Wildboar Posted November 17, 2002 Share Posted November 17, 2002 What do I do about a geocacher that has had my travel bug since March and won't respond to any emails??? Quote Link to comment
The Artful Dodger Posted November 17, 2002 Share Posted November 17, 2002 I had one of my TB's held hostage for NINE months (Thanks Pookee!! ) After repeated promises to release it, it was obvious that he (a) Lost it ( fed it to the dog (3) Traded it for a All-Day Lollipop or (d) Used it as a doorstop. Sometimes, one has to let go..and move on. As far as my travel bug, I released Version 2.0 and attached the COPY tag to it.... Its alive and well in Travel Bug land... [This message was edited by The Artful Dodger on November 17, 2002 at 06:32 PM.] Quote Link to comment
+Planet Posted November 17, 2002 Share Posted November 17, 2002 All at once, we all e-mail the guy and say "let this travel bug go!". Ready, set, e-mail.... Cache you later, Planet Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. Quote Link to comment
BassoonPilot Posted November 18, 2002 Share Posted November 18, 2002 quote:Originally posted by The Artful Dodger:I had one of my TB's held hostage for NINE months (Thanks Pookee!! ) After repeated promises to release it, it was obvious that he (a) Lost it ( fed it to the dog (3) Traded it for a All-Day Lollipop or (d) Used it as a doorstop. The problem with The Artful Dodger's travel bugs is he attaches the tags to really nice critters ... every time we pick up one of his TB's, I have to make a trip (sometimes several trips) to the store to find a duplicate my daughter can keep. Quote Link to comment
+infosponge Posted November 18, 2002 Share Posted November 18, 2002 I can sympathise...I hate it when I make a weekly pass through my bugs and find one or two that have been sitting for a long time, even though the cacher in question has logged many other caches since they picked it up and could have easily moved it along. I have one that is maliciously being held hostage...there are some real jerks out there. The sad thing was it wasn't even my traveler to begin with...just a traveling item that a few kids made up that I came across & tagged with one of my spare TB tags to make it more fun for them. No good deed goes un-punished. Quote Link to comment
+Perfect Tommy Posted November 18, 2002 Share Posted November 18, 2002 quote: I had one of my TB's held hostage for NINE months (Thanks Pookee!! ) After repeated promises to release it, it was obvious that he (a) Lost it ( fed it to the dog (3) Traded it for a All-Day Lollipop or (d) Used it as a doorstop. Pookee has been holding onto 'Nook the Husky since he picked him up over a year ago at the Buttermilk Cache (see his 11/4/01 log). It's unfortunate, but that's a bug's life... Quote Link to comment
+Planet Posted November 18, 2002 Share Posted November 18, 2002 Looks like 11/04/01 was Pookee's last log for anything geocaching. I think he's one that lost interest or has given up logging in. Maybe if you e-mailed Pookee and offered to send a self addressed stamped envelope to him/her to send back the travel bug? I checked Pookee one and only cache and it is still active. This cache has a reall history to it. It was Stayfloopy's 174th find and he was the first finder here, and BassonPilot's 82nd find AND they met that day at this cache! Looks like a lot of our more venerated cachers have been to this cache. But what has become of Pookee? I don't know. None of the logs on this cache are from Pookee doing a maintenance check either. It's a puzzlement. Cache you later, Planet Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. [This message was edited by Planet on November 18, 2002 at 03:31 PM.] Quote Link to comment
+Markwell Posted November 18, 2002 Share Posted November 18, 2002 Doesn't work if they don't respond to ANY e-mails. Batman was rescued from an untimely desert death, only to be picked up by Allstar86 on September 1. He won't respond to any e-mails, and hasn't logged in to Geocaching.com since Oct 6. Just when Wonder Woman is so close to reaching her goal, and Superman is waiting at the Hall of Justice, but needs to go to Metropolis. Markwell Chicago Geocaching Quote Link to comment
+MikeandRenn Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 Is there any way to put something more on the first page of the site to encourage individuals to not keep the TB's. We have lost one of our own and several others we have been tracking are now missing. I think that some people are stupid and don't play fair. This is a game, after all. Quote Link to comment
+TeamVE Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 quote:Originally posted by MikeandRenn:Is there any way to put something more on the first page of the site to encourage individuals to not keep the TB's. The problem is: What should we put? If email is being ignored and they aren't geocaching, something on the website isn't going to do much good. In the case of ACTIVE bug hunters, something could be done. Perhaps something like adding a profile statistic to make the count "Travel Bugs Owned/Found/Holding". At least that way, people could see who's logging and hoarding TB's Quote Link to comment
The Artful Dodger Posted November 19, 2002 Share Posted November 19, 2002 I personally would like the geocaching.com system to somehow gently 'remind' the holding cacher that he/she is holding onto a Travel Bug. Perhaps when the cacher is about to make a FOUND or place a Note etc, there could be a more conspicuous caption box on the web page that indicates that there are X Travel Bugs in your possession. Even a friendly box on the MY CACHE PAGE screen stating in RED that you have so-and-so bugs currently in your possession. Naturally, there needs to be a counter-balance to make the reminder disappear after a period of time. The original TB owner, who has the ability to recapture the TB or delete logs etc, may simply have forgotten the TB or has disappeared from geocaching altogether. One can make this message user-friendly but firm enough to make it known that its time to move that Travel Bug onwards to greener pastures, er caches. Just my 2c for the day. [This message was edited by The Artful Dodger on November 19, 2002 at 08:27 AM.] Quote Link to comment
rocopic Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 quote:Originally posted by Planet:All at once, we all e-mail the guy and say "let this travel bug go!". Ready, set, e-mail.... Cache you later, Planet Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups. I agree. Maybe some of you can help me too by emailing "jamshid" about this bug. http://www.geocaching.com/track/track_detail.asp?ID=4984 Rocopic Quote Link to comment
Ruprex Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 quote:Originally posted by The Artful Dodger:I personally would like the geocaching.com system to somehow gently 'remind' the holding cacher that he/she is holding onto a Travel Bug. Perhaps when the cacher is about to make a FOUND or place a Note etc, there could be a more conspicuous caption box on the web page that indicates that there are X Travel Bugs in your possession. Even a friendly box on the MY CACHE PAGE screen stating in RED that you have so-and-so bugs currently in your possession. Naturally, there needs to be a counter-balance to make the reminder disappear after a period of time. The original TB owner, who has the ability to recapture the TB or delete logs etc, may simply have forgotten the TB or has disappeared from geocaching altogether. One can make this message user-friendly but firm enough to make it known that its time to move that Travel Bug onwards to greener pastures, er caches. Just my 2c for the day. [This message was edited by The Artful Dodger on November 19, 2002 at 08:27 AM.] Yeah, good ideas. I would venture to assume that the folks that keep the TB's and are never to be seen again simply change their user login so as not to get a bad rap. Wouldn't it be nice to have IP/domain tracking so the moderators could tell who people are with or without a password. This would give the ability to blacklist the folks who feel the need to kidnap to travelers. You know, not the 'ops, I lost it' one-time offenders but the ones who have sticky fingers...repeat offenders. God was my co-pilot but we crashed in the mountains and I had to eat him. Quote Link to comment
SIMPSON Posted November 21, 2002 Share Posted November 21, 2002 Thanks for reminding me- I just sent an email to a guy who has had my sons TB for a while now- Tried not to piss him off too much but C'MON!!! Later skaters! SIMPSON from Bakersfield. Quote Link to comment
+ict X ckr Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 I agree there ain't much ya can do - but still feel it's only right to pass the dang things along. The key word in all this is Travel. If a person loses interest they should at least mail it to someone who cares, which would be about any one. Quote Link to comment
+juanbob Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 My wife and I have had a TB for a couple months now. We have become rather attached to him. We are not just sitting on him, but have taken him with us to 3 continents. Are we as bad as the TB prisoner takers? I emailed the owner twice to ask if it was ok with no response. So, have I become a bad guy unintentionally, or only slighty bad? The bug will be released for good by the end of the month...probably after a trip to Hong Kong. Mike the Bunny Juanbob Quote Link to comment
GrandpaCannon Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 I think that if you e-mailed the owner then you are in good shape. I also hope that you are posting logs (even just notes) that document this bugs travels while in your possession. I wouldn't mind if someone kept one of my travel bugs for awhile and took him all over the world if they e-mailed me and told me their plans and if they would post notes showing where the bug has been. Pictures would be even better. Quote Link to comment
+carleenp Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 To "slightly guilty" You emailed, so I think it is ok. You could also post a note on the bug's page just in case the owner changed email and forgot to change it here. If someone emailed me and said they were taking my bug to 3 continents, I would say "go ahead!" The one bug I have found, I held for over a month. I kept running into problems placing it. One cache was too small and then I couldn't find the next one. I emailed the owners and apologized for the delay and they were really nice. I felt bad though that it took me 5 weeks to finally place it! At the same time, I took several of pictures of it at a golf course (its goal) to try to make up for it. Quote Link to comment
+Jamie Z Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 quote:Originally posted by Juanbob:I emailed the owner twice to ask if it was ok with no response. Heh... all the complaints about folks picking up TB's and not responding to emails, and you have the opposite problem. Actually, I ran into that same thing once myself. I grabbed a couple of TB's a while back, just before a long roadtrip. I emailed the owners of both asking if they would be annoyed if I held the bugs for more than a month in order to travel them around for a bit. The responses? For one, the owner gave me a two word reply. "Sounds good" or something similar. I never heard from the other owner. I figured if the guy didn't care enough to even respond, I wasn't too concerned about how long I held it. Frankly, the owners' lack of enthusiasm made the bugs a lot less fun for me. The very first bug I found, the owner emailed me and asked about her bug, and made it fun for me to take it places and take pictures, but if the owner doesn't care about the bug... why should I? Jamie Quote Link to comment
+ict X ckr Posted November 25, 2002 Share Posted November 25, 2002 If someone is carring a bug around to put some distance on it, that is still traveling. Provided logs are posted so the bug earns the miles. I understand when plans get fouled up, but there must be some way to show some progress, like taking pictures (above). That was a great idea. Quote Link to comment
+Mr. Snazz Posted November 25, 2002 Share Posted November 25, 2002 I am not a number! I am a free man! you know... The Prisoner... tee hee Quote Link to comment
Dark River Rangers Posted February 28, 2003 Share Posted February 28, 2003 quote:No good deed goes un-punished. Maybe a Virtual travel bug is the answer. I started one as a joke. Ha Ha! He has logged over 60,000 miles less than a month. Check out Virtual Victor, the world's first truely virtual travel bug. Captain Walker, Frodo & the gang Dark River Rangers, Florida Company. Quote Link to comment
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