cache complaints

[+mtcarmelites]

I placed a cache yesterday in an old cemetery in the country. A couple of people found it already and then I had one sign as DNF and complain that the cache has no business being there because the farmer in the field beside the cemetery had spread liquid manure---well sorry! There are houses beside the cemetery and they have to put up with whatever smell there is all the time- and what about don't complain about the farmer with your mouth full darn it. I haven't dignified their complaint with a response. I know that manure spreading is a fact of life- it's the country darn it- it smells for a day or 2 and then goes away. Sometimes they complain about your co-ords being off, but yet not everyone complains and some say the co ords are right on- how many complaints do you get before you change them? Is a hide ever too hard if it is rated hard?

[+ghettomedic]

Leave it alone, they will get over it. Some people just live to find fault in others.

[+J-Way]

Some people complain about off coordinates because they don't realize that most receivers only have about 30-ft accuracy under normal conditions. Coordinates up to 40-ft off are normal, but some people expect 3-ft precision because that's what the manufacturer tells them. But if you repeatedly get complaints about coordinates that are off there's nothing wrong with going back to double check. Enter the published coordinates into your receiver, hit "Go To", and try to find your own cache using ONLY your receiver. If you go directly to GZ, then you're good to go. Otherwise, consider revising.

 

As for the liquid poo, some people will complain if everything isn't perfect. Ignore them and go on with life.

[+webscouter.]

Sounds like someone who loves to complain. Forget about it. Other finders seem to enjoy it and the DNF looks like someone who set up a sock puppet account because they didn't have the guts to say something negative about the site.

[+Harry Dolphin]

And there was a rock in the trail! I almost tripped over it!

Ignore them.

[+mfamilee]

I placed a cache yesterday in an old cemetery in the country. A couple of people found it already and then I had one sign as DNF and complain that the cache has no business being there because the farmer in the field beside the cemetery had spread liquid manure---well sorry!

Sounds as if someone was just upset about their DNF.

[+kunarion]

If visitors find something that’s not quite right, they may put it in the log. You could head them off with a note in the cache description like “this is near farms, with all the sights and smells of the country”.

 

But I’d like to know in advance if a place is smelly today -- regardless of how many people are accustomed to it. Maybe my family would plan to go at a time other than lunchtime. Many caches have ideal times and bad times to go.

 

I’ve entered logs where the next cachers have corrected me, or expanded on what I said. And if some dead possum (from some previous log) was still there when I went, I’d make a note of it. It’s all part of the story. Please encourage people to write -- maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you read next time. I don’t think they intended to be mean about it, but even if they did, they’ll get over it. So can you.

 

Several DNFs in a row may be a sign that something needs to be fixed. And I have no idea if the hardest rated caches can be too hard -- I filter those out

Edited August 3, 2009 by kunarion

[+9Key]

If you're going to hide caches and are in the game for the long haul, thicken up your skin as you will get more of this, guaranteed. Disregard the occasional derogatory log and focus on the good ones. Some people will b**ch about anything and everything.

[+bittsen]

I placed a cache yesterday in an old cemetery in the country. A couple of people found it already and then I had one sign as DNF and complain that the cache has no business being there because the farmer in the field beside the cemetery had spread liquid manure---well sorry! There are houses beside the cemetery and they have to put up with whatever smell there is all the time- and what about don't complain about the farmer with your mouth full darn it. I haven't dignified their complaint with a response. I know that manure spreading is a fact of life- it's the country darn it- it smells for a day or 2 and then goes away. Sometimes they complain about your co-ords being off, but yet not everyone complains and some say the co ords are right on- how many complaints do you get before you change them? Is a hide ever too hard if it is rated hard?

 

Take their comment to heart for all that it is worth (which is very little) and post a "note" in the cache logs that says the farmer spread fertilizer so the area will smell for a couple days.

[+Knight2000]

Go muggle all their caches.

[+TexasGringo]

<And there was a rock in the trail!>

 

Raise the Terrain Level?

[+flask]

spreadin'? that there is the smell of somebody puttin' food on his family's table.

 

enjoy the whiner's complaint as comedy.

[+wimseyguy]

A big part of my job is customer service.

When someone complains, I listen.

Then I take the appropriate action.

[+mfamilee]

But I’d like to know in advance if a place is smelly today ---

That would be like trying to predict the weather.

 

Throw some clothespins in your geo-bag & you'll be all set.

[+bartrod]

And I'm a baseball umpire. When someone complains, I ignore it.

[AZcachemeister]

Although they are slowly thinning out, there are many dairy farms in my territory, and sometimes when a cache is hidden nearby one, you can smell it.

BFD

If you ask him, the farmer will tell you it smells like money.

[+va griz]

I've seen notes of "cords way off" and "cords right on" logged on the same cache, so I would be careful about changing the cords for one complaint. If every other log says "40-50 feet off for me" I would look into it.

 

Complaints about a smell that is there for two days a year? You've got better things to worry about.

[+Von-Horst]

After taking the time to read the log in question , it seems that they were looking for their first cache and, wrongly, thought that the cache was hidden in the area where the liquid manure had been spread;

 

"local farmers have just spread liquide manure around the area"

 

Perhaps you could contact them and assure them that this is not the case.

 

Mike

[+The Blorenges]

I placed a cache yesterday in an old cemetery in the country. A couple of people found it already and then I had one sign as DNF and complain that the cache has no business being there because the farmer in the field beside the cemetery had spread liquid manure---well sorry! .... <snip>

 

 

I think I'd be very tempted to blame this problem on this listing site

 

Smile (through gritted teeth) and add your own note log:

 

"Thank you <caching team name> for alerting me to this problem of "country odours" prevalent in this area. Unfortunately geocaching.com has yet to provide an attribute for "smelly cache site" so I hope your log will serve as a caution to other cachers planning to visit over the next few days: Please bring your own clothes peg or facemask."

 

MrsB

[Dinoprophet]

I've never had a complaint about a cache. I had one about a waymark I have that is of commercial nature, though, and I think I'd handle one on a cache the same way.

 

Note left on the waymark:

"This is exactly why Waymarking is a joke. Kim's Restaurant? Seriously? I saw there was one for hooters to. Put your junk in the yellow pages, not on Waymarking."

 

I replied:

Hi, ********,

 

I'm sorry that you have a problem with it. I marked Kim's because I happened to be eating there one day, and it had the distinction of being voted one Detroit's best Chinese in a survey. I'm not generally a fan of commercial waymarks, but I thought that was significant enough. Much like I sometimes get the urge to find a cache even if my preferred type isn't available, I'll sometimes mark waypoints that aren't my preferred type.

 

I hope you will find something you like about Waymarking. There are a lot of very interesting categories. If not, I hope you'll refrain from posting negative notes on waymarks in the future. You can imagine how it would feel if someone started posting notes that bashed geocaching on our cache pages.

 

Thanks for your caches. I'm still proud to be one of so few to find ****.

 

Regards,

Dinoprophet

 

His reply:

Oh my gosh! I had no idea this was yours. I'm sorry and I'll remove the comment when I can get to a computer.

 

Now, I didn't care if the comment was left. He did delete it but didn't need to. I could have deleted it myself if I wanted to, but I'm not interested in blocking someone's unfavorable opinion. It's as much a part of the cache (or waymark) history as anything else. I just wanted to put a "human face", as they say, on the problem waymark. I bear the person no ill will and enjoy his caches, though I have kept the incident in mind for whenever a thread like this should come up.

Edited August 3, 2009 by Dinoprophet