usps shipping does not work today Dec 8

paperthreads:

How do you disable USPS, but still get the cart to charge the correct amount of postage?

no idea... I am just offering free shipping. my product line allows me to slip product in a first class padded envelope for less than $2. I am just absorbing that loss until USPS gets their act together.

international shipping is a bigger problem, but most of our traffic is USA.

I just did table rate shipping for now, it will get me close enough, without costing me too much, or without costing the customer much different.

Hopefully they get it fixed by tonight!

I watched 4 orders fade away before I decided something wasn't right.
I guess they get a Christmas discount on shipping today.

I hope no one orders a gaming chair :(

Ken

has anyone figured out a good way to print shipping labels for existing orders while the USPS site is down? I've got a backlog of orders that I need to get out of here, preferably without a trip to the post office to stand in line... :shocking:

Folks,

We are sorry that USPS is having a server problem, but there is nothing we can do to prevent or help that. The best suggestion is that you have a backup shipping plan, e.g. a module that does NOT rely on another live server to operate. Zen Cart has several options, Flat Rate, Per Item, Table Rates and Per Weight Unit. Get the best options set up and ready to turn on if needed, especially since USPS has been know to go down at critical times.

Here is a quick hack that returns a fixed PRIORITY shipping fee for those who are brave enough to tweak the source. In includes/modules/shipping/usps.php ...

...
// EOF: UPS USPS

        $http->Disconnect();
    } else {
        return -1;    
    }               

// [[[ START HACK: No reponse from broken USPS servers, let's returned a fixed price quote so things at least work for today
if( empty( $body ) ) {
$rates[] = array( 'PRIORITY' => 5.25 );
return( $rates );
}
// ]]] END HACK

    $response = array();
    while (true) { 
        if ($start = strpos($body, '<Package ID=')) {

...

Edit to your personal preference ...

Clever, but part of problem is sites hang waiting for a response from USPS (empty or not).

Especially true if shipping estimator is shown on page instead of pop-up.

kiddo:

Clever, but part of problem is sites hang waiting for a response from USPS (empty or not).

Especially true if shipping estimator is shown on page instead of pop-up.

then simply move the hack lines up to just before:

$http = new httpClient(); 
$http->timeout = 5; 
if ($http->Connect($usps_server, 80)) {
  $http->addHeader('Host', $usps_server);

However, the hack I posted will automatically stop hacking once the shippingapis.com server starts returning data again. Your choice which way you want to play. This is a WHOLE lot faster than adding a bunch of flat rate shipping options, especially if you have lots of other processes wired to USPS ship methods.

Very odd. I am able to use Endicia (Mac postage application) to get quotes and print postage (this is what I use with integration from zencart to print postage).

Is it possible that the mail server address has changes?

I just printed 5 USPS labels through Paypal. So at least that works.

I print my postage with shipworks (an amazing store mgt program-- check it out asap. Shipworks means the end of cut/paste and customs forms manual entry)

Shipworks, endicia, stamps etc are all working but they likely use a different server for printing postage rather than the server for rates.

Tom

Change in plan now that USPS is now returning an Error 500 like " <HEAD><TITLE>HTTP Error 500</TITLE></HEAD><BODY><H1>SERVER ERROR</H1>The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.</B</body></html>"

moved to parse response code block here:

    if ($order->delivery['country']['id'] == SHIPPING_ORIGIN_COUNTRY) {

..snip..
case 'FIRST CLASS': $time = '2 - 5 ' . MODULE_SHIPPING_USPS_TEXT_DAYS;
break;
default: $time = '';
break;
}
if ($time != '') $transittime[$service] = ' (' . $time . ')';
}
// EOF: UPS USPS
}
}
// [[[ START HACK: No reponse from broken USPS servers, let's returned a fixed price quote so things at least work for today
if( empty( $rates ) ) {
$rates[] = array( 'PRIORITY' => 6.25 );
return( $rates );
}
// ]]] END HACK

} else {
if (ereg('<Error>', $response[0])) {
...snip...

probably a stupid question, but does anyone know of an easy way to check for when it is fixed, rather than re-enabling the module?

we're offering flat-rate shipping until the USPS straightens out their issues, which is fine, but would love to get rate calc back up and running ASAP obviously...

i appreciate any input!

No idea, but I'm keeping an eye on this thread. maybe someone will say.

tomarriola:

Shipworks, endicia, stamps etc are all working but they likely use a different server for printing postage rather than the server for rates.

Tom

Endicia is getting quotes as well as actually printing postage. This is why I am wondering if the USPS code in zencart is pointing to an old server url.

threddies.com:

probably a stupid question, but does anyone know of an easy way to check for when it is fixed, rather than re-enabling the module?

we're offering flat-rate shipping until the USPS straightens out their issues, which is fine, but would love to get rate calc back up and running ASAP obviously...

i appreciate any input!

As mentioned on the first page of comments you can try to ping the USPS API server ...

ping production.shippingapis.com

In Windows click 'Start' then click 'Run' then type 'cmd' (without ' ') and press enter. Then type 'ping production.shippingapis.com' (without ' ') and press enter. It's just timing out right now. Hopefully it will start to resolve sooner then later. When it begins to resolve re-enable your module and test it out.

^^ cool, thanks!

http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showpost.php?p=653044&postcount=14

it appears none of their servers are open to ICMP ping. For example, you can't ping testing.shippingapis.com - you can however open a port with:

telnet production.shippingapis.com 80
telnet testing.shippingapis.com 80
telnet secure.shippingapis.com 443

when the port is open, type GET<return>

i thought i was the only one having problems. i thought it was a problem with my site. i was going NUTS trying to find the problem.:frusty: