Someone grabbed a TB before I could log it at its destination

[+zoepaulandpippa]

Hi everyone.

 

I'm looking for views on how to proceed.

 

After 5 weeks of lurking in the forum to get to know the ropes, we went out on 3 Jan and found our first cache, picking up a travel bug. I logged the travel bug, and noted I would move it on the following weekend.

 

We went out yesterday, and dropped it off at another cache, location chosen to fit the TB goal. I went onto the site last night to log dropping it off, to discover that someone else who had visited the second cache later yesterday had 'grabbed' the TB, so I can't log that I've deposited it, and certainly can't give the TB owner the info I had planned about the TB's goal.

 

I've sent a message to the 'grabber' asking for them to let me have it back. No reply yet - but I guess if they are away from home, they might not have access. I don't want to miss my chance to log it back into the cache where I left it, but I can't proceed without its tracking number.

 

Do I contact the owner to ask for its number? Or chill out, wait to see if the 'grabber' gets in touch before the TB changes hands again?

 

Thanks in advance

[+hukilaulau]

Hi everyone.

 

I'm looking for views on how to proceed.

 

After 5 weeks of lurking in the forum to get to know the ropes, we went out on 3 Jan and found our first cache, picking up a travel bug. I logged the travel bug, and noted I would move it on the following weekend.

 

We went out yesterday, and dropped it off at another cache, location chosen to fit the TB goal. I went onto the site last night to log dropping it off, to discover that someone else who had visited the second cache later yesterday had 'grabbed' the TB, so I can't log that I've deposited it, and certainly can't give the TB owner the info I had planned about the TB's goal.

 

I've sent a message to the 'grabber' asking for them to let me have it back. No reply yet - but I guess if they are away from home, they might not have access. I don't want to miss my chance to log it back into the cache where I left it, but I can't proceed without its tracking number.

 

Do I contact the owner to ask for its number? Or chill out, wait to see if the 'grabber' gets in touch before the TB changes hands again?

 

Thanks in advance

I've had this happen, especially when I was traveling. Some people are too eager to "grab" TB's without giving the previous finder adequate time to log it. You can't really do much more than you've done. You don't want to ask the owner to give you the tracking number. That could cause too much confusion, especially if the person who has the but now is inexperienced. Wait to see if they contact you. Also, you can leave a note on the TB page without having the tracking number. Explain what happened. At the very least, the person who has the bug now should drop it back in the cache where they found it and re-retrieve it.

 

One way you can avoid this in the future is to write down the tracking number of any bugs/coins you move. That way you can retrieve it, drop it, and make the "grabber" do it the right way

[+edscott]

Most people are patient enough to wait for you to have time to get home and log it so this situation doesn't usually come up unless you are on an extended trip and don't log it for several days. I've left notes with trackables that I'm leaving and don't expect to be able to log for awhile, but never bothered to do that if it will only be a few hours. Hopefully the person who took it will answer you, otherwise there isn't much you can do. I record the codes of the bugs I move and keep them until they have been successfully passed on.

[+Harry Dolphin]

If you have information or photos for the TB, you can write a note on the TB page without needing the tracking number.

Yeah. Some TB grabbers are impatient and inconsiderate!

[+bladesedge]

If you have information or photos for the TB, you can write a note on the TB page without needing the tracking number.

Yeah. Some TB grabbers are impatient and inconsiderate!

 

I'm one of these - 'impatient and inconsiderate' people who just didn't know any better!

 

I download gpxs into my Blackberry so generally have a good idea if theres meant to be a TB in a location or not, but obviously sometimes they pop in there after I've uploaded the gpx to my phone. If theres a mission statement with the TB, I'll move it on if it fits. And at the end of the day I come home and log all my movings for the day.

 

As I'm on holiday at the moment I can be doing 10-20 caches a day when I go out, so to make sure I don't forget which TBs I've moved on I make sure I log those as well. I had a TB and a GC the other day and almost logged them into the wrong caches. I took photos of one at the location I released it so I remembered where I put it.

 

As a lot of people are on their summer vacations away from home, I'm often seeing people not logging their visits until a week later or so. Do we really have to wait a week (or longer) if someone's not logged dropping it off?

 

Is there not another way around it?

[+edscott]

......

 

As a lot of people are on their summer vacations away from home, I'm often seeing people not logging their visits until a week later or so. Do we really have to wait a week (or longer) if someone's not logged dropping it off?

 

Is there not another way around it?

 

You could buy each of us a laptop to carry on vacation.

[+zoepaulandpippa]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

Hukilaulau and Harry - I've added a note to the TB page, in the hope the owner will be interested in the latest stopping point of their TB, and how it related to the TB's goal. I'll remember to keep a note of the tracking number in future.

 

Edscott - I've had a note back from the next cacher, with an extra hint for another cache in the vicinity that we couldn't find, but not answering my question. Oh well...

 

Thanks for your suggestions, and any more that might come

[+gorillagal]

If you have information or photos for the TB, you can write a note on the TB page without needing the tracking number.

Yeah. Some TB grabbers are impatient and inconsiderate!

 

I'm one of these - 'impatient and inconsiderate' people who just didn't know any better!

 

I download gpxs into my Blackberry so generally have a good idea if theres meant to be a TB in a location or not, but obviously sometimes they pop in there after I've uploaded the gpx to my phone. If theres a mission statement with the TB, I'll move it on if it fits. And at the end of the day I come home and log all my movings for the day.

 

As I'm on holiday at the moment I can be doing 10-20 caches a day when I go out, so to make sure I don't forget which TBs I've moved on I make sure I log those as well. I had a TB and a GC the other day and almost logged them into the wrong caches. I took photos of one at the location I released it so I remembered where I put it.

 

As a lot of people are on their summer vacations away from home, I'm often seeing people not logging their visits until a week later or so. Do we really have to wait a week (or longer) if someone's not logged dropping it off?

 

Is there not another way around it?

I don't think you have to wait a week, but even waiting until the next day would've corrected this situation. I picked up a TB last Sunday that was not logged into the cache. The next day I dropped it into another cache, so I grabbed it, dipped it into the cache I found it in and then dropped it into the cache it is in. If I hadn't been placing it, I probably would've waited longer to grab it.

[+NatureGuy360]

You are definitely not alone in this experience. Once, I dropped a travel bug into a geocache, and before I could even get home that same afternoon to log it, someone else had found it, and “grabbed” it from me.

 

So now that travel bug has no history of being in that geocache. It appears like I just handed the travel bug over to the other geocacher when in fact I had physically placed it into that geocache for however brief of time.

 

Patience is just not something that comes easily to us geocachers.

[+ThePetersTrio]

You are definitely not alone in this experience. Once, I dropped a travel bug into a geocache, and before I could even get home that same afternoon to log it, someone else had found it, and “grabbed” it from me.

 

So now that travel bug has no history of being in that geocache. It appears like I just handed the travel bug over to the other geocacher when in fact I had physically placed it into that geocache for however brief of time.

 

Patience is just not something that comes easily to us geocachers.

 

It is especially common with new cacher. We've all been new cachers at some point.

 

But in case this ever happens again, you can always contact the traveler's owner and request the tracking number from them so you can correct the history (by grabbing it back and logging it into the cache you found it in). It would be good form to contact the current holder of the trackable and explain what you are doing and that they will need to relog the traveler out of the cache again.

 

I'm sure BD has a better way to explain all of this - BD please correct me if I've got this wrong anywhere!

[+GrnXnham]

You are definitely not alone in this experience. Once, I dropped a travel bug into a geocache, and before I could even get home that same afternoon to log it, someone else had found it, and “grabbed” it from me.

 

So now that travel bug has no history of being in that geocache. It appears like I just handed the travel bug over to the other geocacher when in fact I had physically placed it into that geocache for however brief of time.

 

Patience is just not something that comes easily to us geocachers.

 

We write down the TB number of every TB we pick up. This way when someone grabs it from us before we can log in that we dropped it off, we grab it back from them and log in that we drop it in the cache. Then they can pick it back up again and move it on. Sometimes, the "TB grabber" will drop it off in the cache and pick it up again and save me the trouble of doing it. Either way the cache gets it's history of being in the cache.

Edited January 14, 2010 by GrnXnham