Exclusive: We’ve all been there or know someone who has—leaving behind a bag, wallet, or phone in a rideshare.

Such oversights seem trivial and should be simple to resolve.

However, in today’s world of mobile apps, multi-step verification, and ever-increasing rideshare usage, recovering lost items can turn into a major hassle.

A woman shared that the NSW Police advised her against visiting the man’s residence but admitted they had limited intervention options.

“They mentioned that the issue remained within DiDi’s jurisdiction,” she explained.

“I provided the officer with the driver’s contact information, and he promised to attempt to reach the driver to persuade him to drop the bag off at a nearby police station.”

Eve’s unsure if police contacted the driver but he eventually agreed to leave her bag at a police station for her to collect.

When DiDi responded to her lost item report, it was to say the driver hadn’t found it.

“I feel like they weren’t really doing their due diligence, as it seemed obvious he would say there was nothing lost in the car so he’s not caught out,” Eve said.

She claimed the driver also deleted their in-app chat messages about the bag.

*Names changed for privacy.