What to do if your trackables have already been activated by other people?

[+7evn]

Is this rare? Because I've not been able to find a single thing out there on this issue. Apologies if I've just overlooked it, but even the official FAQ seems to be lacking in what to do when this happens. 

 

I purchased 3 trackables quite some months back. 1 "Tiffany The Zombie" keychain, 1 "Zoltan The Zombie" keychain, and 1 FTF coin. I activated the FTF coin awhile back, and it is activated under my account, but I was just trying to activate both of the zombie keychains, and it's telling me that both of them have already been activated by someone else. I sent a ticket in to the guys up stairs, but I figured I might get a quicker response here. Thanks for any help you can give!

 

EDIT: Max and 99 replied to a comment I made under another post right before making this thread, and asked if they were supposed to be unactivated. I'm such a sporadic geocacher, and should be considered a newbie still, so I don't know tbh. I purchashed them from the geocaching.com USA shop. I don't remember the trackables page stating anything about them being unactivated. I don't see them on the shop anymore, but on my invoice they are listed together as a pack: Zombies Travel Tag Set- Last Chance!!! SKU: 609556003516 so I am guessing they were clearance.

Edited March 10, 2021 by 7evn

[+Max and 99]

6 hours ago, 7evn said:

Is this rare? Because I've not been able to find a single thing out there on this issue. Apologies if I've just overlooked it, but even the official FAQ seems to be lacking in what to do when this happens. 

 

I purchased 3 trackables quite some months back. 1 "Tiffany The Zombie" keychain, 1 "Zoltan The Zombie" keychain, and 1 FTF coin. I activated the FTF coin awhile back, and it is activated under my account, but I was just trying to activate both of the zombie keychains, and it's telling me that both of them have already been activated by someone else. I sent a ticket in to the guys up stairs, but I figured I might get a quicker response here. Thanks for any help you can give!

 

EDIT: Max and 99 replied to a comment I made under another post right before making this thread, and asked if they were supposed to be unactivated. I'm such a sporadic geocacher, and should be considered a newbie still, so I don't know tbh. I purchashed them from the geocaching.com USA shop. I don't remember the trackables page stating anything about them being unactivated. I don't see them on the shop anymore, but on my invoice they are listed together as a pack: Zombies Travel Tag Set- Last Chance!!! SKU: 609556003516 so I am guessing they were clearance.

It sounds like they were supposed to be unactivated. What you have described is something I have been worrying about after reading so many forum discussions.

There is a slight possibility that someone guessed a code and activated that travel bug. I have quite a few clearance travel bugs that I purchased from shop geocaching and I'm worried that one of these days I'm going to find out that's exactly what someone did to one of mine.

I think Groundspeak will be the only one who can help you with this matter. Will you please return to this forum thread and update us? Good luck! 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Max and 99

[+cerberus1]

All trackables sold by shop Geocaching are unactivated.  

When folks use number generators or other rotten means to gain trackable codes, sometimes they get a better hit than they thought. 

Faceboook has a couple of these creeps working overtime...

There's been a few people asking about this in the forums, all angry that someone can do that.

 - They left their (coins mostly) unactivated for trade, and now they no longer own them.

[+kunarion]

10 hours ago, 7evn said:

Is this rare? Because I've not been able to find a single thing out there on this issue. Apologies if I've just overlooked it, but even the official FAQ seems to be lacking in what to do when this happens. 

 

I purchased 3 trackables quite some months back. 1 "Tiffany The Zombie" keychain, 1 "Zoltan The Zombie" keychain, and 1 FTF coin. I activated the FTF coin awhile back, and it is activated under my account, but I was just trying to activate both of the zombie keychains, and it's telling me that both of them have already been activated by someone else. I sent a ticket in to the guys up stairs, but I figured I might get a quicker response here. Thanks for any help you can give!

 

Forum members probably can't do much for you, especially without any specifics.  You'll have to find out from The Help Center. 

 

As mentioned, "someone" may have activated them from a generated list.  Or it may have been accidental, a typo.  But some of the custom tags and coins seem to have an occasional duplicate Tracking Code.

[+cerberus1]

1 hour ago, kunarion said:

Forum members probably can't do much for you, especially without any specifics.  You'll have to find out from The Help Center. 

 

Agreed. 

It might be up to HQ to fix, and if the owner has it in their hands, while another is claiming it theirs, this should be common sense.

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by cerberus1

[+kunarion]

28 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

 

Agreed. 

It might be up to HQ to fix, and if the owner has it in their hands, while another is claiming it theirs, this should be common sense.

 

 

Yes.  It's been a while since this came up, but the last time I saw a thread about two tags with identical tracking numbers, TPTB worked it out for the persons who had the problem.  If it in fact is a manufacturing error, maybe they'll take care of it for the OP.

 

But I don't know what happens lately if someone guesses the tracking number... 

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by kunarion

[Darwin473]

15 hours ago, kunarion said:

But I don't know what happens lately if someone guesses the tracking number... 

 

Logic says that it should be fairly easy - the person who has it in their hands along with a proof of purchase (and the original packaging with the activation code) should be able to prove that it's theirs - especially if the TB is still pristine and in a non-travelled state. The person who guessed the number can shout long and loud that it's rightfully theirs, but if they don't have a receipt from somewhere, then it should be a bit harder.

 

However, I can see that being something that is harder to do than to type, and an unscrupulous guesser would probably (if challenged) go out of their way to create enough reasonable doubt that they can get away with it.

 

Fingers crossed it works out for the legit owner.

[+kunarion]

3 hours ago, Unit473L said:

 

Logic says that it should be fairly easy - the person who has it in their hands along with a proof of purchase (and the original packaging with the activation code) should be able to prove that it's theirs - especially if the TB is still pristine and in a non-travelled state. The person who guessed the number can shout long and loud that it's rightfully theirs, but if they don't have a receipt from somewhere, then it should be a bit harder.

 

However, I can see that being something that is harder to do than to type, and an unscrupulous guesser would probably (if challenged) go out of their way to create enough reasonable doubt that they can get away with it.

 

Fingers crossed it works out for the legit owner.

 

I mean that I don't know what TPTB will do lately, when any "code" is used, regardless of how it was obtained.  It used to be that you pick up and hold a physical item, and that means you Discovered the coin.  Today, all it takes is to find out a number on Mars.  So to speak.  

 

An Owner can be in posession of the original coin, while at the same time the Tracking Code is in play.  Proving that you bought it is fine, but you can own a coin and send out its Tracking Code.  And TO's send out "Proxies" or codes or coins, not even knowing how "activating it" works.

 

In many cases it was no "guess".  Coin Owners (and other cachers) proudly post the coin photos with the Tracking Code in full view online, then later are surprised that thousands of logs occur, including coin "Grab" logs and even activation.  It's in the owner's hands, proof of purchase and all.  But not always logical.  

 

 

Edited March 11, 2021 by kunarion

[+cerberus1]

3 hours ago, Unit473L said:

Logic says that it should be fairly easy - the person who has it in their hands along with a proof of purchase (and the original packaging with the activation code) should be able to prove that it's theirs - especially if the TB is still pristine and in a non-travelled state. The person who guessed the number can shout long and loud that it's rightfully theirs, but if they don't have a receipt from somewhere, then it should be a bit harder.

 

You know, I was with you until this.       I can't tell you how many coins the other 2/3rds has that never included an activation code.  

That's why the site created THIS.   

[+kunarion]

57 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

 

You know, I was with you until this.       I can't tell you how many coins the other 2/3rds has that never included an activation code.  

That's why the site created THIS.   

 

Yes.  I was wondering who keeps that Official Thin Plastic Wrapper as proof of ownership.  

[Darwin473]

 

5 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

I was with you until this.      

 

Agree, that's why I put it in brackets. It doesn't prove anything if you have it, but it can be another bit of supporting evidence if someone did happen to hang on to it - such as someone who kept their non-activated ones in a tub, unopened.