Exxon sticker removal

$16 to remove Google and iPhone decals from the pumps. Guidelines state, 30 to 60 minutes per site. No fuel to get to these locations ! Pictures, before and after shots. This is way to time consuming. You need to bring a scraper, rags and goo gone/rubbing alcohol, etc. I took a 2 pump station for a test run for today. Driving time, fuel and time on site, I already know I'm losing money !

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I thought about doing some, but then imagined having to work around customers pumping gas. And then imagined a 16 pump station. And still, I thought maybe I would do one. And then imagined having to go buy the goo gone stuff, lol. I will probably do them if I am already doing a regular shop,if there are not too many pumps, but won't make a special trip. That is probably what they are thinking too.

There are about 30 Exxon's in my area, all are done for the site inspections already !
There is no way, I will be doing any 8,10,12 or more stations !!! Not without a lot more of a FEE.

I had the opposite initial reaction. Seems fairly simple and not too time consuming, though ymmv depending on how many pumps.

I don't think there are any Russians / And there ain't no Yanks
Just corporate criminals\ / Playin' with tanks

UPDATE : 38 minutes for 4 pumps. The stickers can be a pain in the butt to remove (residue leftover and getting that off) 2 customers camping at the pumps (inside the store) 20 mile round trip ( minus $2 for fuel, my Passat averages 37 MPG) So, basically $14 for the stop. My time is worth a lot more to me. Doing these at night, might be better with less customers at the pumps ???

Can you use some approved product to make residue removal easier?

When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination. - Thomas Sowell

The Goo Gone works well. Just a little "work" to get it off completely. You have to be careful with the scraping though. Make sure you don't scrape into other decals. I also already owned the tools, rags and Goo Gone. Can add up to purchase all.

I did three of theses last night (signed up for 5). First one, super easy. Only one sticker per pump, 8 pumps, quick wipe with rubbing alcohol, done in 15 min. Second one, two stickers per pump, 12 pumps. Every sticker had a second round white sticker underneath were the scan icon was. They were very messy and difficult to remove. Took 90 minutes. The other stations were very close, so I drove by and could tell two of them had the same difficult dots. The last one was remodeling and currently has no pumps. I took a picture and submitted. Hopefully I get paid for that one. I cancelled the remaining two.

Stephanie

MSPA Gold Shopper

Shopping North Idaho and Eastern Washington

If you do plan on doing the pump my 2 suggestions would be going them during late night like after 9pm or super early morning like 5 or 6am when gas station is not busy. Doing it anytime during the day is nightmare with all the customers camping waiting to pump gas.

Also prepare to bring some disposible gloves and use google maps to check around which gas stations has "less pumps" to work with.

So which works better, Goo Gone or rubbing alcohol? I have neither one already, nor do I have a scraper. No qualms with getting supplies, just want to know what you all see to be most efficient.

I don't think there are any Russians / And there ain't no Yanks
Just corporate criminals\ / Playin' with tanks

The first one i did had 1 decal on each of the 12 pumps. Used my finger nail to peel it off and the white dot came with it. Next station only had 4 pumps but that's where I found out about the white circle and the goo left behind. Took a lot longer. Alcohol only cleaned it up a bit. I used a scraper to get off what I could.

Today, the first station had neither of the decals..yeah..one picture of each and no scraping....It went downhill from there with my next two stations. I got off whatever residue I could and took the pictures.

I still have 2 more. Then Ill see if the fee goes up. I wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't so stinkin hot and humid.

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The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2025 02:47AM by MsJudi.

It makes me wonder who was in charge of placing those stickers on the pumps. I never saw that job type posted and assumed it was the station employees that affixed them, like when they change POP stuff.

Branded wholesalers (fuel delivery/pump placement/repair, etc.) Placed most years ago. New pumps in my area, didn't get them. Only the Exxon Mobil decals were placed.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2025 08:30PM by claabe.

@sestrahelena wrote:

It makes me wonder who was in charge of placing AppClip stickers on the pumps. I never saw that job type posted and assumed it was the station employees that affixed them, like when they change POP stuff.

While I was doing an inspection, a couple of people arrived on site to put the stickers on and activate them. They had some type of company car, and I can't remember the name now. I then saw them pull into the next station I was doing, so at that time we had a quick conversation about things. They seemed like paid employees of the company they were working for, and not contractors.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/2025 09:39PM by KA047.

Oh and before I got the hang of doing these I peeled off the stickers on one pump and forgot the "before" photo so I grabbed them from the trash pile and put them back on for el photo...then peeled them off again...
Don't do that! Bahaaa

*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

Rubbing alcohol is cheaper, and I have 8 - 10 32 oz bottles of it in the closet. I don't know where my scraper is so I spent $5 on a new one from Amazon with 80 extra razor blades. My son is going to do the ones that also have a site experience available to do at the same time. The rest he'll wait for the pay to go up.

I use alcohol on a daily basis in my store; I suggest not skimping by purchasing either 50 or 70%. The few pennies saved are not worth the extra effort, as 91% is so much easier labor and time wise.

I found alcohol did work on most of the goo, but my arm muscles feel it today.

*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

I appreciate everyone's input / perspective. Picked up seven shops.

I don't think there are any Russians / And there ain't no Yanks
Just corporate criminals\ / Playin' with tanks

Bob, I have a bottle of 91% that I don't feel comfortable putting on my skin. I'll put a sprayer nozzle on that for my son to take stickers off. The new scraper kit I bought will be here Tuesday.

Morled, very little alcohol ever touches my skin; I also use a spray bottle.

I did 12 over the weekend in my region. It was a mixed bag overall. Some stations had none, others had one sticker while others had both. Fortunately I have a good putty knife in my tool kit that takes off most of the sticker. Then I do a few sprays of Goo Gone (a $5 expense) and scrape off the residue. Take a few paper towels from the windshield washer bin and its golden. After a few hiccups at the start, I got the work down to about 20-mins average per station. I drive a hybrid too so mileage is cheaper for me.

When I do these, I grab a group in an area and calculate the mileage for the tax write-off later ($0.70 mile in 2025). The only unfortunate thing I'm noticing is there may be a quota on locations in an area. Not sure if its per person, per day or per region, but once I accepted a certain amount, they all disappeared from me. I hate it when this happens.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/14/2025 01:43PM by scottsteg.

Oh and here's another thing. A couple of my friendly gas attendants tried to be helpful and proudly showed me the stickers they removed for me...I thanked them and told them to put them back for the glorious photo I had to take before they came off. Most of them know me from doing the audits. They are the greatest guys. One moved from a different station that was debranded and he located to another one I do. He beamed and hugged me when I came in and told me I made his day to see me again. Such a sweetie pie.

*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

If you come to a station and some or all of the pumps have no Apple/Google stickers, I believe the audit still counts. The way the form works is if you go to the individual pump entry, if you select that neither sticker was present, they still want a photo of the pump for proof and they only provide one photo entry form once you select "neither" so there's no need for a before pic. This is fine regardless if they already took them off or if they were never there in the first place.

I didn't remove the white dot under the stickers. My shops were accepted.

@MarySha wrote:

I didn't remove the white dot under the stickers. My shops were accepted.

That's surprising to me that you left it there and they were ok with it..I've been working too hard! They would be a piece of cake if not for the white dots, in most cases.

*****************************************************************************
The more I learn about people...the more I like my dog..

Mark Twain

Ironically, while I was at a red light today, I looked over at the station right beside me and saw someone must've done this shop there already. But I saw those white dots, and thought, "yeah, they're not gonna accept that". Guess I was wrong! lol

The guidelines say white circles must be removed. Maybe they are easing up because shoppers are complaining. Or maybe not.

When I read the guidelines it stated to only remove the Google pay and Apple Pay stickers. I didn’t see anything about the white dots. I can’t access the guidelines right now.

It's where they tell you to take a second photo show everything including white circles specifically have been removed. It's no big deal. I'm glad they are approving your shops. But I would hesitate to go out of my way to do a bunch of these at once and risk not getting paid.

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Exxon sticker removal

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