for placing my cache with malicious intent. Is there some trackable etiquette I disregarded here? His goal for the coin simply said, "Please don't keep this coin. We would like it to travel North America, from cache to cache."

 

I would appologize for placing their coin in a new cache after helping it travel exactly like the coin said it should do. I'd promise to not follow the goal next time since that clearly was the wrong thing to do this time.

 

Off the record I'd probably not place a trackable in a remote cache next time because they do tend to sit around a bit before folks find them and move them on.

[+UncleJimbo]

I placed a new cache last month in a semi-remote area and with summer coming on I thought why not place a geocoin as it's always a fun thing when placing a new cache. Well, 3 weeks have gone by and no FTF.

 

So today I receive an email from the owner of the geocoin telling me thanks for letting his kids down, etc. etc. and basically chewing me out for placing my cache with malicious intent. Is there some trackable etiquette I disregarded here? His goal for the coin simply said, "Please don't keep this coin. We would like it to travel North America, from cache to cache."

Wow, what a rude email!

 

As others have said, I think twice about placing coins and TBs in remote or rarely visited caches, but still, that is no excuse for the owner to be rude about it.

[+BlueDeuce]

Must be a new coin owner, he obviously hasn't had his expectations for his traveler kicked over into the abyss of despair and hopelessness.

 

I wouldn't worry about it, he'll learn.

[+Save The Murlocs]

Must be a new coin owner, he obviously hasn't had his expectations for his traveler kicked over into the abyss of despair and hopelessness.

 

I wouldn't worry about it, he'll learn.

 

I don't even have any trackables of my own yet and already feel the despair lol.

 

Seriously, why people have to be rude is beyond me. There's always a way of saying what you want to say politely and respectfully.

[+-CacheMonkey-]

I guess I would say that I sympathize a bit with the TB owner. I don't agree with the email scolding you for placing it where you did, I understand the frustration. I sent out a TB right after I first started and it ended up in a 4-star in remote Oregon. The cache hasn't been logged in over a year. I don't know if my TB is still there or what. It's a bit of a bummer to know your TB is sitting in a difficult cache and that it may be there for a long, long while.

[PastorJon]

Ah... you can't win...

 

If you put it in a heavily-travelled area, it gets muggled or geo-thiefed. (like my new word?).

 

If you put it in a remote area, it sits there a while... but at least it's safe. (maybe).

 

I say, don't worry about it. Part of the fun is seeing where things go--not just in the course of a summer, but (hopefully) for years to come!

[+Eartha]

Must be a new coin owner, he obviously hasn't had his expectations for his traveler kicked over into the abyss of despair and hopelessness.

 

I wouldn't worry about it, he'll learn.

 

How poetic! I love it.

 

This person is in for a big surprise when they see the beautiful photos someone posts on their coin page from that cache.

If you reply, simply tell them you are sorry they don't care for the location, but tell them how beautiful it is (is it?) and that is the geography of your area. You can also refer them to this thread, or one of the many other "MY trackable isn't moving" threads. At least they will know they are not alone.

And as PastorJon noted, you can't win for losing! Darned if you do, Darned if you don't.

Don't let it ruin your day. If worse comes to worse, go back and get it, and place it in a cache that's a little busier.

[+Harry Dolphin]

New geocoin/travel bug owners may have unreasonably high expectations for their bugs. It'll move from state to state every week! Then reality sets in. Yup, no one has visited the cache in a while. Oh, well. Once you relinquish the bug, all you can do is hope. That was a rather rude response ffrom the bug owner. If you're in the neighborhood, I would move it to another cache. If not, Oh, Well. If a bug owner e-mails me with "You've had my bug for a week. Are you moving it soon?" it goes into the next cache I find. We try to be friendly here.

I have a bug in a 4 star terrain cache in the south of France. It's been there since March. No one has visited since. Oh, well. He's resting up for the rest of his trip. He actually wants to go to Maine. Oh, well.

Oops. I did put a bug in a 3.5 star terrain cache in New Jersey in December. And it's still there. Oh, well. Other cachers have found the cache since.

[+MountainRacer]

No matter how remote (within reason), I would think that it's OK to put a bug or coin into a cache you're about to publish, because the FTF opportunity would potentially attract a lot of attention reasonably quickly. By 'within reason', I mean that the above statement probably wouldn't apply as strongly if you drop a new cache on a 14,000ft. peak just before the first snowfall of the winter.

[+Geocaching-Geckos]

Just my $0.02 but I would think that the geocoin owner would be happy that his trackable is still travelling! Isn't that what it is all about?

[+Team GeoBlast]

I placed a new cache last month in a semi-remote area and with summer coming on I thought why not place a geocoin as it's always a fun thing when placing a new cache. Well, 3 weeks have gone by and no FTF.

 

So today I receive an email from the owner of the geocoin telling me thanks for letting his kids down, etc. etc. and basically chewing me out for placing my cache with malicious intent. Is there some trackable etiquette I disregarded here? His goal for the coin simply said, "Please don't keep this coin. We would like it to travel North America, from cache to cache."

 

Was it the coin that had this in the mission?

 

Please don't keep this coin. We would like it to travel North America, from cache to cache,we would like to see how many caches it can go to.Please keep this coin moving and don't put it in any semi-remote or remote caches, THANK YOU!

 

Or.. was that edited in your honor?

[+Snoogans]

I placed a new cache last month in a semi-remote area and with summer coming on I thought why not place a geocoin as it's always a fun thing when placing a new cache. Well, 3 weeks have gone by and no FTF.

 

So today I receive an email from the owner of the geocoin telling me thanks for letting his kids down, etc. etc. and basically chewing me out for placing my cache with malicious intent. Is there some trackable etiquette I disregarded here? His goal for the coin simply said, "Please don't keep this coin. We would like it to travel North America, from cache to cache."

 

Don't sweat it.

 

That is a typical example is why I say: The worst thing about travel bugs is their owners...

 

I've moved 2,400+ TBs and in that time I've had a couple dozen bad experiences with TB owners. The frequency is very low, but they tend to stick out in one's mind.

 

I helped one TB owner fix 2 messed up bug pages and a few days later I dropped his bugs nearly 400 miles away. Well, one TB wanted to visit battlegrounds and one wanted to visit stadiums. The TB owner sent me a nastygram because I failed to visit ALL the local stadiums and battlegrounds FIRST. He was so blatantly nasty about it that I really let 'em have back in return reminding him of all I'd done for him and his TBs, but I tried to end on a positive note. I got an even nastier email in return and wrote the guy off. He geocided a short time later.

[+DrAwKwArD]

 

Was it the coin that had this in the mission?

 

Please don't keep this coin. We would like it to travel North America, from cache to cache,we would like to see how many caches it can go to.Please keep this coin moving and don't put it in any semi-remote or remote caches, THANK YOU!

 

Or.. was that edited in your honor?

Yep, that's the one. Edited in my honor just today.

 

Kudos to him for taking the advice from my reply:

 

"As an owner myself of travel bugs and geocoins I can attest that things don't always work perfectly. I have one that was supposed to go to New Mexico but seemed to go everywhere but there! Also, I'd suggest making your goal a little clearer for this coin. A quick glance at the goal won't alert people to your wishes."

[+Team GeoBlast]

 

Was it the coin that had this in the mission?

 

Please don't keep this coin. We would like it to travel North America, from cache to cache,we would like to see how many caches it can go to.Please keep this coin moving and don't put it in any semi-remote or remote caches, THANK YOU!

 

Or.. was that edited in your honor?

Yep, that's the one. Edited in my honor just today.

 

Kudos to him for taking the advice from my reply:

 

"As an owner myself of travel bugs and geocoins I can attest that things don't always work perfectly. I have one that was supposed to go to New Mexico but seemed to go everywhere but there! Also, I'd suggest making your goal a little clearer for this coin. A quick glance at the goal won't alert people to your wishes."

 

I kinda figured as much.

 

You didn't do anything wrong and there is nothing for you to be concerned about. Quite honestly, he sounds like he's pretty new to traveler ownership and I think you have to cut him some slack on that account.

 

I'll occasionally have someone drop me an email out of the blue and ask me if they mind if I do this or that with a traveler I own. I think that is because I always attach a laminated card with a grommet so it won't tear to all of mine. The mission is very clearly stated when it gets picked up and it looks like I really give a hoot. The reality is that I've stopped caring a long time ago if a TB reaches it mission or not. I'm just happy they are alive. I suspect your friend will reach this place too after awhile.

Edited July 2, 2008 by Team GeoBlast

[+Team GeoBlast]

...

Edited July 2, 2008 by Team GeoBlast

[+DrAwKwArD]

Just a quick note with a happy ending,

 

The coin was picked up over the long weekend and is on its way to Tennessee.

 

Also, two of my other unfound caches were recently found as well and bugs are moving again...

[+KvPhoto]

I have one tb out and it's only traveled to one cache so far. I don't expect it to move anytime soon but will look forward to when it does!

[+Kit Fox]

I'm happy when my geocoins and trackables get placed in remote, seldom visited caches. 100% of my missing trackables disappeared from park and grab caches. Knock on wood, none of my trackables ever disappeared in an event geocache.

 

You're lucky you never had to deal with Tommy Trojan, or any of his trackables. If you placed his trackable in a cache, and it was not picked up within two weeks, he would hound you with emails asking you to move it to a "faster cache." You would get scolded if you dared to place one of his trackables in an event. He would delete all of your trackable finds (on his bugs) if you rubbed him the long way. Even though Tommy Trojan committed geocide, to this day, I will not pick up one of his trackables.

 

Some trackable owners are OCD types that want control over every aspect of their items.

[+Save The Murlocs]

I'm happy when my geocoins and trackables get placed in remote, seldom visited caches. 100% of my missing trackables disappeared from park and grab caches. Knock on wood, none of my trackables ever disappeared in an event geocache.

 

You're lucky you never had to deal with Tommy Trojan, or any of his trackables. If you placed his trackable in a cache, and it was not picked up within two weeks, he would hound you with emails asking you to move it to a "faster cache." You would get scolded if you dared to place one of his trackables in an event. He would delete all of your trackable finds (on his bugs) if you rubbed him the long way. Even though Tommy Trojan committed geocide, to this day, I will not pick up one of his trackables.

 

Some trackable owners are OCD types that want control over every aspect of their items.

 

My goodness, and we just picked up one of his a few days ago! Lol. It's already moving on again, so I guess even if he was still active we wouldn't be in trouble.

[+Snoogans]

I'm happy when my geocoins and trackables get placed in remote, seldom visited caches. 100% of my missing trackables disappeared from park and grab caches. Knock on wood, none of my trackables ever disappeared in an event geocache.

 

You're lucky you never had to deal with Tommy Trojan, or any of his trackables. If you placed his trackable in a cache, and it was not picked up within two weeks, he would hound you with emails asking you to move it to a "faster cache." You would get scolded if you dared to place one of his trackables in an event. He would delete all of your trackable finds (on his bugs) if you rubbed him the long way. Even though Tommy Trojan committed geocide, to this day, I will not pick up one of his trackables.

 

Some trackable owners are OCD types that want control over every aspect of their items.

I still move his bugs, but I did avoid them for a short while.

 

I jumped down Tommy's throat on one email he sent me, but I never heard of him deleting TB finds/movements. He was too into their movements to do that. A deletion of a move would mess up his tracking. Do you really know of this happening? To whom? He also never bothered me to return and pick up a bug that hadn't moved and I've moved dozens of his bugs and coins.....

 

Even though my dealings with Tommy weren't ALL rosey, we ended on a positive note in that one instance and honestly, he didn't really cross the line to begin with. I had just had it with a couple other owners at the time and I wasn't going to take any more crap. See, I do most of my trackable dealing at events and that's how I ran afoul of Tommy.

 

I'm sorry Tommy chose to geocide. Despite being somewhat of a helicoptor TB parent, his contribution to the community was positive.