AUSTPost module

[Webmyster]

Hey Rod

Here is the Error message I get, I re-read your post regarding just allowing the satchel options so once again I disabled EVERYTHING except the Satchels (Reg and Express) go to checkout shipping estimator and gett the following error message:

ERROR:Unable to obtain a valid quote from the Australia Post Server.
You may still checkout using this method and we will contact you with postage costs as soon as possible.

Go back to the Shipping module options enable Regular Parcels click apply go to check out click estimate shipping and it estimates the cost of shipping (farther away the post code the more expensive). So what I have found out is that Regular Parcel MUST be enabled to get any type of shipping estimate for the customer...

I will continue to experiment but so far everything I have tried does not work mate

thanks for your patience

[Webmyster]

OK

Some progress when I change the dimesnsion of the product with only the satchels enabled it displays the two options but does not include the price!

[mirage]

Hi,

I've been reading up on Austpost, and in installing it, I've managed to get myself the following error (at the point of uploading the auspost.sql file):

1067 Invalid default value for 'date_added'
in:
[CREATE TABLE geo_zones ( geo_zone_id int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment, geo_zone_name varchar(32) NOT NULL default '', geo_zone_description varchar(255) NOT NULL default '', last_modified datetime default NULL, date_added datetime NOT NULL default '', PRIMARY KEY (geo_zone_id) ) TYPE=MyISAM;]
If you were entering information, press the BACK button in your browser and re-check the information you had entered to be sure you left no blank fields.

There was a solution that someone found regarding dumping a database, however I am extremely new to this and have no idea how to do so - and if I tried I would probably muck something important up. Any help would be much appreciated!

Michael

[Webmyster]

This is really strange I have been working on it for ages!

Basically No matter what I do it wont caclulate the postage cost if there is a quanity more then 1 of a product. If I have one product in the Cart and click estimate shipping it says 0.00 for both Regular and Express.

The only way I can make it work is if I add the handling fees to be 5.50 and 7.90 respectfully but this fails if a customer puts the quanity for a single product to more than one then it gives me the above error about not being able to connect to the server.

My Current settings are:

(IN GRAMS)
Enter the Maximum Package Weight you will ship 500
Package Tare Small to Medium - added percentage:weight 0.0
Larger packages - added packaging percentage:weight 0:0

0.0 Because the satchels weigh nothing really.

AND

Default Parcel Dimensions
21,12,4.8


Which is pretty much the most common sized product I sell....


Thoughts?

[RodG]

Hi,

I've been reading up on Austpost, and in installing it, I've managed to get myself the following error (at the point of uploading the auspost.sql file):

1067 Invalid default value for 'date_added'
in:
[CREATE TABLE geo_zones ( geo_zone_id int(11) NOT NULL auto_increment, geo_zone_name varchar(32) NOT NULL default '', geo_zone_description varchar(255) NOT NULL default '', last_modified datetime default NULL, date_added datetime NOT NULL default '', PRIMARY KEY (geo_zone_id) ) TYPE=MyISAM;]
If you were entering information, press the BACK button in your browser and re-check the information you had entered to be sure you left no blank fields.

There was a solution that someone found regarding dumping a database, however I am extremely new to this and have no idea how to do so - and if I tried I would probably muck something important up. Any help would be much appreciated!

Michael

I suggest you revert your system back to the same state that it was before you tried this install, and then download and install the "Austpost Improved" module instead.

I can't offer any support for the module you have downloaded, but can give you lots of help (if you need it) with the Improved version. They are totally different modules.

Although both modules are compatible with each other (meaning that you can install both at the same time) it will tend to get a wee bit confusing for both yourself and your customers (which is also why I suggest you remove the original before installing the new).

Tip. Before installing any *useful* modules (such as the shipping estimators) I strongly suggest you play around with a few different templates to customise the look of your store.
The reason being is that the template you finally decide upon will determine where you need to place some of the files from other modules. IOW, if you install the Austpost shipping estimator (and many other modules) first, and THEN decide to use a different template you'll need to either re-install or relocate everything you've already done.

Cheers
Rod.

[mirage]

Thankyou very much for that, I shall give it a go, and choose a template before i go fiddling around with the modules. I was under the impression that I had the improved Austpost, but evidently this is not so - thankyou also for enlightening me to that fact!

Michael

[RodG]

This is really strange I have been working on it for ages!

Thoughts?

Yes, many. <g>

Basically No matter what I do it wont caclulate the postage cost if there is a quanity more then 1 of a product.

Methinks that could be a clue. Don't you?

If I have one product in the Cart and click estimate shipping it says 0.00 for both Regular and Express.

Hang on there.... this is a fault finding exersize. It works like this.. There are MANY reasons that could cause unexpected and inexplicable errors. I've heard them all and explained them all. One thing I *don't* do is *guess*.

You have just given me cause to guess, which means I can't really trust anything you have said and as such we may need to start all over again. <big sigh>

Which is the *correct* statement:
"it wont caclulate the postage cost if there is a quanity more then 1".
Or
"If I have one product in the Cart and click estimate shipping it says 0.00"

If the first comment is true, then I'd be assuming that a quantity of one DOES give a quote", yet your second comment suggests that it isn't returning a quote even for one product.

The only way I can make it work is if I add the handling fees to be 5.50 and 7.90

Let me guess, this then gives you a 'quote' of 5.50 and 7.90 respectively?

As I said, we need to consider going back to square one, because this hardly constitutes as 'working'.

respectfully but this fails if a customer puts the quanity for a single product to more than one then it gives me the above error about not being able to connect to the server.

I win my bet. Twice.
PLEASE RE-READ THE ERROR MESSAGE, it says "
ERROR:Unable to obtain a valid quote from the Australia Post Server."

Where does this message even suggest that it is unable to connect to the server?

Sorry to have to make you think about this, but if someone asked you to give them a quote on how much it will cost you to send them a parcel weighing 50kgs via Australia Post, what would you do?
I'd assume that like most people you will contact Australia Post (if you didn't know any better) in some way (web, phone, counter, whatever), and you would find out that their regular services only cater up to 20kgs. Fine, you can get a quote elsewhere using a different service, but what will you tell your customer.. Will you state that you couldn't contact Australia Post for a quote and have therefore provided a quote from a different courier, or will you tell them that the Parcel is too heavy for Australia Post and therefore *has* to go via a different carrier?

Give them the bs line about not being able to contact Australia Post and they are quite likely to ask you to recheck later when you *can* contact them. A pointless excersize.

My point being, we are looking for clues. I hate going around in circles due to guesswork and assumptions.

When you state "can't connect to server" I start thinking about connectivity issues, cURL, proxies, redirections, etc.

When the error message is "can't get a VALID quote from server" that *may* be a connectivity issue, but generally isn't.

My Current settings are:

(IN GRAMS)
Enter the Maximum Package Weight you will ship 500

For 90 points out of a hundred, tell me what you think this setting does?

Package Tare Small to Medium - added percentage:weight 0.0
Larger packages - added packaging percentage:weight 0:0

0.0 Because the satchels weigh nothing really.

Well, no not really. Satchels to weigh something, even if only a few grams. It may not be *significant* but I'll always maintain that tare weights should always be a consideration.

I'm pretty sure the AP module vets for all possible problems caused be zero value weights, but it is quite surprising where "division by zero" errors can pop up in a program.

This however is probably a non issue in regards to your problem (better to use zeros than it is to add several kilos to a package weight).

AND

Default Parcel Dimensions
21,12,4.8
Which is pretty much the most common sized product I sell....

And well within the size limits.

Here is the Error message I get, I re-read your post regarding just allowing the satchel options so once again I disabled EVERYTHING except the Satchels (Reg and Express) go to checkout shipping estimator and gett the following error message:

ERROR:Unable to obtain a valid quote from the Australia Post Server.

Thoughts?

I was originally thinking you had a dimensional problem, but it appears that this may no longer be the case based on the information currently provided.

Information you haven't provided, is the weight(s) of the products you are testing with, and most importantly (if my current suspicion is wrong and the 'penny doesn't drop') I'll need a URL to one of the products in your store that you are testing with.
I ask for a specific product, 'cos if you have 100 items in your store and 99 of them exhibit a problem I am *sure* to pick the only non problematic one when I test.

Anyway sorry about the rave. Based on a couple of positive facts, and one or two assumptions, I think I know what is wrong, or at least a contributing factor, and the answer lies in the question:

"For 90 points out of a hundred, tell me what you think this setting does? (Maximum Package Weight you will ship)

Cheers
Rod

[RodG]

Hey Rod

Here is the Error message I get, I re-read your post regarding just allowing the satchel options so once again I disabled EVERYTHING except the Satchels (Reg and Express) go to checkout shipping estimator and gett the following error message:

ERROR:Unable to obtain a valid quote from the Australia Post Server.
You may still checkout using this method and we will contact you with postage costs as soon as possible.

Go back to the Shipping module options enable Regular Parcels click apply go to check out click estimate shipping and it estimates the cost of shipping (farther away the post code the more expensive). So what I have found out is that Regular Parcel MUST be enabled to get any type of shipping estimate for the customer...

I will continue to experiment but so far everything I have tried does not work mate

thanks for your patience

Funnily enough, after reading this message I am now back to thinking you have a dimensional issue (did you change your default parcel dimensions between emails?).

I'm not trying to be vague or anything, but what you have described here is what *would* occur if the products dimensions are too large for a prepaid satchel.

If *only* the satchels are enabled, and the products are considered too large or heavy, the module will return 'unable to get valid quote' because the only other probable valid option is regular parcel post, which had been disabled.

You can (apparently) get a quote with parcels, so this confirms that you don't seem to have any issues connecting to the server.

Not sure where this leads in regards to the problem of not being able to get a quote for more than one item. The issues may or may not be related. It depends what you changed and what your test products are.

Cheers
Rod.

[Webmyster]

Hehe RodG your posts humour me (not a bad thing!)

Regarding the question ""For 90 points out of a hundred, tell me what you think this setting does? (Maximum Package Weight you will ship)" I assume this setting is the maximum weight I will ship per customer. I added 500 grams because I only use 500 gram satchels so basically whenever the customer adds more then 500 grams it has two or more boxes.

When I disable everything else and leave Regular Parcel option ticked everything works wonderfuly it calculates ######## shipping correctly regardless of how many products I add so I am very happy. Regular Parcel works very well with my new settings and dimensions which I posted before.

So Regular Parcel setting works a charm wont bother trying to fix that Satchel option too much time spent on it already thanks again RodG it looks like I am out of your hair!

[sweetoz]

I feel LUCKY for finding this post~! It seems great!


I am using ZEN CART 1.38 version, which AUSTPost module I should download for my site? Is it able to calculate the international shipping cost and how to set it to get a more actual result? Do I have to install another module to compliance this with cost estimate or this module does it all?


Many thanks~!