jlw:
Something seems disconnected in the SFist story, as it says the rider received support from Waymo but also that they didn’t call her until hours after the incident. I am not sure which it is, but I am willing to believe their customer support sucks.
FWIW, per an article in The Autopian there were other communications with Waymo during the ride:
Due to the unexpected situation, the Waymo had stopped for safety reasons. “Finally when they left, the car was still stalled,” says Amina. Thankfully, she was promptly able to get help with the issue. “I clicked the ‘in car support’ on the screen and they seemed to be aware of the issue,” she explains. “They asked if I was OK, and the car began to drive towards my location.” The Waymo operator asked if she needed police support, which she declined.
She says Waymo staff followed up with her after the event, too. “When I nearly arrived at the location, the in-car support called me again to make sure I was okay,” she says. “I assured him that I was fine and he told me I would be given a free ride after.” Hours later, she got a follow-up call, too. “They asked if I was OK and told me that they have 24/7 support available,” she says.
I’m not a fan of companies testing these unaccountable, multi-ton robots on public streets but in this instance the villians of the story are almost entirely the creeps in the video.
Edit to add: might as well post a screenshot of these folks for public shaming.
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