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Travel Bugs Being kept!


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Can anything be done about newbie cachers holding on to travel bugs!

I have a travel bug stuck in the hands of the same cacher for over 3 months.

I have tried emailing the cacher concerned, asking if they would place the tb in a cache or even give me thier tel no so a could arrange to pick it up, but no response.

Admitedly the few caches they have visited since collecting the TB have been to small to place it in, but they have not visited any caches since feb.

Any Suggestions as i would like to get the TB moving, as my Cub pack were hoping to follow its movements around the world ( or at least the local area)

Or is there a way of tacking the cacher.

they appear to be a family team rather than someone malicious.

hope someone has some ideas

Peter

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I looked through a bunch of their logs to see if they might have been out with another cacher. No such luck.

 

I did see that they logged one cache in 2006, three in 2007, and nothing in 2008 so it's pretty fair to say that they get out very infrequently.

 

Unfortunately all you can do is wait. Try again in a couple months with another friendly email.

 

Good luck!

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Happens all the time - sometimes people just don't get out caching, other times they give up caching and presumably throw out the TBs they might have had.

 

It may be the TB is lost in a drawer sometimes. Earlier this year I mislaid a geocoin, mailed the owner asking for a picture to help me find it, and subsequently found it and moved it on after holding it for about three months.

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Anyone can see the trackables owned by any geocaching account. :ph34r: Just clicking on the profile name brings up the profile and then from there there are tabs to look at the Geocaches, Trackables, Gallery and Bookmarks of that account.

 

MrsB :o

HI MrsB

I know that, but when i look all i can see is a list of TBs and normally a group of TBs but no indevidual details on each.

Now i am still fairly new to all this forum stuff, but i a working on it! :)

So i am wondering how i could look at other indevidual details from a group of 20 TBs that are not listed seperately.

 

It would be interesting no know.

Thanks

Peter

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Anyone can see the trackables owned by any geocaching account. :o Just clicking on the profile name brings up the profile and then from there there are tabs to look at the Geocaches, Trackables, Gallery and Bookmarks of that account.

 

MrsB :)

HI MrsB

I know that, but when i look all i can see is a list of TBs and normally a group of TBs but no indevidual details on each.

Now i am still fairly new to all this forum stuff, but i a working on it! :laughing:

So i am wondering how i could look at other indevidual details from a group of 20 TBs that are not listed seperately.

 

It would be interesting no know.

Thanks

Peter

 

Ahha! Yes, a group of TBs listed (in your case, it shows 6). If you click on the TB icon under your "Trackables Owned" it will bring up the list of all those six TBs, where you can then click the links to show the individual TB pages :ph34r:

 

MrsB

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Can anything be done about newbie cachers holding on to travel bugs!

 

They seem to have been doing this for twice as long as you have - don't you think that label's a little harsh on both of you??? :ph34r:

 

Hi

I would consider my self as a relative newbie, as i think i am still in the learning curve!

I think that once i can go out and find all that i am searching for, i will be fully fledged!!

This may take several years in my case ut i am woring on it.

I would also consider from my own point of view that others with a count below 50-100 as still in that learning curve.

I dont think this seems to harsh, do you.

But i cant wait to become a fully trade Jedi like the rest of you!! :o:)

Peter

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Anyone can see the trackables owned by any geocaching account. :o Just clicking on the profile name brings up the profile and then from there there are tabs to look at the Geocaches, Trackables, Gallery and Bookmarks of that account.

 

MrsB :)

HI MrsB

I know that, but when i look all i can see is a list of TBs and normally a group of TBs but no indevidual details on each.

Now i am still fairly new to all this forum stuff, but i a working on it! :laughing:

So i am wondering how i could look at other indevidual details from a group of 20 TBs that are not listed seperately.

 

It would be interesting no know.

Thanks

Peter

 

Ahha! Yes, a group of TBs listed (in your case, it shows 6). If you click on the TB icon under your "Trackables Owned" it will bring up the list of all those six TBs, where you can then click the links to show the individual TB pages :ph34r:

 

MrsB

 

AHHHH I see clearly now the rain has gone!

Thanks for that :D

Just goes to show that even i can learn some thing new each day!!

Peter

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AHHHH I see clearly now the rain has gone!

Thanks for that :o

Just goes to show that even i can learn some thing new each day!!

Peter

 

Yep. I won't tell you how long it took me before I noticed the map link on every TB page which shows you all the moves the trackable has made in its travels... :ph34r:

 

MrsB

Edited by The Blorenges
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AHHHH I see clearly now the rain has gone!

Thanks for that :o

Just goes to show that even i can learn some thing new each day!!

Peter

 

Yep. I won't tell you how long it took me before I noticed the map link on every TB page which shows you all the moves the trackable has made in its travels... :ph34r:

 

MrsB

 

There's a map link????

Edited by keehotee
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AHHHH I see clearly now the rain has gone!

Thanks for that :o

Just goes to show that even i can learn some thing new each day!!

Peter

 

Yep. I won't tell you how long it took me before I noticed the map link on every TB page which shows you all the moves the trackable has made in its travels... :ph34r:

 

MrsB

 

I have to say i spotted that one quite quick, but i have not worked out how the little movement tags work.

they dont seem to be the amount of moves or the days/ weeks months that they have been there!

unless i am having one of those moments!

Peter :)

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AHHHH I see clearly now the rain has gone!

Thanks for that :laughing:

Just goes to show that even i can learn some thing new each day!!

Peter

 

Yep. I won't tell you how long it took me before I noticed the map link on every TB page which shows you all the moves the trackable has made in its travels... :ph34r:

 

MrsB

 

There's a map link????

On apprend quelque chose nouveau journalier!!

And i thought this was the English page :o

But once again i have learned something new :)

I am starting to ge the hang o these little round thingies as well :D

Peter

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AHHHH I see clearly now the rain has gone!

Thanks for that :huh:

Just goes to show that even i can learn some thing new each day!!

Peter

 

Yep. I won't tell you how long it took me before I noticed the map link on every TB page which shows you all the moves the trackable has made in its travels... :o

 

MrsB

 

There's a map link????

On apprend quelque chose nouveau journalier!!

And i thought this was the English page :)

But once again i have learned something new :laughing:

I am starting to ge the hang o these little round thingies as well :lol:

Peter

 

One of the things I love about this game is that (hopefully) we're all newbies as far as finding boxes is concerned - as long as people keep inventing new ways to hide them.

 

 

(Note how I didn't bring any anti-micro retoric into that :laughing::D:o:ph34r: )

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AHHHH I see clearly now the rain has gone!

Thanks for that :lol:

Just goes to show that even i can learn some thing new each day!!

Peter

 

Yep. I won't tell you how long it took me before I noticed the map link on every TB page which shows you all the moves the trackable has made in its travels... :o

 

MrsB

 

There's a map link????

On apprend quelque chose nouveau journalier!!

And i thought this was the English page :)

But once again i have learned something new :huh:

I am starting to ge the hang o these little round thingies as well :o

Peter

 

One of the things I love about this game is that (hopefully) we're all newbies as far as finding boxes is concerned - as long as people keep inventing new ways to hide them.

 

 

(Note how I didn't bring any anti-micro retoric into that :D:laughing::o:ph34r: )

 

Whats wrong mith micros!

or is that another can of worms :laughing:

One of my best hides "brian" is a micro and thats had quite a lot of praise from those who have found it.

 

I think that there is a place for everything, as long as everything has a place!! :o

Peter

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Also...

I noted one of my Tb's was taken by a cacher who is still active though not very active - it didnt get logged out of the cache (online) that he visited even though he signed the physical log (which is how i knew who had it) and despite writing to him several times and even getting one reply to say he had it - it has never resurfaced - that was 4 years ago :P

The irony of it was I also noted he had several TBs which he eventually took back himself placing them in a virtual TB retirement home - in order to keep them safe and not lost in the wild - you would have thought he would have done the same for a TB belonging to someone else :blink:

ah well

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But i cant wait to become a fully trade Jedi like the rest of you!! :P:P

 

 

How many caches do you have to have found before you become one of them ???

It's not how many you've found, it's the fact you find the ones you look for. And no DNF's.

You find everyone you look for.

 

(Which is why some folks take a cache with them, to "replace" the ones they can't find/can't be bothered to look too long for :blink: )

Edited by Bear and Ragged
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Can anything be done about newbie cachers holding on to travel bugs!

I have a travel bug stuck in the hands of the same cacher for over 3 months.

I have tried emailing the cacher concerned, asking if they would place the tb in a cache or even give me thier tel no so a could arrange to pick it up, but no response.

Admitedly the few caches they have visited since collecting the TB have been to small to place it in, but they have not visited any caches since feb.

Any Suggestions as i would like to get the TB moving, as my Cub pack were hoping to follow its movements around the world ( or at least the local area)

Or is there a way of tacking the cacher.

they appear to be a family team rather than someone malicious.

hope someone has some ideas

Peter

 

Guilty as charged!

I have a stack of trackables that I need to put in caches.. Sometimes I forget to take the trackables bag with me, other times I am in a rush due to impending muggles and some times I just don't think the hidey hole is sufficiently muggle proof.

Call me daft, but I feel that I have a responsibility to the trackable owner to hide the item in a safe cache.

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PSHAX,

 

You may be "guilty as charged" but I'd guess that if you received a polite email from the owner of one of those TBs that you've had for a while, enquiring whether all was well with it, then you'd probably tap out a quick reply to let them know it was still safe.

 

I well understand the concern (and a bit of frustration) felt when one tries to check up on a trackable that's 'gone dormant' for quite a while and no reply is forthcoming. smi20.gif

 

Unfortunately there's nothing else to be done, except keep fingers crossed that it will re-surface one day.

 

But it's disappointing for OP's Cub pack. :blink:

 

MrsB

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PSHAX,

 

You may be "guilty as charged" but I'd guess that if you received a polite email from the owner of one of those TBs that you've had for a while, enquiring whether all was well with it, then you'd probably tap out a quick reply to let them know it was still safe.

 

I well understand the concern (and a bit of frustration) felt when one tries to check up on a trackable that's 'gone dormant' for quite a while and no reply is forthcoming. smi20.gif

 

Unfortunately there's nothing else to be done, except keep fingers crossed that it will re-surface one day.

 

But it's disappointing for OP's Cub pack. :P

 

MrsB

 

I love the reference of a polite email...

 

A friend of mine picked up a travel bug, with no mision attached.

 

When they logged it they found it was on a mission in the UK they could not help with :P . Before they could replace it they got quite a pushy email, that did not read as nice as it could :blink: . They placed it as best they practicaly could but where glad to be rid of it. :D

 

A while later they checked on its status to find the next cachers had moved it on to Germany :) ! I guess the not so polite Email really got on some ones goat :D !

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The TBs I've released have had missions that I deliberately don't put on the bugs themselves - I'd rather see where they end up along the way. If someone picks it up and can't help it go directly where it wants to go, it's interesting to see the roundabout routes they take.

 

I can appreciate bug races etc, but to me part of the fun is finding out just where the bugs end up. Although, perhaps ironically, the bug I released with a mission to just move as far as possible in any direction is the one that moved as far as a cacher's pocket in the space of less than six weeks, and then disappeared :blink:

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My Ben Ben coin (released in September) made it as far as 1 cache before not being logged for a long time. It was picked up in Feb by someone who said they'd move it on soon. It's now June and nothing. I've tried polite emails but no reply. Looks like this person logs on but doesn't cache - or caches under another name. It's all a bit odd as they haven't logged the cache they got the tb from.

I'm still quite upset as it was my first trackable and it never made it past yorkshire!

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My Ben Ben coin (released in September) made it as far as 1 cache before not being logged for a long time.

 

A friend and I have 2 which never made it out of the event cache we handed them out at! :P We explained when handing them out that they belonged to our children and were racing. Still, lesson learned.

 

We've ordered replacements and will set them off again. Hopefully the children will be none the wiser.

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An american picked up one of my coins in Italy and said he would take it back to the USA. That was over six months ago.

 

He is an active cacher and certainly not a newbie.

 

I emailed after 3 and 6 months, to which I have had no reply, nor has the coin been dropped off yet.

 

What can I do?

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An american picked up one of my coins in Italy and said he would take it back to the USA. That was over six months ago.

 

He is an active cacher and certainly not a newbie.

 

I emailed after 3 and 6 months, to which I have had no reply, nor has the coin been dropped off yet.

 

What can I do?

 

Put it down to experience. Not much else, unfortunately.

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Maybe i will start adding a mission sheet to attach to the TB saying:

Only Collect this TB if you intend to Move on in the naxt 2 WEEKS.

and see if this helps in future.

or maybe one of the wise guys at GC could make the rulings for tb's more obvious on the site.

OR

Include an on line page to read through before you can start playing, ie include it the terms of conditions for the game.

but i doubt we can do much else about it .

unless we get vicious and bombard them with emails nagging them to release them.

but that would probably be against the rules.

 

All we can do is hope that eventually they will resurface.

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An american picked up one of my coins in Italy and said he would take it back to the USA. That was over six months ago.

 

He is an active cacher and certainly not a newbie.

 

I emailed after 3 and 6 months, to which I have had no reply, nor has the coin been dropped off yet.

 

What can I do?

 

Well, he's too far south of me to run into any time soon. I bet he misplaced the darn thing and hoping to find it again.

 

Since it shows in his possession I would leave it there. It'll show in his drop inventory every time he logs a cache and will serve as a reminder.

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Maybe i will start adding a mission sheet to attach to the TB saying:

Only Collect this TB if you intend to Move on in the naxt 2 WEEKS.

and see if this helps in future.

or maybe one of the wise guys at GC could make the rulings for tb's more obvious on the site.

OR

Include an on line page to read through before you can start playing, ie include it the terms of conditions for the game.

but i doubt we can do much else about it .

unless we get vicious and bombard them with emails nagging them to release them.

but that would probably be against the rules.

 

All we can do is hope that eventually they will resurface.

 

With the best will in the world a lot of TBs are going to be kept for more than two weeks. Let's face it, most people have jobs and many can only cache at weekends, so all you need is to spend one weekend not caching and bugs will be sitting in a drawer for two weeks.

 

On the rare occasions I've had bugs for extended periods I've mailed the owner to apologise for the delay and assure them the bugs are safe. Then I've mailed them again to give them a little background on where I dropped them off.

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...With the best will in the world a lot of TBs are going to be kept for more than two weeks....

 

Yes.

 

Personally, I don't feel too concerned about any of my trackables until it's been about 3 months with no action, then I bring my "politely enquiring email" into play. :rolleyes:

 

MrsB

 

Hi Mrs B

well maybe in the next few weeks then

i know it takes a while to move some on, especially if the caches are too small on the next visits.

I was just trying to think of a way of letting less experienced cachers know what is expected with TBs and coins.

 

Peter

MrBB :)

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Yes... In the Ideal World it would be nice if all new geocachers had their own personal Geocaching Mentor who would introduce them to the game and then be around for advice etc. for the first 6 months/50 finds, or whatever. However, in the Real World there are many who fall into this game by accident and then "pick it up as they go along" (maybe literally, when it comes to trackables).

 

One small thing (that I know many cacher owners do already) - When a very new cacher logs your cache it's a nice idea to drop them a short "Welcome" email and make the offer that they can contact you for any help or advice if they need it.

 

MrsB :rolleyes:

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Yes... In the Ideal World it would be nice if all new geocachers had their own personal Geocaching Mentor who would introduce them to the game and then be around for advice etc. for the first 6 months/50 finds, or whatever. However, in the Real World there are many who fall into this game by accident and then "pick it up as they go along" (maybe literally, when it comes to trackables).

 

One small thing (that I know many cacher owners do already) - When a very new cacher logs your cache it's a nice idea to drop them a short "Welcome" email and make the offer that they can contact you for any help or advice if they need it.

 

MrsB :rolleyes:

 

Good Idea Mrs B

i will bear that in mind.

Thanks very Much :)

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I'm still quite upset as it was my first trackable and it never made it past yorkshire!

 

After a couple of attempts with trackables we got disillusioned and are inclined not to try again.

 

The first we set off in Canada, shortly after we had started caching. We gave it a mission to try to get back to the UK. For a while it was quite exciting as it moved around Canada for a while, went to Hawaii and then back to the US mainland. Unfortunately it then got in to the hands of someone who appeared to have had a burst of enthusiasm, found loads of caches then lost interest. Our TB apparently ended up in a cache that was never published. ;)

 

Still at least it did travel a bit.

 

Our second attempt we had quite a nice little figure that we released in to a new local cache. Never heard of it again. It appears to have disappeared almost immediately.

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Can anything be done about newbie cachers holding on to travel bugs!

I have a travel bug stuck in the hands of the same cacher for over 3 months.

I have tried emailing the cacher concerned, asking if they would place the tb in a cache or even give me thier tel no so a could arrange to pick it up, but no response.

Admitedly the few caches they have visited since collecting the TB have been to small to place it in, but they have not visited any caches since feb.

Any Suggestions as i would like to get the TB moving, as my Cub pack were hoping to follow its movements around the world ( or at least the local area)

Or is there a way of tacking the cacher.

they appear to be a family team rather than someone malicious.

hope someone has some ideas

Peter

 

Another guilty confession. I have had a bug since Easter :D really sorry. It has been out completing its mission in the mean time but I am in the early stages of pregnancy which equals utterly knackered. We're on holiday next week so hope to move it on then.

 

Kit

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I picked up a coin not so long ago and it made its home in the bottom of my Goepack (they usualy stay in the front pocket. It was only once I thought that I had nothing to swap that I noticed when logging a find that I still had it. Much searching of the living room ensued I even suspected that I had lost it, a week or so later I was going trigging one rainy morning and dug out my gaiters; the coin emerged sleepy eyed and smiling out of the folds. A few days later it was in a cache and when logged I found I'd had it for six weeks.

There are loads of things that can hold up the transfer of coins and bugs I'm sure that in most cases there are genuine reasons why it can take so long, even to the point that these things disappear altogether we always think the worst, that the culprits are just sh**s but sometimes, just some times there is a good reason for the disappearance.

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