NBC Bay Area – San Jose passenger claims a Waymo drove off with his luggage at the airport
A man says the Waymo he rode to San Jose Mineta Airport drove away with his luggage in the trunk
See original article by Alyssa Goard at NBC Bay Area
A South Bay man claims a Waymo driverless taxi drove off with his luggage in the trunk after dropping him off at the San Jose Mineta Airport. He has been trying to retrieve his items through Waymo’s customer service, but hasn’t been satisfied with the resolutions they’ve offered so far.
On Monday, Di Jin took his first-ever ride in a driverless taxi. He took a Waymo from his home in Sunnyvale to the San Jose Mineta Airport for a business trip.
Jin said the ride itself went smoothly.
But then, Jin said he got out of the car and went to the trunk to grab his luggage.
“I pressed the trunk open button, try to get my luggage, but it doesn’t do anything, and it drives away immediately,” Jin recalled.
He said he immediately called Waymo customer service, who told him the vehicle was already on its way back to the depot and could not be turned back around.
So Jin flew to San Diego with no suitcase, no change of clothes, and no work notes.
Later that afternoon, Waymo emailed Jin, letting him know “we have your luggage safely secured at our local depot!”
“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,” the support team representative wrote, adding that if Jin prefers not to pay for shipping, there is another option. Waymo also offered to give Jin two complementary Waymo rides with the goal of getting him to and from the depot to pick up his items.
Jin didn’t feel it was fair for him to pay for the shipping. He also didn’t feel it was fair for him to take the more than two-hour round trip to San Francisco just to retrieve his 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.”
Jin contacted NBC Bay Area when he felt he wasn’t getting anywhere with Waymo’s customer service.
We have reached out to Waymo for comment, but have not yet received a statement.
On Waymo’s web page about lost and found items, the company says it “is not responsible for items left behind in the vehicle after your trip ends and does not provide refunds or reimbursement for the value of lost items.” Waymo also notes that once a lost item is ready for pickup, it can be retrieved seven days a week at the Waymo depot from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Waymo’s web page also notes that the trunk can be opened by pressing the trunk release button on the car or tapping “open trunk” in the Waymo app. “At your destination, the trunk will automatically open when you exit the vehicle,” the web page said.
Jin said that the trunk on his ride did not open automatically when he left the Waymo.
“I already told them very clearly it’s not lost and found, right? I pressed the trunk open button, and it’s just not functional,” he said.
Back in November, San Jose became the first commercial airport in California to offer driverless Waymo rides to paying customers.
Jin noted that he is a fan of driverless technology, but said this interaction put a sour taste in his mouth.
NBC Bay Area has covered stories before about rideshare customers who claimed their human drivers drove off with their possessions.
About a year ago, we interviewed a San Francisco tennis coach who claimed a driverless Waymo took off with his pricey tennis equipment in the trunk.
Back then, Waymo told NBC Bay Area, “Waymo’s Support Team operates with the goal of reuniting riders and their forgotten items.”
That San Francisco tennis coach maintained that his items were not forgotten.
See original article by Alyssa Goard at NBC Bay Area
