Black tape on billboard that slams Cell C

Social media was abuzz on 7 November about a 20-foot by 5-foot billboard on Beyers Naude Drive which publicly blasts the Sandton City branch of Cell C for poor service. The banner was erected on the afternoon of 6 November.

On the morning of 8 November, the banner had some changes with black tape covering the Cell C logo. The rest of the information remained.

The billboard reads, “Cell C Perceived by the owner of this billboard to be the most useless service provider in SA – Cell C Sandton City.” The irate client also blasted the company’s Sandton City franchise manager, Riaan van Rooyen and an unnamed ‘executive head’ for allegedly refusing to assist a customer.

On the afternoon of 7 November, the personal assistant of the man who made and erected the billboard answered the plea of 702’s Afternoon Drive Show host Xolani Gwala to explain the reason for the billboard in detail.

The personal assistant, who only used her first name, Beverley, said her boss commissioned the billboard out of frustration of asking the Cell C Sandton City branch for good service.

Beverley told 702 that they were “stonewalled” when trying to get help from the branch and said her boss was concerned that more people were treated in this manner. She said on 702 that her boss sat her down one day and said he was sure that many other people had been mistreated by the store and he would put up a board and see what Cell C would do.

She said that Cell C had visited them since the banner was erected. When Gwala asked if there could be a lawsuit on their hands, Beverley said that they had proof of Cell C’s bad service.

Cell C media liaison officer, Vinnie Santu, said, “We can confirm that there is a dispute between Cell C and the customer responsible for the banner and we are attempting to resolve the matter.”