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How do I report a Geocacher?


Tanglefoot TH

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Over the weekend one of my caches got vandalised and removed, with the person simply logging a 'find' on the cache and saying "I took it destroyed it because i dont care also i moved away so you cant find me". 

Which was pretty shocking to see - so I was just wondering if there's anyway to get this user banned? Obviously it won't prevent him/her from creating a new account, but it seems like something should happen...

 

 

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Use  the Help Center contact form at the bottom of the page that on4bam linked. In the pull down, use 16. Geocacher Disagreement, that will get your inquiry to the staffers that handle this kind of thing.

 

Also, make your caches PMO for a time. That one, you may want to disable? Make it PMO FIRST so the user can't see what's happening.  Cache maggots almost never pay to play;  typically, they move on to other forms of delinquency fairly soon.

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Thanks for the tips all, I have reported the user so hopefully they get banned; although I realise that would not stop them from creating a new account...

 

I have also made the caches PMO - something I really would not have wanted to do given how few caches there are in my area, I really felt my easy ones could help others get into Geocaching (which they definitely have).  It really does sadden me that someone would wantonly destroy a cache, then feel need to actually go create an account and post about it.  Really disappointing.

 

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46 minutes ago, Tanglefoot TH said:

I have also made the caches PMO - something I really would not have wanted to do given how few caches there are in my area, I really felt my easy ones could help others get into Geocaching (which they definitely have).  It really does sadden me that someone would wantonly destroy a cache, then feel need to actually go create an account and post about it.  Really disappointing.

 

This kind of things happens occasionally and it has been part of the game almost from the beginning. Well... it is also a game but on the dark side. My experiense is that players of that sidegame gets tired pretty fast after the effort to destroy more caches gets greater and there is zero feedback for these "achievments".

Edited by arisoft
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4 hours ago, Tanglefoot TH said:

I have also made the caches PMO - something I really would not have wanted to do given how few caches there are in my area, I really felt my easy ones could help others get into Geocaching (which they definitely have).

 

Hi Tanglefoot,

 

that is always a nice reason for putting out easy and family friendly "beginner caches". I do not see a reason to make such a cache PMO. You punish the others just because of one single guy making nonsense?

 

Just wait for a week or two and then put out a new container. Perhaps move the cache only a few metres. It is listed as micro cache so I do not think it is too exensive to risk? Make it open to all cachers, again. It wasn't listed PMO for a long time and nothing bad happened. So the chance is good that it will live though being open to everyone...

 

I have some caches out there and they are all more than a simple box - but I have never seen a reason to deny non-premium members to see them and so far I haven't regretted this decision.

 

Best wishes

Jochen

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25 minutes ago, frostengel said:

You punish the others just because of one single guy making nonsense?

 

PMO caches are not a punishment. You are right that a disposable cache may not need to be a PMO at all, but what benefits it offers if it gets missing before the next visitor? In this case we know that the wrongdoer is monitoring the cache listing and may hit again when the cache is replaced. PMO status removes this feedback and makes it less interesting hobby.

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55 minutes ago, frostengel said:

Just wait for a week or two and then put out a new container.

^This

 

Don't immediately replace the container. It could be that the person is lying about moving away and is hoping that you'll promptly replace it so they can muggle it again. Give it some time first to let them get bored of waiting.

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50 minutes ago, arisoft said:

PMO caches are not a punishment.

 

Making a cache PMO is a "punishment" for those who are not PM - beginners, many families.... They cannot search it anymore. That is what I meant.

 

29 minutes ago, The A-Team said:

It could be that the person is lying about moving away and is hoping that you'll promptly replace it so they can muggle it again

 

Therefore I would also move the container only a few metres away. That somewone will look for the cache at the old place - and will not find it. That's for sure more helpful than the old hide and PMO.

 

By the way: the cache (https://coord.info/GC7A81J) does not have any watcher so I do not think someone really wants to deny this cache again and again - probably it was just a bad joke, someone laughing about it and the new hide (two weeks, slightly differnt hidden) will have no problems.

 

Jochen

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21 minutes ago, frostengel said:

Making a cache PMO is a "punishment" for those who are not PM - beginners, many families.... They cannot search it anymore. That is what I meant.

 

They will get opportunity to find it later when they are not beginners any more.

 

21 minutes ago, frostengel said:

By the way: the cache (https://coord.info/GC7A81J) does not have any watcher so I do not think someone really wants to deny this cache again and again

 

You suspect that the wrongdoer is an experienced geocacher? I think that beginners do not even have email registered to be able to watch anything.

 

You may be right that this is a one-time incident and will not happen again, but it does not cost a penny to wait a little longer to be sure. I appreciate the good introduction in the cache description and I think that the CO is willing to keep the cache available in the future.

Edited by arisoft
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2 hours ago, The A-Team said:

Don't immediately replace the container. It could be that the person is lying about moving away and is hoping that you'll promptly replace it so they can muggle it again. Give it some time first to let them get bored of waiting.

Yep. Years ago, there were a few neighborhood caches that were fouled by vandals (probably adolescent boys, but that's just speculation). One was a cache I adopted because the original owner no longer had the time to maintain it. Anyway, I waited a few weeks, and then replaced it with a different type of camouflage in a slightly different location. The vandals apparently got bored and moved on to other mischief, because they never struck again.

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1 hour ago, arisoft said:

They will get opportunity to find it later when they are not beginners any more.

 

No, they'll get that opportunity when they've paid for premium membership, which has little to do with whether someone is a beginner or an experienced cacher. I've seen beginners sign up for premium membership before they've even found their first cache and basic members with a decade or more of experience and thousands of finds who feel they don't need the extra features premium membership buys. I know quite a few long-time cachers who've let their premium membership lapse because they no longer do enough caching to warrant it.

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23 hours ago, Tanglefoot TH said:

I really felt my easy ones could help others get into Geocaching (which they definitely have).

 

Fact is: Tanglefoot wants his caches to be simple caches to help beginners (I like that attitude).

Another fact is: Of course there are beginners that get PM at once. But there are many who don't (which I think is absolutely reasonable).

 

Combination of these two facts: There are some/many beginners that cannot search Tanglefoots caches and so they don't get the benefit of the beginner friendly caches if they are listed PMO.

 

Those cachers that are caching for decades aren't the problem here - if they are PM or not...

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On ‎3‎/‎14‎/‎2019 at 12:14 PM, Tanglefoot TH said:

I have also made the caches PMO - something I really would not have wanted to do given how few caches there are in my area, I really felt my easy ones could help others get into Geocaching (which they definitely have).  It really does sadden me that someone would wantonly destroy a cache, then feel need to actually go create an account and post about it.  Really disappointing.

 

Rather than make it pmo, isn't there something you can do about terrain ?  You can move your cache up to .1  ...

(I feel) all three of your hides at 1T lends itself to muggles on occasion.  Only one in terrain, someone's bound to just stumble on them.

Happens all the time.  Kid wanders off from mom n dad and spots "something".  :)

 - You got an odd ball,  a nut who actually joined just to bust your chops.  Hopefully a kid who won't be back.

Sorta agree with frostengel, that your difficulty and terrain makes them easy for new folks learning the hobby.  They can't learn if it's pmo...

I've kinda been around a while, pm more than not,  and I don't do pmo due to that invasive audit. 

Long-time basic members don't have that choice.

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On 3/11/2019 at 9:16 AM, Tanglefoot TH said:

Over the weekend one of my caches got vandalised and removed, with the person simply logging a 'find' on the cache and saying "I took it destroyed it because i dont care also i moved away so you cant find me". 

Which was pretty shocking to see - so I was just wondering if there's anyway to get this user banned? Obviously it won't prevent him/her from creating a new account, but it seems like something should happen...

 

 

Quote

Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith - Steve Jobs (keep on going don't give up)

 

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On 3/15/2019 at 9:29 AM, frostengel said:

 

Fact is: Tanglefoot wants his caches to be simple caches to help beginners (I like that attitude).

Some 'simple' caches aren't at all prone to muggles, and lend themselves to being found by new cachers at the same time.  Location, location, location.

Requiring the finder to actually look for something to spot it doesn't mean that it has to be difficult to find.

 

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14 hours ago, ecanderson said:

Some 'simple' caches aren't at all prone to muggles, and lend themselves to being found by new cachers at the same time.  Location, location, location.

Requiring the finder to actually look for something to spot it doesn't mean that it has to be difficult to find.

 

That is a different topic but "simple cache" does not have to be a simple cache for beginners. There are difficulty 1 hides that I find in some seconds - now! - but had several DNFs when I was starting.

My favourite example are hides under the lid of a pole - they are quite common here. It took me several times to find my first one; but nowadays...

 

Hiding caches for beginners isn't easy as they are inexperienced. That is especially true in a big city. Better go outside in the woods or in the mountains, take a big box, put many stones onto it - that one is easy, that one is big and that one shouldn't be found be muggles as there are none. ;-)

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On 3/15/2019 at 9:53 AM, frostengel said:

Making a cache PMO is a "punishment" for those who are not PM - beginners, many families.... They cannot search it anymore. That is what I meant.

I don't know what it is like where you live, but where I live cachers are overwhelmingly Premium Members, so making a cache PMO doesn't matter for most people. I checked five of my caches for finds this year. Finds were made by 22 PM and only 3 non-PM. I am sure I would find it similar for others of my caches, if I bothered to check.

These families own phones which cost money, they are paying for data (I only could justify the cost of data last year), so they can afford Premium Membership.

Edited by Goldenwattle
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4 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

I don't know what it is like where you live, but where I live cachers are overwhelmingly Premium Members, so making a cache PMO doesn't matter for most people. I checked five of my caches for finds this year. Finds were made by 22 PM and only 3 non-PM. I am sure I would find it similar for others of my caches, if I bothered to check.

These families own phones which cost money, they are paying for data (I only could justify the cost of data last year), so they can afford Premium Membership.

 

I just looked at a local 1.5/1.5 traditional that's had 99 finds since it was placed in 2016, and 56 of those are basic members. Of course, some may have been PMs at the time they found it but have let their membership lapse, while some showing as PM now may have been basic members at the time they found it, but those two would balance each other out to some extent. It's a different story on my own hides which nearly all have D/T ratings outside the basic member app range, or are non-traditionals, where almost all the finders are PM.

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3 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

I just looked at a local 1.5/1.5 traditional that's had 99 finds since it was placed in 2016, and 56 of those are basic members. Of course, some may have been PMs at the time they found it but have let their membership lapse

That's why I only checked finds for this year, to get a better present comparison.

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Here is a complete breakdown of PM versus M for my caches that have had visits this year; some haven't. I only gave a sample above, but the trend continues to all caches, that most finders to local caches where I live are PM. I only looked at this year, so as not to include lapsed members.

PM      5          12        2          1          1          3          1          1          2          7          2          4          6          5          1

 

M         0          1          0          0          0          2          0          0          0          0          0          1          0          0          0

 

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7 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:
11 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

I just looked at a local 1.5/1.5 traditional that's had 99 finds since it was placed in 2016, and 56 of those are basic members. Of course, some may have been PMs at the time they found it but have let their membership lapse

That's why I only checked finds for this year, to get a better present comparison.

 

This year, that one's had 3 finds by basic members (and a DNF) and only one find by a PM.

 

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On 3/14/2019 at 11:53 PM, frostengel said:

 

Making a cache PMO is a "punishment" for those who are not PM - beginners, many families.... They cannot search it anymore. That is what I meant.

 

 

Making lab caches available only for people with smartphones and requiring them to have internet connection at GZ is a punishment for those who use other GPS devices and used to caching off-line an logging when back home.

Ist'n this "solution" for cheating prevention officially supported by HQ?

 

BTW. Many caches that are intended by owner to be visible to everyone (not set to PMO) are invisible to not PM's who use official app or some of third-party apps. Is it fair?

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21 minutes ago, dadoskawina said:

Making lab caches available [...]

 

Lab caches are crap no matter if you need a smartphone or not. That has nothing to do with geocaching.

 

But I agree in that point (and I do state this in logs if I find a cache like that): pointless forcing cachers to use there smartphones (count anything -> send an e-mail to... -> get a simple auto-responder or using QR codes when there are several other options) shouldn't be done. I am smartphone user only for a year now and couldn't do some caches before - and some of them even didn't state it and so I just noticed at the location. Same for mobile internet - not everybody has a flatrate.

 

Many caches that are intended by owner to be visible to everyone (not set to PMO) are invisible to not PM's who use official app or some of third-party apps. Is it fair?

The official app does not work for Non-PM cachers. That's fact and so it should not be used.

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8 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Here is a complete breakdown of PM versus M for my caches that have had visits this year; some haven't. I only gave a sample above, but the trend continues to all caches, that most finders to local caches where I live are PM. I only looked at this year, so as not to include lapsed members.

PM      5          12        2          1          1          3          1          1          2          7          2          4          6          5          1

 

 

M         0          1          0          0          0          2          0          0          0          0          0          1          0          0          0

 

 

There are only a smattering of D2/T2 or lower non-PM traditionals in my local area, including just that one in my suburb of Umina Beach, so I guess those are where most of the BM logs will be.

 

BasicMemberCaches.jpg.494a65ed67b0a6d7c996decdee0a5e58.jpg

 

Here's the numbers for this year from those caches, starting from the south-west corner and heading up to the north-east:

 

PM   0   0   1   4   4   3   0   4   5   6   8   1   1   3   2   0   1  12  1   2   0   1   2   5   8   9

BM   0   0   3   2   6   4   6   3   8   7   9   1   0   3   1   6   6   2   4   3   2   0   3   3   7   0

 

The one with 12 PM finds was only published in January so all the active PMs on the coast (and from further afield) dashed out to do it - new caches are a rarity here, particularly this year when there've only been 4. In total there were 83 PM finds and 125 BM finds, so the basic members are winning on those low D/T caches.

Edited by barefootjeff
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12 hours ago, frostengel said:

The official app does not work for Non-PM cachers. That's fact and so it should not be used.

 

I'm not sure where you heard that fact, but it isn't true. The official app certainly does work for non-PMs, though there are limitations for Basic members.

 

See here for an article describing the differences in the app for the different membership types.

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10 minutes ago, The A-Team said:

I'm not sure where you heard that fact, but it isn't true.

 

Sorry, I just didn't make my point clear, that was really missunderstandable.

 

Of course they can use the app - but it shows caches very restricted and so "it does not work" for them, that is what I meant. They just cannot use it for geocaching. It is more than an appetizer to get more (to get PM and pay for it) - Groundspeak wants to earn money which is okay.

 

So with "does not work" I meant "is not very helfpul for them if they want to do geocaching". Sorry, again, for the missunderstandable post.

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19 hours ago, frostengel said:

Of course they can use the app - but it shows caches very restricted and so "it does not work" for them, that is what I meant. They just cannot use it for geocaching. It is more than an appetizer to get more (to get PM and pay for it) - Groundspeak wants to earn money which is okay.

So with "does not work" I meant "is not very helfpul for them if they want to do geocaching".

 

Not true.  My neighbor, a basic member,  accesses all caches (except pmo) using the geocaching app.  :)

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