TB lost then found then lost again

[+gameoftheirlives]

What do you do when you know someone has your trackable but won't put it back in circulation or give it back? 

I launched the trackable "Waterwalker" in April 2012. It is a pewter kayak and its goal was to reach the pacific ocean. It circulated around southern Ontario for two years and then the last log read that it was given to a cacher by his uncle to hide. Then all logs stopped until January of 2022. I received a notification that the last cacher who had Waterwalker found it in their closet and was about to put it back in circulation. I was thrilled! My trackable had come back! I messaged the person who found it in their closet and asked if they would not rehide the kayak but rather send it back to me, or, if it was more convenient, hide the trackable in any cache, let me know which one and I would come and get it. This person is in Oakville and I am about an hour's drive away. I messaged with this person for about seven months. They wouldn't answer for weeks and then they would give an excuse why they couldn't send it back. To make a long story short, they stopped responding. They haven't rehidden the trackable and it looks like they won't be returning the TB any time soon. (I even gave them my address to mail the kayak to me and I offered to pay the postage). Does anyone have a suggestion? It's quite a unique item and I would like it back. 

[+Goldenwattle]

That's disappointing gameoftheirlives. I too have contacted people and they have never replied. Usually on other people's behalf, when I have dropped their trackable off and no one has picked it up, or someone says it's missing. I have contacted everyone who has found the cache after me, as I feel responsible for the trackable. I chose to leave the TB in that cache for instance. Only a few can be bothered to reply. Many people don't care less.

An example. I left a TB with a small teddy bear attached in a cache. That horror of caching turned up; a scout group. One of the scouts took the TB and wrote, "Kidnapped the bear". I contacted him and the person who appeared to be the scout leader. Neither replied and the bear remains 'kidnapped' years later.

On the other hand, I have had a TB turn up after missing for a couple of years. I have also found TBs which were missing for years. Commonly dropped into a cache, but not logged in, as the culprit doesn't want to own up, but at least it's back in circulation.

 

Hopefully you will hear from your TB again.

 

This is a TB of mine that went missing, but turned up again.

https://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?id=7098524

It went missing in Oct 2018, but was rediscovered March 2020. Unfortunately, it went missing again in May 2021. Never know; it might resurface again.

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by Goldenwattle

[+gameoftheirlives]

Thank you Goldenwattle. Misery loves company (the truest of sayings). I'm sorry for your loss too. I guess what annoys me the most about all of this, is that that cacher was willing to return it to me when I first contacted him/her/they - who knows! I was so excited but then they started "playing games", almost taunting me. All they had to do was slip it into a cache and I would drive to get it but they would leave me hanging when I asked if I could meet them or pick it up. The last straw came when they described an area where I could go to get it and then no more information was given. I was so exasperated that I told them to "keep the dadgum thing". I regret that now but they had pushed me past my limits. I also see that this person is actively geocaching after an 8 year hiatus so it's not like they have retired from the game.

 

I have put out a few travel bugs over the years but all have gone missing so I've given up on that aspect of geocaching. I will check out your link that you posted. I hope yours does resurface again.

[+cerberus1]

Join the club...      All but the latest promotion trackable have gone "missing".  The other 2/3rds lost a buncha coins as well.

One, my most expensive was a miniature Harley engine, the trackable maggot that had it first blamed his wife, and later just stopped responding.

His wife even replied a couple times and stopped.    Both are hoarders, holding onto dozens of other people's property...

Another, a functional fishing reel 1" in diameter, traveled all over Europe before landing in Washington state, were it went missing from a cache.

The good and bad thing about "Anyone can play"...

[+vw_k]

I had a TB that went missing when a cache was trashed, then I got a log on it from someone who had found it on the ground and signed up to geocaching.com just to try and help it's mission, I messaged them for a bit and at first seemed enthusiastic but once I'd suggested dropping it in a nearby cache or mailing it back to me they stopped replying.

Fast forward a couple of years and I get a log from an active cacher who had spotted it in their friend's house and recognised it as a TB. They put it back into circulation for me. Since then it's gone missing again.

 

So never give up hope. Although I certainly agree with the advice I've read that suggests not to release anything as a TB that has sentimental or monetary value as TBs do often go missing.

[+gameoftheirlives]

I'm coming to realize that my experience is pretty common. Wow, it really shakes your confidence in the honesty of strangers. I actually didn't put a sentimental value on this piece. It was launched at the same time as a pewter canoe by another cacher and we were interested in seeing who would reach the Pacific first. Well, it wasn't mine. 

 

Anyway, when it reappeared, that's when my interest in it grew and wanted it returned. It would make a good conversation piece and also make a great key fob  since I've become very interested in kayaking in the past few years and I haven't been able to find such an item since I bought it at the Cottage Show back in 2012.  

 

I guess I was hoping that someone would have an outside the box suggestion on how to get it back but if so many people have had this experience (especially those who had been in contact with the "trackable maggot") I don't have a hope. But then, you say not to give up hope. Life can have many strange twists and turns so maybe I should be patient. 

 

Thanks to the both of you for sharing your stories. I'm feeling much better after reading them. You have helped me.

[+cerberus1]

I had a promotional trackable that sat in the very first cache I placed it in for over a year.  No Discovers, no notes, nada. Thought it was gone.

A rookie saw it, saying the material the trackable was made of looked like a sponge or something, then they saw the dog tag attached.

First trackable they ever found in a cache, they "visited" it a couple times, and put in in another cache where it turned up "missing".

We only think about it when it comes up here.  Maybe retiring from a prison gives me a different outlook on people.  If any turn up - cool.  

But hope is a feeling of expectation, and a trackable game piece is nothing to get anxious over... 

[+gameoftheirlives]

I would think that working in a prison would certainly change your perspective on people. 

I won't lose sleep over losing this one but it is hard not to harbor a slow burn.  While we're on the topic of missing TBs, I put one in a cache in Calgary. From there it went missing almost immediately. I've noticed that if someone picks up the TB and places it in another cache before they have logged it out of the first cache, it can get lost forever. At least I think that's how it happens. I bet many TBs are lost this way. 

 

I did find a geocoin back in 2010. It was called The Compass Rose 5th Anniversary Geocoin and it was the most beautiful coin I have ever seen. I can't believe someone would release it out into the wild. Anyway, I kept track of it and it kept travelling for the next 5 years until 2015 where it was lost in Zurich, Switzerland. 

[+TeamRabbitRun]

I just had one of mine appear in a DROP log. Yay!

 

It was the same person who had retrieved it over four years ago.

 

I've kept a few for too long; six months, maybe ten or so. I forget it's in the car, or I'm in my wife's car, or often I just don't find caches BIG enough to take them, so I can't get too worked up over it.  

 

I'm grateful for its return to the field, I suppose.

[+gameoftheirlives]

Quote

I'm glad that you have had some success with your TB. Had it been missing for the four years? If so, I can relate to the great feeling of having it back in circulation. 

I totally understand how it could get misplaced in someone's home and you've had some experience yourself with tardy TB returns. It definitely happens. 

In the past, I have collected TBs and kept them for up to 3 months in order to take them with me on a flight across the country to fulfill their mission. I was "raked over the coals" by one cache owner for keeping the TBs that I retrieved from their cache for over a week. I tried to explain why I was keeping the trackables and that my intentions were good but they couldn't see my way of thinking. Now, maybe that is a good topic for discussion in this forum. Who was right here? Any thoughts?

 

[+TriciaG]

7 hours ago, gameoftheirlives said:

In the past, I have collected TBs and kept them for up to 3 months in order to take them with me on a flight across the country to fulfill their mission. I was "raked over the coals" by one cache owner for keeping the TBs that I retrieved from their cache for over a week. I tried to explain why I was keeping the trackables and that my intentions were good but they couldn't see my way of thinking. Now, maybe that is a good topic for discussion in this forum. Who was right here? Any thoughts?

If you messaged the TB owner, and it was OK with them, then I would have told the CO to MYOB. (Well, not in so many letters, but that would have been the gist of the message.)

[+gameoftheirlives]

I didn't consult the TB owners at first about holding onto their trackables but this cache owner got me thinking so I did. The one TB owner I heard from was thrilled that their bug was travelling three provinces away. She was the leader of a youth group and it was perfect for this group to see their trackable travel so far. The cache owner, who's cache I took the travel bugs from,  became verbally abusive as time went on and would not let this go. I ended up calling in the people at Groundspeak to intervene and they issued a warning to this person. It got pretty crazy. I guess travelbugs can bring out the best and worst in people. 

[+cerberus1]

6 hours ago, gameoftheirlives said:

... The cache owner, who's cache I took the travel bugs from,  became verbally abusive as time went on and would not let this go. I ended up calling in the people at Groundspeak to intervene and they issued a warning to this person. It got pretty crazy. I guess travelbugs can bring out the best and worst in people. 

 

Was it a trackable "hotel"?   We've seen COs making up their own rules when they have a cache called a "hotel".

Often an even trade, or a set number, we email the Reviewer that they have an ALR on their cache, and it's usually taken care of.  

Usually those trackables don't belong to them, and they can't "control" (anal retentive...) what others do with them.

[+gameoftheirlives]

Yes, it was a trackable hotel. And they had their own rules about if you took one, you had to leave one. It was a number of years ago so my memory is sketchy but that was one of the points of the argument that I took more than my allotment as well. My intentions were totally unselfish but they didn't see it that way. Funny, but I think someone didn't secure the lid on the container properly and it got flooded out so the cache was removed.