What do I do? should be disabled

[Tiger-Eyes]

I went to a cache site this week and the cache had definately gone, The remains of the box were in pieces as it had been mown when the verges got cut. I logged a needs maintenace log on the cache page and noticed that someone before me had mentioned it was missing on the 5th July, I have emailed the cache owner but if I don't get a reply should I post a sba log?

Also on the same day one of the caches I did was hidden in a small hole in a stone wall (not dry stone) the clue says "on the wall" and previous caches have obviously been lifting every lose stone to try and find it (it is very hard to spot), I personaly think this wall is being damaged by caches, Should I email the owners stating my concerns or would I be interfering and should mind my own?

[Richie_EB4]

Q1........post a sba log

Q2........email the owners stating your concerns.......at the end of the day we dont want anymore damage to the wall.

JMO

[gazooks]

Q1 - leave it a couple of weeks and see if the owner posts a maintenace log - if not post a SBA.

Q2 - ditto Richie_EB4

[keehotee]

Q1 - Needs maintenance. The fact that it's missing doesn't mean it should be archived.... it's July - lots of people (including some inconsiderate cache owners) go on holiday in July, and won't necessarily have 24/7 access to the interwebbb or email.

2 - email the owner. If the clue says "on the wall", but it's now "in the wall", is it where it was originally hidden - or was one of the previous finders one of those people who thinks they should rehide it "just a little better than originally" (in their opinion)

[Tiger-Eyes]

Q1 resolved, they have disabled the cache:) though maybe we should have a SBD - should be disabled option to cover this, sometimes owners don't see the logs are away etc and it is very dissapointing to travel to a cache thats not there,
Q2 I have tried a polite email and hope I don't offend, it turns out that it is the same person they changed the owned by name on 1 of the caches so with 2 emails to them it looks as if I'm the cache police :ph34r:

[Bear and Ragged]

Q1 resolved, they have disabled the cache:) though maybe we should have a SBD - should be disabled option to cover this, sometimes owners don't see the logs are away etc and it is very dissapointing to travel to a cache thats not there,
Q2 I have tried a polite email and hope I don't offend, it turns out that it is the same person they changed the owned by name on 1 of the caches so with 2 emails to them it looks as if I'm the cache police :ph34r:

Q1. A good reason to post DNF's -Lets other know there may be a problem.
I'd still go for a high difficulty cache, if a DNF was posted by a newer/less experienced cacher, depending on what they say in the log. eg "arrived late in the day, getting dark, so called it a day" is still worth a look!

Q2. Wouldn't worry about it! At least they are aware their caches are being watched... :ph34r:

[markandlynn]

I occasionally go through my local caches and post SBA's on those that need attention based on DNF's, needs maintainance. I always check the cache owners profile page as the last logged in date tells you if they are active or not.

I believe a lot of people think disabling a cache is the same as archiving a cache.

I also get annoyed when a cacher plants new caches while having other (easy to access) caches disabled id like to see a reviewer rule for that !

I have one cache thats long term disabled at the moment but cause of 40 watchers i dont post notes to say went to site got muggled.

[Brenin Tegeingl]

I've posted this before, but it's worth reposting.

This comes from a mixture of the Guidelines and personal experience both as a Reviewer and as a Member :o

Common Sense Guidelines

Caches should only be Disabled for a short period, but if the owner keeps everyone updated by posting a note the cache every 6-8 weeks explaining what's happening that period can be extensive ie: access issues due to forestry work, Building Work or even Illness come to mind.

After many DNF's the owner should Disable it to allow a Maintenance visit to be paid. We're not talking after one or 2 ;) but a large No indicates that there is a issue which needs looking into.

Caches Disabled for extended periods where the owner has not post a genuine reason risks having the cache Archived.

Warning system to owners :o .

A Needs Maintenance Visit log should flag up to a owner that there is a issue that needs quickly seeing to. It should be considered a Yellow Card :D as Reviewers aren't copied the log.

Needs Archiving [SBA (the wording has been changed)] this should be considered a Red Card Final Warning by cache owners, as Reviewers are copied in on this Log Type. Owners who have not logged in for a extended period can reasonably expect to have it Archived Immediately on the Grounds that it has been Abandoned. In other cases it's on a case by case basis. I've seen NA logs made by mistake :D, and not always by new cachers :D

If your aware of a cache with Issues, which you do not fell needs a Needs Archiving Log being immediately made to it should receive a Needs Maintenance log. If after 4 weeks the owner has not actioned the log, then post a Needs Archiving log. The owner can't complain that they haven't received fair warning.

If your aware of issues with a cache ie: Multiple DNF's, extended Disabled without good reason. Needs Maintenance ignored. But do not wish to post a needs Maintenance or Needs Archiving log, please feel free to contact me or my new colleagues [when I get some ;) ] directly. We [well i] won't shout or bite :P

Both the Needs Maintenance and Needs Archiving log types are for Members to flag up issues with other members caches to the owners. and in the case of Needs Archiving to Reviewers as well.

Removal of Needs Maintenance Icons, the cache owner has to post a Owner Maintenance log. This log type should only be used after the owner has physically visited the cache location, maintained the cache and enabled it if needed. The use of this log type for any other purpose should be flagged back up with another Needs Maintenance log or by contacting one of the Reviewers. The Needs Maintenance Icon can not be removed by deleting the NM log [something I've seen happen to hide the fact that the cache needed urgent maintenance] , if you make a NM log and the cache owner deletes it without Maintaining the cache. Please post a Needs Archiving log or again make direct contact with a Reviewer.

As I have stated the above is a mixture of the Guidelines and personal experience, but above all it's based on common sense :D

As you can guess I'm currently too swamped to even contemplate doing a sweep of long term disabled caches [around 8 weeks or longer] which can take over 20 hours to complete as each one has to be physically checked as to why it's disabled. So I'm currently reliant on the community flagging up caches with issues. If everyone just followed the above, we'd see the No of long term Disabled caches dwindle down to a small percentage. This would be the community not being the cache police, but providing self quality control for the benefit of everyone.

Dave-Deci