A Bay Area businessman’s first ride in a driverless Waymo turned into an airport nightmare when the robotaxi allegedly sped off with his luggage still locked in the trunk — leaving him stranded without clothes, work materials, or answers before a flight to San Diego.
Di Jin said his Monday trip from Sunnyvale to San Jose Mineta International Airport went smoothly until he arrived at the terminal and tried to retrieve his suitcase.
“I pressed the trunk open button, tried to get my luggage, but it doesn’t do anything, and it drives away immediately,” Jin told NBC.
The stunned passenger immediately contacted Waymo customer service, only to be told the autonomous vehicle was already heading back to its depot and could not return.
Left with nothing but frustration, Jin boarded his business flight empty-handed.
“So I have no luggage, no clothes to change, and all my work notes are in my luggage,” he said.
Later that day, Waymo emailed Jin to confirm that his luggage had been safely recovered at its local depot, but the ordeal forced him to continue his trip without his essentials, the outlet reported.
“While we would love to get this item back to you as quickly as possible, Waymo is unable to cover the cost of shipping labels or courier fees,” a support team representative wrote.
The company added that if Jin didn’t want to pay for shipping, he could instead accept two complimentary Waymo rides to fetch his belongings from the depot himself.
Jin felt it was unfair to pay for shipping or to spend over 2 hours on a round-trip to San Francisco just to reclaim his lost items.
“It sounds terrible,” Jin said of the options Waymo provided him. “It doesn’t make any sense at all, because it’s not my mistake.”
The mishap highlights the growing pains of self-driving travel. Just this week California moved to allow police officers to ticket autonomous taxis — passing legislation that will finally allow the vehicles to be cited for moving violations.
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