Do I have to consent to this affadavit

[Tom Reid]

What is the name of your state?

California


I sold an expensive item and offered a full refund for 30 days to buyer if not satisfied within that time period. I agreed to refund and said to return via fedex. i live in a rural town and fedex is more reliable in my experience.

Buyer returned item via UPS who, according to UPS, left package at my front door. I live in an open c shaped townhouse complex and never saw nor received the package upon my return home.

I am not sure, but do not believe the buyer shipped the item insured or requested a signature delivery and it is apparent he is negligent in that respect.

Buyer filed a claim with UPS and now UPS investigator wants me to arrange to participate in an affidavit and discuss the matter with the local police.

I do not have a problem doing this since i have nothing to fear or hide, but my question is, is that i have a very busy schedule and not much time with the exception of weekends to do this, and was wondering if i am obligated in anyway to do this affidavit, especially with the investigator / police at their convenience during a workday where i would have to take off..

thanks

tom

 

[chrissie]

Hi Tom,

Time is money, I hear you. It would seem to me that you could ask the UPS investigator what elements need to be in the affidavit to move forward with the investigation. Once you know that, you could type it up from your PC at home on your day off and stop by the bank to get it notarized...then fax it or drop in the mail to them. See if that works for the UPS person. An affidavit is simply a sworn/notarized signed statement attesting to certain facts, e.g.:

"I Tom Reid do hereby attest and affirm the following:

1) On such-and-such a date I instructed so-and-so to return x to me.

2) On such-and-such a date, so-and-so gave me the following tracking number...

3) I never received a package from UPS . . .

[other details as necessary]

Further affiant sayeth not."

As for the police, why would you need to take a day off to discuss this with them? Couldn't the police stop by your home when you're there to discuss it? Or, wouldn't a 5- or 10-minute phone call do?

There was an incident several years ago where someone stole a laptop from our office during working hours. The police came to us to investigate, since the crime occurred on our premises. Later, the investigator contacted us by phone to answer a couple of questions and had us fax him the details required. It took all of 10 minutes.

If anything, I would think the police would be coming to your home (when you're there), since UPS says they dropped off the package and that is where it was allegedly stolen. And cops do work weekends. At least they do in Fairfax County.

All told, you might lose a half-hour or hour of your time, but at least you'll be able to say you did everything you could to assist in the claim, shifting the responsibility to UPS for reimbursement to the buyer/shipper.