Member-only story
The Oldest Customer Complaint In History
3,800 years ago a client sent a very strongly-worded tablet
In the customer service industry, you just cannot avoid complaints: they happen every day, and handling customer complaints in the wrong way can cost you your reputation and, eventually, your business.
To ensure happy, loyal clients you should listen to their criticism and try to resolve the issues they are pointing at… or, you know, you could just keep their money and tell them to get lost, as merchant Ea-Nasir used to do in 1750 BC.
Ea-Nasir was a bigwig international trader dealing in copper ingots, but also buying and selling gold, ivory, coral, lapis lazuli, and occasionally food and textiles. A very versatile businessman indeed — and quite a dodgy one.
His large house, located in the city of Ur (in modern-day Iraq) was discovered during early 20th-century excavations by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Wooley, and more than a dozen tablets were unearthed at the site. Those tablets contained customer reviews — and most of them were not exactly glowing.
