Now they "barnacle" cars in Filthy

Reverend Conehead

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In Filthy, Pencil Vania, some parking lots have been using this product called a "barnacle" to force people to pay parking fines. Instead of a "boot", that attaches to a wheel, the barnacle attaches to the windshield with some kind of suction cup things. So then the person has to pay some huge fine to get that removed and to get their car back. I'm not sure how these suction cups are so tight that you can't pry them off, but apparently you can't. Sounds like something that could damage people's cars.
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I remember when I lived in Denver, there were these crooked companies that would illegally boot people's cars. According to local law at the time, only the City of Denver was allowed to use boots. Private parking lots were not allowed to. Some private lot owners would deliberately put up confusing signage about the rates to get people to underpay, and then they made way more money by booting them. So there was this one dude who went from parking lot to parking lot with the tools to remove the boots. His method of removal also destroyed the boots so that they could not be reused. The lot owners caught him and threw a fit, accusing him of breaking the law. He countered that they were the ones in violation of the law, and he called the cops. The cops backed him up, correctly stating that only the City can boot cars. A private company cannot. That dude was a local hero.
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With today's Internet and smartphone technology, these private lots should just charge people the parking rate up front, for two hours or whatever amount of time, and then if they're late, the system could automatically charge them some kind of reasonable late fee -- and I wouldn't call 500 bucks for being five minutes late "reasonable." I can't believe some bozos think it's okay to stick some device onto people's windshield without their permission that could easily damage it. One tiny rock flung back from a semi can damage your windshield. Imagine what some device that sucks so hard on your windshield that you can't remove it could do. These people should read Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, whose theme was: "Just because you can do something does not mean that you should."
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I hope the City of Filthy Delphia prosecutes the bozos for using this device in clear violation of City Law. That city has a law that says only police officers working for that city can issue a parking citation or tow or immobilize a car. Those lot owners could just use computer technology to get advance payment, as I mentioned, and then automatically charge a fine to those who don't comply, and the amount of the fine should be clearly stated on signs. That way the lot owners don't get ripped off, and they don't have to resort to putting some crappy device on someone's windshield that could easily damage it. They seem to have an attitude like, "I own the lot, and so I can do what I want to any cars who park here. If I want to pound on a car with a sledge hammer, that's my right." Bozos would rather pay that crooked barnacle company than an IT company that could set up a simple payment and fine system.
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Steve Lehto did a Youtube video about this. Check it out, if you're interested.
 

The Fonz

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