Waymo Drives Off with South Bay Man's Luggage • Hacker News Board

Re: Waymo Drives Off with South Bay Man's Luggage

#51

Post by chaboud » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:08 AM UTC

disillusioned wrote: post #4

CaliforniaKarl wrote: post #2

I am surprised the trunk didn't open, and I’m very surprised that Waymo support could not turn the vehicle around. I’ve had a Waymo alert me when I left something in the back seat; I’m surprised it did not do the same for the trunk. I think the person should report this to either the California DMV or CPUC, as well as the local airport authority. For autonomous vehicles, I think people need to ‘normalize’ leaving one…

Any time I've loaded something into the trunk of a Waymo, it pre-emptively pops the trunk when I'm getting out _for_ me and reminds me to get my things from the trunk, so this is... surprising as a failure mode. Wondering if there was some issue with the latch/opening system, because it's definitely programmed to work the right way. (Or he tossed his stuff into the trunk from the main cabin, but... it's a pretty low…

They seem to have changed this recently, possibly due to theft or items falling from the trunk.

My last two trunk-use rides have had closed trunks on arrival.

Re: Waymo Drives Off with South Bay Man's Luggage

#52

Post by chaboud » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:09 AM UTC

plaidfuji wrote: post #23

They offered him two free hour-long rides to their facility and back just to pick up the suitcase? Waymo trouble than it’s worth

That's like a free bus ride to Cleveland... if I wanted to go, I'd happily get myself there.

Re: Waymo Drives Off with South Bay Man's Luggage

#53

Post by chaboud » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:10 AM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #12

take two complementary rides to pick it up That seems... reasonable? They're not saying "come at your own expense" but giving him a ride there and back.

It's amazing for us to consider "massively wasting someone's time" as "complementary".

Re: Waymo Drives Off with South Bay Man's Luggage

#54

Post by tasoeur » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:17 AM UTC

chaboud wrote: post #48

Fearful that a simple software issue could do exactly this, I have adopted an approach to using Waymo with luggage: 1. Get out. 2. Leave the door open. 3. Open the trunk. 4. Get stuff. 5. Close the trunk. 6. Close the door that I left open. I've had enough stupid stuff happen in a Waymo. I'm not going to leave it to faith that it won't drive off with my laptop, etc.

That’s funny, I’ve actually used the same algorithm but with taxis in general, for having the same exact issue as the person in this article… but with a real driver. (All of this assuming it’s safe to keep a door open!)

Re: Waymo Drives Off with South Bay Man's Luggage

#55

Post by usui » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:33 AM UTC

tialaramex wrote: post #43

toss1 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is also literally insanely hostile for Waymo to respond like this. The parent company, Alphabet, is valued over four trillion dollars. The proper response would have been: "oh, terribly sorry for the inconvenience, we'll immediately turn it around, wait there". If that was somehow actually possible, the next response should have been: "Oh, sorry that is impossible because of [actual reason X], we are terribly sorr…

> I'm no lawyer, but as soon as someone takes off with my stuff, that sounds like theft. I expect it's not theft. In England the intent requirement is famously "permanently to deprive" and so any situation where you're getting it back isn't theft. Doubtless the US has slightly different rules but I don't think that'll be theft.

In England, can I take someone's belongings and extort them to pay for "shipping and handling" fees or compel them to go out of their way to some risky nondescript location to pick it up? Wonder what the crime in this case if it's "not theft".

Re: Waymo Drives Off with South Bay Man's Luggage

#56

Post by jibal » Sun, May 03, 2026, 3:42 AM UTC

tialaramex wrote: post #43

toss1 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is also literally insanely hostile for Waymo to respond like this. The parent company, Alphabet, is valued over four trillion dollars. The proper response would have been: "oh, terribly sorry for the inconvenience, we'll immediately turn it around, wait there". If that was somehow actually possible, the next response should have been: "Oh, sorry that is impossible because of [actual reason X], we are terribly sorr…

> I'm no lawyer, but as soon as someone takes off with my stuff, that sounds like theft. I expect it's not theft. In England the intent requirement is famously "permanently to deprive" and so any situation where you're getting it back isn't theft. Doubtless the US has slightly different rules but I don't think that'll be theft.

The U.S. has very different rules. Just yesterday there was an incident in my town where a couple of guys drove a car out of a parking lot, then later drove it back to the parking lot where they were apprehended and arrested for theft.

Re: Waymo Drives Off with South Bay Man's Luggage

#57

Post by chaboud » Sun, May 03, 2026, 5:20 AM UTC

tasoeur wrote: post #54

chaboud wrote: post #48

Fearful that a simple software issue could do exactly this, I have adopted an approach to using Waymo with luggage: 1. Get out. 2. Leave the door open. 3. Open the trunk. 4. Get stuff. 5. Close the trunk. 6. Close the door that I left open. I've had enough stupid stuff happen in a Waymo. I'm not going to leave it to faith that it won't drive off with my laptop, etc.

That’s funny, I’ve actually used the same algorithm but with taxis in general, for having the same exact issue as the person in this article… but with a real driver. (All of this assuming it’s safe to keep a door open!)

Well, it's safe for me!

Re: Waymo Drives Off with South Bay Man's Luggage

#58

Post by userbinator » Sun, May 03, 2026, 6:49 AM UTC

chihuahua wrote: post #36

disillusioned wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'd be nicer if they sent someone with his luggage TO HIM rather than making HIM take his time to go on a tour to the depot, though.

Imagine if the company had self-driving cars, they wouldn't even need "someone", they could just send one of those self-driving cars!

...and then what happens if it also malfunctions in the same way when it gets there, or his stuff gets stolen on the way?

Re: Waymo Drives Off with South Bay Man's Luggage

#59

Post by userbinator » Sun, May 03, 2026, 6:54 AM UTC

chaboud wrote: post #53

userbinator wrote: post #12

take two complementary rides to pick it up That seems... reasonable? They're not saying "come at your own expense" but giving him a ride there and back.

It's amazing for us to consider "massively wasting someone's time" as "complementary".

Not that I'd trust a self-driving car anyway, but if I were in his situation I would absolutely take the free ride there and back to get my stuff. It would be even more "massively wasting someone's time" to wait for them to do something else otherwise, which would entail a lot more risk.

Re: Waymo Drives Off with South Bay Man's Luggage

#60

Post by userbinator » Sun, May 03, 2026, 6:56 AM UTC

krupan wrote: post #26

userbinator wrote: post #12

take two complementary rides to pick it up That seems... reasonable? They're not saying "come at your own expense" but giving him a ride there and back.

How do we help you (and anyone else who thinks this is reasonable) to understand that it's absolutely not. Sure, it could be worse, but it also could be much better.

"much better", how? They've already fucked up, and you trust them to do anything else that could make the situation even worse?