A San Francisco passenger claims a Waymo driverless taxi drove off with his expensive tennis equipment inside. More than two months later, he still has no idea where his possessions went.
As first reported by the San Francisco Standard, the passenger is filing a small claims suit against the company.
Dan Linley lives in lower Nob Hill and spends his days going back and forth between his work as a high school tennis coach and coaching tennis lessons.
“I’ve been doing it 30 years now, it’s how I make my living,” Linley said.
Like many San Franciscans, he doesn’t have a car. Lately, he’s been getting around the city by riding Waymo driverless taxis.
On February 7, at around 5:30 p.m., Linley said the Waymo he was riding in dropped him off at Golden Gate Park, but the trunk, which was filled with his expensive tennis equipment, didn’t open.
Waymo said in an online forum that once riders reach their destination, the trunk will automatically open when the rider exits the vehicle. But Linley said that didn’t happen on this occasion. Having used the Waymo app before, Linley knows a button in the app can allow passengers to open the trunk. But this time, Linley said there was no option to open the trunk through the app, and the trunk wasn’t opening on its own.
“So I called customer service to see if someone could open the car remotely for me,” Linley recalled. “A guy picked up the phone, he was very very nice, and in the middle of him trying to open up the trunk, the car drove away.”
“And I’m like, ‘you know the car is driving away, and I have a picture of it, I don’t know what you want me to do'” Linley said. “He was very calm and very nice and he goes, ‘Well I’ll file a lost and found report for you.'”
Linley recalled that his items were easy to see through the trunk window, so he figured Waymo would have no difficulty finding them. He said that in the trunk of that vehicle was a large duffel bag full of tennis balls, a portable teaching cart, a couple of “ball hoppers,” his personal tennis racket, and other gear.
He added that not only is the missing gear pricey, but he is losing money because he can’t teach lessons without it.
Linley said for the past two months, he has been asking Waymo to return his belongings or reimburse him. But he said neither has happened, despite correspondence with multiple Waymo agents.
This week, Linley filed a small claims suit against Waymo, seeking $12,500 in damages. He said that amount includes both the value of the missing equipment and the revenue he’s lost from not being able to teach lessons. Linley said he currently has a list of more than 20 people who are requesting lessons with him, but he doesn’t have the gear to help them.
Waymo declined NBC Bay Area’s request for an interview, but a spokesperson said in a statement, “Waymo is in touch with the individual and working to resolve the claim. Waymo’s Support Team operates with the goal of reuniting riders and their forgotten items.”
“They’re not forgotten,” Linley said of his possessions.
“They were lost, not of my accord, they were not lost by me, they were taken by the car,” he insisted.
Linley is frustrated and perplexed about where his items might have gone.
He said one Waymo representative he contacted told him the company was still investigating his case.
“I’m like, ‘I don’t know what there is to investigate. Are you dusting for prints? Are you calling the FBI? What is there to investigate? Find the stuff!'” Linley said.
He added that this whole experience is making him reconsider whether to use Waymo going forward.
For the time being, he has advice for other riders: “I would say keep your stuff in the back seat, that’s what I would recommend.”
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