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VAVAPAM

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Just want to know the status of a geocoin.  I've sent the following messages, with no response to any of them.  Is there another way?

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Mar 26, 2018 10:51 PM
Hello from a fellow geocacher ... in Virginia. I am the owner of the little white octopus geocoin, "The Ripple". I just wanted to drop a note of thanks for taking the time to check the coin's mission - not everybody does - and for your willingness to move him along in his mission.

I also like what the NCGO group is doing; kudos to your group.

Thanks again, and may all your caches be smileys!

vavaPAM

Sep 27, 2018 2:02 AM
Hello again from the owner of the white octopus coin. I haven't seen any activity lately and just wanted to check to make sure everything is okay on your end. Thanks in advance for any info you could provide.

vavaPAM

Mar 10, 2019 8:26 PM
Hi [username],

I realize I can be a bit like a mother hen about my geocoins, so please forgive me if I seem over-zealous in trying to keep up with my white octopus coin, "The Ripple" ( TB85EMM ). I haven't seen any activity logged or discover logs in about 4 months, and was wondering if perhaps you were only reporting caches or activities having to do with diving. I could completely understand that, since the mission is about diving; however, it's not necessary to *only* show diving activities/caches.

Please don't think that I'm trying to nudge you into dropping the coin! I'd rather it travel safely with you than be dropped in any old cache where it might get mistaken/taken as swag/treasure by a newbie or muggle, so I do appreciate that you've allowed it to safely accompany you until an appropriate cache drop is discovered.

Just a note or log every now and then would relieve this old mother hen.

Thanks for understanding.

Aug 10, 2019 6:58 PM
I have tried several times, via email and messaging, to ascertain the disposition of this white octopus coin, "The Ripple" ( TB85EMM ), which - as far as logs go - you've held for over a year - since March 2018.

Would you please let me know what is up with this geocoin?

Thanks in advance for any information you might provide.

Sincerely,
vavaPAM

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55 minutes ago, VAVAPAM said:

Just want to know the status of a geocoin.  I've sent the following messages, with no response to any of them.  Is there another way?

==================================================================================================================


Mar 26, 2018 10:51 PM
Hello from a fellow geocacher ... in Virginia. I am the owner of the little white octopus geocoin, "The Ripple". I just wanted to drop a note of thanks for taking the time to check the coin's mission - not everybody does - and for your willingness to move him along in his mission.

I also like what the NCGO group is doing; kudos to your group.

Thanks again, and may all your caches be smileys!

vavaPAM

Sep 27, 2018 2:02 AM
Hello again from the owner of the white octopus coin. I haven't seen any activity lately and just wanted to check to make sure everything is okay on your end. Thanks in advance for any info you could provide.

vavaPAM

Mar 10, 2019 8:26 PM
Hi [username],

I realize I can be a bit like a mother hen about my geocoins, so please forgive me if I seem over-zealous in trying to keep up with my white octopus coin, "The Ripple" ( TB85EMM ). I haven't seen any activity logged or discover logs in about 4 months, and was wondering if perhaps you were only reporting caches or activities having to do with diving. I could completely understand that, since the mission is about diving; however, it's not necessary to *only* show diving activities/caches.

Please don't think that I'm trying to nudge you into dropping the coin! I'd rather it travel safely with you than be dropped in any old cache where it might get mistaken/taken as swag/treasure by a newbie or muggle, so I do appreciate that you've allowed it to safely accompany you until an appropriate cache drop is discovered.

Just a note or log every now and then would relieve this old mother hen.

Thanks for understanding.

Aug 10, 2019 6:58 PM
I have tried several times, via email and messaging, to ascertain the disposition of this white octopus coin, "The Ripple" ( TB85EMM ), which - as far as logs go - you've held for over a year - since March 2018.

Would you please let me know what is up with this geocoin?

Thanks in advance for any information you might provide.

Sincerely,
vavaPAM

You've done everything you can. I'm sorry for the bad news about your TB. It's sometimes very sad when favorite TBs go missing. My daughter's was approaching  something like 10 years, after winning a TB race, which is pretty incredible, when I posted a note asking if it could be mailed back to us. Sure enough, within a month it was stolen. Gone. Sooooo close to getting it back, too! My son's went to China three times: once with him, and twice with other local geocachers. As soon as I dropped it in a cache in another state (which I greatly regret every doing!!!!!), it was stolen. Gone. I was so mad at myself for ever thinking it should be dropped in a cache.

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I would have thought everything would be fine, seeing an actual photo in a log.   Rare these days.   :)   Still caching too.

 - But just a casual look showed five belonging to others held, some over a year.

Odd that they aren't including yours (and a couple others) as part of their personal mileage tracking...

I remembered a thread where folks said if they're hounded by a TO, that trackable could go bye-bye.  Can't find it, maybe vaporized.

  - "Hounded" I guess depending on the individual.

 

I just sent one email to those that had a last log as an account, and the only one who ever responded said his wife took it.

Thought that odd he'd give up his wife like that :D ,  but emailing her account didn't get a response either.

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4 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

if they're hounded by a TO

I got one request asking when I was going to move a TB on. I had only had it for a few days (three comes to mind, but it was some time ago, so not sure). That annoyed me and I dumped it in the next cache that was big enough to hold it, whether I thought the cache was suitable or not. Someone else picked it , but I think it went missing after that. I wonder if that TO pestered the next person too.

 

VAVAPAM, by this comment, I am NOT suggesting you pestered the holder of your TB. What you described that you did, sounds very reasonable to me.

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I'm finding a lot of people who hoard 20-40 of other peoples' trackables and never move them again. This doesn't make sense when they are proxies, compared to nice coins that one might steal. One answered me after I reached out - he's had my proxy over FOUR YEARS and doesn't even dip it , at least not for the past year plus. I handmade it and want it moving for our anniversary - he claims it's "probably in his garage" and he "doesn't remember to take them with him when he caches" but "doesn't think he's ever lost one". It's hard to lose something you're hoarding, but does it matter if it's lost or just held forever??? Come on - why do you think you should take other people's trackables if you KNOW you strand them in your house and lose / hoard them????

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2 hours ago, RecipeForDisaster said:

I'm finding a lot of people who hoard 20-40 of other peoples' trackables and never move them again.

 

We know of a few.  

When it's come up here, it's often some nut who wanted to satisfy all trackable goals, held some way-too long in his odd process, and finally had so many they now didn't know where to start.  

Some aren't even hiding the fact anymore, bringing storage tubs of other-people's property held hostage to events.

No one else says anything ?

We had one here.   When his landlord (also a cacher) did the walk-through on him moving, he found shelves of ammo cans and trackables in the basement, looking like some voodoo or pagan ritual thing (or just a trophy case...)  with tiny lights illuminating everything.  

All are bizarre behavior...

  • Surprised 1
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17 hours ago, VAVAPAM said:

Just want to know the status of a geocoin.  I've sent the following messages, with no response to any of them.  Is there another way?

 

Many times I've seen people either place the coin and forget where, or they simply are not organized and lost it, and are too embarrassed or stubborn to admit a mistake. Some people steal a coveted coin, then creatively fake the logs, the “perfect crime”.  Without putting too fine a point on it, obviously the "Wrong" starts at the top.

 

There are things you can do. Nobody (including Groundspeak) agrees with me that my actions could even be useful, and nobody except me does them, but they are actions more than just wondering if it may turn up. I'll detail what I did and why it's important.

 

My “Quacker Box” TB vanished from a cache. Six months after someone verified that it was not in the container, and after the Cache Owner marked it “Missing”, it has all the evidence of having been “lost”. Later, it developed a fake “discover log”, not helpful.

 

I changed the TB's name to “Quacker Box [MISSING]”.

Reason: In any inventory or list, it is simple to see that it's “Missing”.

 

I placed a TB note log asking for help.

Reason: Anyone “watching” the TB will receive the note, and see that I'm interested in the TB, and would like it returned to play.  I also asked on the cache page for persons to go check for my TB (it was a pretty huge stuffed toy duck).  There is no doubt on the cache page nor the TB page that there's a problem and that I'm interested in returning it to play.  Who knows... someone might have seen it.

 

I changed the TB page to start with all the current information on the TB's loss, and typed them in big, bold letters.

Reason: Anyone viewing the page can plainly see that there's an issue. The person who logged the phony “Discover” didn't even care, he is part of the problem for sure. So is everyone who insists that there's nothing I can do. I'm doing it anyway.  If it's "Found in a bag in a thrift store by this supposedly non-Geocacher", the page clearly shows that I've never authorized the coin's sale on ebay.  For example.

 

I deliberately did not “Mark It Missing” from the cache page.

Reason: An "Incorrect Inventory" helps me to see that there's a problem with that area or at least that cache, so it may prevent someone from placing another coin that will then be stolen from that cache.  I previously asked recent finders, and one said it's gone, the other said it's there. It's one or the other! Since I don't correct nor work on any other logs, I'm not correcting the non-existent “Retrieve” log. The TB is to this day waiting for that log.  If people get to literally steal it and prepare the fake logs and sell it for a profit without Groundspeak doing anything, then I get to not mark it missing.  Fair is fair.

 

You could do nothing or any of a combination of things.  But if I can look at your TB page and not even tell that there's an issue, you can do something. :)

 

Edited by kunarion
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Similar, all mine gone have Missing before whatever name I gave them.   The other 2/3rds didn't bother with hers.

Was tempted at one time to name them all "stolen by (and their name)" when it was a person, and not simply in a cache archived/stolen.

 - But then found that I'm the one that could get in a bind (harassing another user...) without actually seeing the jerk take it...

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I know this is big surprise, but it turns out that the lock and lock containing other people's trackables (that should never be a sentence.... if you want a big box of them, for heaven's sake, buy your own like we did) , that never made it out caching with the holder, is missing!! They did apologize... I give them a little credit for that and for getting back to me, not that I should have had to reach out in the first place, but I said that he should at least let the other TB owners know. I'm SO glad I didn't let the original coin out, but still. The proxy is hand painted and shaped like the item on the coin... not a quick remake.

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Thanks for the very helpful suggestions and the commiseration!

 

I have renamed the few (knock on wood) trackables that are missing, and have added a note if they're on the TB Rescue map on another site. 

 

This particular one, I have not renamed so as not to alienate the current holder*.  I did, however, log a Write Note that I'd be attending an event that they happened to have logged a Will Attend for, too, and hope that they'll bring it for me to recover it there. 

 

Though I've never gotten a response, I can't assume they're not receiving my messages.  I'll send one more a day or two before the event, asking them directly to bring it to the event.  Just thinking that it could be easy for them to not think of bringing it if I don't mention it.  Does this sound reasonable ... or like "hounding"? 

Edited by VAVAPAM
*This will change if it isn't recovered at the event.
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