SALT LAKE CITY — Has a popular Salt Lake City hamburger joint gone past a reasonable tipping point when it comes to acceptable behavior when serving customers who don't tip?
Not according to the company that operates the restaurant.
In a TikTok video posted Saturday, a man named B.D. Powell was seen sitting inside Salt Lake City International Airport, sharing that his wife had told him, "if you don't tip at Shake Shack, they make it more expensive per item."
Powell and his wife are next seen ordering multiple milkshakes via a kiosk at the Shake Shack located inside the airport to test the claim.
When the couple finished their order, the total came out to $18.46. However, when they entered "checkout" at the kiosk, they were asked whether they wanted to add a tip. After pressing "no," the display featured a notice saying, "Uh oh! There has been a pricing update on one or more of your cart items. Please review these changes in your cart."
Upon reviewing the changes, the price of each milkshake had increased by 50 cents, and the order subtotal jumped to $19.96.
The viral video has been viewed over 4.2 million times, received nearly 418,000 likes and shared over 82,000 times.
On Monday, after this article was published, a spokesperson for HMSHost, which operates the Salt Lake City location, told FOX 13 News that a technology error caused what appeared to be an upcharge, and that the system was going through a pricing update at the time of the alleged issue.
The spokesperson added that the actual price of the milkshakes is the one featured after the tip was denied and was displayed on the menu boards at the location. The system was fixed, and the issue was resolved shortly after it was brought to the company's attention, the spokesperson said.
