A man films himself buying three milkshakes at an airport. He taps “No Tip.” Then the kiosk flashes an error message, and the total price suddenly goes up by $1.50.
That alone would have been strange. But Brian Powell was only filming because his wife said the same thing had happened to her a few hours earlier.
So, no, the internet didn’t imagine the price change. Powell’s video shows the shakes getting more expensive immediately after he declines to leave a tip. Shake Shack, however, says the two things weren’t connected.
According to the company, a kiosk error caused the price increase, not some hidden penalty for customers who skip the tip screen.
He Filmed The Order To See If It Would Happen Again
Brian Powell wasn’t trying to start a debate about tipping culture. He was trying to find out if what his wife saw was actually happening.
Powell’s wife had bought three shakes from the Shake Shack inside Salt Lake City International Airport while the couple waited for a flight. She later told him that the price appeared to change after she selected “No Tip” on the kiosk.
At first, Powell wasn’t sure what to make of it. So he decided to recreate the order himself.
He walked back to the kiosk, ordered the same three shakes, pulled out his phone, and recorded the entire process. When he reached the tipping screen, he selected “No Tip.”
That’s when the message appeared:
“Uh Oh! There has been a pricing update on one or more of your cart items. Please review these changes in your cart.”
The shakes, originally listed at $5.99 each, jumped to $6.49 each. One order also included a 49-cent whipped cream add-on.
“We basically went up and duplicated our order, and the same thing happened,” Powell said.
For anyone watching the video without any additional explanation, the sequence looked simple: no tip, error message, higher price.
That timing is what made the clip spread.
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Shake Shack Says Tipping Had Nothing To Do With It
Shake Shack doesn’t directly operate the airport restaurant where a customer decided not to tip.
Instead, HMSHost, a licensee that operates airport restaurants and concessions, runs it.
After reviewing the situation, HMSHost said the price change came from a kiosk issue that has since been corrected.
Shake Shack was clear about its position.
“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.
What remains unclear is exactly what caused the kiosk to behave that way. Neither Shake Shack nor HMSHost has publicly explained whether the problem came from software, menu data, system syncing, or another technical issue.
The company has denied that tipping affected the price. But for customers watching the video, the timing was difficult to ignore.
The Airport Twist Nobody Clocked At First
Most customers walking up to that kiosk had no idea they weren’t dealing with Shake Shack directly.
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To the person standing at the counter, the experience looked exactly like any other Shake Shack order. The sign carried the brand’s name, the menu displayed Shake Shack items, and the customer expected Shake Shack to be responsible.
Behind the scenes, airport restaurants often work differently.
Many major brands partner with outside operators to run locations in airports, stadiums, and other high-traffic areas. The company name customers recognize may not always be the same company managing the employees, equipment, or daily operations.
That distinction became important after Powell’s video went viral.
A problem at one kiosk at one airport suddenly became a national conversation about Shake Shack, even though a licensee operated the location.
For customers, though, that difference may not matter much. They usually judge the brand they see in front of them.
Tipping Fatigue Made This Land Harder Than It Might Have
People were already questioning tip screens before this video ever appeared.
The timing of Powell’s video helped turn a single kiosk issue into a much bigger conversation.
Digital checkout systems have brought tipping prompts into more everyday transactions, including places where customers never expected to see them. For many people, being asked to tip at a counter or self-service screen has already created frustration.
That is why the idea of a price increase happening after selecting “No Tip” immediately caught attention.
The video landed on a topic many customers were already discussing: how much control they really have when a screen determines the final price.
The moment also brought Shake Shack founder Danny Meyer back into conversations about tipping. In 2023, Meyer said customers picking up takeout or ordering something quick like coffee should not feel pressured to tip.
That was his personal opinion about tipping culture, not a company-wide policy. Shake Shack introduced tipping prompts across its locations in 2022, and the company says customers who choose not to tip should pay the same menu price.
Still, the viral clip connected with a frustration many people already felt.
What’s Still Missing From The Story
Nobody has said how long this glitch was active or how many customers may have encountered it before anyone noticed.
What is confirmed is that the kiosk displayed higher prices after Powell selected “No Tip” and that Shake Shack later attributed the issue to a technology error.
What remains unknown is how widespread the problem was.
It is unclear how many customers saw the same price change, whether anyone paid the higher amount without noticing, or how long the error existed before Powell recorded the video.
That uncertainty is part of why the situation gained so much attention.
Self-service kiosks depend heavily on customer trust. People expect the price shown on the screen to match the price they ultimately pay.
When something changes unexpectedly, especially in a moment involving a sensitive issue like tipping, customers notice quickly.
One viral video does not prove that Shake Shack was charging customers more for refusing to tip. The company has denied that claim, and the location operator says a technical issue caused the problem.
But Powell’s video highlighted a bigger concern that many customers share: when checkout technology fails, even a simple mistake can quickly become a trust problem.
What do you think happened here? Just a badly timed glitch, or an error that deserves a much more detailed explanation?
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