Posted on 08/11/2026 5:55:26 AM PDT by dennisw
After he pressed no tip, he was hit with an error message which read: 'Uh Oh! There has been a pricing update on one or more of your cart items. Please review these changes in your cart.'
Checking back, the three Classic Shakes he had ordered jumped up by 50 cents each, bringing his total from $18.46 to $19.96, without any explanation.
Shake Shack has responded to a viral video showing customers who declined to tip were charged more.
The fast-food chain spoke out after a patron shared footage that revealed the total cost of his order jumped by $1.50 after he refused to add gratuity at one of the burger joint's locations at a Salt Lake City airport.
The video quickly went viral after it was posted on TikTok on Saturday, clocking up more than four million views and thousands of furious comments.
Shake Shack has since told the Daily Mail that the incident was the result of an error in the kiosk technology at a licensee's restaurant.
'It is not Shake Shack policy, nor that of our licensees, to increase the price of menu items when no tip is added,' spokesman Corey Gee said.
'The pricing issue shared online occurred at an airport Shack that is owned and operated by our licensee HMSHost. HMSHost investigated the matter and determined it was an error within their kiosk technology unrelated to tipping.'
The spokesman said the issue has been resolved and that Shake Shack will continue working to make sure every guest is taken care of.
Customer BD Powell exposed the error after attempting to order three of Shake Shack's milkshakes priced at $5.99 each.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
Shake Shack is not that big a chain but the younger set obsess over it. So it gets a large internet footprint. In post-covid, bizarre 2026, SShack is up there, along with “influencers” getting lip fillers/injections so their lips look like a blowfish or Mick Jagger’s.
Was there a price change of the items when adding a tip? If not, I’d have to assume SS was bumping the prices on non-tipped items and the “glitch” excuse wouldn’t hold water with me.
Thanks! I did not check.
The $18.46 was probably just for a burger and a drink. The prices at Shake Shack are insane to begin with.
Yes. The programmer was supposed to gouge the customers with a higher amount.
You need to look at their website for the location.
They very often have a coupon code, usually for a free sandwich or burger, for just a $10 purchase.
CHICKENSUNDAY was a recent one we used on a trip. Have each person order $10 of other stuff and get their chicken sandwich completely free.
It was a great deal!
That’s a pretty Fing good shake. I don’t know if it’s worth $5.99 but it’s pretty Fing good.
And I don’t have cooties.
I’ve never eater there, but isn’t it fast food?
I heard “tip” came from “to insure promptness” but that has been debunked in several prominent sources.
Casual article on the first British Twining’s Tea Shop with a little wooden box for tips.
https://wordfoolery.wordpress.com/2021/05/17/a-tip-from-the-tea-shop-the-history-of-tipping/
Line from Wikipedia:
In some other cultures or situations, giving a tip is not expected and offering one would be considered condescending or demeaning. In some circumstances (such as tipping government workers), tipping is illegal.
“I’ve never eater there, but isn’t it fast food?”
Shake Shack reputation is that it is a premium, improved, more $$$ version of MacDonald’s.
Is this one of those places that ask you to tip at the time of your order BEFORE you get your food or any service?
I don’t tip either.
They’re dead to me since they dropped the Chicago Dog. Dead to me, I tell ya!
insanely expensive and just not very good.
If that happened to me, I would walk out.
Perhaps I’m old-fashioned, but to me a tip is earned. If nobody is recommending a particular dish or drink, if no one is carrying it to my table, if no one is coming by to refill water and ask if I or my party need anything else, then I don’t feel that a tip is earned - and even then, knowing that restaurant workers are underpaid (which, IMHO shouldn’t be allowed), I’ll sometimes STILL leave a tip (but usually 10% instead of my standard 15%. But do NOT force me to give a tip - to me that’s like the difference between giving charity because I want to do so, and taxation forcibly taken in order to fund poverty programs. But being deceptive about it like is the case here? Nope, I’d walk out in a heartbeat.
“They very often have a coupon code, usually for a free sandwich or burger, for just a $10 purchase.”
More power to you if you can get a better deal from SS. I presume this is via phone app?
here are their current offers>>
https://shakeshack.com/national-regional-offers#/
the incident was the result of an error in the kiosk technology at a licensee’s restaurant.
Shake Shack Showdown Shows Shameful Shoddy Shallowness
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.