More fun: Use an outlet faceplate and lay it on the dirt, “plug” the cord into that.
Yes, the ground is the third prong. That one doesn’t do anything at all unless there’s a serious problem. Swapping the positive and the neutral will not affect simple circuit devices like lightbulbs or toasters. It might affect more complex electronics, but in general, no, it doesn’t make a damn bit of difference. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you could start a fire, and if you do it correctly, he’ll never notice.
He’s already been a dick about it.
I vote that you alter the plug in a way so that it doesn’t work. Or just call in the landlord or some other witness.
I vote take photos and then call the landlord.
Do not attempt to screw with the extension cord. You could hurt yourself, start a fire, or get in trouble with the landlord.
Huh? Maybe I’m a dick, but my immediate action on seeing evidence of trespass would be to call the police and file a police report. After determination of criminal liability, I’d look into a civil case.
I’d report it to the management for the record, but ask them to not do anything at the moment.
Then I’d kill the breaker and cut his extension cord at 1 foot intervals for the portion that extends into your patio. Wrap it up into a nice little package, and toss it onto his patio as a present.
That, or attach the bundle to a severed horse head and leave it in his bed while he sleeps.
Call the power company & report this as theft of electricity & a fire hazard.
Take pictures of the cord, close & at a distance for your records.
Notify your landlord & mention the fines for having wiring that is not up to code from the local fire dept. If he just shrugs, Call them.
Turn off the fuse leading to the outlet first please (and on when you are done).
Elegant & effective, if you take the plug-head you cut off with you so he cant try to reattach it & tape it on. Q: How many trips to Home Depot (ie new cords) will he buy until he gets it? I’d say you have the makings of a good office pool.
If this were a movie, I’d say pop off the fuse switch at the breaker, strip off a bit of the insulation to expose the positive and the ground back about a foot from the power cord plug and unplug it from the outlet. Have one person at the fuse box to pop on the power when the neighbor starts to play with it. Have another camcording all the action for the folks who surf Youtube. 
But that’s really just a joke answer; please don’t really try to do this.
I like this idea. Do all the patios have identical outlets?
Not to be a kill joy but do you even know if the external outlet is on your bill?
Everyone says trip that breaker but if this building was built as an apartment building then the external outlets should be on a separate external breaker that is not in your apartment. The external outlets along with external lights, hallway lights, signs, the central air and heat, washer, dryer and any low voltage items like locks and intercom will be in the circuit panel for the building itself.
This wire maybe some kludge fix by building maintenance because the upstairs external outlet is nonfunctional.
On the other hand if this is your neighbor helping himself to your power then call the electric company and demand a 50% refund for the past two years based on this theft. Let them sort it out.
Unplug extension cord from wall. Tie to your bumper with suitable hunk of rope. Drive to work early one morning and see what leaps off his balcony to follow your car down the road.
Sorry, it’s 6am and I’m feeling grumpy so this is probably not the best idea, however the image brings a smile to my face.
Turn off the fuse leading to the outlet first please (and on when you are done).
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You’d need to unplug the cord to open the plug’s cover and trim the wires, so there’s no need to tamper with the fuse. Again, it is a joke response and I don’t, for a moment, suggest you do this for real.
SenorBeef your beef is far too patient and well-mannered for my liking.
Please provide pics so I can at least keep my indignation warm until your suitable plan has been executed.
Are you sure the cops aren’t interested? I would think they would be. You could at least call the non-emergency number and ask them if they’re interested in this sort of thing.
I don’t buy that it would be “hard to prove” he did it – I’d think the existence of a cord going into his dwelling would be sufficient. It’s not like the police balk at ticketing my car when I’m parked illegally because they can’t “prove” I was the driver, for example.
I’d take this month’s electric bill, divide the total by 2, write that amount in large red numbers on the bill and tape it to the bottom of the unplugged extension cord.
I’d go for the landlord because of the fire code violation of having that cord taped to the outside wall of a building. At present, you could be liable because you know about it and haven’t disconnected it. While a fire that started because of that cord would be your neighbour’s fault, at present, you could be found negligent in letting that live cord stay there.
If building maintenance is responsible for this, I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t have explained it to SenorBeef when they did so. It’s most likely the upstairs tenant doing this. And rather than waiting for the wattage meter to arrive, he ought to inform the landlord today, and disconnect the situation after the building manager has a chance to look at it. Because who knows how much stuff he has plugged into this outlet? Is there a possibility of an electrical fire as a result?
I really like the cartoon solutions for this one; the meter is just too elegant and imprecise. If you want to know what he is running, you have to yank on your end. Can you rent a trebuchet or crane from the ACME supply company? Or insert a fuse in your end of the cord in order to blow up the appliance/s in the thief’s face?
I wonder what the neighbor’s response will be…
Was that wrong? Should I not have done that? I tell you, I gotta plead ignorence on this thing, because if anyone had said anything to me at all when I first moved in here that that sort of thing is frowned upon . . . you know, cause I’ve lived in a lot of apartments, and I tell you, people do that all the time.
Me? I’d unplug it, take a 220Volt whip (Like for an electric dryer) and splice it in to another extension cord. Plug THAT one into his cord and plug the OTHER end into the 220V outlet for your Stove or Dryer. Pop.
Just kidding… BTW.
Report it to property management. Have the breaker turned off because of your nonuse of that outlet.