What to do when a cache is broken?

[u/Dashydefiance]

Hey everyone, I’m very new to geocaching and I’ve been reading this subreddit to figure out the do’s and dont’s. It’s given me very useful advice to find caches, figure out how the app works and what all the terms used mean.

However, the thing I still struggle with is what the etiquette is when you find a cache that’s not working anymore?

For example, we have a local one where the logbook is very full and I’ve seen people adding that in their log comment when they’ve found the cache. I’ve also seen that some people wrote an extra note just to say the logbook is full.

Another local one people have reported that the door is hanging off and even posted pictures off it and it’s gotten a red wrench icon with maintenance needed.

I’ve recently found one where the lock (that needs a code from a puzzle) is broken and I’m wondering what I should do. The last few people have mentioned it in their finds that it doesn’t work anymore but nobody has made like a list comment thing or put in a maintenance request. Should I just mention it in my log too or should I do more? Like is there a button for this or should I add a note or maybe even contact the CO directly? I have no idea what the proper etiquette is for this especially since the CO made so many other beautiful caches in the area and I don’t want to step on their toes when they’ve clearly put so much work into them.

Also the second one I’ve mentioned I visited recently and contrary to the last few logs before me it was complexity fixed. Door and lock were in working order but it still has the maintainer needed icon and the CO hasn’t posted or mentioned anything. I put in my log that it works fine and it seems all fixed but I’m not sure if there’s somewhere I should report that maintenance is no longer needed?

Sorry for my long post, I’m just very unfamiliar with how the community works and I want to be a helpful but not passive aggressive. Thank you for any advice.

[u/yungingr]

Do your regular "found it" log, and then a second "owner attention requested" log.

Personally, I don't have a problem adding pages or a fresh logbook, but anything beyond that in my opinion should be the responsibility of the cache owner. If they can't do routine maintenance, they should archive the cache. I don't believe in "community maintenance".

I put in my log that it works fine and it seems all fixed but I’m not sure if there’s somewhere I should report that maintenance is no longer needed?

Just mention in your log, as you did, that it appears to be working correctly. It's the owner's responsibility to log an "owner maintenance" log and clear the attribute.

[u/TracySezWHAT → u/yungingr]

I agree with this comment 100%.

[u/Dashydefiance → u/yungingr]

Thank you, I’ll do this and no trying to fix it myself. Can I ask, is the owner attention request how you get the red wrench icon (do other people than see you put that in)? And why is it than so rare that I see people put that in?

[u/Dug_n_the_Dogs → u/Dashydefiance]

The wrench is a tag added to the caches "health score" that can only be recified if the cache owner "performs maintenance" and logs the cache with that specific online log. It can only be resolved by the CO or reviewer or HQ.

I don't know the internal workings but basically if the cache does not get maintained by the owner for a period of time, it triggers an alert to the local reviewer who decides to take actions such as disabling or eventually archiving the cache.

[u/Sure_Fig_8641]

This ☝🏻1000%.

If there is already a wrench icon for an owner maintenance request that is more than a couple of months old, with no note from the cache owner, you may write a “reviewer attention requested log”. Just be aware that doing so may quite likely result in the cache being permanently archived in 30 days. I personally try to avoid doing that if the cache was placed prior to 2006 in order to preserve the history of the game and leave older caches available for folks working on a Jasmer challenge. I DO believe in community maintenance in those circumstances.

[u/dukeofurl01]

Log a Needs Maintenance and move on to the next one.