With the new year of 2021 upon us, Christmas 2020 is but a memory. If you are one of the lucky persons who received a gift that requires aid from a technical support staff, here are pointers to make your encounters with them less frustrating:
---avoid losing your temper or your time on hold may last longer than necessary. If you can inject some humor into the situation and make the agent laugh, you may get the best service that canned scripts and limited authority can provide.
---using social media to contact support may yield faster results that a phone call. Posting a plea for help on a company's Twitter feed or Facebook account may get faster attention.
---instead of choosing "technical support" via the voice-menu option, select "sales" or "place an order". Those calls are answered faster because they mean money to the company. Such calls are usually answered by people in your country while tech support calls may feature people with difficult-to- understand accents. (When this happens, ask for "an agent stateside" and you should be transferred.)
---consult websites such as DialAHuman or GetHuman, which are repositories for the collective knowledge of many customers. They include tips for navigating specific companies' voice response systems and provide direct phone numbers of key customer service staffers. Another option, FastCustomer, eliminates waiting on hold: you place a request for support, hang up, and a rep will call you.
Historical fiction is the genre of two new books that are ready for checkout here at Rhoads Memorial Library. They are: "The Mystery of Mrs. Christie" by Marie Benedict and "I Was Anastasia" by Ariel Lawhon.
Called a "reconstruction of one of the most notorious events in literary history," noted author Agatha Christie's mysterious 11-day disappearance in 1926 is the topic of Marie Benedict's "The Mystery of Mrs. Christie." Investigators found Mrs. Christie's empty car on the edge of a deep pond. The only clues were nearby tire tracks and a fur coat left in the car, odd for a frigid December night. Her World War I veteran husband and her daughter claimed to know nothing of her whereabouts.
Eleven days later, Mrs. Christie reappeared, claiming amnesia rendered her unable to explain her disappearance. Since then, authorities and fans of Christie's mysteries have pondered: what is real, and what is mystery? What role, if any, did her unfaithful husband play, and what was he not telling investigators?
"I Was Anastasia", new to us but released in February 2019, is author Ariel Lawhon's attempt to explain the claims of a young woman. This novel of historical suspense features Anna Anderson's 50-year battle to be recognized as Anastasia Romanov. Readers can decide whether they believe Anderson: was the Russian Grand Duchess or is she an imposter?
Anastasia's story begins in Russia on July 17, 1918, when Bolshevik secret police, obeying direct orders from Lenin, force her and the other Romanovs into a damp basement in Siberia. There the family faced a firing squad, with executioners claiming that no one survived.
Later, in Germany on Feb. 17, 1920, a young woman bearing a remarkable resemblance to Anastasia Romanov is pulled out of freezing water. She is taken to the hospital where an examination reveals that her body is riddled with countless horrific scars. When she finally does speak, she claims to be the Russian Grand Duchess, setting off a controversial saga that spans 50 years and touches three continents.
Although we are closed from Jan. 1 through Jan. 4, in observance of New Year's Day, we will re-open at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5.
Here's wishing you a safe and Happy New Year!