Frustrating indeed

[+AsphaltCowGurl]

I had a trip planned out of state. I was only going for a couple days so I didn't have a lot of time. I gathered up some local TB's and I did a lot of research trying to find the best "hotel" near where I was staying. Long story, short, the hotel was supposed to have like 25+ TB's in it. Do you know how many I saw? 5. I went to another one before then, locally, and was suppose to be another hotel. It had about a dozen listed. I found none! Not a one! While I have lost TB's myself, it's another lesson in frustration when you find an empty hotel. Isn't there a way for CO's to remove TB's from their caches and place in a "missing" category. My queries are virtually useless now because so many caches list TB's but have none.

[+L0ne.R]

Unfortunately very few COs go back to check their caches. 

[Keystone]

There are four ways to mark a trackable as missing, in order to keep the inventory accurate:

 

1.  The owner of the cache can use the "Mark Missing" option on the trackable's page.

2.  The owner of the trackable can also use the "Mark Missing" option.

3.  A Community Volunteer Reviewer can also use the "Mark Missing" option.

4.  There is automated site functionality that marks a trackable missing if it's sitting dormant for more than a year in the cache inventory, and people are still logging finds on the cache.

[+kunarion]

1 hour ago, GaSnowLady said:

My queries are virtually useless now because so many caches list TB's but have none.

 

Insist that takers make proper logs.  My TBs acquire a ton of inaccurate logs (or none), and nobody does anything about that.  My humble request is that you leave well enough alone.

 

The worst option is removing the TB from the game.  As mentioned, this happens automatically.

[+J Grouchy]

57 minutes ago, Keystone said:

 

4.  There is automated site functionality that marks a trackable missing if it's sitting dormant for more than a year in the cache inventory, and people are still logging finds on the cache.

 

When did this become a thing?  

[+kunarion]

1 minute ago, J Grouchy said:

 

When did this become a thing?  

 

Where is the running total published? 

[+cerberus1]

4 hours ago, GaSnowLady said:

I had a trip planned out of state. I was only going for a couple days so I didn't have a lot of time. I gathered up some local TB's and I did a lot of research trying to find the best "hotel" near where I was staying. Long story, short, the hotel was supposed to have like 25+ TB's in it. Do you know how many I saw? 5. I went to another one before then, locally, and was suppose to be another hotel. It had about a dozen listed. I found none! Not a one! While I have lost TB's myself, it's another lesson in frustration when you find an empty hotel. Isn't there a way for CO's to remove TB's from their caches and place in a "missing" category. My queries are virtually useless now because so many caches list TB's but have none.

 

Inaccurate inventories isn't something new, so looked at your profile, but it gives me a 404 error...

 

Most of our friends worst trackable experiences were placing them in tb "hotels".   Similar experiences as yours kept us away from those things years ago.

-  We think of them as a bank.  Thieves hit banks because that's where the money is.   

Any CO can remove a trackable from their inventory.  Trackable owners too.   Getting them to do it is the issue.

One we removed had the TO repeatedly put it back into our cache knowing it wasn't there. 

 - Finally had enough, and had  to threaten with a HQ email to get it stopped.

[+TriciaG]

The others have answered your question.

 

My question/suggestion to you is to make note of the inventory discrepancy in your log. (If you've already found the caches, do a Write Note log.) That way someone has at least publicly noted what's not in the cache so others can know before visiting.

[+kunarion]

17 minutes ago, TriciaG said:

The others have answered your question.

 

My question/suggestion to you is to make note of the inventory discrepancy in your log. (If you've already found the caches, do a Write Note log.) That way someone has at least publicly noted what's not in the cache so others can know before visiting.

 

That’s what I mostly do.  If there’s time I list exactly which ones are there and which are not, and provide info on how well I searched.  Whether my information is useful, I don’t know... I’m just another cacher logging TBs, just like the previous ones who made a gigantic mess out of the inventory. 

[+lee737]

I try to message TO's if their trackable is listed in a cache but not actually there.....

[+kunarion]

22 minutes ago, lee737 said:

I try to message TO's if their trackable is listed in a cache but not actually there.....

 

When I make a list at a "TB Hotel", I log Discover on the existing TBs, and research and make logs on the ones I didn't see in there, on individual TB pages.  I do similar things at most caches, if there's been no real report of what's there and what's not.

 

I had a TB sitting in a cache in Europe for a long time, unmentioned.  I added a Note log for that cache to potential finders, asking if the TB is still there.  One said it's gone.  The next finder said it is in the cache.  This was a large stuffed animal duck.

 

Based on unreliability of cacher reports, I might NEVER mark mine missing.  People can't tell if it's in fact gone from the cache, and they sure can't manage to log it when they harvest it.  I'll just let Groundspeak's "automated system" take care of it.  I'm pretty jaded by the whole thing.

 

Edited May 8, 2019 by kunarion

[+lee737]

2 minutes ago, kunarion said:

 

I had a TB sitting in a cache in Europe for a long time, unmentioned.  I added a Note log for that cache to potential finders, asking if the TB is still there.  One said it's gone.  The next finder said it is in the cache.  This was a large stuffed animal duck.

 

Based on unreliability of cacher reports, I might NEVER mark mine missing.  People can't tell if it's in fact gone from the cache, and they sure can't manage to log it when they harvest it.  I'll just let Groundspeak's "automated system" take care of it.  I'm pretty jaded by the whole thing.

 

And I wouldn't lose sleep over that. I just offer my observation, in good faith - without warranty. The TO can do what they want with the information after that.

[+cerberus1]

10 hours ago, kunarion said:

When I make a list at a "TB Hotel", I log Discover on the existing TBs, and research and make logs on the ones I didn't see in there, on individual TB pages.  I do similar things at most caches, if there's been no real report of what's there and what's not.

I had a TB sitting in a cache in Europe for a long time, unmentioned.  I added a Note log for that cache to potential finders, asking if the TB is still there.  One said it's gone.  The next finder said it is in the cache.  This was a large stuffed animal duck.

Based on unreliability of cacher reports, I might NEVER mark mine missing.  People can't tell if it's in fact gone from the cache, and they sure can't manage to log it when they harvest it.  I'll just let Groundspeak's "automated system" take care of it.  I'm pretty jaded by the whole thing.

 

We stopped heading to any cache listed as a TB prison hotel for a few years now.  Just got tired of trying to fix others trackable issues that have nothing to do with us, and most months before we got there.  

We're caching, not trackable hunting...

I feel that's the CO's job.  They're the ones who called their pretzel container a "hotel", and since they had that goal for it for whatever reason, they could at least take a bit more responsibility in maintaining it.

We've found trackables do much better in a simple cache in the woods...    

 

When we did them, I'd do similar to you, Discover ones there and a write note and email to the TOs on those that might be missing.

 - Lately in these forums I'm seeing a few people say they just delete Discover logs.  Stats mean nada to me, so if someone wants to delete my Discover log meant to help them, I'm okay with that.  I figure it's their loss. 

Rare, but I only take trackables if they've been stuck there for some time before I got there (caches visited only two or three times a year).

 

We had a lot of ammo cans out at one time.   We found trackables called "missing" in all but two.  Most sitting in the bottom of the swag freezer bag divider.

[+kunarion]

23 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

 

We stopped heading to any cache listed as a TB prison hotel for a few years now.  Just got tired of trying to fix others trackable issues that have nothing to do with us, and most months before we got there.  

We're caching, not trackable hunting...

I feel that's the CO's job.  They're the ones who called their pretzel container a "hotel", and since they had that goal for it for whatever reason, they could at least take a bit more responsibility in maintaining it.

We've found trackables do much better in a simple cache in the woods...    

 

When we did them, I'd do similar to you, Discover ones there and a write note and email to the TOs on those that might be missing.

 - Lately in these forums I'm seeing a few people say they just delete Discover logs.  Stats mean nada to me, so if someone wants to delete my Discover log meant to help them, I'm okay with that.  I figure it's their loss. 

Rare, but I only take trackables if they've been stuck there for some time before I got there (caches visited only two or three times a year).

 

We had a lot of ammo cans out at one time.   We found trackables called "missing" in all but two.  Most sitting in the bottom of the swag freezer bag divider.

 

+1

 

I have to be careful with the big, fancy "TB Hotels".  Lotta nooks where a TB might be, and it may have degraded from a nice metal coin to a piece of cardboard.

 

I don't target TBs, but will Retrieve and drop promptly in another cache or Discover (if I feel like it ).  I take travel photos of the things, and I never make a "probably saw this somewhere sometime" log.  Hate that kind.  Same with forever "Took It To", not gonna do it.

[+Les Pandas]

I will always pick up and log tbs that I find, problem is often finding a suitable cache to leave it in and helping it on its mission if there is one.   I did start watching tbs that I had dropped off, but quite sad the number that have dropped out of circulation.  I have a few of my own, and if any vanish for over a year, I have made up duplicates with the same reference number.  I will happily drop tbs at events, but don't "discover" them unless there is some special interest that I want to comment on.

Yes, a lot of things are frustrating,  but it's only a game!