How are pokestop reports dealt with?
PhysBoy-PGO
Posts: 1 ✭✭
Hi, i guess a lot of you have been frustrated when nominating pokestops which seem to fit all the criteria but are rejected. So i decided to report some pokestops that don't fit the criteria, but just had an email my report was rejected. Does anyone know how these decisions are reached? In my area there is an apartment complex with loads of pokestops, which are mainly individual pieces of children's play equipment (not whole playgrounds) which are solely for the use of residents of that complex. It is impossible for pedestrians to get close enough to see them, let alone use them. I can't see how such things can possibly qualify as legitimate pokestops, so i reported two of them as being on private land. However, the appeal was rejected. Does anyone know how and why this would be? Thanks for your help
Comments
A playground that belongs to an apartment complex is not considered private residential property, as it isn't on the property of any individual single family private residence, but is rather in a communal area. Just because you yourself may not have access to it, it doesn't mean other people can't access it safely.
Individual pieces of play equipment that are part of one playground should be considered a duplicate of the playground itself, but if they're spread out significantly then there is a case for having multiple wayspots for them. Without you showing examples, it's hard to comment here.
hello and welcome @PhysBoy-PGO
As @HankWolfman-PGO says, plus even if the play equipment is all part of 1 play set (which can be tricky to determine) it is unlikely to meet removal criteria.
if you want to show us the play area we can help comment if play items should have been approved or not so that a better sense of how guidelines can be interpreted can be developed.
No one knows how Niantic comes to the any of the decisions it reaches for basically anything.
They’ve never shared that information with anyone outside the company. We can only speculate.
A pedestrian is someone who walks. Are you saying that a human being can't walk to reach the equipment because it's in a lake or on a bed of lava?
I get a lot of nominations for apartment complex playgrounds, dog parks, picnic areas, pools, etc, and know that they are going to get used by those that live in the complex or those that pass by. I've even been to many Wayspots by apartments that are great places to socialize, exercise, and/or explore, and at no time have there been any issues. At no point have I ever thought they needed to be removed.
Most of what I do request to be removed are Wayspots that are no longer there, such as one at a building that has been torn down, a mural that's been removed, or a local store that has closed. I've also had some placed on private property or schools removed.
Sometimes, when reporting an invalid Wayspot to be removed, and you have proof that it should be removed, such as a photo, and Niantic rejects the requests, you can still see if it can be removed by submitting an Invalid Wayspot report in the forums here. You may also want to check out what people report for removal, to get a better understand of what Niantic will consider removing. You can find the forum here: