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Contractor stealing electricity

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jvanderb

Junior Member
I live in Albuquerque, NM. The apartment complex I live in has hired roofers to re-roof all the buildings in my complex. This week, it's my building getting roofed. The problem is the roofers are using *MY* electricity that *I* pay the bill for to power their equipment. I would like to know what legal recourse I have, if any, and whether I should go after the property owner, or the contractor. Please let me know. I don't know what to do in this case. Incidentally, I do have pictures as evidence of what occurred in case it is necessary at some point.

Thank you in advance!
Jeremy
 


tdelker

Junior Member
Ask the property owner to reimburse you for the few dollars extra that your bill will be. It ain't going to be much.

On a side note : Why can't we all get along? It's a pretty minor thing, the workmen do need somewhere to plug in their compressor. Sure, they could get a generator, and then you would be complaining about the noise of the generator.
 

jvanderb

Junior Member
Ask the property owner to reimburse you for the few dollars extra that your bill will be. It ain't going to be much.

On a side note : Why can't we all get along? It's a pretty minor thing, the workmen do need somewhere to plug in their compressor. Sure, they could get a generator, and then you would be complaining about the noise of the generator.
I realize it's a fairly minor thing, but that's not really the point. I wouldn't mind a generator - in fact, I'm at work during the bulk of the time they are there. Part of the problem is that they have overloaded the circuit at least twice now, and have thrown the breaker. That was just this morning. If they damage electrical equipment plugged into the same circuit, I think we can all agree that's going to be more than a few bucks. It's really more the principal of the issue. They never asked for my permission to use it, nor did they ask for my permission before they trespassed on my porch to plug the thing in. I just think it's extremely disrespectful for them to assume they can do anything they want. If they had asked me, I wouldn't have had as big of a problem with it as I do now. I might still have asked for a few bucks to cover the cost though...
 

CraigFL

Member
I realize it's a fairly minor thing, but that's not really the point. I wouldn't mind a generator - in fact, I'm at work during the bulk of the time they are there. Part of the problem is that they have overloaded the circuit at least twice now, and have thrown the breaker. That was just this morning. If they damage electrical equipment plugged into the same circuit, I think we can all agree that's going to be more than a few bucks. It's really more the principal of the issue. They never asked for my permission to use it, nor did they ask for my permission before they trespassed on my porch to plug the thing in. I just think it's extremely disrespectful for them to assume they can do anything they want. If they had asked me, I wouldn't have had as big of a problem with it as I do now. I might still have asked for a few bucks to cover the cost though...
I agree with you 100%. One day I came out and found roofers next door plugged into all my outdoor outlets. Another time I found workers filling their asphalt roller with my water. I run a repair business and I make sure my repair people have everthing they need to make us independant. They don't carry generators but if we need it, we use the power from the service of that particular customer. It is my belief that if you are a "REAL" business, you will provide your employees with the proper tools and supplies so you won't have to make them steal it from others. Report them to their business...
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Can you put a lock on the outlet, or turn off the breaker for that outlet specifically?

You should complain to your landlord AND the contractor's boss.
 

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