Often when reading logs I find something along the lines of "Wouldn't have found without help from <insert CO name here>" or "Found thanks to email overnight from < insert CO name here>"... and the like.

I'm wondering, what is the etiquette here, apart from the usual standards of politeness, etc., in asking for a hint? And is there a policy of not giving hints to "basic" members of Geocaching.com?

Having just over 150 finds, I have been desperate enough on three occasions to ask for a hint from (three different) COs. Only one has ever replied, though I have asked politely and nicely, and although they've all had site activity after my contacting them.

One of the COs mentions on his cache pages that he often offers no hints on the page, but he is one often mentioned by other "stuck" cachers as having offered help behind the scenes, as it were.

So, have I put my foot in it somewhere? Is it not done in this country to ask for help? On the general forum pages on Geocaching.com they seem to encourage it in the States but it doesn't seem so welcome over here.