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How long is too long?


Gloom

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I have a couple of bugs out there and I'm just wondering what other people think. Two of my bugs have been in cachers hands for more than a month and at about that time I start to get anxious. Now don't get me wrong, I realize that bugs take time to move and I don't really care when they take a week or two (or more) to move, but once it gets up past a month or so with no movement and no contact from whoever has it I start to get nervous about it going missing.

 

So, my question is:

How long to you usually wait without any TB movement or contact from the person who has your TB before you attempt to contact the user to get them to move the bug on?

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I usually wait at least a month before asking. Lot's of things can come up that are more important than dropping off a bug.

 

Usually a quick e-mail gets me up to speed. I once had someone hold a bug for 2 months because they were going on a long trip and wanted to drop the bug far from where it was claimed.

 

If in doubt, send an e-mail.

 

________________

 

Now where did I park my car??????? monkes.gif

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All of my hitchhikers together on average have spent 10.6 days “in transit” - however, that's skewed by one that has been in someone's hands for 113 days (he keeps promising to place him...). Take out the extreme of 113, and it's an average of 9.04 days, just over a week.

 

I voted “give them a month” and then do it as diplomatically as possible, i.e. “Just wondering how Superman is doing. Any idea on where you might place him?”

 

Markwell

My Geocaching Page

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I brought a TB over from England to the US. Placed it a day later. The next day it was retrieved by some folks upon finding their first cache.

 

These people have now held the TB for two months and have logged many more finds. It probably isn't my place since I'm not the TB owner, but two emails to them have gone unheeded.

 

Advice?

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When I pick up a travel bug, I try to place it into a new cache within two weekends of when I picked it up.

 

When someone else picks up one of my travel bugs, I hope to see it move within a couple of weeks...but I'll wait until a month has gone by before I send out an e-mail asking about it. (Unless I've noticed that the holder has visited new caches in between...in which case I'll likely send out an e-mail sooner.)

 

In my opinion, holding onto a bug for longer than a month isn't as bad as not communicating with the owner during that month. Obviously, there are extenuating circumstances (like family emergencies) that would excuse a lack of communication...but in most cases, it's just that people have gotten busy with other things. But it only takes a couple of minutes to send a quick e-mail that says, "I just wanted you to know that I haven't forgotten about your travel bug. Things have been crazy here, but I'm hoping to get back out and place it again soon." I think a quick note like that will ease the minds of most travel bug owners, and refresh their patience for a little longer.

 

-------

"I may be slow, but at least I'm sweet!" 196939_800.jpg

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quote:
Originally posted by squishy:

 

It probably isn't my place since I'm not the TB owner, but two emails to them have gone unheeded.


 

It always makes me smile to see that I'm not the only one who feels sentimental about the travel bugs I've helped on their way. It's hard not to take a personal interest in seeing them continue to move along once they've left your hands.

 

As for advice, I don't think there's really much else you can do. After a couple of e-mails have gone unheeded, it would appear fairly obvious that they are deliberately ignoring you. There's really no way to FORCE them to place the bug...and if they live near where you do, making a pest of yourself may simply tick them off...and depending on the kind of people they are (which stealing a travel bug speaks something about), they could decide to get 'pay backs' by deliberating plundering your caches (if you've placed any, that is).

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quote:
In my opinion, holding onto a bug for longer than a month isn't as bad as not communicating with the owner during that month. Obviously, there are extenuating circumstances (like family emergencies) that would excuse a lack of communication...but in most cases, it's just that people have gotten busy with other things. But it only takes a couple of minutes to send a quick e-mail that says, "I just wanted you to know that I haven't forgotten about your travel bug. Things have been crazy here, but I'm hoping to get back out and place it again soon." I think a quick note like that will ease the minds of most travel bug owners, and refresh their patience for a little longer.

 

I agree, but there does come a point, where to much time has passed. I have a bug that has been in someone's hands since January. Initially, he would reply to my emails, and this was greatly appreciated, but of late he has gone silent. I've offered to even send a self addressed stamped envelope to the person who has it, so that I personally could put him back in play.

 

1 month is what I chose, but 5 months is just way to long. Anyway, I'll probably end up archiving this bug, as there's no point continueing to send email to someone who no longer responds.

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quote:
Originally posted by DenaliNW:

 

I agree, but there does come a point, where to much time has passed. I have a bug that has been in someone's hands since January. Initially, he would reply to my emails, and this was greatly appreciated, but of late he has gone silent. I've offered to even send a self addressed stamped envelope to the person who has it, so that I personally could put him back in play.

 

1 month is what I chose, but 5 months is just way to long. Anyway, I'll probably end up archiving this bug, as there's no point continueing to send email to someone who no longer responds.


 

I couldn't agree more. (Which is why I said that a note would likely refresh the owner's patience "for a little longer".) Even if a person continues to respond to your e-mails, it gets frustrating when they don't follow through with their promises to put the bug back into circulation. icon_mad.gif

 

Unfortunately, there isn't really anything we can do about it. It's one of the risks of sending out travel bugs. icon_frown.gif

 

P.S. Congratulations on becoming a father. icon_biggrin.gif

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quote:
Originally posted by DenaliNW:

 

I agree, but there does come a point, where to much time has passed. I have a bug that has been in someone's hands since January. Initially, he would reply to my emails, and this was greatly appreciated, but of late he has gone silent. I've offered to even send a self addressed stamped envelope to the person who has it, so that I personally could put him back in play.

 

1 month is what I chose, but 5 months is just way to long. Anyway, I'll probably end up archiving this bug, as there's no point continueing to send email to someone who no longer responds.


 

I couldn't agree more. (Which is why I said that a note would likely refresh the owner's patience "for a little longer".) Even if a person continues to respond to your e-mails, it gets frustrating when they don't follow through with their promises to put the bug back into circulation. icon_mad.gif

 

Unfortunately, there isn't really anything we can do about it. It's one of the risks of sending out travel bugs. icon_frown.gif

 

P.S. Congratulations on becoming a father. icon_biggrin.gif

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My problem is the opposite. I have Susan the Southbound GeoSheep and cannot get my log to "take". The page refreshes when I use the TBxxx number provided on Susan's site. I have had no response from a message sent to Geo_sheep@hotmail.com and the alternate email got me a mailerdaemon:

 

----- Transcript of session follows -----

... while talking to mx01.hotmail.com.:

>>> RCPT To:

<<< 550 Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable

550 ... User unknown

 

***** Now What?

GypsyMoth

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gypsymoth,

 

If my memory serves me correctly Larrycott was called into the reserves for service right before he turned his hitchiking sheep into travel bugs. It looks like he may have forgotten to activate the travel bugs before he left? Maybe an email to geocaching.com could help... possibly they could activate the tags since Larrycot is more than likely out of the country and appears not to have internet access. He had expressed his concern before he left and that's why he attached the TB tags, in hopes that they could travel without his intervention... before that he had quite an extensive site for tracking his hitchhikers and I bet he'll be real dissappointed when he gets home to see that they haven't been able to travel icon_confused.gif

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gypsymoth,

 

If my memory serves me correctly Larrycott was called into the reserves for service right before he turned his hitchiking sheep into travel bugs. It looks like he may have forgotten to activate the travel bugs before he left? Maybe an email to geocaching.com could help... possibly they could activate the tags since Larrycot is more than likely out of the country and appears not to have internet access. He had expressed his concern before he left and that's why he attached the TB tags, in hopes that they could travel without his intervention... before that he had quite an extensive site for tracking his hitchhikers and I bet he'll be real dissappointed when he gets home to see that they haven't been able to travel icon_confused.gif

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oops...but now reading your post again I see that you are talking about using the TBXXXX # that number gets plugged in as a waypoint to bring up the travel bug page. The number that you need to enter when on the travel bugs page is the number on the dogtag attached to the geosheep.

 

But this still doesn't feel right. It doesn't look like any of the geosheep have moved since larry left except for the Westward sheep. I dunno... wierd.

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Yeah, My whole involvement began when I ran across Larry's request to contact him so he could send the tag. Guess he had already left before I read it. Well, Susan is down at the Bellagio trying to play geocoins. Will send her south later.

 

quote:
Originally posted by Ttepee:

oops...but now reading your post again I see that you are talking about using the TBXXXX # that number gets plugged in as a waypoint to bring up the travel bug page. The number that you need to enter when on the travel bugs page is the number on the dogtag attached to the geosheep.

 

But this still doesn't feel right. It doesn't look like any of the geosheep have moved since larry left except for the Westward sheep. I dunno... wierd.


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