For eight years running, the world's biggest rideshare platform has been keeping tabs on its most "forgetful" riders in a report they've dubbed the Lost & Found Index. Along with compiling the year's most frequently lost and bizarre items passengers left behind, the report also looks at which cities had the most absentminded riders.
Unsurprisingly, Miami came out on top as the most forgetful city, racking up the highest number of lost items reported on the platform—up from sixth place in 2023.
Below Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Orlando, Phoenix, Tampa Bay, Denver and Austin ranked in the top 10, in that order. Florida, what's going on? Do we need to collectively up our coffee intake? Denver and L.A., perhaps a little cannabis detox is in order.
Look, most of us have been there, whether we realize it just as our driver's out of sight or the next morning as our hangover's setting in. It's usually something boring like a phone, a vape or an article of clothing. But riders are leaving behind a lot more than that—everything from hair toupees to Benihana garlic butter, pet turtles and so much more.
Here are more of the most interesting findings from this year's report:
The 2024 Uber Lost & Found Index
The 10 most commonly forgotten items:
- Clothing
- Luggage
- Headphones
- Wallet
- Jewelry
- Phone
- Camera
- Tablet or book
- Laptop
- Vape
The 25 weirdest lost items:
- Frontal hair toupee
- Hot sauce and a breathalyzer
- I left a leaf in your car that’s much needed
- Two containers with spiders in them
- A Beyoncé fold up fan
- A tray of meat pie
- Ceramic cat
- Jar of oysters
- A personalized blanket with a picture of me and my dog
- Small rat skeleton prop
- Candle that says ‘See you in court’
- A fake tooth / retainer (it’s a really small plastic piece with a fake tooth in it)
- Gray tub of surgical implants
- Police-grade handcuffs
- My live pet animal turtle
- Waist beads and a burrito steamer
- I left expensive blueberries that are special that I need that the store is completely out of. There’s two packages that I absolutely need.
- My girlfriend’s pregnant pills
- Small box containing a gnome.
- Standup paddleboard paddle
- Painting from SeaWorld. It was wrapped up in a roll and I love it.
- A playbill from the Spamalot show at the Kennedy Center
- My robot
- Benihana garlic butter
- Contraceptive Plan B from Costco and a BaBylissPRO massager machine
Most forgetful days and times:
- Remember 1/21: January 21st is the most forgetful day of the year, with the most lost items recorded.
- Losing Hour: The most popular hours of the day lost items were reported were 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm. Not the ideal night time routine we see on TikTok, huh?
Lost items that peak on certain days:
- People are most likely to forget luggage on Mondays.
- People are most likely to forget headphones on Tuesdays.
- People are most likely to forget wallets on Wednesdays.
- People are most likely to forget jewelry on Thursdays.
- People are most likely to forget phones on Fridays.
- People are most likely to forget vapes on Saturdays.
- People are most likely to forget clothing on Sundays.
2024 Lost & Found trends:
- Seeing Red: Lost an item and seeing red? Well, that should help, since the most popular color of lost items was red.
- Keeping Cool with Crystals: Channeling your inner zen and manifesting more just got a little harder. Riders around the country lost a number of healing crystals, including purple Amethysts, green Aventurines and more.
- Mini Cooper Movers: The top lost car keys were from Mini Cooper owners. They won’t be getting very far in their little cars!
- What’s the WiFi: There was a significant number of wifi hotspots and mobile routers left behind this year. Is that why you dropped from the Zoom call?
- Getting Sensical: It appears Uber riders are coming to their senses this year, or finding them rather. From dignity, to credibility and memory, riders reported emotional losses left behind.
- Next Time, Take Your Board: Whether of sentimental value or brand spankin’ new, skateboarders forgot their #1 tool this year time and time again.
If you find yourself among the unfortunate forgetful, here's your best course of action, according to Uber:
The best way to retrieve a lost item is to call the driver, but if it's your phone you've forgotten, log in on another device and then do the following.
- Open the Uber app and tap “Activity” on the bottom icon menu.
- Select the trip on which you lost the item.
- Scroll down to “Find lost item” in the Help section, and then “Contact driver about a lost item.”
- Enter your phone number to call the driver.
- If your driver picks up and confirms that your item has been found, coordinate a mutually convenient time and place to meet for its return to you.
- If your driver doesn’t pick up, leave a detailed voicemail describing your item and the best way to contact you.