I had in my basement a combination Light Switch & Outlet Receptacle ,the top rite terminal was connected to the bottom rite terminal and so was the left side, and a hot wire was connected to the top rite terminal (of the light switch) and the left top terminal was the wire going to the light , so you get the picture that no neutral was ever connected to the bottom receptacle how the hell is that possible ? Even weirder that sometimes when I would plug something in it would miraculously turn on (although not full power) I said sometimes because I don't remember if the top switch would be on or at the off position back to the point how is it possible the bottom receptacle was able to work with out a neutral (it is a regular 15 amp )

Since the receptacle needs a neutral, and none was connected, the device was wired incorrectly.

Something plugged in would work sometimes depending on what else was plugged in elsewhere in the circuit, and was connected in series.

An electrician is needed to come in and research all the wiring of this circuit, one to get this receptacle a proper neutral, and see what else is wired incorrectly.