correct etiqutte for "needs maintenance"

[+stormchaserwv]

Just curious what the "accepted" procedure is for notifying a cache owner of potential problems with a cache. Do you contact the owner directly? post a note on the log? post an encrypted note on the log?

 

Just wondering how others handle this sometimes delicate issue...

 

Will

[+baloo&bd]

Just curious what the "accepted" procedure is for notifying a cache owner of potential problems with a cache. Do you contact the owner directly? post a note on the log? post an encrypted note on the log?

 

Just wondering how others handle this sometimes delicate issue...

 

It is really not delicate. Owners want to know of problems.

 

Post a note or preferably a needs maintenance. If the information you give will be a "spoiler" for finding the cache just puts "emailed owner" in teh needs maintenance log and email them directly.

 

Needs maintenance also lets future seekers aware there may be an issue.

[+wesleykey]

Depends on the problem. For a ful llog or a wet cache, I post a Needs maintenance.

 

For a property owner who wants the cache removed or other serious issue, I email the owner.

[+KoosKoos]

My choice usually comes down to if I think the next finder needs to know about the maintenance issue or if the owner just needs to know.

 

Wet log/cracked lid, etc., I'd probably post a NM because the next person may bring a fresh log to help out until the owner can clear the attribute.

 

The rotten log the cache is in is about to roll off the hill, I'd just email the owner. (still needs some maintenance soon)

 

Cache contents were scattered around GZ, I'd just make a note of it in my log and maybe email the owner if I wasn't sure where the container belonged.

[+stormchaserwv]

i guess a good example is...

 

tried to locate cache on 3 seperate ocassions. several people over the last two months have also logged DNFs and after reading all the found log entries over the last 2 years i gleen some information on what it should look like and where it should be. I find pieces of what I think used to be the cache.

 

so I posted a maintenance log.

 

in another instance the cache owner has not logged onto geocaching.com for several months and there are several dnf's. I again posted a maintenance note.

 

I feel like I'm being on of those 'cache cops' and questioning whether I should have posted or not....

 

I don't want to be 'chicken little'

[+Lasagna]

For the latter case of a cache with many DNF's and an owner who appears to be no longer active, I usually drop a note to my local friendly reviewer..

 

They will then usually disable (not archive) the cache and post a reviewer note asking the owner to check on his cache or respond to respond to them with some form of acknowledgement that all is OK and place the cache on a watchlist. If the owner doesn't respond in about 4-5 weeks, the reviewer will then usually archive the cache to keep an missing and abandon cache from continuing to block future placements, etc.

Edited July 25, 2008 by Lasagna

[+JABs]

I noticed a cache issue back in April and PM the owner. Here is a Found log by another cacher re the same.

 

-

 

April 27 by ...........................

 

After figuring out they had put a new fence in her way eldest Geodaughter was on a mission to find her 2nd cache

well I am surprised that you didn't hear her from your place when she had it in her hot little hands.

 

Regards

 

 

So in passing next time I noted this issue again on the cache page

 

 

-

 

July 20 by <A style="TEXT-DECORATION: underline" name=48928978>JABs (975 found)

Noticed again that passing this way that the whole area has been fenced off. We think someone now owns this parcel of land. A check by the owner is in order.

 

 

Some owners just don't care and this was his responce.

 

 

- July 21 by <a href="http://""" target="_blank"></a>...................................

 

Jabs have you nothing better to do ??

 

 

 

Some cache owners just don't care.

Edited July 25, 2008 by JABs

[+Packanack]

It is really not delicate. Owners want to know of problems.

 

Totally agree. If it is someone with whom I have hiked or met along the way I send them an E Mail, but if I don't know them I would put it up on the page. Around here most of the caches are owned by active cachers so it does not come up that often. Sometimes an owner has a problem and will ask for help, and around here people are very responsive.

[+Renegade Knight]

...Just wondering how others handle this sometimes delicate issue...

 

Thank you for noticing that angle.

 

Active owners pay attention to their logs and if you say "found the cache, the log was a tad damp" they will take care of the log as soon as time and life permit. You only need your regular log to do the right thing.

 

Inactive owners don't read the logs and so a Needs Maintance not won't do them any more good than any other kind of log.

 

The only good a NM log ever does is that it sets a "Cache needs maintnce" attribute so that other cachers can filter these caches out. The down side of course is that the only time you really need the flag is if hte cache isn't there. Other maintainence issues still leave you with a viable cache to find.

 

Naturally there is at least one owner who skims logs looking for just the NM logs and then they read those in more detail. If you own 200 caches I can see how you would start glossing over the normal found it logs.

 

In my case I always forget to reset the attributes so in time most of my caches will have a NM attribute attached. Oh well.

Edited July 25, 2008 by Renegade Knight

[+OzzieSan]

All good advice.

 

At least post a needs maintenance log.

 

We generally carry enough supplies with us to do maintenance on at least three caches and carry a complete cache in case a container/cache has been damaged or is missing.

[+briansnat]

Posting a needs maintenance log simply means that the cache needs maintenance. It's not a insult or a pillorying of the cache owner as some insinuate. It's just a statement of fact.

 

As a cache owner I wish more people would use the option. I have a lot of caches in the wild and over a nice weekend I can get dozens of cache logs. I try to read them all , but don't always have the time. There are two kinds of logs I make it a point to read, DNFs and Needs Maintenance.

 

If you post a Found It log and tell me my cache container is leaking, there is a pretty good chance I will see it. If you post a Needs Maintenance log for the cache, I definitely will see it.

 

Another benefit of posting a Needs Maintenance log is that it sets the Needs Maintenance attribute. That way I can run a PQ on my caches and see if there are any that either slipped by me, or that I forgot to reset the attribute by logging my maint visit.

Edited July 25, 2008 by briansnat

[+shell1fish]

One thing to note is that many cache owners do not know how to remove the "Needs Maintenance" attribute from their cache listing even after they have taken care of the problem.

 

If I am the one that logs a Needs Maintenance, then I will add the cache to my Watchlist. If I notice later that the cache is fine, but the owner fixed it by merely posting a Note instead of an Owner Maintenance, then I'll email them privately, referencing this thread to let them know how to keep their cache page accurate.

[AZcachemeister]

One thing to note is that many cache owners do not know how to remove the "Needs Maintenance" attribute from their cache listing even after they have taken care of the problem.

 

If I am the one that logs a Needs Maintenance, then I will add the cache to my Watchlist. If I notice later that the cache is fine, but the owner fixed it by merely posting a Note instead of an Owner Maintenance, then I'll email them privately, referencing this thread to let them know how to keep their cache page accurate.

 

Just to set the record straight, a cache owner can remove the 'Needs Maintenance' attribute without doing a thing...not that I usually think that is the right thing to do!

 

Personally, I agree that a 'Needs Maintenance' log should be posted...well...when the cache needs maintenance!

-wet/damp log

-Log nearly full. I HATE getting a log stating that finders have been signing in the margins and there is NO blank space available! Give me a break and mention it BEFORE it's a crisis!

-Leaking container (somehow the log is OK)

-Construction in the area

If there are details that would be too much of a spoiler for others, a follow-up EMail to the owner would be in order.

[+Parabola]

Personally I have no problems with a person using the "needs maintenance" log on my caches. In fact I send them a personal thank you when they do. I had one the other day that I got one, and I had just replaced the log about a month ago but was glad to have it brought to my attention that the container was leaking and the log was wet. I got that puppy change out a few days later.

 

So if something has started leaking or something between my normal maintenance runs, I'm so glad when someone brings it too my attention.

 

I wouldn't be afraid to use the "needs maintenance" log. For some cache owners like me it helps out a lot. Just leave a note saying the cache is leaking or whatever the problem may be and don't worry too much about it.