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Comment by userbinator | Hacker News Reader

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.

If I steal your luggage, do you expect to be paid to get it or that I return to you?

Waymo should have white-gloved this and sent Larry Page himself to deliver the luggage. This is horrible PR. Airlines will send you their luggage if misplaced. One day Waymo will drive-off with your toddler and ask you to file for adoption if you want them back.

Agreed - they dont even need to send an employee to do it, they can just send a driverless waymo with the luggage surely!

Airlines will send you their luggage if misplaced

That's because airlines often have their own cargo/courier service which they can easily use for delivery; and everyone knows that even those lose packages at a nonzero rate.

One day Waymo will drive-off with your toddler and ask you to file for adoption if you want them back.

Your failed attempt at outrage sensationalism didn't help your argument.

> airlines often have their own cargo/courier service which they can easily use for delivery

That is indeed convenient. But not quite as convenient as having your own self-driving cars you can use for delivery.

Love that. Larry where's my stuff?

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?

Why can’t they just put back into a car in the back seat or whatever and send it off to him? Seems strange to make it so difficult when they surely have a vehicle sitting right there in their depot that could do the job as soon as the customer is back home.

What if they did that, and the car somehow arrives empty? They're going to be in even bigger trouble.

I'm genuinely curious how you think it's acceptable for a company to make a mistake and the burden the customer with resolving it.

No, it doesn't. It used to be when the airline lost your bag they would get it to you no matter what. They own their mistake, and make it right to the best of their ability. In the most egregious case I can recall, delivering skis and poles 4hr+ from the airport into a remote mountain village ca. 2003. This is how you build trust in your brand--when you fuck up, you take ownership and make it right. You don't just shrug it off and throw a gift card on the floor like "take it or leave it idgaf".

OTOH, a free trip to the depot and back is actually more than you'd get from a traditional taxi service under the same circumstances.

If this happened in a traditional taxi or even Uber, you'd call the driver or the company's dispatch line, and they'd send the cabbie back with your stuff. But it would also be mostly your own fault and you'd tip the driver for doing this.

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?

I value my time more than you appear to value your own.

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.

100% agree, but, if that's the fix for the bug, I'd probably take an Uber next time. (I say this as someone with hundreds of Waymo rides)

Customer trust is a lot easier to lose than it is to gain. Moments of frustration are the perfect time to step up and prove to the customer that they can trust you to make things right.

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