A recent incident at San José Mineta International Airport left a California passenger without his luggage after a driverless Waymo taxi drove away with his suitcase still in the trunk. Di Jin, a resident of Sunnyvale, experienced this travel mishap on Monday (April 27) during his first ride in a Waymo robotaxi.

Jin reported that the ride to the airport went smoothly until he attempted to retrieve his suitcase from the trunk. Despite pressing the trunk release button, the trunk did not open, and the autonomous vehicle drove off with his belongings inside. Jin immediately contacted Waymo's customer service, only to be informed that the vehicle was already en route to the depot and could not be redirected.

Left with no suitcase, change of clothes, or work notes, Jin continued on his business trip to San Diego. Later that day, Waymo emailed Jin to inform him that his luggage was safely secured at their local depot in San Francisco. Initially, Waymo offered Jin two complimentary rides to pick up his suitcase but refused to cover shipping costs. Jin found these options unsatisfactory, as the depot was over two hours away.

After reaching out to KNTV for assistance, Jin received a call from Waymo on Friday, agreeing to ship his luggage at no cost. Waymo's policy states that the company is not responsible for items left behind in vehicles and does not offer reimbursement for lost items. The trunk is designed to open automatically when a passenger exits, but Jin claimed this feature did not work during his ride.

This incident is not isolated, as similar cases have been reported by the news station, including a San Francisco tennis coach whose equipment was carried off by a Waymo vehicle last year. Waymo's support team aims to reunite riders with their forgotten items, but these cases highlight challenges in autonomous vehicle customer service.

San José Mineta International Airport became the first commercial airport in California to offer driverless Waymo rides in November 2025.

Ed Lambert