Need help with checkout system

I need some serious help. Our store has a somewhat unique
system in that we ship by multiple methods and from multiple
locations. As such it is not possible to determine ahead of time
what the shipping costs and methods will be. We handle this by
communicating with the customer after he/she has made the order.

Here is my problem: I would like to be able to eliminate the
shipping method selection, and subsequent references to shipping
costs from the order confirmation/checkout process. Would also
like to delete the Shipping from the order confirmation email.
Ideally, the checkout confirmation, order confirmation email,
would show a sub-total for the products ordered, and nothing
more. We currently have a statement in the checkout
confirmation, and the email, advising the customer that they
will be contacted for further information.

I have looked at the code until I am blue in the face but really
have no idea which pieces of code will need to be modified. Can
anybody help put me on the right rack with this issue?

There's no built-in way to completely skip the entire shipping subsystem in v1.x by simply flipping a switch.

Maybe you could just turn off all shipping modules except Store Pickup, and then edit the description of Store Pickup to "We will contact you with a quote".

Thanks DrByte. I really was not looking to skip the subsystem,
more looking for ways to modify the system to not have the
shipping, tax etc displayed. After looking at the code I think
it would be a real pain to try to avoid those calculations.
What would be nice is if the shipping, etc., could be displayed
as TBD . But I don't see how to do that either.

If the customers would JUST READ the notice we have in the
confirmation email then things would be better. LOL!

Thanks for your inputs.

John

JohnBoyCR:

What would be nice is if the shipping, etc., could be displayed
as TBD . But I don't see how to do that either.
See my first reply to you ...