New trackable questions

[+BirdSearcher]

I released my first trackable & have 2 questions:

1)almost immediately, a cacher  ‘grabbed’ it rather than ‘retrieved’ it (seemed like a newbie according to his profile) Is this a problem?

2) it has been a couple of months since he picked it up & I am considering contacting him to ask him to place it in another cache, is this a good idea?

 

 

[+Isonzo Karst]

1) I see both "grabbed" and "retrieved" in use on the site.  The name of the log isn't important, what's important is the action -> now it's "in the hands of Name of Cacher".

2) Gently, gently. I see that your TB is in the hands of someone who has not found a cache since picking up your TB.  I'd probably wait until early 2022 to ask about dropping the TB.

[+Jayeffel]

From what I know, and I do not claim to know it all, if a person finds a TB in a cache there are a few options. One is to pick it up and take with you - "Retrieve", a second is to notice and record number and leave in cache-"Discover", or thirdly simply ignore its presence. If it is picked up and taken with you either "Retrieve" or "Grab" should work even though "Retrieve" is  what is intended.

 

I think "Grab" comes into play best when you have a TB and do not recall where you found it and it was not logged as retrieved, simply "Grab " it and it is back in play. Or if a TB is found and there is no log entry showing its travel history -- basically lost to the system , you can "Grab" it , and all is right.

 

I think I might go back to the cache it was placed in, if possible, and verify it is not there. If it is gone simply wait, maybe send a message down the road asking about it, not telling. If it is still there, I think " Grabbing" it yourself would be proper. That way it would be back in play. 

 

It may be that any caches the cacher found since have not been TB friendly. 

 

Good luck.

 

 

[+Max and 99]

14 hours ago, BirdSearcher said:

I released my first trackable & have 2 questions:

1)almost immediately, a cacher  ‘grabbed’ it rather than ‘retrieved’ it (seemed like a newbie according to his profile) Is this a problem?

2) it has been a couple of months since he picked it up & I am considering contacting him to ask him to place it in another cache, is this a good idea?

 

 

It's been 6 weeks. If this was my travel bug I would try the honey approach: I noticed that you picked up my travel bug in * cache. I'm really excited to see where you put it and where it continues traveling to! Thanks again for moving it along on its journey!

[+cerberus1]

15 hours ago, BirdSearcher said:

I released my first trackable & have 2 questions:

1)almost immediately, a cacher  ‘grabbed’ it rather than ‘retrieved’ it (seemed like a newbie according to his profile) Is this a problem?

2) it has been a couple of months since he picked it up & I am considering contacting him to ask him to place it in another cache, is this a good idea?

 

Retrieved and Grabbed both do the same. I understand though, we'd log it Retrieved too.    

That "newbie" started only one-year after you. They're a premium member, and a family too, so that may be a plus.

They have one other trackable besides yours.

Some may not have the same feelings as us (notifying the TO when it's past two weeks), and most we see don't.  

They've had a point where it was nine months or so before caching again, but they did come back,

Maybe wait another month before you send a "Thanks for keeping my trackable safe.  Know where you're dropping it yet?" note.

[+dprovan]

Assuming it was logged into the cache, then obviously retrieve is the right log. You did remember to drop it in the cache, right? But maybe something else happened, or maybe he just used grab by mistake. The only one that knows is the person that has it. That gave you a good reason to contact the geocacher right away to ask, so you can certainly contact him now to ask about that and about his plans for it now.

 

But I think what you really want to know is how quickly you can ask about a TB someone's holding. The basic answer is "it depends", but the more general answer is, you can talk to someone holding your TB whenever you want as long as you're polite. Demanding he place it in another cache is not polite. Asking what his plans are for it starts a conversation and has the happy side effect of reminding him he took it in case he forgot. To improve the side effect, mention the cache and where it was to help jog his memory, if he needs it. After talking it over you might, depending on what you learn, decide to request he move it along now. Or you might decide it's in good hands and you just need to be more patient. As I say, it depends.

 

So that's my advice, and it applies to all cachers, newbies or not. But having said that, newbies are, by definition, not the best cachers. It's OK to imagine that because of a newbie fail, things are not good for your TB and you may not even be able to learn its fate. But try to avoid injecting those thoughts into the conversation. After all, if he made a mistake, you want him to learn from it. We *all* want him to learn from it. That's less likely to happen if he feels like he's being berated for his mistake instead of being given advice about how to geocache better.

[+BirdSearcher]

Thanks everyone for your great advice! My thought had been to contact the cacher & say pretty much verbatim what Max and 99 suggested - but I will wait a while regardless & incorporate the other suggestions as well.  I can’t visit the cache again since it is across the country- I had dropped the trackable (along with another one ) far away to get lots of miles on them . I figured the cacher was relatively new &  probably logged Grab rather Retrieve (on both trackables )thinking that both actions were the same. 
I am aware that most trackables do go missing & have many other issues that I can’t control so I have to be patient, just getting a bit over-excited by my first one  

[Darwin473]

23 hours ago, BirdSearcher said:

just getting a bit over-excited by my first one

 

My first TB purchase was four, and I found I was getting way over-invested in their adventures (or lack thereof, as this was jut as the pandemic was kicking off). For me, the best solution was to buy more - each one represents less of an emotional investment, and more TB's mean more updates coming through more often. I'm up to about 23 now.

 

Mind you, I also keep the originals at home and send out proxies of one type or another. So for me half the fun is working out ways to make proxies for less than the cost of a basic TB. And then if (when?) they go missing, I'll create a new proxy and re-send the code out again on a new thingy I've made. I did plan on buying more TB's, but had some unexpected bills. Frustrating because I missed out on the "spend $X get a free TB" deal many geocaching shops offer in December (and they sell out quick in Australia).

[+BirdSearcher]

Interesting approach Unit473L! I did just receive 4 free holiday promo trackables & will be putting them into play. Thanks!