Someone keeps unplugging my car from our building's shared outlet — escalate or handle it myself?
This has happened three times in the last two weeks now and I'm getting to the point where I'm annoyed enough to actually do something instead of just complaining to my partner about it. There's one shared outlet near our building's side entrance that I've been using to charge overnight, and someone in the building keeps unplugging it, I'm assuming to charge something of their own, phone or a scooter or who knows what. I come out in the morning expecting a charged car and instead find the cable just hanging there, unplugged, car exactly where I left it. Building has zero rules about this because until a few months ago I was apparently the only person here who needed it. I don't know if I'm supposed to escalate this to management immediately or try to handle it myself first.
Filed under: Troubleshooting
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11 answers
11 ANSWERS
@frostbyte_742July 03, 2026
Talk to your leasing office first and get something in writing, even an email, establishing that spot as yours for charging. Verbal agreements between neighbors don't hold up when it happens a third time.
@snowbolt_rJuly 03, 2026
A cheap lockable outlet cover solves this faster than any building policy will. Twenty dollars, problem solved same day.
Only thing I'm still unsure about is whether to address the building generally, like a note near the mailboxes, or try to figure out specifically who it is first. Feels like a different approach depending on which.
Start general — a note near the mailboxes plus one line to your leasing office asking them to remind everyone that outlet's reserved for a resident's EV. If it keeps happening after that, then it makes sense to ask management to check any entry or camera logs to figure out who specifically. Going straight to "I know it's you" before you've tried the general route is going to feel adversarial for what might just be someone's kid charging a phone without realizing. General notice first is almost always the right order.
Tested a few of these outdoor lock covers for durability. The metal ones hold up fine. The plastic ones crack within a season in cold climates.
@greystone_lpJuly 03, 2026
Has anyone tried a lockable cover or outlet lock for a shared spot like this, or does building management usually push back on residents installing their own hardware there?
@saltmarsh99July 03, 2026
As a property manager, I'd actually rather get the email upfront than find out about a dispute after it escalates. Most of us would rather write one sentence now than mediate an argument later.
@greylantern_kJuly 03, 2026
Also worth having a direct conversation with the neighbor before going the building-policy route. Sometimes people don't realize what they're interrupting, especially if it's not obvious the outlet is dedicated to your car.
fair — guess my real question is whether taping a note directly on the outlet asking whoever it is to check first would actually work, or if that just gets ignored and I should go straight to management.
Taping a note directly on the outlet is worth trying since it costs you nothing, but don't expect it to be the whole fix — someone who isn't paying attention to whose car that cable belongs to also isn't necessarily going to read a sticky note carefully. Give it a week. If it happens again after the note's been up, that's your evidence that you tried the polite route first before going to management.
@orbit_snackJuly 03, 2026
Worth noting for anyone reading this later: don't just cut or modify the outlet yourself even out of frustration. That's the kind of thing that turns a minor dispute into a real liability problem.
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