MnGCA

WestSideDaddy · MnGCA Board Joined: 06 Apr 2010 Posts: 549

OK. So now that I have a few travel bugs out there I have some that are stuck (or missing) in caches but one that had been marked retrieved but not moved along. What is the etiquette about contacting someone who picked up a bug but hasn't dropped it yet?

Red_Devil35 · Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 5:21 pm Post subject: Re: Contacting who has them

RudeRat · Past MnGCA Board Joined: 09 Jul 2008 Posts: 719

After a few weeks I track them down through their profile then park myself on their door step until they cough up the coin or the bug. Occasionally I’ve had to zap them with a tazer I bought on Craigslist, but that’s been rare. Usually they just slip the trackable out through a mail slot or crack through a chain locked door. I’ve learned that talking to yourself on their door step produces quicker results. I realize this may be viewed as a bit extreme, but it gets me out and about around the world, and isn’t that what geocaching is all about? Wink

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bflentje · Geocacher Joined: 29 May 2006 Posts: 3673

I've given up contacting TB holders. They're either insulted that you have the nerve to mention they've had your coin for 12 weeks or they just don't reply.

kc9gbo · Geocacher Joined: 26 Jun 2009 Posts: 148

Try after a year later.. and you can't do a tb rescue on them because someone is holding it... unless you send someone to break a leg I suppose.

MNMizzou · Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 11:44 pm Post subject:

We have put so many little ducks out that I don't even bother to try to contact "missing" ones... surprisingly I would guess over half of them at some point move on when I thought they were long dead and gone.

pfalstad · Geocacher Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Posts: 967 Location: Edina

I gave up contacting TB holders long ago. I don't remember if it ever accomplished anything. If you have the energy, feel free to nag them every month or so.

NOSNOW · Geocacher Joined: 01 Jul 2009 Posts: 200

I do it after they have held on to it for 3-6 months. I have found it better to just ask if they still have it. You have a better chance of getting a reply, then asking them to drop it.

threenow24 · Geocacher Joined: 06 Jun 2010 Posts: 23

Seems like I luck out and have someone grab my bug or coin and then quit playing (I just looked, 5 or 6 are in that limbo, anywhere from 2 months to 2 years). Trying to contact them does no good because they probably don't bother with their mail either.
All I can do is hope they take up caching again someday, remember where my trackable is and place it back out.

ArcherDragoon · Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 3:36 pm Post subject:

I tried early on...but now...I don't. I wish them luck and send them on their way...and hope for the best. I had one resurface after about a year MIA...sort of fun to see that happen...but other than that...I just let them be...
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Sharknose Bunnies · Geocacher Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 297

pattenclan · Geocacher Joined: 08 Oct 2011 Posts: 171

We have had one get muggled (it was in a muggled cache...that was muggled within a week of us launching the TB)....we have one that was placed in a cache up in Ham Lake or someplace like that...which is where it has been for a year now (I am not sure if it was mine or hubby's)....so I can't even contact the cacher who took it. I might contact CO, but unsure. That one had a goal....LOL.

Typically, we wait a month or so, then see if they have a plan to place. We have had GREAT responses with that method. Other than that, we havent really had any need to worry about it.