A traveler passing through Salt Lake City International Airport says her Shake Shack order got noticeably pricier the instant she tapped “no tip” on the self-checkout kiosk, and the video she posted has now been viewed 4.2 million times. B.D. Powell ordered three classic milkshakes — vanilla, cookies & cream and strawberry — and watched her total climb by $1.50 right after declining to leave a gratuity.
Powell said the kiosk flashed a message reading, “Uh oh! There has been a pricing update on one or more of your cart items. Please review these changes in your cart,” and that each shake, which she says normally runs $5.99, was suddenly priced at $6.49. As reported by the New York Post, Powell said in her video, “Everything just went up fifty cents,” and warned her followers not to go to Shake Shack. She said she tested the theory by re-ordering the same shakes to see if declining a tip triggered the change.
Shake Shack has denied that it raised prices because a customer declined to tip, telling the Post that no such policy exists at the company. The airport location isn’t run by Shake Shack corporate at all — it’s operated by concessionaire HMSHost, a subsidiary of Swiss travel-retail operator Avolta AG, which manages the restaurant and its kiosk systems, according to SanDiegoVille. HMSHost operates food and beverage concessions in nearly 80 North American airports, and per the same outlet, Shake Shack is investigating the incident jointly with the licensee.
A Software Glitch, Not a Punishment?
Unlike corporate-owned Shake Shack restaurants that run a standard point-of-sale build, licensed airport venues operate on third-party concessions software — a distinction that has tech observers and commenters suspecting a glitch or a synchronized menu-price update at checkout rather than a deliberate no-tip penalty, the SanDiegoVille report notes. Licensed airport terminals often run customized third-party hardware and middleware, which could explain why a pricing-update message appeared unexpectedly rather than a clean total…