A woman on TikTok asked for advice after she discovered she has been paying her neighbor's electric bill for the past five years.
TikToker and business owner Lauren Gifford (@thegiffordfamily) took to the platform seeking any sort of guidance after she made the realization.
In her first video, she shared:
"We just found out we've been paying our neighbor's power bill plus our power bill for the last five years in our warehouse."
She explained:
"We just found out two weeks ago because we have not been at our warehouse and yet we still have a bill for almost $500."
Gifford continued:
"So that raised some red flags for us, and we did some investigative work."
"So my question is..."
"The power company doesn't want to take care of it, and neither does my landlord."
She then asked all the "attorney people out there":
"What's my next plan of action?"
You can watch below.
While no one in the comments claimed to be an attorney, several did offer advice.
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
Gifford offered an update in a follow-up video with her husband.
She explained that when she moved her business into the warehouse, she was told by the landlord that she would have two power bills because she utilizes both the warehouse and the front office of the building.
Her husband then said he talked to a person in the neighboring business, but they had no idea how their power is billed because "they're corporate."
“They may be just oblivious to the fact that they’re either getting a smaller power bill than they’re supposed to or no power bill at all."
The TikToker also shared that their building has been sold three times since they moved in, and the neighboring business has housed several different occupants over the years.
“Eventually, we’re just gonna go after one or all of them, but we just have to figure out who’s actually at fault."
Her husband added:
“‘Cause I don’t want to go after someone who’s not at fault. Like, I feel bad if the next-door tenant would get the brunt of this ’cause they didn’t know any different either."
But, as Gifford noted, the trouble will be worth it:
“We’re talking about $20,000."
In the third installment, Gifford said she had the electric company shut off the electricity tied to their second power bill.
And guess what?!
Their lights were still on.
The TikToker did notice, however, that half the lights were out at the neighboring business.
And viewers were a bit outraged, many claiming that there's no way the landlord really believed two thermostats equalled two electric bills.
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
But they also want to know what happens next.
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
@thegiffordfamily/TikTok
While we don't have an update yet on how it all played out, the couple did say they would be taking legal action.
Best of luck!
@JenWave95/X
@gearinco/Bluesky
