Geo Cache description rules

[mpivovar]

I planted my first geo-cache the other day only to have the "volunteer" deny it being published because I had the word "Lego" in it. I simply said that in the cache you will find some brand new Lego Mini Characters and Lego Erasers. My son is a big fan of Lego and wanted to go with the Lego Theme. But I am being told that using the word Lego in the cache is against the code since it is a copyrighted name of a commercial company. Am I seriously in the wrong here or is my volunteer reviewer just being unreasonable. I searched 1000's of caches on this site with the word Lego in it and heck even some people use Lego Images as the back ground.

 

Also I live in a Neighbourhood called "Sherwood Park Golf and Country Club Estates" and I mentioned that in my description also and again I was told to take it down because I am promoting the commercial use of the golf course. But I am not it is the name of my Neighbourhood it just so happens that there is also a golf course in the Neighbourhood. Any suggestions this is just giving me a sour taste in my mouth and really discouraging me from ever wanting to participate and hide anything ever again if I have to go through this many hoops. Am I being unreasonable?

[+Touchstone]

I searched 1000's of caches on this site with the word Lego in it and heck even some people use Lego Images as the back ground.

 

From the Guidelines:

 

Please be advised that there is no precedent for placing geocaches.

 

In other words, it's irrelevant how many examples you've found.

 

Am I seriously in the wrong here or is my volunteer reviewer just being unreasonable.

 

From the Guidelines:

 

 

Cache listings perceived as commercial will not be published. A commercial cache listing has one or more of the following characteristics:

 

1.It has overtones of advertising, marketing or promotion.

2.It suggests or requires that the finder go inside a business, interact with employees and/or purchase a product or service.

3.It contains links to businesses, agencies, commercial advertisers, charities, or political or social agendas.

4.It contains the logo of a business or organization, including non-profit organizations.

5.It contains the name of a business or commercial product.

 

Sounds like your Reviewer is properly enforcing the Guidelines. Remove the product name and resubmit.

 

Good luck.

[+The A-Team]

From the Guidelines:

 

 

Cache listings perceived as commercial will not be published. A commercial cache listing has one or more of the following characteristics:

 

1.It has overtones of advertising, marketing or promotion.

2.It suggests or requires that the finder go inside a business, interact with employees and/or purchase a product or service.

3.It contains links to businesses, agencies, commercial advertisers, charities, or political or social agendas.

4.It contains the logo of a business or organization, including non-profit organizations.

5.It contains the name of a business or commercial product.

 

Sounds like your Reviewer is properly enforcing the Guidelines. Remove the product name and resubmit.

 

Good luck.

This is just my opinion, and I haven't seen exactly how the description was worded, but I think the reviewer may have been unreasonable. Simply mentioning a product in a description does not necessarily make it a "commercial cache". Saying something like "I love Lego! I recommend going out and buying some for your kids" would clearly violate the guideline. Mentioning that Lego has been left as swag in the cache is perfectly acceptable and a cache shouldn't be denied on that basis. If you weren't allowed to mention a product name at all, we'd never be able to state in our descriptions that the container is a Tupperware, Lock 'n' Lock, or Rubbermaid container. Like I said earlier, though, we don't know exactly how it was worded, so it could have sounded more like an endorsement of Lego.

[Andronicus]

You could always use the generic term "snap togeather building blocks". However, mentioning lego would not likley be a problem. It is more likely in the way that is was used or presented. Maybe one of the resident reviewers will stop by and clarify (they usualy do).

 

PS If you think your reviewer oversteped, you can always appeal to HQ. Can someone remind us of the email address for that?

[+The A-Team]

PS If you think your reviewer oversteped, you can always appeal to HQ. Can someone remind us of the email address for that?

appeals@geocaching.com

[+Touchstone]

PS If you think your reviewer oversteped, you can always appeal to HQ. Can someone remind us of the email address for that?

appeals@geocaching.com

 

I think this is the preferred way now:

 

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=request

 

I'm not sure that email address is active anymore.

 

Edit to add related article:

 

Required Information for Appeals

Edited August 12, 2014 by Touchstone

[+Touchstone]

Oh, and just in case the OP was wondering...

 

Editing a Published Listing

 

The same process described in the Article works for Unpublished Listings as well.

[Pup Patrol]

PS If you think your reviewer oversteped, you can always appeal to HQ. Can someone remind us of the email address for that?

appeals@geocaching.com

 

I think this is the preferred way now:

 

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=request

 

I'm not sure that email address is active anymore.

 

Edit to add related article:

 

Required Information for Appeals

 

There's no contact info in that Help Center article. Nor a link to an email address.

 

How is one supposed to know where to send the "required information"?

 

 

B.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Pup Patrol

[+Walts Hunting]

Sounds reasonable to me. I wasn't able to mention Android of iPhone in a listing that required a NFC reader so was just trying to tell people which phone system they could/couldn't use.

 

You can't mention a business or product by name and they have gotten pretty strict about that.

[+Touchstone]

PS If you think your reviewer oversteped, you can always appeal to HQ. Can someone remind us of the email address for that?

appeals@geocaching.com

 

I think this is the preferred way now:

 

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=request

 

I'm not sure that email address is active anymore.

 

Edit to add related article:

 

Required Information for Appeals

 

There's no contact info in that Help Center article. Nor a link to an email address.

 

How is one supposed to know where to send the "required information"?

 

 

B.

In the preamble of the Guidelines:

 

If you need to appeal the decisions of our reviewers, contact Groundspeak and categorize your message for the Appeals group. We look forward to assisting you.

 

The "assisting you" is hyperlinked to the Email Us page that I linked to earlier. On the Email Us page, there is a pulldown menu below the "How would you categorize this request?". Option 9 is "appeals". I'm assuming that any required information not detailed in the available boxes on that form, would go in the main Details box near the end.

 

All academic at this point. Looks like the OP got resolution on their Listing

[+niraD]

You can't mention a business or product by name and they have gotten pretty strict about that.

This is worth noting. They have gotten more strict about certain guidelines over the years. Just because you see other caches that mention commercial products doesn't mean that they'll allow new listings that mention commercial products. They've also gotten more strict about the saturation guidelines, and about a few others.

[+Maebius]

it's also very interesting that the Trackables Swag they sell on this very site includes this category:

http://shop.geocaching.com/default/trackable-items/lego

 

(edit to make actual link to shop, d'oh!)

Edited August 13, 2014 by Maebius

[+dprovan]

it's also very interesting that the Trackables Swag they sell on this very site includes this category:

http://shop.geocaching.com/default/trackable-items/lego

A common misconception. GS isn't against commercial products. They just want to make absolutely sure that geocaches aren't used for commercial purposes.

 

In this case, it seems a little extreme, but I guess they've decided to draw a firm line so there's no room for debate. Unfortunate, but reasonable.

[+Great Scott!]

Would L.E.G.O. be accepted in a geocache name?

[+ngrrfan]

Would L.E.G.O. be accepted in a geocache name?

Doesn't it stand for Large Egregious Gigantic Object?

 

So I would say yes.