Business Caches

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 5:29 pm

Im looking at hiding a cache in my local coffee shop i'm at a lot, and was wonering what I need to do if I need to get writen permission from the owner to get to the reveiwer. I was in the shop this morning and I got verbal permission from the owner about putting a casche in her establishment and were all excited about this, so I need to know what steps I need to take..

WGA Member Joined: 2007-02-03 Posts: 2182

Just simply state on the cache page description that you have permission from the owner. If they find out later that you lied -- well I won't tell you what will happen, but it isn't pretty.The reviewer will trust that you actually did this. I keep records of verbal or written permissions in case there is a problem in the future. It's also a good idea to go beyond the permission and actually show the property owner where the cache is. This can help in situations that look suspicious and may be reported to authorities by muggles.

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 5:49 pm

Is the cache going to be inside? While that's not strictly forbidden, it will make it more difficult to get published.

WGA Member Joined: 2007-02-03 Posts: 2182

Team Black-Cat wrote:

Is the cache going to be inside? While that's not strictly forbidden, it will make it more difficult to get published.

I re-read your post and see that you state in the establishment. Very little chance of getting it published if it is inside. Something like one in a million. Having to go inside makes it a commercial cache which is not allowed.

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:12 pm

It will really depend on how you word it when you submit it.

There is a cache down in Kentucky that is inside a museum. The coordinates take you to the front door and the clue leads you inside to the coat rack. The staff is very helpful. When I was there they had an exhibit blocking the coat rack. I told the staff at the desk what I was doing and the gladly went back and got it for me to sign.

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:14 pm

The field trip I was supposed to go on yesterday also had one that led you inside at Mosquito Hill... trip got cancelled, but I remember reading the log.

WGA Member Joined: 2007-02-03 Posts: 2182

Usually libraries, museums and similar buildings are OK. They are not commercial caches like a retail business would be considered.

Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:11 pm

I remember doing one in a hospital and that was in a coffe lounge. Even if I state in the cache that you dont have to buy anything.

WGA Member Joined: 2009-11-08 Posts: 20

I just published W.A.M. v2.0. I talked to the owner to get permission and stated that in the listing and then again to the reviewer. I didn't have anything signed or submitted from him. Just remember you can't have the business name in the listing. I was denied on this at first even though the tkks's initial listing had it in there. There must have been a policy change at some point.

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 8:06 am

per GC.com guidelines

Quote:

Commercial caches are disallowed. As a general rule, reviewers will not publish cache pages that seem commercial. A commercial cache has one or more of the following characteristics:

It requires the finder to go inside a business, interact with employees and/or purchase a product or service.
It has overtones of advertising, marketing or promotion.
It contains links to businesses, commercial advertisers, charities, political agendas or social agendas.
It contains the logo of a business or organization, including non-profit organizations.
The name of a business or commercial product is on the cache page.
On very rare occasions, Groundspeak makes an exception for a commercial cache. Arrangements are made before placement. If your cache is commercial in any way, please contact Groundspeak for clarification about how to comply with cache listing guidelines.

WGA Member Joined: 2007-11-26 Posts: 3258

Outside should be ok, although the rules are inconsistently enforced on this. I once had to change cache verbiage simply because I referenced the name of a business in the parking directions. On the other hand, I've seen plenty of caches on commercial property, just not inside.

WGA Member Joined: 2007-12-27 Posts: 342 Location: Wausau

I did an event cache at a local coffee shop and was asked to remove any reference to the business name in the description. I couldn't even say "the event will be a Biggby Coffee." So I changed it and it went through fine.

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:42 pm

There's a cache here in Cedarburg that's inside a coffee shop, GC33A5, Puzzled In Cedarburg, You have to ask the cashier for "the can", and its a puzzle you put together, upon successful completion of the puzzle, you get an individual code to post onto the log to prove you did it. It's only open during business hours obviously, so I don't know how this got published according to the above rules, but its a unique and fun idea.

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:53 pm

Looks like that cache pre-dated the rules. There a few other older ones like that.

Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:54 pm

goirish75 wrote:

There's a cache here in Cedarburg that's inside a coffee shop, GC33A5, Puzzled In Cedarburg, You have to ask the cashier for "the can", and its a puzzle you put together, upon successful completion of the puzzle, you get an individual code to post onto the log to prove you did it. It's only open during business hours obviously, so I don't know how this got published according to the above rules, but its a unique and fun idea.

looks like it was grandfathered according to the bottom part of the posting. looks like fun actually Smile