UPS and USPS rates really off

[Guest]

Ok Gang,

 

I tried and tried and tried. I have been wracking my brain for almost 2 weeks and no resolution to this problem. This is very very sad for me, because I can not get the UPS and USPS rates on my calculated shopping cart to match the calculated rates from the UPS website and the USPS.

 

I have invested a lot of time on this shopping cart and I really like this cart. But, the most important thing about internet commerce is that you have to ship and these shipping rates are wrong.

 

I updated to the latest USPS module to 2.6 and it is still not calculating the correct rates.

 

I am going to be losing money if I use the UPS shipping calculated on my shopping cart and I will not be able to re-coop the lost.

 

My only other alternative is to forget about this shopping cart and find something else to use.

 

Does someone out there have a solution to these calculating problems, otherwise it is sayanara/adios to this shopping cart that has made me soooooo sad.

 

Too, too bad and sooooooooooooooooooo very very sad.

[wizardsandwars]

The shipping quotes come drctly from the UPSv abd the USPS, so I assure you they are correct.

 

Make sure you aren't charging a handling fee or a tar charge.

[Guest]

Chris,

 

Thank you for your reply. When I started to have these problems with USPS and UPS I zeroed out the tare amount and there was no handling fee.

 

But now, because I know the rates are incorrent and have not been able to get them right, I ended up added a handling fee to my shipping charge, otherwise I would have to pay the difference, but they are still not entirely correct and the rates are now overstated, making my shipping rates look very high.

 

The rates are still incorrect and I am trying to make adjustments. I even updated to the latest USPS module from contributions to 2.6, but the USPS rates are still incorrect when I compare them. I tried to make a call to Bruce at USPS internet support, but he is not working today.

 

I have no resolution for UPS.

 

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Thank You,

 

Frank

[wizardsandwars]

Frank,

 

Can you show example of where there are difference. Particularly with the USPS method, because it does not use a built in handling fee.

[Guest]

Chris,

 

In order to solve my problem for the immediate future I did the following:

1, Deleted USPS from my shopping cart. The rates were too high, especially after I made some adjustments for UPS and I did not want my customers to yell at me for overcharging them.

2. In the UPS shipping module I added a $3 handling fee.

3. In the Configuration/Shipping/Packaging I have US, 94014, my max wt. at 45lbs, 0 for tare rate and 39% for larger packages.

 

I have experimented with larger packages set to 0, instead of 39%, but then the UPS rates are way to low, on my shopping cart.

 

The above adjustments resulted in my rates from my UPS shopping cart to almost match the rates at the UPS website, but increased the USPS rates way too high and that is why I removed USPS.

 

As an example I have a product model 622 with a weight of 27lbs and size of 26LX25.5WX13.75H, shipping to a resident and is considered a large package. For the USPS I got $63.55, 17.45 and 8.80. On my shopping cart USPS I got 83.15, 26.30 and 10.84. Includes a handling fee of $3. The new version of the USPS API v2.6 has this and international carrriers.

 

I believe I have osCommerce v2.2.

 

Right now everything is live, but if you want me to change it to test, for you to look at, at The American Bathlette Company. But can still be tested in Production as long as you do not submit the transaction. You could use [email protected] and pw of johnd. I will now make the USPS live again, in case you want to look at it on my store.

 

Thank you for your help, Chris.

[wizardsandwars]

How much does the item weigh?

What zip code are you shipping from?

What zip code are you shipping to?

 

What is the exact quote you expect to get?

What is the quote that you are getting?

[Guest]

Chris,

 

Pardon me! I did make a little mistake. In my haste to make UPS work, I made adjustments to make the rates closer to the UPS module (mx wt. 45, 0 tare and 39% for large packages), well, of course that makes USPS rates really off.

 

After I take off the 39% for large packages, the USPS rates seem to be okay, but the UPS rates are still off.

 

So my conclusion is that maybe I should shut off or remove UPS and just keep USPS, until UPS does something about updating there module to work with osCommerce shopping cart or the community does something to update the UPS module.

 

I am not sure if I should get rid of the USPS module with the correct rates or the UPS module with the hacked adjusted rates with the bogus settings.

 

What do you think?

 

Thanks,

 

Frank

[wizardsandwars]

Well, I can honestly tell you that the UPS module works GREAT with the OSCommerce cart, and the rates provided are directly from UPS, and are correct.

 

The only way it would not be is if you have modified your module, or you are supplying invalid data someplace, like in handling fee, or tare weight, or other shipping information.

 

I've used the stock UPS model in several carts, and it does give accurate quotes.

[Guest]

The USPS is correct for my large packages and Parcel Post is off for small packages. Zip to is 94014 and zip from is 94014. Weight is 3 lbs. 20LX10WX4H. Wt is 45 lbs max, tare is 0 and % for large packages is 0. I also added a handling fee for USPS of $3. Everything seemed to be okay for large packages, until I did a smaller package.

 

I did not modify anything for the UPS module and it is way off on rates when I set wt. 45lbs, tare 0 and % large packages to 0%. Same package and zips.

 

Thanks for all your replys and support, Chris.

 

I think I have decided to remove the UPS module, because I can not get that to work at all. That module is the version that comes with osCommerce 2.2 and no mods from me. The only way I can get the rates to match closely is wt 45 lbs, tare 0 and 39% for large packages.

 

Frank

[wizardsandwars]

You didn't post what you expect the USPS rate to be, and what it actually is on your website, using those specifications. Or what 'class' of mail you're getting a quote for.

 

Like I said, there are literally 1000's and 1000's of people using the stock UPS and USPS modules, and are getting accucate quotes, including several of my own.

[Guest]

For parcel post and small package in the above example:

 

I got from USPS webpage: 21.05, 4.75, 4.79

 

On my shopping cart I got 21.05, 4.75, 3.44 (Iexpected 4.79)

 

The problem is with small packages at this time.

[Guest]

Chris,

 

I hope that you are still answering this post.

 

I just got off the line with Bruce from USPS and I am hitting the right production servers and we went through some of the code. He says that the calculations may be incorrect for Parcel Post because of the size of the package (machinable vs. non-machine). The size of the package is 20X10X4 and the weight is 3 lbs..Shipping from 94014 to 94014.

 

Somewhere in the osCommerce code it is calculating rates for non-machinable packages and he suggested I post my code to the community forum, I am not sure of this is the right code or not:

 

// class methods

function quote($method = '') \{

global $order, $shipping_weight, $shipping_num_boxes, $transittime;

if ( tep_not_null($method) && (isset($this->types[$method]) || in_array($method, $this->intl_types)) ) \{

$this->_setService($method);

 

$this->_setMachinable('False');\par

$this->_setContainer('None');\par

$this->_setSize('REGULAR');\par

 

Could someone tell me which code to post, so someone can look at this. I am still having problems.

 

I removed USPS, but now just focusing on UPS. It may be working for others, but it is not working for me. The code is right out of the box and no mods to the code. My packages are not manchineable and are small, large and very large.

 

Also the largest package I configured to ship is 45lbs and the smallest is 3 is lbs.

 

This is very very frustrating. Almost ready to give on this shopping cart.

 

I will wait another 24 hours and then I will post this again and again, until I get an answer.

 

Thank You,

 

Frank

[Guest]

The USPS problem is resolved and posted on this community board, under USPS Problem Resolved.

 

BUT the UPS problem is still a problem and the rates are STILL WRONG. I called UPS and they told me to see the vendor. So, I am back here again, with the same problem.

 

COULD SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!! I reposted this problem AGAIN and will keep doing it until I get a resolution. Right now, I yanked the UPS shipping module out of my shopping cart and I am only using USPS, until the UPS problem gets an answer.

 

Any help from anyone would be appreciated.

 

Thank You,

 

Frank

[Guest]

shouldn't your tare weight be higher than 0? If I'm not mistaken, that's the base rate for the weight of your packaging. If you're not including the weight of your packaging in the calculations, that would make the rates too low. Example:

 

You pack product X, weighing 1 lb, and product Y, weighing 2 lb, in a box that weighs 1 lb. You measure the total weight at 4 lb and check the UPS rates.

 

You tell osCommerce that product X weighs 1 lb and product Y 2 lb, with a tare weight of 0. osC calculates the total weight at 3 lb and checks the UPS rates.

 

Obviously the two rates would be different.

[Guest]

Chris,

 

Thank you. I did take tare wt. into consideration.