What Travel Bugs?

[Timlp1]

In my travels across this country I have had several opportunites to scour and find caches and I generally look for the TBs as I can move them significantly along.

Yet over the last several months to almost a year now for sites reporting a TB on the app nothing is at the site. I don't get it why cachers cannot figure out how to record in a reasonably timely manner a TB has been pulled and recorded as such.

 

I have the practice of on the log recording the TB I pull or place. I can't figure out why this is not common practice by all. Does'nt it make common sense to do this?

 

Very frustrating and maybe this is a topic or suggestion to be addressed by the powers that be. Anyone else frustrated by endless caches claiming to have a TB but finding an empty hide?

[+Team Monkeyboy]

Anyone else frustrated by endless caches claiming to have a TB but finding an empty hide?

 

Two words: Geocaching App

 

We had a cache in our front yard - a very large deck box that was padlocked. There were 4 keys on travelbugs distributed in caches around our county. Those 4 keys quickly disappeared, so we put out 6 more. THOSE disappeared and we put out 10.

Finally, once 8 of the 10 keys disappeared, we archived the cache. 5 years, over 70 favorite points, gone because people don't know how to deal with trackables. We had people take them thinking they were swag. We had people move them to other states, even though they are clearly labeled with instructions to keep them within our county. We had people grab them and keep them for YEARS.

The main reason we finally archived the cache was the volume of complaints from cachers who were visiting our county just to grab this cache, only to arrive and be unable to find a key... they would check several caches that had keys in their inventory, only to find them missing. We caught the flack, although we had no more control over them than they did. And many of those missing trackables were logged by cachers we were unable to contact due to "unverified email addresses"... meaning they were probably new cachers using the geocaching app.

 

So... yes. There are others that are frustrated with trackables.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Team Monkeyboy

[+frinklabs]

This could be mitigated somewhat if there was a more dynamic way for finders to advise on the status of trackables in caches.

 

In my opinion, the best feature suggestion made in this forum:

 

SUBMITTED (21313) - [FEATURE] System to remove "ghost" trackables from cache inventories.

[+kunarion]

Anyone else frustrated by endless caches claiming to have a TB but finding an empty hide?

I sure am, especially if it's my TB that was taken and never logged.

 

Probably the main reason, aside from people out of habit taking and keeping all the "Treasure", is the fact that it takes slightly more work to log a TB than to type "TFTC". The takers can't be bothered with that. The effect that you see is the result of this.

 

Many TB logs are inaccurate. Once the TB's taken, even more so.

Edited May 30, 2015 by kunarion

[+cerberus1]

This could be mitigated somewhat if there was a more dynamic way for finders to advise on the status of trackables in caches.

 

In my opinion, the best feature suggestion made in this forum:

 

SUBMITTED (21313) - [FEATURE] System to remove "ghost" trackables from cache inventories.

Mitigated, downplayed...certainly, and not close to a fix.

 

Isn't this simply a feel-good option to hide the fact that folks are either outright stealing them, or don't have a clue how to log 'em?

"I don't want to see that. Make it go away."

[+The A-Team]

In my opinion, the best feature suggestion made in this forum:

 

SUBMITTED (21313) - [FEATURE] System to remove "ghost" trackables from cache inventories.

Mitigated, downplayed...certainly, and not close to a fix.

 

Isn't this simply a feel-good option to hide the fact that folks are either outright stealing them, or don't have a clue how to log 'em?

"I don't want to see that. Make it go away."

Sure, it only deals with the symptoms, but that would at least be a step forward. It would make locating the trackables still-circulating much easier for those who want to move them.

 

The underlying problem for this and a lot of other issues is really a lack of education for new members. Unfortunately, the barriers to entry have been lowered more and more over recent years and new members are forging out with only a very rudimentary knowledge of geocaching (if that), causing problems for everyone else. Until this lack of education is dealt with, trackables will continue to move more and more into an event-only side-game.

[+cerberus1]

In my opinion, the best feature suggestion made in this forum:

 

SUBMITTED (21313) - [FEATURE] System to remove "ghost" trackables from cache inventories.

Mitigated, downplayed...certainly, and not close to a fix.

 

Isn't this simply a feel-good option to hide the fact that folks are either outright stealing them, or don't have a clue how to log 'em?

"I don't want to see that. Make it go away."

Sure, it only deals with the symptoms, but that would at least be a step forward. It would make locating the trackables still-circulating much easier for those who want to move them.

 

The underlying problem for this and a lot of other issues is really a lack of education for new members. Unfortunately, the barriers to entry have been lowered more and more over recent years and new members are forging out with only a very rudimentary knowledge of geocaching (if that), causing problems for everyone else. Until this lack of education is dealt with, trackables will continue to move more and more into an event-only side-game.

- And that's a good thing?

- One just yesterday.