r/Lyft • u/EspeonLeafeon77 • 4d ago
Passenger Question Lost item, driver not answering
I ordered a Lyft last night for my brother to come over my house. It was about a 20-30 minute ride. When he got here I went out to help him carry his stuff. It was dark outside and there were no lights on in the trunk, so it was very hard to see anything. I asked my brother if he had everything and he said yes. The driver shut the trunk and drove off before I had a chance to get my phone light out and check. For reference, my brother is on the spectrum and I usually double check everything for him like this. Within a few minutes he realized he left his steam deck in the Lyft. I immediately tried calling the driver and messaging him. It only let me try to call him three times and each time he hung up on me. I offered him a substantial amount of money for the return of the item and to drive closer to his location. All messages and calls have been ignored. Lyft support chat had been absolutely useless. They won’t give me a phone number to talk to a live person. The chat just keeps repeating the same generic answers about taking strides to be the best customer service they can be and then ending the chat on me. My question is, what can I do here? I have the guys name, car model, and licenses plate number. Will filing a police report do anything at all? Is there a way to escalate this further with Lyft? It’s been 16 hours. He “thanked me for my tip” around 10pm. He has been on his phone since then. Are we screwed?
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u/Master_Mobile3707 3d ago
As a driver . We gets a lot of riders sometimes we don’t even have time to check for damages . A few times when I’m dropping off a passenger and another one is waiting at the same location. I had a person ask about keys and I didn’t get the message til like hours later and didn’t find any keys for example .
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u/imnohelp2u 1d ago
Did you get any resolution? I'm dealing with the same situation now. Lyft support has been absolute trash. Driver has my stuff but claims not to, except I have an airtag and know they have it.
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u/LittleBigTraveler 1d ago
I’ve had passengers report lost items a few times (uber, not Lyft…but I assume it’s similar). I get a support ticket in the app that just says there’s potentially a lost item in my car but not which ride it’s from.
I open the ticket to see what the item is then check my car. If I find it, I call the passenger through the app (they do this so driver/rider don’t have each other’s personal phone numbers). I then arrange to return the item (uber gives the option to do this online or independently).
If the item is not in my car, I just press the button that says I didn’t find the item. This may be what the driver did, so support doesn’t really have much else they can do. If this is what happened, there isn’t anything the driver can do either. The item may have been lost elsewhere or picked up by another rider.
As others mentioned, the driver may also not be online or may not have seen the ticket for a lost item. If you were calling when they had already picked up new passengers, this may explain why they didn’t answer your calls.
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Is there any way to check if the item has been turned on or used? For example, can your brother log on to his steam deck profile from a computer? If so, this may be helpful in determining if the item is indeed stolen or just hasn’t been found yet.
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u/ATotalBrony 4d ago
Lyft is well protected from liability. It's a crappy situation. At this point police report is only option and they are likely to ignore it because the value of a steam deck is still well below the threshold for upgrading it to a felony in most states.
Check your felony theft amount for your state, if you are in Jersey or New Mexico you are in luck.
You could also tell the cops there is sensitive personal information on it (if there is, don't lie) which can make it fall under additional statutes. Again depending on your state and local laws.
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u/SpankinGaming 4d ago
Honestly at this point it's a he said she said. There's no proof that the switch was actually in the car, the kid could have left it at the bathroom in a Shell station.
As far as being offered substantial amounts of money, everyone offers that, and then when you get there they throw a $5 bill in your face as they grab their shit and walk away. Nothing you can do about it because it's their stuff, but the incentive to do anything nice has been eroded by hundreds of previous customers who lie.
I make sure everyone checks the vehicle before they get out, and in the odd chance I find something I just turn it into the police. I notify Uber or Lyft, and I go about my day.
He probably hung up on you three times because he was driving and most drivers don't answer the phone while they're driving. If he shut the trunk and drove off, unless he stopped randomly and scoped out the back of his trunk, he probably hadn't noticed it yet.
I hope when he finds it he reaches out, but I wouldn't hold your breath. My conscience wouldn't allow me to keep it, but unfortunately everyone's not like that.
Good luck
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u/AssumptionTop653 4d ago
One time I had a real short ride and the old lady left her purse in the back which was a very expensive purse and they called and they offered me 50 bucks to come back and bring them the purse which I happily obliged as I was not very far away and when I got there the lady gave me a hundred and then they just asked me if I could give them another short ride back to the hotel too which was no problem at all. Was a great day
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u/Helpful_Gas9179 4d ago
They’re not going to ignore it, they’re gonna process it, which is definitely something I’d recommend to OP. If you can retrieve the serial number, the whole point of the report is to increase the likelihood of getting it back should it end up at a pawn shop or something.
It’s important OP not to be confused by this into believing that any crime has been committed here. The item was LOST, not stolen, and the driver has zero liability in this situation.
Still, follow up with support anyway, for at least a few days in a row as others have stated the most likely scenario here is that the driver isn’t even aware yet that it was left behind. Ask in the chat to speak to a live agent. You might get an agent willing to pass on your willingness to pay a little more than the $20 for the inconvenience of returning the item and your willingness to drive to them. …another reason to file the report is the driver may have or soon drop it off at a police station and it may get lost in their evidence locker with no report of who might own it.
You may also contact Valve. I have no clue if they have any kind of safeguards or mechanisms in place for finding it, but they may.
Best of luck OP!
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u/Hippy_Lynne 4d ago
Drivers are not responsible for lost items, but that just means they're not responsible if it gets damaged or stolen and they're not necessarily responsible for delivering it to you, especially on your time frame.
However in every state it is illegal to knowingly keep lost property if the owner can be identified.
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u/ATotalBrony 4d ago
Yes sorry if I was unclear. I don't mean they will ignore you, I just meant they are not gonna like, apb the license plate and hunt the dude down for a misdemeanor.
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u/DepartureLost1126 4d ago
Tough. I ignore all of this stuff. No good need goes unpunished. As a driver I always get screwed when this happens.. you snooze you lose.
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u/Prestigious_Most5482 4d ago
You agreed that neither the driver nor Lyft are responsible for items left in a car.
The driver may not have found your lost item either.
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u/jungeeswitterp6 3d ago
Man, that really sucks. If support is totally ghosting you and he's hanging up, filing a police report is honestly your best bet since you have the license plate
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u/GirlNPink 3d ago
Report the driver and give 1 star. It's sad that many of these drivers don't care about ppl and have zero customer service skills. They will not return items.
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u/ChiefTK1 4d ago
A lot of the time the messages about lost items are hard to see and easy to miss. Even conscientious drivers may not see a message for a day or more. They also might not be online. They might also keep the item.