Lazy maintenance guy gets a dose of insomnia due to a disgruntled tenant he refuses to help: ‘I interrupted his sleep for months before I moved.'

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Feb 6, 2026 10:00 AM EST

When your apartment's handyman refuses to be handy, you should refuse to let him sleep. And that's exactly what this tenant did when his maintenance guy refused to fix the things he was hired to fix. 

Have you ever live in an apartment where everything is just falling apart? You open up a cabinet and the door falls right off of the hinges. You got up the stairs, and the mantle crumbles in your hands. You try to open up a window and it won't budge. These are all little repairs that are exactly why a landlord even hires a maintenance guy in the first place. But this guy did not care in the slightest, and would only aid the tenants he found "attractive." Huge red flag right there. 

Anyways, the guy told the tenants that he can only work on emergencies and left them to figure everything else out on their own. As if they were a trained plumber, electrician, or carpenter. 

However, one day, the tenant found a loophole. Apparently, the breaker flipping is considered an emergency. So at any time of the night, the maintenance guy would have to get up to flip it back on, since he was the only one with access to it. I think you know where this is going…

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  • Lazy maintenance guy gets a dose of insomnia due to a disgruntled tenant he refuses to help: ‘I interrupted his sleep for months before I moved.'
    via Unsplash+ (and Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Since this tenant didn't work early and tended to stay up late in the garage working on his car, he made sure to flip that breaker as many times as he could in the middle of the night. Whether it was midnight, 1am, 2am, whatever, the maintenance guy would have to get out of bed to flip it back on. This tenant did not stop doing this for the REST of his time on that lease. That was months, guys. MONTHS. He straight-up gave this lazy maintenance guy insomnia as a punishment for his laziness. He could've lost his mind! We applaud him. 

  • "Made sure the lazy maintenance guy didn’t get sleep"

    I used to live in an apartment complex that was fairly cheap but I was young and it's what I could afford.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • I had a roommate who was a good guy and in a similar spot. We had several issues with the place like the garbage disposal died, terrible water pressure in the shower, and a few other things.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • I turned the problems in over and over. The maintenance guy ignored me but fixed the problems of the two good looking women across the hall.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • When I asked about my issues after over two months, he made up a bunch of crap.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • He lived on-site and had to handle emergencies. I worked nights and I paid extra for a garage.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • I was working on my car and had the radio on and when I switched on my rolling air compressor, it threw the breaker and all of the outside lights went off.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • I locked up and went back to my apartment. I just happens to be looking out the window when I see the maintenance guy with his keys.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • He unlocks a closet at the end of the garages and flipped the breaker inside. The lights came on.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • Hmmmm...I guess all of the outside lights in the front of the building is an emergency that he has to get out of bed for.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • I worked nights and kept those hours when I was off. I would go to the garage at random times when I was off work and turn on my compressor at night to knock the power out and he'd have to get out of bed and flip the breaker.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • This would be at 3 or 4 am. My stuff never did get fixed but I interrupted his sleep for months before I moved.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • My roommate thought it was hilarious and he would turn on the compressor sometimes, too.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • Lazy maintenance guy gets a dose of insomnia due to a disgruntled tenant he refuses to help: ‘I interrupted his sleep for months before I moved.'
    via Unsplash+ (and Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Did the maintenance guy lose his mind? Maybe a little, but likely not. Did he lose a lot of sleep and maybe a few years off of his life due to this lack of sleep? Definitely! Bravo, tenant!

  • BayAreaPupMom The sad thing is: he'll never connect that his lack of sleep was a direct correlation to his jerk attitude. Still good pay back.
    via BayAreaPupMom
  • OP Collects TooMuch But I know and that's what was important to me. I'm sure he was sick of getting up in the middle of the night and all the troubleshooting in the world was going to help.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • Powerthrucontrol As someone who uses a cpap to live through the night, shame on you. You might kill someone.
    via Powerthrucontrol
  • OP Collects TooMuch The circuit was for the outside lights and garages. Unless they were sleeping in a garage, there was no danger.
    via CollectsTooMuch
  • Coder Joe1 Your compressed his sleep schedule.
    via CoderJoe1
  • Magazine_Spare the sad thing, is that those things you mentioned needing repairs could be really simple fixes. low water pressure? unscrew the shower nozzle and remove any sediment that has collected. garbage disposal doesn't work? could be either a switch on the bottom that needs to be flipped, or a small turn with a hex wrench to loosen a clog in the gears. instead, he ended up getting crappy sleep.
    via Magazine_Spare
  • BarneyPoppy Brilliant!
    via BarneyPoppy
  • Strippalicious As a former resident onsite manager, as well as a maintenance person: I approve of your actions and unsavory treatment as petty revenge for your unfair treatment
    via Strippalicious
  • babydtheone lol. So freaking funny. Good on you.
    via Babydtheone

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