A Brief History of Customer Service

Some sources claim that the history of customer service dates back to the 1760s with the industrial revolution. Actually, the history of customer service is as old as the history of trading among human beings. The oldest customer support tickets still in existence are from 1750 BC, addressed to a copper merchant named Ea-nasir in the ancient city of Ur in Mesopotamia.?

A Glimpse into Ancient Customer Experience

These customer complaints written on clay tablets in cuneiform script almost 3800 years ago, reveal customer service issues that are strikingly similar to any that businesses today might receive. I would expect to see many like them in Zendesk ticket storage today!

One clay tablet was from a customer named Arbituram complaining that he had not received the copper that he had paid for (shipping issues, WISMO - where is my order)?

Another was from a customer stating that he was tired of receiving bad copper (persistent product quality issues, negative customer sentiment)

There was also the famous tablet which became a meme; from a customer named Nanni. This tablet can be found in the British Museum today. It points out several issues in Nanni’s customer experience with Ea-nasir the copper merchant - and from the contents of the ticket, it is obvious this is not the first negative customer experience he has had with this merchant!?

The ticket (on a clay tablet) says that the copper ingots delivered were the wrong grade of copper ore (incorrect product shipped) and the copper delivery was not accepted (product returns), even though the merchant had already been paid (billing and payment issues). The ticket implies that Nanni had dispatched his servant to Ea-nasir at least once looking for a refund (refund request), only to be rebuffed rudely (CSAT issues) and sent home empty handed (refund transaction failed) – and through a war zone! (not this customer’s preferred Channel of communication!), Nanni demands that Ea-nasir restore his money in full (repeated refund request, negative customer sentiment) and threatens to inflict grief on him (high emotional content, negative customer sentiment). The tablet includes the line, "On account of that one mina of silver which I owe you, you feel free to speak in such a way" (customer service quality issues, negative customer sentiment, high emotion content in the tone, bad NPS)

Evolution of Customer Service

It is not clear if Ea-nasir fixed his business problems indicated by these customer service tickets, but he obviously considered them important because several of these clay tablets were discovered thousands of years later, fairly well preserved, at his dwelling, which was also his business address. How businesses provide customer service has evolved drastically as a result of several key inventions over the years.

• Writing: Incidentally writing was invented to assist with economic transactions. Nanni could write his customer service issues on a clay tablet and send it with his agent to Ea-nasir; and then continue focusing on his business of making things with copper.?
• Telephone: Nanni no longer needed to send a person with a clay tablet through a war zone.?
• PABX, toll free numbers, IVR, call center: Ea-nasir could train a whole bunch of agents to attend to all his customer service requests and focus on his business of sourcing and shipping good quality copper ore.
• Web2.0, smartphones and public social channels: Nanni could talk to his copper merchant (or his chatbot) from anywhere, on his smartphone, using WhatsApp.?
• AI: Today we’re facing a seismic shift in the world of customer experience with rapid advancements in AI. Generative AI can handle a huge volume of customer interactions at once, while acting like a personalized concierge for each unique customer. And, if done right, it learns from more interactions to deliver better quality with greater efficiency and hyper-personalization.

And Yet, Some Things Never Change

As long as businesses exist, as long as people are providing products and services that other people want, good customer service will be the most important aspect of successful businesses. Judging by the contents of the clay tablet support tickets, some core problems handled by customer service have not changed in thousands of years.

And the best customer experience is one with a personal touch. Because through it all, from the copper merchants in Ancient Mesopotamia to modern businesses, the customer was, and is, always human.?