If you’ve ever wondered about the power of social media, then just ask Tesco what it feels like to be collared by Nancy Atkinson Turner. This mum of two was doing here weekly shop in Tesco in Havant, Hampshire, when she was wrongly accused of shoplifting.
She wrote on her blog Not Now Nancy: “Accused of shop lifting. Kids upset. No apology. I was humiliated by a company I had been loyal to for three years. I left the store feeling angry, belittled, confused and with two children in floods of tears, visibly shaken by the whole ordeal.”
Her response was to pen such a powerful polemic that she became an overnight hit in the blogosphere.
“It took my blog post, and 60,000 people reading it in 24 hours, to extract an apology from Tesco,” she wrote. “It has left a bitter taste in my mouth that as 1 voice I was ignored but as 60,000 voices I became important. My children no longer want to shop with me. They no longer feel comfortable in super markets.”
Her story hit a chord with so many people that it was picked up by traditional media – the Telegraph, Mail, the BBC and a string of local papers all covered the story.
Her story hit a chord with so many people that it was picked up by traditional media – the Telegraph, Mail, the BBC and a string of local papers all covered the story.
As Nancy’s stock rose, Tesco’s reputation was taking a hammering.
At this point, perhaps I should state that I know Nancy – have done for years. Heck, we even sang in the same band many years ago. While I’m interested in her tale, I’m also fascinated by Tesco’s plight. With the explosion in social media, everyone has a voice. The task of protecting reputations is getting harder. The ‘little guy’ can take on the ‘big boys’. Nancy is proof of that.
