Helping new cachers

[Timberline Echoes]

There is a new cacher in our area. They listed a new cache so we went to it and found the coords to be on private land. The cache page did say that it was near a picnic shelter, so we went to a shelter that was over half a mile away. We gave a brief search and did not find it. We wrote the owner and posted a DNF. Owner never wrote us back but did
“fix” it and put new coords on the page a couple days later. We went there last night and saw that the coords took us over 200 feet past the shelter. We looked around GZ for a bit and decided to just try closer to the shelter. Hootie, we found it. Took new coords for the owner. Mr. TE posted these in our FTF note.

I feel we should send the owner another email and offer some suggestions or ask if they want any help if they plan on putting out more. Mr. wants to leave it alone as he thinks we could sound arrogant. So I am looking for some opinions here… should we leave it alone or try to help someone who is not asking for help?
Mrs. TE

[Lostby7]

The hider might be using Google Earth for coords?

[Timberline Echoes]

That is what I am wondering… so do we ask?

[Lostby7]

I normally prefer to just make a helpful note in the log and other finders will normally do the same. If the person chooses not to change the cache or the methods used to hide it that’s up to them. I don’t like appearing arrogant either.

[gotta run]

I would post the coords I found the cache at in the additional waypoint and reference it in the log. I usually hedge my log comments with an “it could have just been us, but our GPSr put us quite a ways off from GZ.”

On the Left Side of the Road...

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

Been there too, and the few times I contacted other cachers about bad placements, poor containers that didn’t last a week or bad coords, It felt like I was being arrogant even though it wasn’t my intent.

I did learn long ago, that posting my issue nicely in my log or in a note seems to go just as far with getting things changed, without the downside.

[Trekkin and Birdin]

I agree with the rest….make the comments in the context of the log and then let it go. Hate to admit when one of the Calvetti boys is right, but….LOL.

Even if a cache really sucks, I don’t like to whine about it, because….that person did try to put something out, and when I see others post those kinds of things, it appears arrogant. The one thing I might add is you could email the placer with a link to the WGA, inviting them to check it out as a great place to learn more and maybe connect with area cachers.

[Sagasu]

I’ve made friendly observations in some cache logs that tip off an owner, new or otherwise, to something they would want to know about. Same with getting some logs for our caches that let me know that something might not be as intended. At times, I may send a cache owner (or finder) an e-mail if there’s something that I’m not sure about or can’t be put in a log for others to see, or if it’s something about one of our caches I want to check on. Both have worked for me, and the private communication has almost always led to an opportunity to share other things and get to know another cacher better.

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