One overly excited Wellington graduate left their diploma on an Uber trip, while another Kiwi rider left an entire boneless chicken behind, likely leaving them feeling peckish for the rest of the day – talk about fowl play!

The latest Lost & Found Index from Uber gives a fascinating insight into what Kiwis left behind in cars last year.

Other unique items that Uber riders lost over the past year included several insulin pens, a single pack of butter, a Chef’s professional set of knives, two boxes of cream chargers, multiple security cards and passports, a unicycle, an EFTPOS machine, and a rocket.

One again, Saturday’s were the most common day for Uber riders to lose items, likely after a few weekend libations. Over the course of 2018, there were more than 3,420 items lost on weekends that were reported to Uber – an average of 65 items per weekend.

Meanwhile, Beck, Grace Jones and the whole Auckland City Limits lineup have a lot to answer for, with 3 March 2018 seeing the most incidents in a single day – a huge 69 items reported by forgetful riders!

Check out the top 10 most common items left on Uber trips below. Vaporizers and e-cigarettes have climbed the table when compared to our 2018 Lost & Found Index, while laptops have dropped off completely.

  1. Phone / camera
  2. Wallet / purse
  3. Keys
  4. Backpack / Bag / Luggage
  5. Clothing items
  6. Glasses
  7. Vape / e-cig
  8. Umbrellas
  9. Passport
  10. Headphones / speaker

If you ever forget something on an Uber trip, getting your items back is easy. You can reach out directly to your Uber driver-partner through the apps menu.

Simply go to Help and report an issue with your last trip – one of the options is the loss of an item. Enter your phone number and the app will connect you directly with the driver-partner to organise the retrieval of your item.

For safety purposes, Uber uses number randomisation software so that riders and driver-partners don’t see each other’s personal phone number.

These simple steps are outlined in this video, which you can refer to next time you think you’ve left something behind.