deafbiz.com

I found this website via LifeHacker which focuses on Informercial Scams.

I see DirectBuy TV commercials all the time. I recalled a very similar high-pressure sales pitch when we first bought our house. I can’t recall the company name except it started with “C”. At the sales pitch, they told use we must join today or forever lose the opportunity to save money. Well, my B.S. antenna shot way up and I said I needed time to think. The salesperson suddenly became cold to us and we were quickly shown the door.

So I had a hutch that Direct Buy was a reincarnation of this defunct company. Sure enough, the complaints listed at Infomercial Scam described the same high pressure sales pitch.

Here’s one of the complaints that caught my eye:

4/15/2007 - Karen writes:
We are a deaf couple from Phoenix, Arizona. We called them for an appointment for showroom etc. They said we would have to bring an interpreter(sign language) The supervisor (guy) was very rude to us. We cancelled it. Thank God. Later we found this website and learned more about Directbuy scam. Please do something to shut it down ! Contact the TV media- 20/20 !!!

Good thing they walked away. Supposed they had a UbiDuo? That would’ve solved the communication issue but then would they have fallen for the sales pitch anyhow?

When there’s a disaster, Red Cross is there. What happens if the disaster victim happens to be deaf? How can a hearing rescuer communicate?

UbiDuo to the rescue!!

Rochester Red Cross now has TWO UbiDuos - one in the office and one in the disaster rig.

Thanks to 13Wham.com, Rochester NY’s ABC Television station for getting the word out.

If you want you local Red Cross to considering purchasing the UbiDuo, please contact Winfreepcs.com for assistance.

(full disclosure - Judy S. Gunter, webmaster of deafbiz.com is also Manager of winfreepcs.com and has helped Red Cross with the UbiDuos).

There’s an upcoming PBS documentary that explores nearly 200 years of Deaf Life in America called “Through Deaf Eyes”.

Be sure to check the local PBS schedule and tape it for your deaf library.

Kudos to Scommonline for working very hard to get the word out about UbiDuo and for Kokonut Pundits to bring this to my attention. The local FoxNews TV station did a show and it’s a great video of how UbiDuo works:

Device Gives More Independence To Hard of Hearing

Though it’s not subtitled on the web, Kokonut Pundit did the transcription.

FYI, WinfreePCS Inc. has purchased two UbiDuos for demo around Rochester, NY. If you want to see it in action, please fill out the contact form on their website or on this weblog as well.

I’m a little late on posting this but I’m glad that Relay Scams are coming into the National Spotlight.

NBC Nightly News Story on Relay Scams.

It’s probably not a bad idea to set up a subscription services but it’s sad that we have to give up privacy, security, and convenience just to have “equal access”. Hearing people don’t have to deal with the indignities that deaf people do.

FWIW, when I used Relay Services on TTY, I’ve had so many hangups. When I switched to VRS, I had fewer hangups but the communication speed was still slow. When I finally switched to VRS with VCO, I’ve never experienced a single hangup. In fact, many callers do not know that I’m deaf using the VRS!