Shake Shack Investigates Price Increase at Kiosk After Customer Declines Tip

Shake Shack is investigating an incident involving a self-service kiosk at its location in Salt Lake City airport, where a customer reported that the price of milkshakes increased after he declined to leave a tip. The customer, B.D. Powell, ordered three milkshakes, with two priced at $5.99 each and a third at $6.48 due to added whipped cream. After declining to tip, the kiosk displayed a message indicating a pricing update, raising the price of each shake by 50 cents. Shake Shack stated that this price increase is not company policy and is looking into the matter with HMSHost, the operator of the airport location and kiosk system. HMSHost attributed the price change to a technology error that has since been resolved. The incident has sparked discussions about tipping practices in the U.S., with a recent survey indicating that 78% of customers find tipping expectations excessive.