Shake Shack addresses viral kiosk pricing error

Shake Shack has addressed a viral video claiming that a self-service kiosk at a Salt Lake City Airport location increased order totals after a customer declined to leave a tip. In the video, which garnered millions of views on TikTok, customer BD Powell demonstrated that selecting “no tip” for three milkshakes resulted in a pricing update that added 50 cents to each item.

A spokesperson for Shake Shack stated that increasing prices based on tipping is not company policy. The company clarified that the incident occurred at an airport location owned and operated by its licensee, HMSHost. According to Shake Shack, HMSHost investigated the matter and determined the price change was due to an error within the kiosk technology and was unrelated to the tipping selection. HMSHost has reported that the issue is now resolved.