It doesn't make any sense at all, because it's not my mistake.
On a Monday afternoon at San Jose Mineta International Airport, a man named Di Jin became an unwilling pioneer of autonomous travel's unresolved edges — his luggage sealed inside a departing Waymo robotaxi, his flight to San Diego waiting, and no human driver to call back to the curb. The machine had followed its programming faithfully, yet something essential was missing: an understanding of the messy, time-pressured choreography of human departure. What followed was not merely an inconvenience, but a quiet revelation about the distance between a technology that can drive and one that can truly serve.
- A Waymo robotaxi locked its trunk and drove itself away from San Jose airport before passenger Di Jin could retrieve his suitcase, leaving him with nothing but the clothes he was wearing.
- With his flight to San Diego imminent and customer service unable to recall the vehicle, Jin was forced to board without his clothes, work materials, or any of the belongings he needed for his trip.
- Waymo confirmed the luggage arrived safely at its depot but refused to cover shipping costs, offering only two free rides as compensation — a solution that would demand over two hours of Jin's time.
- Jin rejected both options as unjust, arguing the fault lay entirely with the vehicle's automatic systems, not with any action or negligence on his part.
- The episode exposes a structural blind spot in autonomous vehicle deployment at airports, where the margin for error is narrow and the human cost of mechanical indifference lands hardest.
Di Jin had never ridden in a driverless car before the Monday afternoon he climbed out of a Waymo at San Jose Mineta International Airport, ready to catch a flight to San Diego. The trip from Sunnyvale had been uneventful. Then he reached for his suitcase.
He pressed the trunk release. Nothing happened. The vehicle, registering no passenger inside, began to pull away from the curb — his clothes, his work notes, and everything else he needed sealed in the trunk and heading toward a depot miles away. Jin called customer service immediately. The answer was swift and final: the car was already en route and could not be recalled. He boarded his flight with nothing but what he was wearing.
By that afternoon, Waymo confirmed the luggage had arrived safely at its depot. Their response was polite but firm: they would not pay for shipping. Jin could either cover the courier costs himself or accept two free rides to travel to San Francisco, collect his suitcase, and return — a round trip of more than two hours. He found both options unreasonable. The trunk had locked on its own. The car had left on its own schedule. Yet the entire burden of resolution had been placed on him. 'It doesn't make any sense at all, because it's not my mistake,' he said.
The incident points to a gap that autonomous vehicle companies have not yet fully reckoned with. Airports are high-stakes, time-compressed environments where passengers are already stretched thin. A robotaxi that can navigate traffic is not the same as one that understands the human rhythm of departure — the last-second reach into the trunk, the moment of confirmation before walking away. As driverless technology pushes into more complex settings, Jin's experience suggests the industry has solved the problem of driving, but not yet the problem of what happens when things go wrong.
Di Jin stepped out of the Waymo at San Jose Mineta International Airport on a Monday afternoon, ready to catch a flight to San Diego. He'd never ridden in a driverless car before. The trip from Sunnyvale had gone without incident. Then he reached for his suitcase.
He pressed the trunk release button. Nothing happened. The vehicle, sensing no passenger remained inside, began to move. Within seconds it was pulling away from the curb with his luggage still locked inside—his clothes, his work notes, everything he needed for the trip sealed in the trunk and heading toward the Waymo depot miles away.
Jin called customer service immediately, hoping for a quick solution. The response was blunt: the vehicle was already en route to the depot. It couldn't be summoned back. He boarded his flight that evening with nothing but the clothes on his back and the growing realization that his first autonomous vehicle experience had become a cautionary tale.
By that afternoon, Waymo confirmed his luggage had arrived safely at the depot. The company's email was polite but offered little comfort. They would not pay for shipping. If Jin wanted his belongings, he had two options: pay for courier service himself, or accept two free Waymo rides to drive to San Francisco, retrieve his suitcase from the depot, and drive back. A round trip would consume more than two hours of his time.
Jin found both options unreasonable. He hadn't made a mistake. The vehicle had. The trunk had locked automatically. The car had departed on its own schedule. Yet somehow the burden of solving the problem had shifted entirely to him—either through his wallet or his time. "It doesn't make any sense at all, because it's not my mistake," he said.
The incident exposes a gap in how autonomous vehicle companies have thought through the friction points of real-world travel. Airports are chaotic, time-sensitive places where passengers are already stressed and moving fast. A robotaxi that can navigate traffic and follow traffic laws is not the same as a robotaxi that understands the social choreography of a passenger retrieving luggage before departure. The trunk release failed. The vehicle left. And then the company's customer service fell back on a script that treated the passenger as though he'd simply forgotten something in a regular taxi.
Waymo has been operating in San Francisco and Phoenix for years, but airport service represents a new frontier—one where the stakes are higher and the margin for error smaller. As autonomous vehicles expand into more complex environments, incidents like Jin's will likely become more common unless companies build in safeguards: longer wait times at terminals, explicit confirmation that all passengers have retrieved their belongings, or at minimum, a willingness to absorb the cost of mistakes the vehicle itself made. For now, Jin's experience suggests that driverless technology has solved the problem of driving, but not yet the problem of what happens when things go wrong.
Citas Notables
I pressed the trunk open button, tried to get my luggage, but it doesn't do anything, and it drives away immediately.— Di Jin, passenger
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.— Waymo support team representative
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What strikes you most about this story—the technology failing, or the company's response?
Both, but differently. The trunk failure is a mechanical glitch. Those happen. What's harder to forgive is the company essentially saying: this is your problem now, and here's how you can solve it on your own dime or your own time.
But couldn't Waymo argue they recovered the luggage safely? That the system worked?
It did work, technically. But a system that strands a passenger at an airport without their belongings before a business trip hasn't really worked, has it? The luggage being safe at the depot doesn't help the person who needed it in San Diego.
Do you think this changes how people will feel about autonomous vehicles?
For some people, yes. Not because the technology failed—that's fixable. But because it revealed something about how the company thinks about responsibility. When something goes wrong, do they help you, or do they hand you a bill?
Is this a problem unique to Waymo, or would a traditional taxi company have handled it better?
A human driver would have noticed immediately. They'd have waited. But you're right that traditional services also have gaps. The difference is Waymo chose to automate the departure. That choice comes with an obligation to handle the consequences.
What would a fair resolution look like?
Waymo covers shipping. Or they dispatch someone to the airport with the luggage before the passenger's flight. Or they don't let the vehicle leave until the passenger confirms they have everything. Any of those would say: we take responsibility for what our vehicle does.