ozpost shipping module

[RodG]

But am also here slightly anxious that I am going to ask something stupid and waste your time.

I'm sorry you feel that way.

Which I honestly never intend to do, even when the bleeding obvious is staring me in the face!

I always have great difficulty telling people they are missing the obvious without causing offense. I never intend to, after all, offense is something taken, not given.

So here goes and please be gentle if I have missed it.

You want me to lie to you, and tell you how clever you are for missing the obvious? Surely you'll see through such obvious falsehoods?

We have had a number of orders recently that have come out flat rate as they have exceeded the girth for Australia Post.

Tip#1: Enable one of the couriers to provide quotes under these conditions.

Tip#2: Setting the static rate to 'per item' or 'per kilo' is a better safety net than the 'per order' setting if this is likely to be a common occurence.

Tip#3: Set the 'constrain dimensions' to "Yes". (This will avoid quotes being rejected based on size alone). The suitabilty of this option depends on 3 factors: 1. the size of your products. 2: your ability to 'pack' the items more efficiently than the computer, and 3. Basic physics.. Items take up space, and the more items you add the more space they will take. sooner or later this option will provide quotes for physically impossible to create parcels.

The problem is a customer put through a massive order and was only charged $25 postage to get to rural WA from Melbourne and has refused to pay more.
This leaves me in a really horrible situation, do I refund the massive order or take it on the chin and not make a profit after postage eats it all? (its not quite that massive to make up for the postage shortfall)

I would be assuring the customer that the quoted shipping cost was a mistake and informing them of the actual shipping cost (keeping in mind that if the girth is too large you won't be able to use AustraliaPost anyway).

If they aren't willing to negotiate a compromise then cancel the order and run like hell, they are probably trying to scam you anyway.. Besides, do you REALLY want a continuing relationship with such an unforgiving customer?

How much of a compromise is something only you and they can decide. It is rarely ever worth taking a full loss in these situations because the customer is unlikly to return anyway, and if/when you do come to a compromise the customer will still see that you have given them a break and they will look favourably on you in the future... possibly more so than if the transaction went without an issue.

Is is possible to have customers be advised they will be provided with a postage cost within 24 hours? or to contact us for one?

This is very ill advsed... Online shoppers want to buy it now and have it shipped tomorrow... telling them to wait 24 hours in order to get final costs is akin to putting up a closed sign on you store,

instead of the flat rate for exceeded dimensions?

As well as the options/tips mentioned above, if you enter a value of zero in the static rate field it will effectively disable the module if a valid quote cannot be obtained.

My *personal* preference is to enable one of the online couriers.. Although I've never actually USED one of them, the quotes they provide are not subject to the Australia Post limitations so a valid quote is almost always available... and if someone does happen to order using one of these couriers, then why not? It's not like you need to sign your life away to set up an account with them...

My next personal fav setting is 'cost per kg', because this is the closest to reality...

Ideally, a pair of settings would provide the best solution.. $xx for 1st Kg and $yy for each subsequent kg. This isn't on any future plans though, after all it IS only supposed to be a fallback setting and not something designed for daily use.

Cheers
Rod

[netgirlz]

hi rod

thanks for fast response, yes it was working after couple of hours and the transactions have started being processed again.

we will look into upgrading to the latest also

[maxy007]

Hiya Rod,
I've just installed the Ozpost mod.
When I go to my store the only option I'm getting is the flat rate for shipping. I have added dimensions and added 2 different products separately with the same result.

Can you please tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Here's the debug file

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='ISO-8859-1'?><quotes>
<quote><id>Error</id><cost>0.00</cost><days>-1</days><description>Invalid input Data [No Weight]</description></quote><information>
<server>74.55.148.130</server>
<timestamp>Tue Feb 08, 2011 06:46 (SA Server Time)</timestamp>
<requesttime>06:46 (ACT Store Time)</requesttime>
<postdate></postdate>
<insurance>0.00</insurance>
<egoinsurance>0.00</egoinsurance>
<registration>0.00</registration>
<fromsuburb>CHARNWOOD</fromsuburb>
<destsuburb>SPENCE</destsuburb>
<expires>55</expires>
</information>
</quotes>

Thanks for reading Rod!!

Maxy

[RodG]

Can you please tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Here's the debug file (edited)

Invalid input Data [No Weight]

This is your problem. apparently there was no weight data.

This can often be caused (and not easily spotted) if you have your Kg/gm weight set to 'gm' and you enter your weights in Kg .. therefore an item supposedly weighing 0,5Kg is being treated as though it were 0.5gm, and when this gets converted to an integer it will evaluate to zero.

Solution1: Change your weight setting to 'Kg'
Solution2: Enter your weights as gms rather than Kgs.

Cheers
Rod

[maxy007]

Hi Rod,
Thanks for replying.
I have weight set in my products and I'm pretty sure they are in gms. Where do I check this? In Ozpost or in Zen-Cart admin?

Thank You

Maxy

[RodG]

Hi Rod,
Thanks for replying.
I have weight set in my products and I'm pretty sure they are in gms. Where do I check this? In Ozpost or in Zen-Cart admin?

Thank You

Maxy

Ozpost via zencart admin .... same place as all the other ozpost settings.

Cheers
Rod

[maxy007]

Hi Rod,
I did have Ozpost set to gms but the problem I have now is the weight shown under my product is 400kgs instead of 400gms

Also there are a number of options for shipping available but at the top of the shipping options I get this text
"This is currently the only shipping method available to use on this order."

Can you please tell me how I change these 2 things?

Thanks again

Maxy

[RodG]

Hi Rod,
I did have Ozpost set to gms but the problem I have now is the weight shown under my product is 400kgs instead of 400gms

OK, now I have no wish to confuse you in any way, but the TEXT that you see doesn't reflect reality.

zencart itself doesn't know the difference between lbs, grams, kilos, carats or carrots

The *numbers* you enter into your product weights *could* mean any of these things, it is the ozpost Kg/gm setting that determines their actual *value*.

A default zencart installation would show these values as 'lbs', and for your store to show them as 'Kgs' means that ar some stage someone has edited your languages/english.php file to change 'lbs' to 'kgs' .. You need to re-edit those files so they read 'gms' (assuming you select 'gms' as your weight setting).

If you don't know how to do this please refer to the zencart FAQ files on how to change 'lbs' to 'kgs' .. you'll need to follow these instructions but substitute 'kgs' for 'gms'.

ALTERNATIVELY, since your store is set to show "Kgs" as your weight, you may find it easier to match this by setting the option in the ozpost module to also be 'Kgs', but then you'll need to ensure you enter your product weights as Kgs as well......

Also there are a number of options for shipping available but at the top of the shipping options I get this text
"This is currently the only shipping method available to use on this order."

Can you please tell me how I change these 2 things?

Thanks again

Maxy

This text is derived by zencart itself rather than the shipping module. To change it you will need to locate the file where it is defined (use the developers toolkit)

Cheers
Rod

[maxy007]

Thanks Rod.
I'm checking the developers toolkit as we speak :)

Awesome module!! Thanks for the work you've put in, it really makes life easier.

Have a great night

Maxy

[frank18]

Greetings Rod

I am playing with your mod on one of my local installs before going live.

Installation was easy and I thought I had the configuration done according to my (proposed) requirements.


Q1

My Aussie shipping method is set to use Express Post satchels only (500g, 3kg and 5kg).

If I load the cart with an item weighing less than 500g (including tare) the Shipping Estimator and the Checkout Shipping page displays all 3 'options', namely 500g, 3kg and 5kg EP satchels. Similar, if the cart contains a weight of between 0.51kg and 3kg, both the 3kg and 5kg options are being shown.

IMHO only the 500g 'option' should be shown in my first example and only the 3kg 'option' in the second example. The more epensive larger satchels really are irrelevant but still show up.

Other shipping methods enabled:

Store Pickup
Free Shipper

The store is configured to kgs, item weights are specified as decimals (eg 120g specified as 0.12 in the product details).

My (playground) configuration is attached in a zip file

Can't work out what I am doing wrong???!!!


Q2

Learned recently that Aus Post introduced a so called 'Security Surcharge' of a whopping $A9.00 per item to the USA and to some other countries (which the clerk was unable to tell me). It seems that the mod does not apply this surcharge?


Hope I am not messing up your weekend.