Disable shipping but still collect shipping address

[hollettster]

I need to disable shipping but put a note to customer that shipping charges will be calculated before items are delivered. My site has a few store fronts but we produce custom shirts - some customers order items from multiple store fronts and the current UPS module charges crazy amounts and scares the customer off. We do not always have a set ship date. Some items are also purchased as is. What I want to do is inform the customer we ship UPS Ground on everything and we will charge shipping when your order is ready. Can this be done? If so, how? Thanks.

[Ajeh]

Just use something like Flat Rate flat and change the text to something like:
We will contact you on shipping charges

This allows the customer to change shipping address if needed and allows the checkout to complete ...

[rogeratsf]

I have a similar problem. We would like actual shipping costs to be determined at the time the order is prepared for shipping. If I use a flat rate of zero, or even a fixed amount (say $10), that would be misleading to the customer. At the very least, there should be a message that indicates that the final amount will be determined later. But how do you insert a message (which message? where?)? The message would have to appear in all three sections of the checkout process (delivery information, payment, order confirmation) and also in the estimated shipping popup window.

If this cannot be done at this time, perhaps this should be sent to the developers as a suggestion for future development.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

[Ajeh]

You could intercept the shipping output and change it to read something else ...

Is shipping always quoted after the fact, regardless of the Products ordered?

[rogeratsf]

Yes, always. We want to disable all pre-calculated shipping charges and simply put up a message that says that shipping charges will be determined at the time of order fulfillment.

[Ajeh]

You would have to experiment with this idea ...

Backup your database then set all Products as Virtual Products ...

This will skip the checkout_shipping page ...

Then change the language file for the Free Shipping generated by Virtual Products to read something else such as:
Shipping will be quoted by phone

The language file is in the:
/includes/languages/english/modules/order_total/ot_shipping.php

for the define for:
FREE_SHIPPING_TITLE

Use the templates and overrides for:
/includes/languages/english/modules/order_total/your_template_dir/ot_shipping.php

to change the language for this ...

See if this works correctly for you ...