Shake Shack Kiosk Raises Prices When Customer Skips Tip
B.D. Powell and his wife had a theory to test. She believed Shake Shack charged customers more when they skipped the tip at the kiosk. He wasn't sure. So he filmed it.
The couple ordered three Classic Shakes at a Shake Shack kiosk inside Salt Lake City International Airport. Three milkshakes at $5.99 each. Subtotal before taxes: $18.46. Then he hit "No Tip."
The screen popped up a message: "Uh Oh! There has been a pricing update on one or more of your cart items."
Each shake jumped 50 cents. The new total: $19.96. An $1.50 increase. The moment he declined to tip.
The video hit TikTok over the weekend and exploded. Millions of views. Shake Shack's name trending. And a furious comment section full of people who recognized the pattern from their own lives.
Shake Shack responded quickly. "It is not Shake Shack policy, nor that of our licensees, to increase the price of menu items when no tip is added," the company said. The Salt Lake City airport location is operated by HMSHost, an airport dining company. Shake Shack said HMSHost investigated, found it was "an error within their kiosk technology unrelated to tipping," and fixed it.
Glitch. Fixed. Move on.
Except nobody really moved on.
Why People Didn't Buy the Glitch Explanation
The timing of the "pricing update" was the problem. The prices changed at the exact moment the customer hit "No Tip" — not randomly during the ordering process, not when items were added to the cart, but precisely at that specific button. A glitch that triggers only at that one moment, producing a charge that looks exactly like a penalty for not tipping, is a tough sell.
It's possible. Kiosk software is complex and bugs can produce coincidental behavior that looks intentional. But in a culture where tipping prompts have expanded from restaurants to coffee shops to self-checkout kiosks to airport food courts, people's suspicion meters are already running high.
Tipping Fatigue Is Real and Getting Worse
Powell's video landed in the middle of a cultural moment. According to an annual study by Popmenu, 78% of American consumers are experiencing tipping fatigue in 2026 — up from 65% in 2025, 60% in 2024, and 53% in 2023. The number keeps climbing every year.
Nearly half of consumers — 44% — say they're actually tipping less this year than last year, and surveys suggest a significant portion are doing it out of spite rather than economic necessity. Forty-two percent say they're more comfortable skipping tips for certain services than they used to be. Even among those who still feel socially pressured to tip when a screen prompts them, that number dropped from 66% last year to 59% this year.
The expansion of tip prompts into every possible transaction has generated genuine anger that has nowhere to go — until a video like Powell's gives it a specific target.
Even Shake Shack's own founder Danny Meyer has previously said he doesn't think customers should tip for takeout orders. "If you're just taking out food and it was just a transaction, I give you money and you give me a cup of coffee — I don't think that warrants a tip," Meyer said in a past interview.
That's the CEO of Shake Shack's parent company. On record. Saying tip prompts at kiosks aren't appropriate. And then a kiosk at a Shake Shack airport location apparently charged people more for agreeing with him.
Glitch or not — the timing couldn't have been worse.
Curious for more stories that keep you informed and entertained? From the latest headlines to everyday insights, YourLifeBuzz has more to explore. Dive into what’s next.