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Virtuals-is Anybody Out There


Joypa

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I've had two virtuals where I emailed the requested information and 23 days later, I'm still waiting for a reply. Of course, I don't know if the owners left town or are just being inconsiderate but it's annoying. Also, should I count these as found? How long do I give them? I'd just like to hear what your thoughts are.

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Ditto the first two responses. Virtual owners that have a stick up their...well, those that say you must email the answers and wait for a response before logging the find are just power-hungry dweebs (I have a much stonger word to describe them, but this is supposed to be a family-friendly forum).

 

There's nothing wrong with posting a find within a few minutes (or seconds) of sending the email. If it's wrong, the owner and seeker should discuss it through email. If it turns out the the seeker was in error, the find can be changed to a note or deleted.

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Ditto the first two responses. Virtual owners that have a stick up their...well, those that say you must email the answers and wait for a response before logging the find are just power-hungry

I have always assumed them to be naive. I think they get overwhelmed before they realize what they've done. But then, I always try to put a postitive spin on things.

 

I have never expected a reply from a virtual owner, but sometimes I am pleasantly surprised.

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Hey, sound good to me but I'm still annoyed. Has anyone ever not responded to your email?

I use the same method as Sawdust92 . Unless the owner has left specific instructions to email first then log.

 

Anyone who does that is normally the kind of person who will email back. In one case I've had an owner that wanted the email first that didn't respond. It took a couple of emails. That owner had allready threatened to adjust my attitude about some 'rules' caches that I used to have. To me it was funny as hell to have them be both anal about having to comply with a rule for a log and having their own rule you had to comply with. I think the irony was lost on them though.

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Hey, sound good to me but I'm still annoyed. Has anyone ever not responded to your email?

As an owner of several virtuals, if the person includes his e-mail address with his info, I respond to the person and congratulate him for finding the virtual. If he masks his e-mail, I can't be bothered looking for it, so I don't respond. If he logs it fine, if not that's fine too.

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I answer verification email as soon as I can. Normally within 2 days. Most people log the caches minutes before they send the verification mail. (This has been my experience). Only a very small group waits for an answer before they log.

 

The only time I do not answer is when the email consists of

 

“I know this isn’t right but can I still log the cache” Those emails I don’t answer.

Edited by Harrald
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I log the caches and send the E-mail responces in the same sitting. I have never had anyone voice any displeasure over this method. Sawdust92

I log this way also. Many people do. I request that people log our virtuals that way. Why should it be any different?

Edited by Team Sagefox
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I generally will send the e-mail and wait a week or so.

 

With one exception, I have had my confirmation back in less than the week I usually set.

 

With the one, I e-mailed the owner 3 times, finally said THWI, and logged the find. They haven't said anything B), and I know that they were on the site at least twice during this.

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Ditto the first two responses. Virtual owners that have a stick up their...well, those that say you must email the answers and wait for a response before logging the find are just power-hungry dweebs (I have a much stonger word to describe them, but this is supposed to be a family-friendly forum).

 

There's nothing wrong with posting a find within a few minutes (or seconds) of sending the email. If it's wrong, the owner and seeker should discuss it through email. If it turns out the the seeker was in error, the find can be changed to a note or deleted.

 

If it's wrong, the owner and seeker should discuss it through email.

 

Its wrong if the owner specifically asks that certain criteria is met BEFORE posting the find.

 

Virtual owners that have a stick up their...well, those that say you must email the answers and wait for a response before logging the find are just power-hungry dweebs (I have a much stonger word to describe them, but this is supposed to be a family-friendly forum).

 

Im am glad your true feeling about virtuals is finally coming out Saxman.....after all these months of your proclaiming elsewise. Its nice to know I have a stick up my....... and that I am a power hungry dweeb.....imagine that at my age!

 

If I go through all the time and effort to set up a virtual, then I get to set the perameters to claim the find, and believe me some of them take much more work then traditional caches.

 

You want to bash virtuals? that is fine

You want to baSh virtual owners as a whole....you are overstepping the line, and you are wrong.

 

OH and by the way....I ALWAYS ANSWER MY EMAILS FOR MY VIRTUALS.....ALWAYS

even if they have not waited for my answer.....I just grit my teeth and get on with my life

Edited by woof n lulu
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I use the same method as Sawdust92 . Unless the owner has left specific instructions to email first then log.

 

Anyone who does that is normally the kind of person who will email back.

Exactly RK....I would think that if you go through the trouble of asking for the email first, its understood that the owner would take the time and responsibility to answer.

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I want my caches logged in the proper order. It just screws things up to have to wait even a couple days for a response. I am not going to stop caching to wait for someones verification that I found their virtual.

 

I will log the find immediatly, if the owner has a problem with that, I guess I don't need that find anyway.

 

I should note that I usually don't go out searching for Virtuals. If I happen to come upon one in my normal caching adventures and it's not to much trouble, I will log it. I'm not a fan of them, but I don't hate them either.

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People abandon virtuals just like physical caches. They put a few out a few, lose interest, change their email address and don't bother to update their profile.

And those caches should be archived, just like any other abandoned cache.

How about adopting them out first?

Why?

Should the site try to find someone to adopt out every abandoned and verified GONE physical cache, or should they just archive it since they know there is no litter and let someone else place a new cache in the area? Why should a virtual be any different?

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I love virts...I have several of my own placed (before the moratorium, of course - and yes, I always reply), and I go after them as a searcher all the time, esp. in areas I've never visited before...gives me the opp'y to cache after work/dark without having to change out of my work clothes. Plus, it's great to get some history of an area (example: I did over 40 in the Ft. Worth area over the course of several evenings while I was there on business last year, and I can tell you anything you'd want to know about local history now...it was great!).

 

Having said all that: I ALWAYS log my Finds at the same time as Emailing the cache owner, even if their instructions are to "wait until acknowledged". I have yet to have even 1 of my virt Finds deleted, and I have over 200 Virt Finds over 2+ years. Maybe it was because the virt cache owners "got over their control thing" after a while, or maybe it just wasn't worth the effort to quibble with me over "when I logged it", when I had obviosuly gotten the "proof" correct.

 

Don't sweat it...just log it.

 

-Dave R.

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I usually try and send a congratulatory note for every cacher that logs my virtuals.

Some haven't even answered all the requirements, but I give them credit anyways, because close is close enough.  Its only a game, so be fair and polite.

I feel the same way. Yesterday I let a find go on a virtual. The guy said he could not get the confirmation info off a plate on the end of a bridge because of an impenetrable crowd around it. There was some festival going on at the cache site. Instead he sent me a detailed paragraph describing the entire area, so I accepted that.

 

Though I guess he could have gleaned the info he sent from photos, I have no reason to believe he was lying so I told him to go ahead and log it.

Edited by briansnat
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Why?  Should the site try to find someone to adopt out every abandoned and verified GONE physical cache, or should they just archive it since they know there is no litter and let someone else place a new cache in the area? Why should a virtual be any different?

Because "what's fair for one is fair for all?" Individual cache reviewers HAVE made efforts to get certain caches adopted or to assist people in adopting caches.

 

The policy should be consistent: Either geocaching.com allows caches to be adopted or it doesn't.

 

Now, back to the topic: In my experience, most cache owners don't reply to "confirmation e-mails" if the information provided was essentially correct. I never waited for permission from a cache owner before posting my legitimate find ... it's a stupid thing to "require" because it is impossible for the owner to enforce. What are they going to do, delete your find even though you provided accurate answers? B)

Edited by BassoonPilot
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Ditto the first two responses. Virtual owners that have a stick up their...well, those that say you must email the answers and wait for a response before logging the find are just power-hungry dweebs (I have a much stonger word to describe them, but this is supposed to be a family-friendly forum).

 

There's nothing wrong with posting a find within a few minutes (or seconds) of sending the email. If it's wrong, the owner and seeker should discuss it through email. If it turns out the the seeker was in error, the find can be changed to a note or deleted.

 

If it's wrong, the owner and seeker should discuss it through email.

 

Its wrong if the owner specifically asks that certain criteria is met BEFORE posting the find.

 

Virtual owners that have a stick up their...well, those that say you must email the answers and wait for a response before logging the find are just power-hungry dweebs (I have a much stonger word to describe them, but this is supposed to be a family-friendly forum).

 

Im am glad your true feeling about virtuals is finally coming out Saxman.....after all these months of your proclaiming elsewise. Its nice to know I have a stick up my....... and that I am a power hungry dweeb.....imagine that at my age!

 

If I go through all the time and effort to set up a virtual, then I get to set the perameters to claim the find, and believe me some of them take much more work then traditional caches.

 

You want to bash virtuals? that is fine

You want to baSh virtual owners as a whole....you are overstepping the line, and you are wrong.

 

OH and by the way....I ALWAYS ANSWER MY EMAILS FOR MY VIRTUALS.....ALWAYS

even if they have not waited for my answer.....I just grit my teeth and get on with my life

I think you missed the point, Lulu.

 

I found 49 caches on my trip. I want to log them all in one sitting. Should I have to stop after #17 and wait a week for a virt owner to say I found the right information, even though it was the only plaque within 5 miles?

 

Sorry, I log my caches in order. If I have a wrong answer, it can be worked out later. Does it really hurt the virtual owner to have an extra log on their cache? No. That's the same as "Wait until I verify your signature in the logbook before claiming a find". It's only power-tripping by the cache owner. If the signature isn't there in their next maintenance visit, the log can be changed to a note or deleted. There's no harm in letting it remain logged until the answer is verified.

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I love virts...I have several of my own placed (before the moratorium, of course - and yes, I always reply)...

<snip>

Just a point of fact clarification.

 

There is no moratorium on virtual caches. They are still accepted and approved. Feel free to submit them and if they conform to the guidelines they will be approved.

 

This is not meant to derail the topic but is only a clarification for people reading the forums who may take this information as fact. Please take any discussion of anything other than not sending a reply to a verification question to a new topic.

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I found 49 caches on my trip. I want to log them all in one sitting. Should I have to stop after #17 and wait a week for a virt owner to say I found the right information, even though it was the only plaque within 5 miles?

 

Sorry, I log my caches in order.

The answer to your question is yes.

 

If you are going to have a specific idiosyncracy on how you log your caches, you're going to have to live with any trials and tribulations that idiosyncracy gives you. One of these may be that a cache owner requests a validation of your information on a virtual in order to obtain your smilie and move on to number 18. If that is unreasonable to you, then you should contact the cacher prior to hunting the virtual to determine if this is a cache you're going to be interested in doing or don't hunt virtuals to make sure your logging session won't take days or learn to live with moving on and then coming back to this cache later when you can discuss it with the hider.

 

We have seen tupperware cache hiders delete finds recently because the person didn't travel 50 feet down a rope to the actual logbook or placed an item under the value requested by the hider or whatever. In every case of a themed traditional cache that had the finder jump through an extra hoop or two, it has been the general consensus that it's the hider's determination on how well you completed their cache. This is no different.

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... We have seen tupperware cache hiders delete finds recently because the person didn't travel 50 feet down a rope to the actual logbook or placed an item under the value requested by the hider or whatever.  In every case of a themed traditional cache that had the finder jump through an extra hoop or two, it has been the general consensus that it's the hider's determination on how well you completed their cache.  This is no different.

I agree with you; if the cache owner does not think a "found it" log is legitimate, then s/he should delete it immediately. I also agree that cache owners often require geocachers to "jump through hoops" while seeking their caches. "Seeking" being the operational word. So there is a major difference.

Edited by BassoonPilot
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I love virts...I have several of my own placed (before the moratorium, of course - and yes, I always reply)...

<snip>

Just a point of fact clarification.

 

There is no moratorium on virtual caches. They are still accepted and approved. Feel free to submit them and if they conform to the guidelines they will be approved.

 

This is not meant to derail the topic but is only a clarification for people reading the forums who may take this information as fact. Please take any discussion of anything other than not sending a reply to a verification question to a new topic.

OK, OK, fair enough response.

 

It only SEEMS like a moratorium! :huh:

-Dave R.

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Ditto the first two responses. Virtual owners that have a stick up their...well, those that say you must email the answers and wait for a response before logging the find are just power-hungry dweebs (I have a much stonger word to describe them, but this is supposed to be a family-friendly forum).

 

There's nothing wrong with posting a find within a few minutes (or seconds) of sending the email. If it's wrong, the owner and seeker should discuss it through email. If it turns out the the seeker was in error, the find can be changed to a note or deleted.

 

If it's wrong, the owner and seeker should discuss it through email.

 

Its wrong if the owner specifically asks that certain criteria is met BEFORE posting the find.

 

Virtual owners that have a stick up their...well, those that say you must email the answers and wait for a response before logging the find are just power-hungry dweebs (I have a much stonger word to describe them, but this is supposed to be a family-friendly forum).

 

Im am glad your true feeling about virtuals is finally coming out Saxman.....after all these months of your proclaiming elsewise. Its nice to know I have a stick up my....... and that I am a power hungry dweeb.....imagine that at my age!

 

If I go through all the time and effort to set up a virtual, then I get to set the perameters to claim the find, and believe me some of them take much more work then traditional caches.

 

You want to bash virtuals? that is fine

You want to baSh virtual owners as a whole....you are overstepping the line, and you are wrong.

 

OH and by the way....I ALWAYS ANSWER MY EMAILS FOR MY VIRTUALS.....ALWAYS

even if they have not waited for my answer.....I just grit my teeth and get on with my life

I think you missed the point, Lulu.

 

I found 49 caches on my trip. I want to log them all in one sitting. Should I have to stop after #17 and wait a week for a virt owner to say I found the right information, even though it was the only plaque within 5 miles?

 

Sorry, I log my caches in order. If I have a wrong answer, it can be worked out later. Does it really hurt the virtual owner to have an extra log on their cache? No. That's the same as "Wait until I verify your signature in the logbook before claiming a find". It's only power-tripping by the cache owner. If the signature isn't there in their next maintenance visit, the log can be changed to a note or deleted. There's no harm in letting it remain logged until the answer is verified.

I did not miss any point Saxman.

 

We have a difference of opinion.

 

I am of the opinion that if the cache owner specifically asks that the finder wait for confirmation, that is what I do.

This means I put their wants before my own, because I chose to go out to find their virtual, they did not ask me, and I appreciate their efforts and work.

If I can't comply with their wishes, I simply don't go. I am not that desparite for a smiley.

Edited by woof n lulu
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