Not checking for all your items before leaving the vehicle.

Leonard Ortiz/Digital First Media/Orange County Register via Getty Images

People think that Uber and Lyft drivers are required to return lost items, no matter what.

Let's clear up something really quick right now. Per Uber's policy about lost items:

"Drivers are independent contractors. Neither Uber nor drivers are responsible for the items left in a vehicle after a trip ends. We're here to help, but cannot guarantee that a driver has your item or can deliver it to you."

Lyft has the same policy about items left behind.

If you forget an item in an Uber or Lyft and a driver does return your item, you will likely be charged a $15 lost-item fee. It is also very possible that the driver doesn't answer or doesn't have your item, and you'll never see it again.

If you spend a few minutes perusing Uber and Lyft's Twitter and Facebook pages, you will see that items left behind are very common.

When I first started driving, a college student forgot their new iPhone XS Max in my back seat. I noticed it, drove back a few miles, went into the bar they were at, found them, and handed them back their expensive phone. They thanked me profusely and told me they would leave me a huge tip in the app and a glowing review on my account. I thought about sending a lost-item fee, but they said they would tip me, and I trusted them, so I never sent in the lost-item report.

A couple of days later, when it was too late for me to charge a fee, I still had not received any tip or glowing review. The passenger lied to me.

Now when someone leaves something, I return it to them — but before I do, I take a picture of it on my back seat for documentation. Then I'll return it and send in a request for a lost-item fee. I have since returned two backpacks, a wallet, another phone, and a thick folder with what looked like important documents.

I am paid $15 each time for returning lost items.

I'm an honest person, and I would never dare keep someone else's belongings, but I am not every other driver on the road. If you read through enough Twitter and Facebook posts about lost items in Ubers and Lyfts, you are guaranteed to read a couple of horror stories from people who forgot their phones, wallets, or laptops about the driver acknowledging the lost item but demanding a large sum of money, like a ransom, to return the item.

Other times the drivers are like ghosts, never to be heard from again. Unfortunately, Uber or Lyft cannot force drivers to respond.

However, most drivers aren't trying to scam or steal from anyone. It is also very possible that you forgot your item in the back seat, the driver never noticed it (especially if it's dark out), the driver then picked up a new passenger, that passenger found it, and then that person decided to keep the item for themselves.

Before you leave the car, do a quick check: phone, wallet, keys, bag. Save yourself the hassle of a lost item and the risk of a $15 fee, or the possibility of never seeing your item again.