I’d get one of those remote controlled electric outlets for Christmas lights, plug it into the wall and the extension into it, then stand out on the sidewalk and watch his apartment to see what goes on and off as I turn it on/off. Then I’d start doing patterns of on/off… like Morse code from space aliens or something.
Except that this is an outdoor outlet near ground level. What if he replaces a water resistant face plate with a standard one? What if he does get the water resistant one, but munges up the gasket? What if he doesn’t flip the correct breaker and nukes himself?
If my tenants did what you’re proposing and idled a contractor, you can be that they (the tenant) would get the hourly bill for the time they waited to get the key. (Imagine idling a five man crew for half a day) No insured contractor is going to break through a lock on an electric outlet without a written request from the owner or manager of the property. It isn’t a matter of if they CAN, it’s a matter of if they WILL. And an insured contractor will not do it.
I had a similar situation with a neighbor maybe 20 years ago. It turned out that he was already in the process of getting evicted, and he had had his electricity turned off. That’s why he was stealing from my balcony outlet. It was a really bad scene that I let the landlord et al take care of. I later found out that before leaving he had totally trashed the apartment. It took serious renovation work before it was rentable again.
One potential complication is that if I do something that’ll start open warfare, ie damage his stuff in a way that lets him know I did it, I’m taking off next week for a month and I don’t want to leave my apartment empty for a month if he’s a huge dick that may be plotting revenge. So I should probably keep this fairly legit.
My vote would be to give the cord a couple of strong yanks to see what comes tumbling down.
However, this guy has no hesitation about deliberately and thoughtfully stealing whatever doesn’t belong to him. He didn’t do this on the spur of the moment–it took planning and time to execute this theft. Maybe I’m being pretty general in making the assumption that if confronted, he will find a way to retaliate. Maybe it’s your car tires, maybe he gets his sneaky cousin to jimmy the door to your patio and steal your television, or maybe he throws rotting food over the fence of your patio where it can bake in the sun.
I would take pictures, then call the power company and explain the situation. Ask if they recommend calling the police. Forget the landlord/management company. You can clue them in when you have the power company/police report to back you up. The management may ask the guy to move, but chances are, they won’t.
Either way, my bets are that this won’t end pretty.
Unfortunately, while we all are having fun plotting things, you do already know that it’s there is a good chance that he is a dick.
If things escalate, you need to make sure that your hands are clean. This is why you’re doing things just right, documenting and getting management involved.
Who the fuck cares? He should plug that into his own wall.
You pays your money, you takes your chances… and one of those is that the guy you’re stealing from will yank the shit out of the cord and wreck whatever it’s plugged into.
In that case, I’d change my vote to not cutting the end off his cord and just reporting it to the landlord and let them take care of it. A good management company would keep an eye on your patio while you’re away to make sure he doesn’t just plug back in the second you leave after they inform him that theft from other tenants is not allowed.
Maybe just post a little plaque next to the outlet that says:
To whom it may concern,
This is a private outlet. Whomever plugs into this outlet, no matter how long or short a duration, whether wattage was drawn or not, grants me permission to enter that person’s residence any time I so choose, voluntarily or by force, and watch their TV until I so choose to leave.
If you cut the breaker that feeds the outlet — assuming it doesn’t also feed something critical that can’t be powered otherwise (such as the air conditioning*) — I don’t see why it would be necessary to fiddle with a locking cover. Asshole neighbor can plug in extension cords till the cows come home, but if the breaker’s off he ain’t getting a nanojoule from the outlet.
(Documenting the situation and engaging building management is also an excellent idea, if for no other reason than that knowing they’re aware of it might cause AN to think twice about retaliation.)
*I know that running a patio outlet from the same breaker as the air conditioning seems ludicrous on the surface, but I wouldn’t make any assumptions. I once spent a Sunday afternoon documenting the wiring of a restaurant owned by a friend of mine, and among many other curiosities I found a 20 amp breaker that fed two outlets at opposite ends of a large dining room, while every other outlet in the room was fed by a 15 amp breaker in another part of the building. When the building burned some years later, I was rather surprised to learn that it was a grease fire rather than an electrical fire.
You are not talking about the same thing I am. Your scenario is all in your head. I could snap the lock off of mine with my hand if I really felt like it. I could use a zip tie if I wanted and cut it off with a scissor or x-acto blade. I chose a .99 cent lock from Jack’s. No need for a “five man crew for half a day”. :rolleyes: The lock or zip tie or whatever you want to use is put through the tab on the edge of the plastic cover, not in the outlet itself. Seriously, how do a lot of you people function with these made-up restrictions and scenarios you have in your heads?
Mine looks like this, only it has a clear front and it’s the standard 2 outlet, not the 4 pictured, and it was in the $6 to $7 price range
You are wrong in that Enkel knows exactly what you are talking about. It has nothing to do with how easy or hard it is to break through a locking cover over an outlet. It is that a contractor will not break through it without explicit permission of the property owner. If the owner doesn’t happen to be around with a key (or to give permission to break the cover), the contractor will wait around or leave. Either way it’s gonna cost money even if it prevents actual work from being done.
