Outraged trader shares photo of tip screen that suggested ONE HUNDRED PERCENT tip at Alaska restaurant – as top etiquette expert says she never gives in to their greedy demands

An options trader was outraged when a restaurant in Alaska offered him the option of leaving a 100 percent tip.

Harrison Snowden of Chicago started his vacation in Anchorage earlier this month with two friends the mood turned sourthe Free Press reported.

After picking up breakfast for himself and his companions, the tilt screen he was shown offered four suggested amounts: 20%, 30%, 50%, and -100%.

The tourist was so shocked that he tipped only 8 percent, less than he normally would have, and took a photo of the screen. He then shared the shocking image with friends.

“It was shocking,” he said. ‘It just felt like a huge middle finger. They know no one will tip that much.”

“You can find the tip jar everywhere, including in self-service,” explains etiquette expert Miss Manners

“If it hadn’t been such a big ask,” he says, “I actually think I would have tipped more.”

Judith Martin, also known as etiquette expert Miss Manners, told The Free Press in response to Snowden’s experience that the majority of questions she receives these days are related to tipping.

“The tip jar is everywhere, including self-service,” she said, but there are “two types of tips.

“The first is when tips are an expected part of someone’s pay.

“The other one is where people have just come up with the idea, ‘Oh boy, this way I can get some extra money.’

The second type, she says, is “not something I should indulge in,” she said.

“Tipping recommendations are often given by people who expect it,” she adds, “and they are very generous with themselves.”

Tip inflation has become widespread in the years since the Covid pandemic, with many businesses adopting digital cash registers from Square and even resorting to sneaky tricks to squeeze more out of their customers.

After-tax tippers may pay the highest among the five states with the highest average state and local sales tax rates – led by Tennessee and Louisiana at 9.55 percent, followed by Arkansas (9.44 percent), Washington (9.40) and Alabama (9.24).

Many base their tips on the pre- or post-tax subtotal based on local sales taxes, with pre-tax tips not accounting for those high rates in what servers take home

In September, it was revealed that nearly three-quarters of Americans tip higher when presented with a digital screen at checkout, a new report shows.

In recent years, Apple devices have become synonymous with the country’s “tip inflation” problem, causing the culture of tipping to spill over from bars and restaurants to stores, takeaway chains and even self-service machines.

But there is one man who certainly isn’t complaining. Billionaire Jack Dorsey’s tech company Square — which sells the software that powers many of these iPad payments — made an eye-watering $3 billion in profits last year alone.

It represents a threefold increase from what the company earned four years ago in 2018, when it earned about $1 billion a year. In the first quarter of 2023, it earned $770 million, up 16 percent from the same period last year.

The figures highlight how quickly such digital Point-of-Sale (POS) systems have taken over the country’s retail and hospitality establishments.

Many base their tips on the pre- or post-tax subtotal based on local sales taxes, with pre-tax tips not accounting for those high rates in what servers take home.

That also plays a role in what Square, the most prominent makers of the tilting screen, offer customers.

“Sellers decide whether tips are calculated before or after taxes,” a company spokesperson said, noting that they also allow custom tips.

After-tax tippers may pay the highest among the five states with the highest average state and local sales tax rates – led by Tennessee and Louisiana at 9.55 percent, followed by Arkansas (9.44 percent), Washington (9.40) and Alabama (9.24).

In contrast, Alaska, Oregon, New Hampshire, Montana and Delaware have no sales tax.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the restaurant in question can set its policy on the pre-tax total or on the entire bill if it wants its employees to take home more.

The Emily Post Institute, a group of etiquette experts, says wait staff should be given a pre-tax tip of 10 to 20 percent, while 10 percent for takeout orders or on-time delivery is appropriate but not required.

About 73 percent of people said they tipped at least 11 percent higher with digital tipping than with cash.

The study from Forbes Advisor also found that 31 percent of people admitted to feeling “pressured” to tip for a range of services ranging from sit-down meals and coffee to taxis.