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Problems with USPS International Rates
So I discovered a glitch in the shipping rates sometimes displayed for our international customers. We sell items of varying size, from tiny to quite large, and this is where the problem comes in.
A customer from Canada ordered one large item (not huge, but too large for Express Mail Int'l, but OK for Priority Int'l) and two small items which could be shipped via either service. The large item is set up as "ships by itself." The customer was returned options for both Express and Priority. But the Express option was almost $30 less than the Priority option, which would seem backwards, right? Well the problem is that the Express rate was only for the two small items while the Priority rate was actually for two boxes and all items. Nowhere did anything display to explain to the customer that one of the rates was for only part of their order. Of course the customer chose the faster, cheaper shipping. Which meant I had to contact them to explain the problem, tell them the order could not ship Express, adjust the charges, etc.
This was not an isolated incident either. I had a customer in Ireland attempt to checkout with one large and two small items. The large one was too large to ship via USPS at all and we don't have UPS Int'l set up. The customer was given a priority mail int'l rate of $50 - which was for the two small items only AND the $15 handling charge we have set up on the large item for domestic shipping. True shipping for this order via UPS would have been well over $200.
We've only been with 3D Cart for a little over a month and we're in our off season (Halloween business). If we're seeing this crop up now, I'm sure it's only going to get worse as we get busier.
I contacted tech support and explained the situation. I also told them I ran some tests with similar types of products for domestic shipping and this does not occur. If multiple products are eligible for different shipping services, only the services that will accept ALL products are displayed (as you'd expect). As for why it happens on international orders, I don't know. Tech support doesn't know either and suggested I try to contact USPS. I'm sure that will be easy!
I can't be the only person who's run into this problem, can I? Does anyone else ship items of varying size internationally? Have you figured out any solution?
Thanks!
Nancy
A customer from Canada ordered one large item (not huge, but too large for Express Mail Int'l, but OK for Priority Int'l) and two small items which could be shipped via either service. The large item is set up as "ships by itself." The customer was returned options for both Express and Priority. But the Express option was almost $30 less than the Priority option, which would seem backwards, right? Well the problem is that the Express rate was only for the two small items while the Priority rate was actually for two boxes and all items. Nowhere did anything display to explain to the customer that one of the rates was for only part of their order. Of course the customer chose the faster, cheaper shipping. Which meant I had to contact them to explain the problem, tell them the order could not ship Express, adjust the charges, etc.
This was not an isolated incident either. I had a customer in Ireland attempt to checkout with one large and two small items. The large one was too large to ship via USPS at all and we don't have UPS Int'l set up. The customer was given a priority mail int'l rate of $50 - which was for the two small items only AND the $15 handling charge we have set up on the large item for domestic shipping. True shipping for this order via UPS would have been well over $200.
We've only been with 3D Cart for a little over a month and we're in our off season (Halloween business). If we're seeing this crop up now, I'm sure it's only going to get worse as we get busier.
I contacted tech support and explained the situation. I also told them I ran some tests with similar types of products for domestic shipping and this does not occur. If multiple products are eligible for different shipping services, only the services that will accept ALL products are displayed (as you'd expect). As for why it happens on international orders, I don't know. Tech support doesn't know either and suggested I try to contact USPS. I'm sure that will be easy!
I can't be the only person who's run into this problem, can I? Does anyone else ship items of varying size internationally? Have you figured out any solution?
Thanks!
Nancy
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