FedEx module cheating me.

[1speedbump]

I just recently had my new FedEx module installed into 1.5.1. A customer from Canada bought an item and the Module charged him $40.00. We shipped it through FedEx and our cost was $60.00. I can't keep doing business this way for long, anyone know what's going on?

shop.pumpsandtanks.com

[Ajeh]

Testing the shipping with FedEx v1.4.5 on 4lbs I get:

FedEx (1 x 4.00lbs)
International Priority $132.26
International Economy $123.75
Fedex Ground (7 business days) $32.91

What are your settings in the Modules ... Shipping ... FedEx fedexwebservices that you see in the right hand panel?

I am not sure I can reproduce this exactly as while I reconfigured the my shop for Florida, my FedEx information is configured for Ohio, but I can try to get it as close as I can to try to look into this problem further ...

[1speedbump]

Here are the settings: In addition to this there are other charges that you are probably familiar with. Such as: Full Rate: $22.00, Declared Value: 2.55, Fuel Surcharge: $1.80, GST to Canada $1.40 and Clearance/Entry Fee: $28.88.


Enable FedEx Web Services
true

Version Installed
1.4.5

FedEx Account Number
451173863

FedEx Meter Number
104306065

Enable Address Validation
true

Weight Units
LB

First line of street address
9429 Hwy 301 S.

Second line of street address


City name
Riverview

State or Province name
FL

Postal code
33578

Phone number
813-677-6413

Drop off type
1

Enable for Always Free Shipping
true

Enable Express Saver
true

Enable Standard Overnight
true

Enable First Overnight
false

Enable Priority Overnight
false

Enable 2 Day
true

Enable International Priority
true

Enable International Economy
true

Enable Ground
true

Enable Freight
true

Enable International Ground
true

Enable Saturday Delivery
true

Tax Class
--none--

Domestic Ground Handling Fee
5.00

Home Delivery Handling Fee
5.00

Domestic Express Handling Fee
5.00

International Ground Handling Fee
5.00

International Express Handling Fee
5.00

Signature Option
300.00

Insurance
100

FedEx Rates
ACCOUNT

Enable Ready to Ship
false

Connection Timeout
15

Shipping Zone
--none--

Shipping Info


Sort Order
20

[Ajeh]

What was the value of the package being sent?

[1speedbump]

$139.00 give or take a few cents.

[Ajeh]

While I am poking around with this FedEx module v1.4.5 from numinix, have you contacted the support there to see if they have any suggestions or ideas on this missing charges and the difference in prices?

[1speedbump]

Yes; I have. You have to go through several people before you can get to someone who has any experience with shopping carts at all. Once I got to that guy, he basically said, Zencart wrote the code for the FedEx module and they apparently didn't add the Clearance/Entry Fee which he said was $15.00. It was $28.48 on this $139.00 purchase, so it's pretty significant. If I knew it was a set amount, I could add it to the module. But since it seems to be variable, I have no idea how to deal with it. My thoughts now are to quit offering international shipping. That would save me money in the long run. I could put in the cart somewhere that if they want to ship to another country, call us and not offer it on Zencart at all. Thanks to governments everywhere, this stuff is beyond confusing for everyone.

[Ajeh]

I will keep looking into this as it would be nice to have it manage everything completely in one application for FedEx ...

[RixStix]

We went through that drill with Fedex ground to Canada. Issue will be similar if you try to use UPS ground to Canada.

Fedex does not add the customs clearance fees because according to approved tariff structure for ground shipments, the receiver can choose to clear the package themselves through customs instead of allowing Fedex (or UPS). Until the time of delivery, Fedex/UPS has no idea whether the receiver will choose to clear the package themselves. Most consumers do not know this or how to do this... SO, Fedex or UPS ends up performing the clearance and then billing your account.

According to Fedex, there is no work around, except to NOT offer Fedex ground to Canada. All Fedex, other than ground, includes the Customs Clearing fees. Our solution is to not offer the Fedex Ground service to Canada. Canadian customers must either choose USPS or Fedex International Priority or International Economy. Actually, there is another solution... the customer must be billed for the Customs Clearance after the fact. Most, if not all, customers will tell you to 'pound sand' when you send the bill for additional charges.

I would love to prove Fedex wrong in what they told me regarding Ground customs clearance tariff but have yet to find anyone that can dispute the above statements and provide the backup documentation.

To be technically correct, the zen-cart Fedex module is not cheating you. It is just a matter of how the Fedex tariffs seem to work.

[lhungil]

I've not looked into this myself, but at a glance it appears the FedEx API can return the option clearance cost... Might just need to require "international ground" or pull the value from the response and addnthe cost in when the county crosses boundries.