Jump to content

a little venting


brokenoaks

Recommended Posts

This weekend we searched out a cache close to home with the intent to do a coin trade. The cache we picked out had listed two coins and a TB in its inventory. I checked out the trackables logs and found that one of the coins missions was special to me and I had a coin that I brought up from Nevada to Oregon that I thought would be a great trade for it. The logs indicated that all three items were still in the cache; in fact one of them had been placed in it just the day before. We found the cache with no problem but all three trackables were gone. I watched the logs for the next couple of days and no activity! Also no other logged visits to the cache! This is not the first time this has happened but this time was a little irritating. I am not sure what this is behind this problem, it may be that some people are just too ill responsible to log their trackable finds or it may be deliberate. whatever the case I simply had to vent a little and this seamed like a good place for it. Cache on!

Link to comment

This weekend we searched out a cache close to home with the intent to do a coin trade. The cache we picked out had listed two coins and a TB in its inventory. I checked out the trackables logs and found that one of the coins missions was special to me and I had a coin that I brought up from Nevada to Oregon that I thought would be a great trade for it. The logs indicated that all three items were still in the cache; in fact one of them had been placed in it just the day before. We found the cache with no problem but all three trackables were gone. I watched the logs for the next couple of days and no activity! Also no other logged visits to the cache! This is not the first time this has happened but this time was a little irritating. I am not sure what this is behind this problem, it may be that some people are just too ill responsible to log their trackable finds or it may be deliberate. whatever the case I simply had to vent a little and this seamed like a good place for it. Cache on!

 

And I think it is getting worse! I discover everything I see in caches. There are a lot of people that are not handling the TB's and Coins correctly. I've even gone back to caches after others have found them and not moved coins to find the coins are gone. I send a pm to the owner and let them know. All of our coins are pretty much now for collecting or special caches.

 

E

Link to comment

This weekend we searched out a cache close to home with the intent to do a coin trade. The cache we picked out had listed two coins and a TB in its inventory. I checked out the trackables logs and found that one of the coins missions was special to me and I had a coin that I brought up from Nevada to Oregon that I thought would be a great trade for it. The logs indicated that all three items were still in the cache; in fact one of them had been placed in it just the day before. We found the cache with no problem but all three trackables were gone. I watched the logs for the next couple of days and no activity! Also no other logged visits to the cache! This is not the first time this has happened but this time was a little irritating. I am not sure what this is behind this problem, it may be that some people are just too ill responsible to log their trackable finds or it may be deliberate. whatever the case I simply had to vent a little and this seamed like a good place for it. Cache on!

 

There are two possible explanations.

 

1. Coin thiefs, either geocachers or muggles.

2. Geocachers on vacation. It's not unreasonable to expect that someone geocaching on vacation might not have access to a computer for a week to log their trackable grabs.

Link to comment

This is not a new problem. Some folks take trackables and keep them. The reasons are many. But it is very irritating to go to a cache to grab a trackable and learn that it's gone.

Frequently, several cachers log that an item is not in the cache. Yet the cache owner will not mark the item as missing. I've sent emails to the owners of TBs explaining that their item is not in the cache listed. Yet they will not mark the trackable as missing.

There's no harm in removing a trackable from the cache page if it's not there. As I stated, the owner of the item and the cache owner have this option. If the trackable resurfaces, the new finder simply uses the option, 'grabbed from somewhere else.' I see it as just being polite to other cachers to remove trackables from the cache pages if they are missing.

Link to comment

Perhaps some muggles are on to the cache and simply like to help themselves to the "treasure". Sometimes when I have had muggle problems with my own caches simply moving the cache a little ways away helps. Most muggles don't want to look around every tree, under every root ect... Perhaps you can ask the cache owner to move the cache coordinates slightly if you think that is the problem. If anyone knows the bug numbers that were there in the past you could check if they have ever been logged after disappearing from the cache. I always hate to see bugs and coins go missing.

Link to comment

Unfortunately I see this problem all the time. You see listings of caches that have stated for months the same TBS or Coins and when you eventually go for it they of course are gone. Part of the game. I also have several TB Hotels at rest stops or by freeways. There I get a lot people stating that the advertised TBs were not in said caches. In those cases so many people are on long road trips and it takes a week or two to record their adventures. Still there is the disconnect of time and it does bug some.

 

I do have a question though. Is it that far of a stretch for cache owners to check their caches once or twice a year just to clean out the queues? I can hear the rattling already about how it's not the owner's responsibility, blah, blah, but would that not help the situation?

 

I have recently adopted a bunch of caches and the first thing I did was go to the caches and do some traveller verification then inform the owner that they were indeed no longer in those caches and marked them "unknown". From many of them I received very nice emails with appreciation that they finally can move on knowing the TBs in question are no longer sitting there forever.

 

What do you think?

 

-HHH :(

Link to comment

There are two possible explanations.

 

1. Coin thiefs, either geocachers or muggles.

2. Geocachers on vacation. It's not unreasonable to expect that someone geocaching on vacation might not have access to a computer for a week to log their trackable grabs.

The OP stated that there were no log entries in the cache. If it were just a cacher on vacation, surely they would have logged their visit in the log book?

Link to comment

This weekend we searched out a cache close to home with the intent to do a coin trade. The cache we picked out had listed two coins and a TB in its inventory. I checked out the trackables logs and found that one of the coins missions was special to me and I had a coin that I brought up from Nevada to Oregon that I thought would be a great trade for it. The logs indicated that all three items were still in the cache; in fact one of them had been placed in it just the day before. We found the cache with no problem but all three trackables were gone. I watched the logs for the next couple of days and no activity! Also no other logged visits to the cache! This is not the first time this has happened but this time was a little irritating. I am not sure what this is behind this problem, it may be that some people are just too ill responsible to log their trackable finds or it may be deliberate. whatever the case I simply had to vent a little and this seamed like a good place for it. Cache on!

 

You don't say if you checked the log inside the cache to see if anyone had signed it but not gone online to log but assuming you did and found that no one had signed the log since the last online logger did I would bet that this is the work of thieves, either muggles or otherwise.

 

If you just didn't think to check the cache log then it is quite possible that the person who took them simply has not logged online yet. I ran into a slightly different but similar situation recently. There is a well known cacher in our area who is a Travel Bug and Coin Hound. He is very responsible about picking up trackables, logging them and moving them quickly. Recently I was at a cache where I found a coin I did not expect. When I went to log this coin I found that it was still in the (online) possesion of this particular TB hound. So I wrote to him thinking maybe he had passed the coin on in a trade (which he also does frequently) and that the person who he traded with just never grabbed it from him and placed it in the cache without logging it. Turns out that he had been to the cache I found it at a couple of days before and just hadn't logged it yet. It took him another 4 or 5 days to get caught up with his logs in order to get the coin in there. He asked me to wait to log the find until he had a chance to log the coin into the cache properly so that it got credit for the cache. I honored his request.

 

My point is that sometimes people especially people who log A LOT of caches and bugs just get behind on their logging and don't get to it for a few days or even longer. Give it a bit more time and in the mean time put the coins and bugs in your watchlist in case thehy pop up somewhere else.

Edited by FobesMan
Link to comment

Unfortunately I see this problem all the time. You see listings of caches that have stated for months the same TBS or Coins and when you eventually go for it they of course are gone. Part of the game. I also have several TB Hotels at rest stops or by freeways. There I get a lot people stating that the advertised TBs were not in said caches. In those cases so many people are on long road trips and it takes a week or two to record their adventures. Still there is the disconnect of time and it does bug some.

 

Many cache owners will mark the bug missing when someone logs that it is not in the cache. Many cache owners do not pay attention, or even care. (And, yes. That includes some of the more prestigious local cache owners.) If the bug is definitely missing, I will also log a note on the bug that it is missing. Some bug owners are missing, some do not know how to mark the bug missing, or do not want to. As a non-cache owner, non-bug owner, the only way to get a bug moved to 'unknown' is to e-mail Eartha.

If one is generally interested in a particular bug, reading the logs for the cache will sometimes give you an indication whether the bug is still there. (Not always, of course.)

Okay, you've convinced me to mark my Uncle Jon Geocoin as missing. Placed in the cache in early October. I seldom read all the logs, but now I notice that it was noted as missing in late October. If someone had noted that on the coin's page, I would have investigated further. Note that the cache was archived in April. No. It's not necesarily the cache owner's responsibility to mark missing bugs as missing. But it would be nice.

Link to comment

I am moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the Travel Bug forum.

 

In passing, I note that *any* volunteer cache reviewer can help out in moving trackables off a cache page. I've sent literally thousands of coins and bugs to an "unknown location." While Eartha is extremely helpful, there are others who can help. You can contact the area's cache reviewer for assistance.

Link to comment

I am moving this thread from the Geocaching Topics forum to the Travel Bug forum.

 

In passing, I note that *any* volunteer cache reviewer can help out in moving trackables off a cache page. I've sent literally thousands of coins and bugs to an "unknown location." While Eartha is extremely helpful, there are others who can help. You can contact the area's cache reviewer for assistance.

 

This is the 2nd time today I've seen a topic moved to the TB forum....but these same comments pertain to GeoCoins, too. Maybe the TB and GeoCoins forums should be combined.

Link to comment

This weekend we searched out a cache close to home with the intent to do a coin trade. The cache we picked out had listed two coins and a TB in its inventory. I checked out the trackables logs and found that one of the coins missions was special to me and I had a coin that I brought up from Nevada to Oregon that I thought would be a great trade for it. The logs indicated that all three items were still in the cache; in fact one of them had been placed in it just the day before. We found the cache with no problem but all three trackables were gone. I watched the logs for the next couple of days and no activity! Also no other logged visits to the cache! This is not the first time this has happened but this time was a little irritating. I am not sure what this is behind this problem, it may be that some people are just too ill responsible to log their trackable finds or it may be deliberate. whatever the case I simply had to vent a little and this seamed like a good place for it. Cache on!

I have 2 coins and 2 travel bugs that I picked up in caches last week but have not yet been logged in to those caches. I check them each day to see if they have been logged in so I can log them out. Once the cachers showing as holding them have started logging recent finds and drops I expect to be able to log my retrievals. I am being patient and understanding (I hope). :(

 

There have been a few times when I have picked up trackables but could not log for several days. There have also been a few times when I left trackable but could not log for several days and some not so patient cacher grabbed the trackables from me. That doesn't make me happy because they were rude and didn't bother to try contacting me to find out my plans.

 

A little off topic but trying to make the point that it can take time for everyone to catch up with logging their activity.

Link to comment

I have a coin that has gone MIA from a small event two and a half months ago. After the event, there were 4 trackables that weren't "retrieved" - my coin, another coin, and 2 TBs. I wrote to the owner asking about my coin, since he was the one who dropped it. He didn't have it. At the beginning of July, he archived the event, still showing the trackables in inventory. I think it would have been nice if he had marked the items as missing when he archived it.

 

I guess I should have known better than to release such an interesting coin .... :(

Link to comment

There are two possible explanations.

 

1. Coin thiefs, either geocachers or muggles.

2. Geocachers on vacation. It's not unreasonable to expect that someone geocaching on vacation might not have access to a computer for a week to log their trackable grabs.

The OP stated that there were no log entries in the cache. If it were just a cacher on vacation, surely they would have logged their visit in the log book?

Maybe not...if they were stealing coins.

Link to comment

I know I hate getting to a cache and there is no coin or tb that where on the listing that morning and there hasn't been a log for a month. :rolleyes: I am also bummed that our first travel bug shows in our cache yet it left Aug 5th and the person who took it sign in a tb and coin but did not sign out what they took.

 

On a maybe this can help for cache inventory listings .....

as a cache owner, would it help if I discovered a tb or coin in my cache when inspecting the cache? Would that show somebody traveling that it may be worth stopping here?

Link to comment

On a maybe this can help for cache inventory listings .....

as a cache owner, would it help if I discovered a tb or coin in my cache when inspecting the cache? Would that show somebody traveling that it may be worth stopping here?

 

If a bug has been sitting for so long that the owner wonders if it's still there, it's time to move the bug along to another location.

Link to comment

On a maybe this can help for cache inventory listings .....

as a cache owner, would it help if I discovered a tb or coin in my cache when inspecting the cache? Would that show somebody traveling that it may be worth stopping here?

 

If a bug has been sitting for so long that the owner wonders if it's still there, it's time to move the bug along to another location.

 

It isn't about the owner on that question, it is about the cacher looking for tb or gc. If the owner wants something moved he can ask.

 

I don't see the problem with that. The original post was about tb and gc that have been taken without being logged out.

Link to comment

This weekend we searched out a cache close to home with the intent to do a coin trade. The cache we picked out had listed two coins and a TB in its inventory. I checked out the trackables logs and found that one of the coins missions was special to me and I had a coin that I brought up from Nevada to Oregon that I thought would be a great trade for it. The logs indicated that all three items were still in the cache; in fact one of them had been placed in it just the day before. We found the cache with no problem but all three trackables were gone. I watched the logs for the next couple of days and no activity! Also no other logged visits to the cache! This is not the first time this has happened but this time was a little irritating. I am not sure what this is behind this problem, it may be that some people are just too ill responsible to log their trackable finds or it may be deliberate. whatever the case I simply had to vent a little and this seamed like a good place for it. Cache on!

I have 2 coins and 2 travel bugs that I picked up in caches last week but have not yet been logged in to those caches. I check them each day to see if they have been logged in so I can log them out. Once the cachers showing as holding them have started logging recent finds and drops I expect to be able to log my retrievals. I am being patient and understanding (I hope). :rolleyes:

 

There have been a few times when I have picked up trackables but could not log for several days. There have also been a few times when I left trackable but could not log for several days and some not so patient cacher grabbed the trackables from me. That doesn't make me happy because they were rude and didn't bother to try contacting me to find out my plans.

 

A little off topic but trying to make the point that it can take time for everyone to catch up with logging their activity.

 

If we have the number of the coin or TB can't we log them into the cache and then log them out? after

waiting a reasonable amount time for the others to log them in.

Link to comment

This weekend we searched out a cache close to home with the intent to do a coin trade. The cache we picked out had listed two coins and a TB in its inventory. I checked out the trackables logs and found that one of the coins missions was special to me and I had a coin that I brought up from Nevada to Oregon that I thought would be a great trade for it. The logs indicated that all three items were still in the cache; in fact one of them had been placed in it just the day before. We found the cache with no problem but all three trackables were gone. I watched the logs for the next couple of days and no activity! Also no other logged visits to the cache! This is not the first time this has happened but this time was a little irritating. I am not sure what this is behind this problem, it may be that some people are just too ill responsible to log their trackable finds or it may be deliberate. whatever the case I simply had to vent a little and this seamed like a good place for it. Cache on!

I have 2 coins and 2 travel bugs that I picked up in caches last week but have not yet been logged in to those caches. I check them each day to see if they have been logged in so I can log them out. Once the cachers showing as holding them have started logging recent finds and drops I expect to be able to log my retrievals. I am being patient and understanding (I hope). :rolleyes:

 

There have been a few times when I have picked up trackables but could not log for several days. There have also been a few times when I left trackable but could not log for several days and some not so patient cacher grabbed the trackables from me. That doesn't make me happy because they were rude and didn't bother to try contacting me to find out my plans.

 

A little off topic but trying to make the point that it can take time for everyone to catch up with logging their activity.

 

If we have the number of the coin or TB can't we log them into the cache and then log them out? after

waiting a reasonable amount time for the others to log them in.

Sure you can. One of the coins I mentioned still hasn't been logged into the cache where I found it. Tomorrow I will send the cacher an email asking them if they plan to log the coin drop or if they want me to grab it from them. That usually gets some action. If I don't hear anything from them for another week I will grab it from them and move it along. For now it is just sitting on my desk.

Link to comment

On a maybe this can help for cache inventory listings .....

as a cache owner, would it help if I discovered a tb or coin in my cache when inspecting the cache? Would that show somebody traveling that it may be worth stopping here?

 

If a bug has been sitting for so long that the owner wonders if it's still there, it's time to move the bug along to another location.

 

It isn't about the owner on that question, it is about the cacher looking for tb or gc. If the owner wants something moved he can ask.

 

I don't see the problem with that. The original post was about tb and gc that have been taken without being logged out.

 

That's right.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...