The World's Oldest Customer Complaint: What Ea-nasir Taught Me About Integrity
What a 4,000-year-old complaint teaches about integrity.
The world's oldest customer complaint is 4,000 years old. And it still hits hard today.
The Story of Ea-nasir and the Bad Copper
Around 1750 BCE in ancient Mesopotamia, a merchant named Ea-nasir sold copper to a customer called Nanni. The problem? The copper was terrible quality.
Nanni was so furious that he did what any of us would do today. He left a scathing complaint. Except back then, that meant carving his grievance into a clay tablet.
That tablet survived 4,000 years. And when archaeologists excavated Ea-nasir's house, they found something remarkable: it was full of complaint tablets. The man kept meticulous records of being absolutely terrible at his job.
Why This Story Still Matters
Here's what strikes me about this ancient tale:
Your Work Outlives the Moment
Ea-nasir probably thought he could cut corners and get away with it. Maybe he figured no one would remember a few bad batches of copper. But here we are, millennia later, and he's become internet-famous for all the wrong reasons.
The truth is, everything we do leaves a trace. Every interaction, every deliverable, every "small" decision. It all adds up.
The Lessons We Can Take Away
- Do good work, even when no one's watching. The quality of your work speaks for itself, long after the transaction ends.
- How you treat people matters more than the sale. Nanni wasn't just upset about the copper. He was upset about being dismissed and disrespected.
- Reputation compounds, one interaction at a time. It takes years to build trust and seconds to destroy it.
- Character isn't what you do when it's convenient. It's what you do when doing the right thing costs you.
The clay tablets we leave behind today are called reviews, testimonials, and word of mouth. They spread faster and last longer than Ea-nasir could have ever imagined.
A Personal Lesson in Quality
This story reminds me of a time when my wife and I ran a side hustle making custom party favours.
We could have used regular glue. It was cheaper and faster. But we noticed that glue sometimes left the ends of our products looking messy or sticking where they shouldn't.
So we made a choice: double-sided tape. Every single time. Even though it cost us more.
No one asked us to do it. Most customers probably wouldn't have noticed the difference. But we knew. And that mattered.
Bringing It Home
I think about this story when I'm building systems for clients or writing a simple email. The small stuff? It adds up. The "no one will notice" moments? Someone always does, even if it's just you.
So build with integrity. Treat people well. Do work you're proud of.
Because 4,000 years from now, you never know what might survive.
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