who's job is it to log missing trackables?

[+gifthorse]

Hello! I've been reading over various forum replies and am still confused about something. Who's job is it to log that a trackable is missing from a cache? Is it the cache owner's job or the owner of the missing trackable (assuming they have been notified)? Today I found a cache that was supposed to have five (I think) travel bugs in it. It had been some months since anyone new had logged in. The last log was a month ago when the cache owner said he was doing a maintenance check and placing two travel bugs in the cache. I found his, but was surprised to find the others missing, since he was the last one to check it. In my log, I suggested that the CO mark them as missing. He emailed me to say that he had notified the missing TB owners and they hadn't responded, but he didn't think it was his job to mark them missing. I guess I don't see the problem after maybe a month has gone by since they've been reported missing to mark them missing, figuring it will change if they are grabbed from elsewhere.

 

I am anxious to hear your input because, as a new cache owner myself, I want to use the proper CO etiquette, if this situation ever arises with my caches. Up until now, I would have just marked it missing, but maybe I would have stepped on the toes of the TB owner if I had?

[Pup Patrol]

The cache owner most definitely CAN mark the travellers as "missing".

 

Here's the link to the Knowledge Books article "2.5. Mark Missing - Trackable on page but not there physically."

 

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=152

 

Understandably, cache owners might prefer to physically check on the cache contents to make sure that the travellers are really missing from their cache.

 

It's a courtesy to the people who may be searching for your cache, and are expecting to find trackables in it.

 

It's not the CO's "job", but it isn't an onerous courtesy to extend to clear up the trackables inventory.

 

The trackable owner probably has no way of verifying that their trackable is missing. Some owners, if they are still active in the game, will wait up to a year before marking their trackable as "missing".

Edited April 14, 2011 by Pup Patrol

[+BlueDeuce]

My cache maintenance includes Marking bugs as missing, but trust me you can't make that a requirement of other cache owners. Some feel that the cache they place does not include the onus of having to verify the bug inventory. I guess I can understand, to a point.

[+Chokecherry]

I wouldn't get too aggressive about marking them missing either. Let it ride for a little bit in case the bug was picked up on vacation and simply not logged etc.

[+Eartha]

First, you let the owner know that you verified it was missing, by visiting the cache, and not finding it. You should read the log book if you can, to see if anyone was recently there and said they took it. If they do not respond, you can let the cache owner know that it was verified as missing. If they do not respond you can let me or your local reviewer know (include a link to the missing trackable, and you let us know that you confirmed it was not in the cache)and either of us can mark it missing for you.

Sometimes cachers become inactive, for whatever reason, and the emails bounce back, they are no longer in the game, and won't respond.