Owner grabs a bug in my possession -

[+Phillyfamily]

I received an email stating that a travel bug in my possession was now back home in Portugal (adding 1457 untravelled miles)! Not really sure what the protocol is with something like this. I have been very active with my caching and have kept the trackables inventory up-to-date logging each visit so the owners can see they are still active.

 

Not really sure where to go from here. I still have the trackable, but it isn't showing in my inventory. I am tempted to just release it and watch the confusion. Does anyone have any advice/suggestions for my dilemma?

[+whh0]

In the first instance I would send an email to the owner "Hi I notice you have grabbed trackable XXXX from my inventory. I do still have this tb physically in my hands. What you like me to do?" or maybe leave a note on the tb page.

[+kunarion]

I received an email stating that a travel bug in my possession was now back home in Portugal (adding 1457 untravelled miles)! Not really sure what the protocol is with something like this. I have been very active with my caching and have kept the trackables inventory up-to-date logging each visit so the owners can see they are still active.

 

Not really sure where to go from here. I still have the trackable, but it isn't showing in my inventory. I am tempted to just release it and watch the confusion. Does anyone have any advice/suggestions for my dilemma?

Unless there are specific instructions from a TO, do not keep other people's Trackables. Place the item into a cache, and log the Drop.

[+Bear and Ragged]

I have been very active with my caching and have kept the trackables inventory up-to-date logging each visit so the owners can see they are still active.

 

Could it be they are fed up of Visit's for their TB?

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

OP did leave a note on the geocoin (not TB) page. TB5D6ZT

 

A language barrier may be part of the problem.

 

 

But... another problem may be (as I see it) -- 30 pages of unremarkable Visit logs.

Similar to 24 other trackables currently listed as being in the OP's possession.

 

It could be that the TO simply wanted the 'coin out of the hands of this cacher. Not that it was a proper way to do it, be (s)he did it.

 

Not everyone wants a cacher to hold their trackable ad infinitum.

 

Edit to add: Of course, once the trackable has been removed from their inventory, NOW the OP tries to place it...... Wunnerful!

Edited May 22, 2014 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+kunarion]

Not everyone wants a cacher to hold their trackable ad infinitum.

The Trackable Owner's log is "Volta a casa", "Back home". It could be a mistake. There's not much to the coin's page... just like cachers have non-informative logs, TOs have no instructions about their coins. This is a source of confusion. AND, there are no particular notifications for "visits". Unless the TO reviews the logs, it seems like the coin hasn't had a real log since February -- and even then, they were "delayed" Discover logs with no photos, no story, nothing. It may appear to the TO that the coin is lost. There are documented cases of automatic logs (computer generated by accident) long after a coin has been lost, and a red-flag is the lack of any human-typed text, and no hard evidence that another person has seen it.

 

-- If you are a TO and wish for cachers to carry your coin with them, please say so on the coin's page.

-- If you take a coin and are carrying it around ad infinitum, please make that clear in a log. Don't make people guess. And type logs, post photos, since if you're to be "showing that the coin is alive", do so.

 

The recent grab may be an attempt to return control of the coin to the TO, but as mentioned, it remains in control of the Keeper. That's one reason I suggest "do not keep Trackables".

Edited May 22, 2014 by kunarion

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Not everyone wants a cacher to hold their trackable ad infinitum.

The Trackable Owner's log is "Volta a casa", "Back home". It could be a mistake. There's not much to the coin's page... just like cachers have non-informative logs, TOs have no instructions about their coins. This is a source of confusion. AND, there are no particular notifications for "visits". Unless the TO reviews the logs, it seems like the coin hasn't had a real log since February -- and even then, they were "delayed" Discover logs with no photos, no story, nothing. It may appear to the TO that the coin is lost. There are documented cases of automatic logs (computer generated by accident) long after a coin has been lost, and a red-flag is the lack of any human-typed text.

 

-- If you are a TO and wish for cachers to carry your coin with them, please say so on the coin's page.

-- If you take a coin and are carrying it around ad infinitum, please make that clear in a log. Don't make people guess.

 

It may be an attempt to return control of the coin to the TO, but as mentioned, it remains in control of the Keeper. That's one reason I suggest "do not keep Trackables".

The TO also could have planted a proxie... having given up and believing it to be lost.

[+kunarion]

The TO also could have planted a proxie... having given up and believing it to be lost.

Yes, if the OP is holding a shiny gold "sextant coin" with its matching Tracking number, the TO may have released a Proxy. But again, the TO should have said so. Each person (TO and OP) should have posted lots of photos by now, so that it would be clear what the deal is. One huge issue with Trackables (and Geocaching in general) is the lack of communication, and the need to "Do what I want, No Rules". No common courtesy, one has left society and exists in another reality called "Geocaching". Present company excluded, of course .

 

It's cool that "the owners can see they are still active". But if the Owners are releasing a Proxy out of frustration, the Owners don't see it.

Edited May 22, 2014 by kunarion

[+Manville Possum]

I received an email stating that a travel bug in my possession was now back home in Portugal (adding 1457 untravelled miles)! Not really sure what the protocol is with something like this. I have been very active with my caching and have kept the trackables inventory up-to-date logging each visit so the owners can see they are still active.

 

Not really sure where to go from here. I still have the trackable, but it isn't showing in my inventory. I am tempted to just release it and watch the confusion. Does anyone have any advice/suggestions for my dilemma?

Were you ever planning on releasing it, or just keep dipping it in every cache that you find? I looked at the TB page, and I have had the same thing happen to on of my missing geocoins. A user kept it in their inventory and dipped it in every cache they found. That gets really old quickly, so I understand how the TB owner feels.

[+Sagefox]

I received an email stating that a travel bug in my possession was now back home...

 

Not really sure where to go from here. I still have the trackable...

 

I see a lot of speculation as to what the TO might have been thinking which doesn't do you much good. If it happened to me I would probably just grab it back and put a note on the trackable page saying it is still in my possession. If the TO doesn't read English at least they would get the message it was grabbed. I would then wait a couple of days and if by then the TO doesn't grab it I would give it a REAL cache visit by placing it in a nearby cache.

 

And while I have your attention maybe you could explain why you have held on to this trackable for nearly six months and have added all those pages of visit logs. I am truly interested in why people do this and your answer might help me understand why it is being done. It might even help prevent me from deleting great numbers of visit logs which I am considering doing on my trackable pages.

[+Phillyfamily]

I received an email stating that a travel bug in my possession was now back home...

 

Not really sure where to go from here. I still have the trackable...

 

I see a lot of speculation as to what the TO might have been thinking which doesn't do you much good. If it happened to me I would probably just grab it back and put a note on the trackable page saying it is still in my possession. If the TO doesn't read English at least they would get the message it was grabbed. I would then wait a couple of days and if by then the TO doesn't grab it I would give it a REAL cache visit by placing it in a nearby cache.

 

And while I have your attention maybe you could explain why you have held on to this trackable for nearly six months and have added all those pages of visit logs. I am truly interested in why people do this and your answer might help me understand why it is being done. It might even help prevent me from deleting great numbers of visit logs which I am considering doing on my trackable pages.

[+Eartha]

The owner might feel like you are turning their trackable into your own personal traveler after carrying it around for months and months. It looks like they want it to see the Tall Ships, and it's not reaching its goal. The object is to travel from cache to cacher to cache. It's time to grab it back from the owner and release it into a cache. With a note explaining that is what you are doing. Try using an online translator and post your log in both languages.