A Bay Area entrepreneur’s inaugural experience with a driverless Waymo vehicle turned into a chaotic airport ordeal when the autonomous taxi reportedly drove off with his luggage still secured in the trunk. This unexpected turn of events left him stranded without his clothes, essential work materials, or any explanations, just as he was about to catch a flight to San Diego.
Di Jin recounted that the journey from Sunnyvale to San Jose Mineta International Airport was uneventful until he reached the terminal and attempted to retrieve his suitcase.
“I hit the button to open the trunk, tried to get my bag, but nothing happened, and then it just sped away,” Jin explained to NBC.
In shock, Jin promptly reached out to Waymo’s customer support, only to learn that the autonomous vehicle was already en route back to its depot and could not return to the airport.
Faced with no other options, Jin boarded his business flight without any of his belongings.
“Now I have no luggage, no spare clothes, and all my work documents are in that suitcase,” he lamented.
“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.
