Peddling at Sunoco 9th and Kerlin annoys patrons

At last night’s Chester City Council meeting, the room was abuzz when a resident told council members that she wanted something done about the guys out there bothering her to pump her gas, and the guys selling oils in front of the store. 

Council gave the customary ‘We’ll look into it’ response, as they review city ordinances.

However, later that evening, I stopped at the Sunoco station and saw Chester police were arresting the ‘vendor’ set up in the usual spot outside the door. As I was leaving the store, I spoke with police chief Darren Alston, and asked why they were arresting him.

Chief Alston told me that he had attended the Council meeting and wanted to follow up on the citizen complaint. From our chat, I’m not sure if he would have done more than ask the oil salesman to pack up and leave, but the oil guy wasn’t there last night. Unfortunately, some guy set up to sell bootleg movies picked the wrong time to set up shop. 

I go to that station often, and I’ve never seen the movie guy. I guess I won’t see him again, huh?

Obviously, it’s great to see how fast the Chester Police Department responded to this issue. The new leadership seems to be off to a good start and I expect it will be good for the department. 

Here’s my personal feelings about the guys pumping gas and selling stuff outside the store. 

If it’s cold, or if I’m dressed up, I looking for those guys to pump my gas. It’s worth the spare change.

The oil guy doesn’t bother me. I've never purchased from him, but he has a nice set up, he’s polite, he smiles, but he doesn’t let too many people go by without asking them to come check him out. I’d do the same thing if I was set up out there.

In these days of no jobs, we should be encouraging people who are trying to get their hustle on. But, there are legal ways to do it. Hopefully, the oil guys has a vendor licenses. The gas station can employ ‘independent contractors’ to pump gas at scheduled times to service guys like me. They would have to follow some common courtesies so customers aren’t annoyed.

What I don’t like about that Sunoco station is that none of the pumps accept credit/debit cards, and they don’t accept them inside either. They also sell too many ‘cigar’ products.

What I like about that station is their low prices, well stocked inventory, Citizen’s Bank ATM, and the fact that they don’t sell lottery tickets.