A woman discovered her neighbour had been stealing electricity from her property after the pair had already fallen out over an unpaid water bill that led to their supply being cut off.
The woman, who recently relocated to a new city with her husband and one-year-old child, shares a semi-detached building with the neighbour in question.
The electricity theft came to light when the 29-year-old homeowner spotted an extension lead plugged into their supply running to the neighbouring property.
The discovery followed an earlier dispute where their shared water metre was disconnected after the neighbour failed to pay her portion of the bill, saying: "We didn’t make it a big deal about the water because it was resolved and turned back on the same day."
The plug had been inserted into the socket
However, when confronted about the electricity theft via text message, the neighbour responded emotionally, writing: "I'll unplug asap, and I'll come right over to tell [sic] to you. It's been the worst week and I don't know how much more I can take."
She revealed she was facing severe financial difficulties, stating: "My electric bill is 2000 dollars because I went the whole year without paying everything myself. I'm paralyzed and I'll be sitting in the dark again in about two hours."
The neighbour claimed she would become homeless without assistance and that her daughter refused to help her.
The homeowners expressed their frustration in their response, stating: "I feel like we've been respectful neighbors to you and would appreciate to be treated the same way.
"If you could have simply asked us out of respect we would have worked some type of agreement with you."
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The neighbour had used the plug socket (file pic)
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They emphasised their own financial struggles, writing: "I understand you're going through hardship but we are too.
"We feel like you plugging into our electricity without asking is taking advantage of us thinking we're just a dumb young couple who won't notice."
The couple highlighted that they too had a young child to support, adding: "I understand you have a child you're taking care of but we have a baby we're trying to better provide for."
The homeowners informed their neighbour they would be involving property management to handle the situation going forward.
In response, the neighbour admitted she had been "embarrassed" to ask for help and offered $100 as compensation for the stolen electricity.
The incident sparked strong reactions when shared online, with one commenter writing: "She shamelessly plugged it in but too scared to admit fault. Instead of just owning up to her mistake, she's whining about how awful things have been for her. Coward."
Another person observed: "There was no mistake here. What she did was very deliberate and had her sob story ready to go to guilt the neighbor into letting her continue to leech."
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