Let's say you put someone else's geocoin in your own cache and it disappears?

[Nick - Cacher]

Here's a question I'm trying to figure the answer to: What would you do/think if you retrieved a geocoin from a cache 80 miles away. Then to help it move along, when you got back home you placed it in your own geocache. Then as cache maintenance, a few days later you visited your cache again and the coin was missing! Only "one" person has signed your cache log book and online since your last visit. However, on your cache page it still says this geocoin is in your cache. You've sent a message to that one and only person, who signed your cache log book between the time you dropped off that geocoin in your cache to the time you came back and found it's missing, asking them if they saw it there because you'd feel awkward marking it as missing. They haven't responded yet and it's been weeks.

 

Wouldn't it then be awkward to mark the geocoin as missing from your own cache, especially when you're the one who placed it there? What will the geocoin owner think if someone had placed the geocoin in their cache and then "marked it as missing"?

 

This happened to me, and I feel awkward marking it as missing. Should I send a message to the geocoin owner explaining what happened, and then give them the username of that one cacher who visited the cache between the time I placed it there to when it went missing? What would you do if you were in my situation? It feels awkward marking it as missing, after I placed it in my very own geocache!

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

If it has been weeks, then I would mark it as missing. I wouldn't worry too much about the perception myself. Anybody reading the logs will see that there was a visit between your drop off and maintenance run and can put two and two together if needed.

 

Sometimes this stuff happens. Nobody likes to lose coins, but there's really only so much we can do...

[+badger10]

I had someone recently grab a TB from my cache. They wrote in the cache log that they took it. They never logged the cache online and never logged that they took the TB. I marked it as missing and emailed the owner with the info I had. I even asked on our local geocaching group page if anybody knew the cacher but no one did.

[+Max and 99]

I would mark the TB as missing and email to the TB owner to let them know the situation. No need to give them a name-they can figure that out all on their own from the cache page.

[+The Blorenges]

First, I would simply put a Note log on the geocoin explaining that you've just returned to your cache and the geocoin is no longer there. Date the log for when you actually visited the cache so that they can see that there was only one other cacher who visited before you.

 

Then I would mark it missing.

 

Then I would email the geocoin owner with the extra details including the fact that you've tried to contact the other person but have had no response.

 

That's it. You can't do any more.

 

Except maybe put the coin on your Watchlist - it might re-appear in a few weeks hundreds of miles away...

 

MrsB

[+Landsharkz]

Lastly, you could direct the geocoin owner to this thread to help them come to terms with the potential loss of their coin . Sometimes they do turn up years later (once in a military boot in a locker on a ship!), but not always.

[Nick - Cacher]

Okay, just another question. Excuse my ignorance, I think I'm still new to geocaching, but I'm trying to figure out how you mark it as missing from your own geocache?

[+The Blorenges]

Okay, just another question. Excuse my ignorance, I think I'm still new to geocaching, but I'm trying to figure out how you mark it as missing from your own geocache?

 

Go to the geocoin's home page. On the right side, Under 'Actions' select 'Mark item missing' > Go > Confirm missing.

 

MrsB

[+kunarion]

First, I would simply put a Note log on the geocoin explaining that you've just returned to your cache and the geocoin is no longer there. Date the log for when you actually visited the cache so that they can see that there was only one other cacher who visited before you.

 

Then I would mark it missing.

 

Then I would email the geocoin owner with the extra details including the fact that you've tried to contact the other person but have had no response.

 

That's it. You can't do any more.

 

Except maybe put the coin on your Watchlist - it might re-appear in a few weeks hundreds of miles away...

 

MrsB

+1

 

When you visit a cache and discover that a Trackable isn't there, it's essential to make a log note on the cache page and on the Trackable's page. There seems to be plenty of non-logging to go around.

 

I feel awkward marking it as missing.

The very first TB I ever found, I placed into a Geocache, and logged it. The TB immediately vanished and has never been seen again. Could it be possible that people who don't log TBs properly are the problem? I wonder. Edited June 22, 2012 by kunarion