For one California businessman, his first-ever ride in a Waymo robotaxi ended with an unexpected twist:
The car left the airport with his luggage still locked in the trunk – and the company’s initial response only made things worse.
Waymo is one of the various autonomous driving companies in the U.S. Owned by Alphabet, Google’s parent company, the unmanned vehicles are currently offering commercial service in select areas of Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia and Texas. They’re also testing or exploring expansion in additional U.S. markets, as well as Tokyo and London and in talks for the same in Australia, Canada, Singapore and South Korea.
Waymo’s growing expansion
As of March 2026, Waymo had 3,000 robotaxis in service.
Waymo began testing their driverless vehicles in the San Francisco area in the summer of 2021, and the program was in full gear by mid-2024. As of 2025, they reportedly had about 800 robotaxis in the area. It’s also worth noting that, according to an analysis by DiMarco | Araujo | Montevideo, between 2021 and 2025, there were 1,429 reported incidents involving Waymo vehicles, 863 of which were in San Francisco. Most did not involve injuries.
A man on his way to San José Mineta International Airport apparently became one of the latest people involved in a Waymo mishap. Fortunately, it didn’t cause any injuries, but it did make for a major inconvenience that Waymo initially refused to adequately compensate for.
A first ride gone wrong
According to local NBC affiliate KNTV, Bay Area businessman Di Jin said his ride to the airport on April 27 was his first time ever using a Waymo. Everything apparently went fine — until he arrived at the airport.
After getting out of the vehicle, Jin said he pressed the button to open the trunk so he could retrieve his luggage. But instead, the car — with the luggage still locked in the rear — drove away.
“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.
Waymo’s initial response
Jin said he contacted Waymo and was told by customer service that the vehicle was already on its way back to the depot and couldn’t return to the airport.
So that’s how he wound up boarding his flight to San Diego without his luggage — which he said contained not only clothing for his business trip, but also some work notes.
“So I have no luggage, no clothes to change, and all my work notes are in my luggage,” he said.
Meanwhile, later that day, Waymo emailed Jin, letting him know “we have your luggage safely secured at our local depot!” In the San Francisco area, of course. While he was in San Diego.
Jin told KNTV that Waymo initially offered to send the luggage to him, but that he would need to cover the shipping or courier costs himself.
“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 to him.
Instead, according to Jin, the company first offered him two free rides so he could travel to and from the depot to retrieve the bag in person. From San Diego. 502 miles away.
“It doesn’t make any sense at all, because it’s not my mistake,” Jin told KNTV.
A happy ending – sort of
He later said the company eventually agreed to cover the shipping costs; he accepted the offer.
Waymo’s website says customers can open the trunk using the app, the in-car screen, or a physical button on the trunk itself.
“At your destination, the trunk will automatically open when you exit the vehicle,” the company says on its web page.
Jin said that he did everything right, but the trunk on his ride didn’t open automatically when he left the Waymo.
“I pressed the trunk open button, and it’s just not functional,” said Jin.
In the end, Jin did eventually get his luggage back.
But while the experience didn’t completely turn him against autonomous vehicles, it clearly left him questioning how smoothly the technology — and the customer service behind it — really works when something goes wrong.
And honestly, having your car literally drive away with your luggage probably isn’t the ideal introduction to robotaxis. 😏
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