Waymo takes off with South Bay man's luggage after airport drop-off

Di Jin says his first ride in a Waymo ended with his suitcase rolling away in the trunk and the car leaving the airport before he could stop it. The episode puts a simple question at the center of the robotaxi business: when a driverless ride goes wrong, who can intervene fast enough to make it right?

Jin said he rode from Sunnyvale to San Jose Mineta Airport on Monday, April 28, for a business trip. He said the trip itself went smoothly until he stepped out and tried to retrieve his luggage. After pressing the trunk-open button, Jin said the vehicle drove away immediately, leaving him stranded at the terminal without his suitcase.

Jin said he called Waymo customer service right away, but was told the vehicle was already on its way back to the depot and could not be turned around. He flew to San Diego with no suitcase, no change of clothes and no work notes, turning what should have been a routine airport transfer into a basic logistics failure for a company selling convenience and reliability.

Later that afternoon, Waymo emailed Jin that “we have your luggage safely secured at our local depot,” but said it could not cover the cost of shipping labels or courier fees. Instead, the company offered two complimentary rides so Jin could travel to and from the depot to pick up his belongings. Jin said that was unfair because it was not his mistake and would require a more than two-hour round trip to San Francisco to recover his items. Waymo’s lost-items page says the company is not responsible for items left behind after a trip ends and does not provide refunds or reimbursement for lost items.

The dispute lands at a sensitive moment for Waymo in the Bay Area. On Sept. 4, 2025, the company said it had received authorization to offer fully autonomous rides at San José Mineta International Airport terminals and planned to begin commercial service later that year. Waymo described SJC as its second international airport for fully autonomous operations and its first in California.

It is not the first time a Waymo passenger has claimed the company drove off with property left in a trunk. A 2025 small-claims suit filed by San Francisco tennis coach Dan Linley sought $12,500 over tennis gear he said a Waymo took when the trunk would not open. For autonomous taxis, the challenge is no longer only whether the cars can move without a driver. It is whether their customer-service systems can handle the messy, time-sensitive failures that matter most to riders.