Stopped by Meze Grill today...

[Rassah]

Stopped by Meze Grill today. It was one of my must-visit places during my trip to NY. The food was DELICIOUS! But, I was informed that they don't take Bitcoin any more. "It didn't work out" Anyone have any idea why?
I hope that even if they lost some money on the MyBitcoin fiasco last year, they made it all back and then some from the extra publicity.

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[FreeMoney]

Maybe it wasn't worth having Bruce stop by all the time.

[BCB]

I actually stopped by there about a year ago for the same reason and they weren't buying/selling or taking btc then either.  

[casascius]

Me too, April 2012

[Rassah]

I actually stopped by there about a year ago for the same reason and they weren't buying/selling or taking btc then either.  

Wow, a year? I guess, considering the girl working there knew what I was talking about, they still get somewhat frequent inquiries about it.

[prezbo]

I'm sure it'd be pretty painless for them if they used bitpay... Maybe it's time to make them reconsider?

[Zeeks]

I asked about this in an IRC chat a while back and was told they lost every bitcoin they had when a bitcoin payment service of some kind disappeared.

[FreeMoney]

I asked about this in an IRC chat a while back and was told they lost every bitcoin they had when a bitcoin payment service of some kind disappeared.

Maybe that's what Bruce said, but mybitcoin did return 49 or 51%.

[FreeMoney]

Not to mention losing all of your dollars is obviously a LOL reason to stop accepting dollars. In fact, if someone gave that reason you would know there was a lot more to it than they admit or that it was just false.

[Gabi]

+1 what FreeMoney said.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I asked about this in an IRC chat a while back and was told they lost every bitcoin they had when a bitcoin payment service of some kind disappeared.

Maybe that's what Bruce said, but mybitcoin did return 49 or 51%.

When Jacob with NPR was at Bruce's office the day the MBC hack occurred, the computer was supposedly logged into some other person's account (not Bruce's, according to him). Bruce had to log out and start afresh to do a transfer with Jacob so that he would have coins to go and dine at Meze's Grill.

To this day, I believe Bruce purposely left that page on the screen for the NPR guys to see, knowing that would make a great cover for him. Remember, Bruce was the only person to get all his coins back, presumably 25,000 BTC. I can only imagine the thing Ed had to do to stop Bruce from crying on his show that one day.

[jwzguy]

To this day, I believe Bruce purposely left that page on the screen for the NPR guys to see, knowing that would make a great cover for him. Remember, Bruce was the only person to get all his coins back, presumably 25,000 BTC.

First I've heard that Bruce got all his coins back. Do you have a source?

[Phinnaeus Gage]

To this day, I believe Bruce purposely left that page on the screen for the NPR guys to see, knowing that would make a great cover for him. Remember, Bruce was the only person to get all his coins back, presumably 25,000 BTC.

First I've heard that Bruce got all his coins back. Do you have a source?

Not at the top of my head, but I think I recall him stating such on a subsequent show.

[DoomDumas]

Im very disapointed to read that stuff about Meze Grill..    Kinda sad when a business opt out !

[niko]

Still listed in https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Real_world_shops
and https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Business_and_organizations_that_%22also_accept_Bitcoin%22,_but_do_not_revolve_around_Bitcoin

I feel bad removing them, but will do so. If you disagree, please voice your concern!

I wonder what percent of listed businesses actually do not accept BTC anymore...

[Phinnaeus Gage]

Still listed in https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Real_world_shops
and https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Business_and_organizations_that_%22also_accept_Bitcoin%22,_but_do_not_revolve_around_Bitcoin

I feel bad removing them, but will do so. If you disagree, please voice your concern!

I wonder what percent of listed businesses actually do not accept BTC anymore...

Consider uses the almighty circumstance symbol.

*

[TheBible]

"It didn't work out" Anyone have any idea why?

Probably that time all their bitcoins just up and vanished and they had absolutely no recourse to get any more than 49% of them back.

Turns out, that isn't what people are looking for in a currency.

[TheBible]

I'm sure it'd be pretty painless for them if they used bitpay... Maybe it's time to make them reconsider?

Looks like they'd rather just take money.  If that gets stolen, it is insured and they can actually get it back.

[TheBible]

Not to mention losing all of your dollars is obviously a LOL reason to stop accepting dollars. In fact, if someone gave that reason you would know there was a lot more to it than they admit or that it was just false.

Dollars are also accepted everywhere, and if they are hacked from your bank account, they are insured and will be returned.  Nothing in Bitcoin offers that.

[Rassah]

Not to mention losing all of your dollars is obviously a LOL reason to stop accepting dollars. In fact, if someone gave that reason you would know there was a lot more to it than they admit or that it was just false.

Dollars are also accepted everywhere, and if they are hacked from your bank account, they are insured and will be returned.  Nothing in Bitcoin offers that.

They don't take dollars (usually), they take credit cards. If those are hacked, they are not returned, either (chargebacks, hacked credit accounts, etc). Only checking and savings accounts are insured, but it takes a bit for the money to actually get there.

But, yeah, whatever, "it's just fake money" and all that. Just as fake as the digital 0s and 1s that made up the first credit card accounts. It was just some piece of plastic with numbers on it representing some fake "digital" monopoly crap that wasn't even insured, not the real, actual printed paper money that everyone knew was real because you can touch it. No one accepted credit cards for those reasons, either, and then credit cards failed spectacularly!

[imanikin]

Maybe that's what Bruce said, but mybitcoin did return 49 or 51%.

That's not true. I didn't get any of the few i had there back from MyBitcoin, and know another person who didn't, and you can find a bunch here who didn't...

MyBitcoin was a total scam, and did more damage to Bitcoin than anything else i've seen.

The worst part is that people like Bruce in "the Bitcoin community" - who publicly recommended MyBitcoin, and supposedly lost a lot of B there - did not even bother to put up a bounty for the identity and whereabouts of "Tom Williams" of MyBitcoin. (No one disappears without a trace, if there is incentive to look for him...) And since then, there have been several other big rip-offs, as you know...

So, i am not surprized that Meze Grill got out of Bitcoin after taking a risk, trailblazing, getting burned, and not having any recourse at all to even see the prospect of anyone being caught not to mention punished for their loss. They have a business to run, which works fine without Bitcoin... 

[cunicula]

Not to mention losing all of your dollars is obviously a LOL reason to stop accepting dollars.

Yes, but losing all your BTC is not a LOL reason to stop accepting BTC.

[imanikin]

Yes, but losing all your BTC is not a LOL reason to stop accepting BTC.

+1 It was a sensible thing for Meze to do, especially because back then there were no other payment processors, even as lame as MyBitcoin was...

[imanikin]

...a little bit of Bitcoin nostalgia for those who are not familiar with those days and the Meze Grill story   

[CharlieContent]

Not to mention losing all of your dollars is obviously a LOL reason to stop accepting dollars. In fact, if someone gave that reason you would know there was a lot more to it than they admit or that it was just false.

This is such a fucking autistic thing to say.

[prezbo]

I'm sure it'd be pretty painless for them if they used bitpay... Maybe it's time to make them reconsider?

Looks like they'd rather just take money.  If that gets stolen, it is insured and they can actually get it back.

That's exactly why I suggested they use bitpay. As far as I know, bitpay exchanges btc to usd on the fly, and deposits the money to a bank account once per day (or maybe it's once per week?)...

[smoothie]

I'm sure it'd be pretty painless for them if they used bitpay... Maybe it's time to make them reconsider?

Good idea. Let's force merchants to use bitpay. LOL what a dumbass thought.

[smoothie]

Bitcoin has not hit critical mass. It may never given how much bad press bitcoin has gotten. Having merchant stop using bitcoin is a bad sign. Not sure if others have stopped.

[greyhawk]

To this day, I believe Bruce purposely left that page on the screen for the NPR guys to see, knowing that would make a great cover for him. Remember, Bruce was the only person to get all his coins back, presumably 25,000 BTC.

First I've heard that Bruce got all his coins back. Do you have a source?

http://youtu.be/OjV3wdXDHDk

[prezbo]

I'm sure it'd be pretty painless for them if they used bitpay... Maybe it's time to make them reconsider?

Good idea. Let's force merchants to use bitpay. LOL what a dumbass thought.

Ah, maybe it was poorly worded (english is not my native language after all), but I'm pretty sure you knew exactly what I meant. Why wouldn't they use bitpay, if that makes their life easier and keeps users wanting to spend their bitcoins comming back?

I now see why your ignore button is bright orange...

[Rassah]

I'm sure it'd be pretty painless for them if they used bitpay... Maybe it's time to make them reconsider?

Good idea. Let's force merchants to use bitpay. LOL what a dumbass thought.

Ah, maybe it was poorly worded (english is not my native language after all), but I'm pretty sure you knew exactly what I meant. Why wouldn't they use bitpay, if that makes their life easier and keeps users wanting to spend their bitcoins comming back?

I now see why your ignore button is bright orange...

+1 The only reason I even went to that one restaurant, among the hundreds in the immediate area, is that I'd hoped to spend some bitcoin directly. Now, unless they start accepting it again, I'd rather explore other places in the area. Though, granted, there probably aren't very many of us Bitcoin users for them to make accepting them worth it.
Since Bitcoin is an Internet currency, it would probably be best to keep expanding its use on the web, as we had been over the past year, and only start bugging merchants once it's fairly well established. Besides, with the BTC debit card coming out soon (ish), we'll still be able to use our btc everywhere, anyway.

[niko]

Bitcoin has not hit critical mass. It may never given how much bad press bitcoin has gotten. Having merchant stop using bitcoin is a bad sign. Not sure if others have stopped.

One of the hotels that made a news last year when they announced they were accepting btc:

I spoke recently with Kim, who told me the only Bitcoin transaction he handled was the one that the New Yorkerwriter, Joshua Davis, insisted on using to pay for his stay at the Howard Johnson.And, Kim said, it was a hassle.Davis first transferred regular cash to one of the Bitcoin exchanges. He then transferred the Bitcoins to Kim, who in turn had to exchange them once more into dollars before he could transfer them to the hotel’s deposit account.“I don’t even care about Bitcoin anymore,” Kim says. Davis “might as well have given me his credit card information; it would have been way simpler."

http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/The-Good-Wife-Bitcoin-for-Dummies-1045987-1.html

Things have changed, though. For those business owners who prefer pure fiat, there are Paysius and BitPay and MtGox merchant solutions to automatically and seemlessly accept bitcoin payments and get USD in their bank accounts. Irreversible, jnlike cc. Cheaper. Better.

In fact, I always argue that we shouldn't even tell these kinds of merchants they should start "accepting bitcoins" - they should start accepting payments through the Bitcoin network. There is Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Interac, Dwolla, and there is Bitcoin, too. Open source, extremely low cost, extremely secure. Don't even mention coins, wallets, exchanges, any of that.

[westkybitcoins]

Maybe that's what Bruce said, but mybitcoin did return 49 or 51%.

That's not true. I didn't get any of the few i had there back from MyBitcoin, and know another person who didn't, and you can find a bunch here who didn't...

MyBitcoin was a total scam, and did more damage to Bitcoin than anything else i've seen.

The worst part is that people like Bruce in "the Bitcoin community" - who publicly recommended MyBitcoin, and supposedly lost a lot of B there - did not even bother to put up a bounty for the identity and whereabouts of "Tom Williams" of MyBitcoin. (No one disappears without a trace, if there is incentive to look for him...) And since then, there have been several other big rip-offs, as you know...

So, i am not surprized that Meze Grill got out of Bitcoin after taking a risk, trailblazing, getting burned, and not having any recourse at all to even see the prospect of anyone being caught not to mention punished for their loss. They have a business to run, which works fine without Bitcoin... 

Nope, but Bruce was sure quick to offer to hold the wallet containing publicly-donated money for such a bounty (OK, to accept the offer to hold the wallet, since I can't prove the offer came from a sockpuppet.)

For the curious: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=34443.msg429636#msg429636

[Grinder]

First I've heard that Bruce got all his coins back. Do you have a source?

It seems pretty likely that Mybitcoins were run by Bruce, and he was the one who took the money. He's a convicted scammer, and a lot of the messages from "Tom Williams" were written in the same characteristic way, with only lower case and lots of ..., as Bruce used to write.

[CharlieContent]

First I've heard that Bruce got all his coins back. Do you have a source?

It seems pretty likely that Mybitcoins were run by Bruce, and he was the one who took the money. He's a convicted scammer, and a lot of the messages from "Tom Williams" were written in the same characteristic way, with only lower case and lots of ..., as Bruce used to write.

Plus Bruce needed more cash so he could continue to pretend to be a talk show host on the internet. What is it with people pretending shit on the internet and Bitcoin? BCB pretending to be a hardened TV detective who doesn't play by the rules, Nefario pretending to run a stock exchange, AugustoCroppo pretending to be married, Dank pretending that he's going to be a rock star. Sometimes I think those of us who don't live in some fantasy world are in the minority here.

[jwzguy]

First I've heard that Bruce got all his coins back. Do you have a source?

It seems pretty likely that Mybitcoins were run by Bruce, and he was the one who took the money. He's a convicted scammer, and a lot of the messages from "Tom Williams" were written in the same characteristic way, with only lower case and lots of ..., as Bruce used to write.

I hope you're never on any juries.

[Rassah]

First I've heard that Bruce got all his coins back. Do you have a source?

It seems pretty likely that Mybitcoins were run by Bruce, and he was the one who took the money. He's a convicted scammer, and a lot of the messages from "Tom Williams" were written in the same characteristic way, with only lower case and lots of ..., as Bruce used to write.

One problem with that theory: Bruce is not an IT guy and doesn't really understand tech that well. An online Bitcoin wallet requires one to know how to set up a web page with background code/database, how to actually write web code, and how to specifically write Bitcoin code. Bruce doesn't know how to do any of that, other than setting up a rudimentary web site. I don't think his bf knows any of that either. And his previous scam had nothing to do with internet or tech. So, about the best you can claim is that Bruce hired someone who is really good with IT and Bitcoin to build the site for him, 1.5 years before he decided to steal everyone's money, back when Bitcoin was worth under $1. And that's a bit of a stretch,.

[CharlieContent]

First I've heard that Bruce got all his coins back. Do you have a source?

It seems pretty likely that Mybitcoins were run by Bruce, and he was the one who took the money. He's a convicted scammer, and a lot of the messages from "Tom Williams" were written in the same characteristic way, with only lower case and lots of ..., as Bruce used to write.

One problem with that theory: Bruce is not an IT guy and doesn't really understand tech that well. An online Bitcoin wallet requires one to know how to set up a web page with background code/database, how to actually write web code, and how to specifically write Bitcoin code. Bruce doesn't know how to do any of that, other than setting up a rudimentary web site. I don't think his bf knows any of that either. And his previous scam had nothing to do with internet or tech. So, about the best you can claim is that Bruce hired someone who is really good with IT and Bitcoin to build the site for him, 1.5 years before he decided to steal everyone's money, back when Bitcoin was worth under $1. And that's a bit of a stretch,.

Is there another reason why Bruce disappeared from the Bitcoin community?

[Rassah]

Is there another reason why Bruce disappeared from the Bitcoin community?

He was laughed out of it for being a scammer, making somewhat blah talk shows, and heavily promoting an online wallet that eventually stole half of everyone's money. Reputation ruined, so he's not coming back. He's probably still involved somehow. Even tried to start his own forum that he would try to moderate for trolls. Don't know what happened to it though.

[greyhawk]

He's probably still involved somehow. Even tried to start his own forum that he would try to moderate for tells. Don't know what happened to it though.

Last one heard of him was he offered BTC exchange services with a ridiculously convoluted exchange process, got a single order and payment he never fulfilled, the victim screamed for Bruce's head on bitcointalk, then neither of them was heard from again.

[CharlieContent]

He was laughed out of it

Haha imagine being laughed out of this clown college of a forum. Embarrassing stuff!

[Rassah]

He was laughed out of it

Haha imagine being laughed out of this clown college of a forum. Embarrassing stuff!

Considering how often it happens around here, maybe it's not as much of a "clown college" as you think.

[CharlieContent]

He was laughed out of it

Haha imagine being laughed out of this clown college of a forum. Embarrassing stuff!

Considering how often it happens around here, maybe it's not as much of a "clown college" as you think.

Aren't you the guy with the creepy coffee table?

[Phinnaeus Gage]

He was laughed out of it

Haha imagine being laughed out of this clown college of a forum. Embarrassing stuff!

Considering how often it happens around here, maybe it's not as much of a "clown college" as you think.

Aren't you the guy with the creepy coffee table?

Rassah's coffee table is a fine piece of art. Definitely not creepy.

[CharlieContent]

He was laughed out of it

Haha imagine being laughed out of this clown college of a forum. Embarrassing stuff!

Considering how often it happens around here, maybe it's not as much of a "clown college" as you think.

Aren't you the guy with the creepy coffee table?

Rassah's coffee table is a fine piece of art. Definitely not creepy.

Hahaha. Of course it is.

[kjlimo]

Well I'm going to New York City this weekend.  I just called them again to confirm they don't accept bitcoin...

Figured I'd do my part to remind them they are missing my business.

Any other New York Restaurants close to Time Square that accept bitcoin?

[Rassah]

The crepes one isn't close, and I don't know if they still do.

If you are going to be near there, make ABSOLUTELY SURE that you stop by Grom ice cream shop. It is the only authentic Italian gellato place on the east coast (all others I've tried that call themselves gellato, even expensive ones, are just plain crap ice cream). It's a bit pricey, but it's very much worth it. Also, if you have room, get their hot chocolate. It's like as concentrated espresso of hot chocolates.