TB not moved on

[+Firefeather7]

What can I do when a member holds my TB for almost a year? I have sent 2 messages with no reply.

Firefeather

Edited November 7, 2015 by Firefeather7

[+niraD]

Well, if the person doesn't respond to email or MC messages, there isn't much you can do. I suppose you could try again, this time asking whether the trackable has been lost, so you know whether to rerelease it (make a replacement tag and attache it to a replacement object).

[+Foothills Drifter]

Well......

Like I have done many times... Kiss It Goodbye!

 

Vern / Foothills Drifter...

[+kunarion]

What can I do when a member holds my TB for almost a year? I have sent 2 messages with no reply.

Firefeather

Some peoples' email is not set up properly. Maybe he replied to your email, but there's some server issue where you didn't receive the reply. Did you use the Message Center (Send Message)? At least you know those don't get misrouted.

 

So you may wait to see if it turns up. Sometimes a cacher places a TB into a cache and neglects to log it. The TB's page never gets updated with any information, so the current holder doesn't see any urgency -- it looks like the TB owner didn't even notice it's gone. There's almost no actual communication between Geocachers, a curious phenomenon in an Internet-connected game where prompt and accurate logs are essential.

 

You may choose to revive it after a year or so:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=317285&view=findpost&p=5319511

Edited November 7, 2015 by kunarion

[+Manville Possum]

Mark it missing.

[+Walts Hunting]

Before I stopped sending out TB's I found my signature line helps with losing one as well as other aspects of this hobby.

[+The A-Team]

Keep sending messages once and a while to them.

IMO, that's the worst thing you could do. Periodically and consistently bugging them will just make it more and more likely that they'll get annoyed and toss your trackable in the garbage out of spite.

[+ayrbrain]

A newbie picked up a TB we had brought back from Tenerife last March, I placed it into a quite busy cache I have adopted. The newbie took the TB and that cache was their first ever find! They haven't found any since then. ? I felt rotten for the TB owner after I was trying to help their TB on it's way, but it is the chance that is taken when we release TB's. In saying that, one TB I had given up on from a few years back, is now back travelling. So you never know.

[+cerberus1]

Keep sending messages once and a while to them.

IMO, that's the worst thing you could do. Periodically and consistently bugging them will just make it more and more likely that they'll get annoyed and toss your trackable in the garbage out of spite.

+1

One, "curious if you dropped off..." email is a good idea.

Repeated attempts is bordering harassment.

[+captnemo]

Just about every TB disappears. However I have one that reappeared after 2 years, 3 mo but now is MIA for 3 months? Another has been gone 13 months.

 

Early in I emailed the person who grabbed them but never got an answer so now I just let them loose, wish them well and hope that they travel!

[+briansnat]

Not a Getting Started issue. Moving to the appropriate forum.

[+Dibley68]

In my defense, I grabbed a TB from a hotel in Florida. I intended on moving it along but I actually moved twice and forgot about it. I was hounded (and yes, borderline harassed). I eventually found it but the CO was a douche so the TB sort of......got relocated to an undocumented location.

 

People lose their mind over a piece of metal. When 3 of my TBs vanished I chalked it up to part of the game consequences. I also learned that I shouldn't take what I don't immediately use.

[+justintim1999]

In my defense, I grabbed a TB from a hotel in Florida. I intended on moving it along but I actually moved twice and forgot about it. I was hounded (and yes, borderline harassed). I eventually found it but the CO was a douche so the TB sort of......got relocated to an undocumented location.

 

People lose their mind over a piece of metal. When 3 of my TBs vanished I chalked it up to part of the game consequences. I also learned that I shouldn't take what I don't immediately use.

 

Why not place the found Travel Bug in a cache and apologize for the delay? Why relocate it to an undocumented location?

[+kunarion]

In my defense, I grabbed a TB from a hotel in Florida. I intended on moving it along but I actually moved twice and forgot about it. I was hounded (and yes, borderline harassed). I eventually found it but the CO was a douche so the TB sort of......got relocated to an undocumented location.

 

People lose their mind over a piece of metal. When 3 of my TBs vanished I chalked it up to part of the game consequences. I also learned that I shouldn't take what I don't immediately use.

 

Why not place the found Travel Bug in a cache and apologize for the delay? Why relocate it to an undocumented location?

The most cherished tradition in Geocaching is the opportunity to mess with people.

[+justintim1999]

In my defense, I grabbed a TB from a hotel in Florida. I intended on moving it along but I actually moved twice and forgot about it. I was hounded (and yes, borderline harassed). I eventually found it but the CO was a douche so the TB sort of......got relocated to an undocumented location.

 

People lose their mind over a piece of metal. When 3 of my TBs vanished I chalked it up to part of the game consequences. I also learned that I shouldn't take what I don't immediately use.

 

Why not place the found Travel Bug in a cache and apologize for the delay? Why relocate it to an undocumented location?

The most cherished tradition in Geocaching is the opportunity to mess with people.

 

I get it now. It's ok to voluntarily pick up a travel bug, accidently misplace it (which happens), find it and not move it along why? Because the owner was upset and your going to teach them a lesson? I guess the golden rule only applies when it's being done unto you. It's amazing what you can learn about people for only 5 bucks.

[+kunarion]

I get it now. It's ok to voluntarily pick up a travel bug, accidently misplace it (which happens), find it and not move it along why? Because the owner was upset and your going to teach them a lesson? I guess the golden rule only applies when it's being done unto you. It's amazing what you can learn about people for only 5 bucks.

This info needs to be on the Geocaching Shop's TB listings.

 

But it's unfair to pick on just one poster. Replies, such as "never just throw away a TB" or "throw away a TB if the TB Owner bothers you" are treated as equally valid in this Forum, and it shows. If you wonder why you don't see Admins here each time at least replying "Hi, we don't advise throwing other people's property away for any reason", contact Groundspeak. Better yet, try not to think about it.

Edited November 30, 2015 by kunarion

[+Auld Pharrrt]

What can I do when a member holds my TB for almost a year? I have sent 2 messages with no reply.

Firefeather

 

Write it off as gone ... after a reasonable length of time (most people suggest 12 months minimum) make a copy using the same tracking number etc. and send it on it's way.

 

Nobody get more annoyed about TB's going MIA more than I do, I particularly enjoy that side of the game, but I own 47 trackables and have released the majority of them already, the rest will be going into the game soon also ... My very first geocoin was stolen/lost/kidnapped by the very first person who found it! I'll release a copy of this one soon as I know it's never going to see the light of day (or dark of cache) again.

 

It's annoying, aggravating and down-right pig ignorant when this happens, but bear in mind that there might be a genuine reason, said person might have had an accident, maybe some hugely traumatic personal difficulty in their lives, or maybe they simply lost it or haven't realised they had a non-swap item in the first place. Whatever reason, don't let it spoil the game for you, look at it this way, if you lost 5 units of your currency where ever you are in the world, even though you know someone probably found it, you wouldn't get overly upset about it, you'd probably just shrug it off and think nothing much more about it ... adopt a similar attitude towards your TB's and you'll live a happier life.

 

If you want help in replacing it, check out my profile on geocaching.com.

[+kunarion]

If you want help in replacing it, check out my profile on geocaching.com.

There are plastic(?) cards with the Geocaching logo on those. Do you make the cards? Is there other text on them?

 

Someone showed me a TB at an Event. The number was tough to read, but he had attached a copper gardening tag, and punched the Reference Number on it. That looked pretty cool, and I might try that if I get the proper punches (I only have letters). The problem with the one I was given is, the Tracking Number is what he should have stamped, not the Reference Number . So I could only log a Note.

[+Auld Pharrrt]

If you want help in replacing it, check out my profile on geocaching.com.

There are plastic(?) cards with the Geocaching logo on those. Do you make the cards? Is there other text on them?

 

Someone showed me a TB at an Event. The number was tough to read, but he had attached a copper gardening tag, and punched the Reference Number on it. That looked pretty cool, and I might try that if I get the proper punches (I only have letters). The problem with the one I was given is, the Tracking Number is what he should have stamped, not the Reference Number . So I could only log a Note.

 

No, the plastic tags are my own TB's, they are only there to give an idea of what the laminated tag I make is like ... the plastic TB's are supplied by a seller here in the UK ... LINK

 

I have a full set of alpha numeric metal punches for stamping, but I prefer to engrave dog tags as the punches tend to distort them quite badly and it's not so easy to get it neat.

Edited December 1, 2015 by Auld Pharrrt