I've been meaning to throw this out here on the forum for a few weeks to see what folks thought about it...
On 1/28/10 there was a new cache called "Duck Duck Swan" (GC23E91) published in Cleburne County. I was working my way back from NE Arkansas and needed a Cleburne County cache for my county challenge, so I attempted an FTF on 2/3/10. I drove from Batesville to GZ in the wee hours of the morning and arrived around 0030. It was quite a drive on icy dirt roads and I was terribly sleep-deprived. The cache was rated as a 1.5 difficulty, "small" plastic container.
I could not initially find the cache, as the coords were inaccurate (and later changed by the CO). I expanded my search area, eventually stumbling upon the cache, which was a blue magnetic stuck on a sign. But when I pulled out the log, there was already another name at the top. However, the log was dated 11/29/09, way before the cache was published.
So, since there are no formal rules on FTF's, I just accepted my disappointment and reported to the CO my findings and his inaccurate coords. He agreed that he could be a little bit more accurate with his coords, but the log that I signed DID NOT BELONG TO HIS CACHE! In other words, it was a separate cache container in the same vicinity. Of course, I had no way of knowing this when I found it. I figured that the CO had placed the cache months previously and just waited a long time to submit for publication; while the cache was stuck on the sign, another geocacher must have seen it and signed the log, a true FTF, even prior to publication.
Two days later, someone else found the real cache and was awarded FTF by the CO. Of course I feel cheated, especially with all the work I put into it. I forfeited the FTF, but the cache owner "allowed" me to record a find.
Is that not weird? What do you think about it? Has it ever happened to you? Was the ruling fair? Do you think the cacher that found the cache two days after me should have had the courtesy not to claim the FTF? What if the guy that signed the log in November would have posted an FTF?