SALT LAKE CITY, UT – A Salt Lake City, Utah, Shake Shack location is going viral for ostensibly all the wrong reasons after a video shared across social media earlier in August showed two patrons using the restaurant’s self-service kiosk ordering system and finding their order total increased after refusing to add a tip when prompted by the kiosk.
TikTok user B.D. Powell recently uploaded a video to the aforementioned platform, which has since crosspollinated to other social media outlets, where he admitted to wanting to test the validity of a rumor at Shake Shack that his wife reportedly informed him of.
“My wife says that if you don't tip at Shake Shack, they make it more expensive per item, so we're about to find out,” Powell says before adding three menu items via the eatery’s self-service kiosk, which two of the three menu items were $5.99 and the third was $6.48 before he was prompted by the kiosk on whether he’d like to add a tip to his order.
Powell declined to add a tip during the transaction, filming the kiosk as another pop-up generated 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.” Suddenly, the order summary page refreshed on the kiosk, which showed that all three menu items had increased in price by fifty cents each.
Feeling as though his suspicions were confirmed, Powell then says to the camera, “Everything just went up fifty cents. Every item went up by fifty cents. Just making sure everybody knows, do not go there.”
One social media user pointed out that at their respective Tampa, Florida, Shake Shack location, there was no such updated pricing conundrum tied to tipping on the self service kiosks, leading to speculation that the pricing fiasco is possibly isolated to the Salt Lake City airport location. Said suspicions were seemingly confirmed after Shake Shack issued a statement noting the airport location in Utah was owned and operated by HMSHost, further adding they’re investigating the incident and emphasized said alleged practice is not in line with their company policies.
Comments