“On the payment screen consumers are surprised with a so-called ‘Courier Fee’ and ‘Service Fee’.”

💡 This shows Shake Shack deliberately hides mandatory fees until customers have invested time and effort in their orders.

“For orders for delivery, Shake Shack represents that the fee for delivery is just $1.99.”

💡 The advertised delivery fee is false because Shake Shack adds a separate Courier Fee on top of this amount.

“Shake Shack omits and conceals material facts about Shake Shack’s food and delivery service, never once informing consumers in any disclosure, at any time, that they will incur on all orders a ‘Service Fee’ and for delivery orders, a ‘Courier Fee’ in addition to the Delivery Fee advertised at $1.99.”

💡 This demonstrates systematic concealment of costs throughout the entire ordering process.

“Hundreds of thousands of Shake Shack customers like Plaintiff have been assessed hidden fees for which they did not bargain.”

💡 The scale of alleged harm extends to a massive class of consumers nationwide.

“Consumers like Plaintiff reasonably understand Shake Shack’s advertised price to disclose the total cost they will pay for their food and to have their food delivered.”

💡 This explains why consumers cannot anticipate or avoid these hidden charges.

“By unfairly obscuring its true costs, Shake Shack deceives consumers and gains an unfair upper hand on competitors that fairly disclose their true prices and fees.”

💡 The deceptive practice harms both consumers and honest businesses competing in the marketplace.

“Junk fees are fees that are mandatory but not transparently disclosed to consumers. Consumers are lured in with the promise of a low price, but when they get to the register, they discover that price was never really available.”

💡 This White House definition perfectly describes Shake Shack’s alleged conduct.

“Many consumers said that sellers often do not advertise the total amount they will have to pay, and disclose fees only after they are well into completing the transaction. They also said that sellers often misrepresent or do not adequately disclose the nature or purpose of certain fees, leaving consumers wondering what they are paying for or if they are getting anything at all for the fee charged.”

💡 Federal regulators recognized the exact deceptive pattern Shake Shack allegedly employs.

“The price listed or advertised to the consumer must be the full price that the consumer is required to pay.”

💡 California’s new anti-drip-pricing law directly prohibits Shake Shack’s alleged practices.

“Knowing the price of a good of service is essential to competition, and displaying a price that is less than what the customer will actually be charged is deceptive.”

💡 This California Department of Justice statement explains why hidden fees undermine fair markets.

“Our brains tend to fix on the price we first encountered even after we learn the total cost. And even when consumers learn about the hidden fees, they often pay up rather than shop around because they figure that investing more time into searching for it will not be worthwhile.”

💡 This reveals the psychological mechanism Shake Shack allegedly exploits to trap consumers into paying more.

“Plaintiff would not have made the purchase if she had known that Shake Shack would tack on additional fees.”

💡 This demonstrates actual consumer harm and reliance on the false advertised prices.

“During the multi-step process, users are never provided with Shake Shack’s terms of service; are never required to view such terms of service; and are never required to affirmatively consent to terms of service.”

💡 Consumers have no contractual notice or agreement regarding these fees.

“Indeed, other major fast-food chains in the U.S. do not assess fees outside of those properly disclosed at the outset of a consumer’s order.”

💡 This proves transparent pricing is viable and Shake Shack’s deception is a choice, not a necessity.

“Many consumers do not notice these fees are being added to their order. Others believe that they have no choice but to pay these fees. And others still notice the previously undisclosed fees but decide to go through with the purchase anyway unsure of how it can be removed from their Cart after it was automatically added: they have already invested substantial time and effort inputting their information into the Shake Shack’s system.”

💡 This describes exactly how the deceptive checkout design achieves its profit-maximizing goal.