The World's Oldest Customer Complaint

If you think bad customer service is a modern problem, think again!

Almost 4,000 years ago, in ancient Mesopotamia, one very unhappy customer decided he’d had enough — and wrote it down for the ages.

A Tablet of Frustration

In 1750 BCE, a Babylonian named Nanni purchased copper ingots from a merchant called Ea-nasir, but the transaction didn’t go well.

Instead of the fine-quality copper promised, Nanni received an inferior batch. To make matters worse, when he sent messengers to complain, Ea-nasir was apparently, lets just say, less than welcoming.

So what did Nanni do? He did what any outraged customer might do, but he couldn't fire off an email or leave a one star google review, no, he had his complaint carved into a clay tablet.

The Complaint, Translated

Here’s a portion of what the world’s earliest known bad review says (translated from Akkadian):

“When you came, you spoke to me in friendship, but you have treated me with contempt… I shall not accept here any copper from you that is not of fine quality.”

And to really end strong, he added....

“You have treated my messenger with dishonor.”

So even back in 1750 BCE, customer service was all about respect.

Why This Tablet is Genius History

But this isn’t just an interesting story, it’s a snapshot of early commerce, human emotion and the beginnings of consumer rights. It shows us that:

• Trade networks between cities were already highly developed.

• Quality control was a thing — and people cared deeply about it.

• Human frustration over being cheated is timeless.

  
  

In a world without phones, emails and Google, a clay tablet complaint was both serious and permanent.

The Genius Within Perspective

We tend to think our problems are modern inventions, but obviously human behavior doesn’t change much over time. Whether it’s copper ingots in 1750 BCE or a delayed online order today, the core issues are the same: promises, quality, trust and follow-through.

And perhaps there’s a lesson here:

📜 If you’re going to make a complaint… make it so memorable that people are still talking about it 4,000 years later :)

And lets end with a quick question for You: If you could send a “clay tablet complaint” to any company today, who would you send it to and what would it say?

Stay Curious. Stay Genius.