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Imagine one bought something at an online shop. The shop ship it via a common shipping company. The online tracking said it has been delivered to the buyer but one didn't receive it, nor got a notice about it.

The shop now asked the buyer to sign an affidavit (declaration of an oath or affirmation in lieu of oath) including the following three points:

  • I am aware that false statements made here may be punishable by law.
  • I never received the package.
  • Residents of the house or the adjacent shop have not accepted a parcel for me.

How is one able to testify point 3?
One can not be for sure know where the parcel is. And therefore one is not able to sign this document without fearing point 1.

Is an affidavit worded like this even legal?

In this hypothetical case the online shop said that they need the signed affidavit to further investigate the case. Without signing, no compensation.

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  • You could have them sign an affidavit that says that they have not accepted a parcel for you, and attach it as evidence.
    – Ron Beyer
    Commented Apr 10, 2019 at 14:11
  • @RonBeyer thanks for your comment but that would get pretty fast unpleasantly if you have more than just a few neighbors. Image you live in a big complex in a major city. Can be easily ~100 more or less close neighbors. But I get your point
    – undefined
    Commented Apr 10, 2019 at 14:22

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Point three should include "to the best of my knowledge and belief", or be modified to state that none of those "house or the adjacent shop" have informed the affiant of any such delivery, or delivered any such package to the affiant. It might add that the affiant had questioned such persons and they denied receiving such a delivery.

The point here, of course, is to prove that the package was never properly delivered, no doubt in support of a claim on the delivery service. The ordinary assumption is that if a person in the "house or the adjacent shop" had accepted a package, it would normally have been given to the addressee at an early opportunity.

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  • Perhaps a better formulation is to start with “after inquiry” meaning that made reasonable efforts to ask all those people and they said no.
    – Dale M ♦
    Commented Apr 10, 2019 at 22:34
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    @Dale M : Yes, "after inquiry" would be a reasonable formula.Or "to the best of my knowledge and belief, after inquiry"
    – David Siegel
    Commented Apr 11, 2019 at 1:58
  • Even more beterish
    – Dale M ♦
    Commented Apr 11, 2019 at 2:24

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