|
UPS DIM SHIPPING |
Post Reply 
|
| Author | |
ammonihah 
Groupie 
Joined: 18-April-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 57 |
 Post Options
 Thanks(0)
 Quote Reply
 Topic: UPS DIM SHIPPINGPosted: 18-February-2015 at 5:07pm |
|
Please help me understand how to solve this problem with shipping.
ProductCart, as I understand it, takes the default package size and the weight of the package and sends that to UPS and UPS sends back a shipping rate. This can't work anymore, or can it? If I am shipping a 1/2 lb product that ships in a 10x10x10 box, UPS is being told my default package size which is 16x12x12. Because of the 2015 dimensional weight program that was implemented, my customers are now sending me nasty letters saying they will never shop with me again because of the incredibly high shipping rates they are being charged. Another example is two small plugs that weigh 5 oz. UPS thinks I am shipping them in a 16x12x12 box and the rate it is returning is $17! Two questions? 1. Am I missing something? 2. What is being done to change the cart to deal with this? Thanks |
|
 |
|
|
ammonihah
Groupie
Joined: 18-April-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 57 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18-February-2015 at 6:19pm |
|
Just wondering how often these boards get checked?
|
|
|
|
|
atlav8r
Newbie 
Joined: 18-February-2015 Status: Offline Points: 7 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 18-February-2015 at 8:51pm |
|
The only option we use is to enter the exact size for each product.
Hope this helps
|
|
|
Atlav8r
|
|
|
|
|
ammonihah
Groupie
Joined: 18-April-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 57 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 19-February-2015 at 7:07pm |
|
But if you enter the exact size for each product, then you must be checking the box for oversize item, and that, from my understanding, tells product cart to ship that item in its own package. That doesn't work for someone who may be shipping several items of different sizes.
Is it my imagination, or does NetCommerce need to be a little more active in these boards and communicate with customers more often. It seems that 24 hours is more than enough time for someone to see a new post and respond?
|
|
|
|
|
atlav8r
Newbie
Joined: 18-February-2015 Status: Offline Points: 7 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 20-February-2015 at 8:34am |
Agreed
|
|
|
Atlav8r
|
|
|
|
|
Matt
Moderator Group 
Joined: 20-July-2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 73 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 20-February-2015 at 8:48am |
|
Generally speaking, the forum is not well suited for support as most questions require us to know the domain, version number, and other sensitive information. So we long ago adopted the role of moderator and have tried to let this be a true community area. The forum is great place for public round table style discussion and community collaboration. If you would like to discuss shipping I encourage you to open a ticket or give a call. That said, since there appears to be a lot of interest in this topic we will probably write an official desk article or blog post. When we do, then I can link to it from this thread.
|
|
|
|
|
ammonihah
Groupie
Joined: 18-April-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 57 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 20-February-2015 at 10:18am |
|
Thanks for the reply Matt. We live in a world that is changing pretty fast right now. UPS and FedEx really did a number on small business with this change (and dramatically increased their profits). Everybody knew this was coming since the middle of last year. Shipping has traditionally been a very weak area of ProductCart in my opinion, and it is going to have to be addressed soon or people will have to seek other alternatives purely out of a need to find a solution. There just isn't enough granularity in the product details to cope with the various shipping problems that have arrived and will arrive. And it is not a solution to suggest that a person go to a free shipping model.
But that is not my reason for this post. My point is that traditionally there has not be a lot of open dialog between ProductCart and the users. Emphasis on open. This is not to say that there hasn't been a lot of trouble tickets filed and addressed in a timely manner. But it is not open. There is a broad range of companies using Product Cart, and if there was more open dialog between the company and the users, I honestly believe that the exchange of ideas and how people are using the product and how it could be improved would greatly increase your installed base. There are some applications I use that have a constant flow of discussion happening and the applications are better for it. Sometimes developers find out that what they thought was important is taking them away from what a silent majority of users really need. I tend to disagree with you on the forum not being well suited for talking about these things. That is actually what forums were created for, open dialogue. The underlying message you send to end-users, which I am one, is that you don't want to discuss your product openly with people and that you want to keep your support issues private so that nobody else knows what anybody else is experiencing. Writing an article is great if you want to let people know more about where you are at, but it doesn't solve the problem of open dialogue. I used to work at WordPrefect as a human factors specialist during the peak of its day in the software world. I can tell you that the more time we spent up front on end-user collaboration and functional specification development, the greater success we had and the more end-users we attracted. Then one day the lead developer said he wouldn't be caught dead developing software that worked with a little arrow on the screen that is moved with your hand. He stopped listening to end users and we all know where WordPerfect went from there. Anyway, this post is too long already, but I sure wish that this product and your company had more of a culture of frequent, open dialogue. I love ProductCart and have stuck with it for a long time now. But it could be so much better and attract so many more end users.
Edited by ammonihah - 20-February-2015 at 10:21am |
|
|
|
|
Matt
Moderator Group
Joined: 20-July-2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 73 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 20-February-2015 at 3:08pm |
|
Our UPS and FedEx integrations have traditionally been at the
high end of what is available. We
implement just about all the APIs available and the remaining ones are slotted
on the roadmap. Keeping updated on
shipping is pretty much a year round task that takes one full time developer. We spend half the year doing FedEx and UPS
certifications. So I can’t say I agree
with the statement that we have been weak on shipping. I understand that customers all have a
specific needs and we don’t address everything.
It is not perfect, but we have enough shipping features to meet the
needs of scores of different business models.
I can’t speak to your specific need unless I know who you are and which
version of the software you’re running.
So I would say it is best to get support via the ticket system. That said, if you want to have a conversation
with us and other customers at the same time our ticket system doesn’t do that. We have done round tables, but there are
limitations. We like to know whom we are speaking with, that you are an actual
ProductCart user, and we like to understand the nuances of your
businesses. You'll just have to trust me, productive conversations on the
community forum tend to quickly break down and get off topic. We’ve done it
both ways and we know what works best for our development team. What the community knows very well is their
own business and how they like to do their shipping. We would be foolish not to listen, which is
why we actually have a lot of conversations with customers every day. Traditionally our features have been 100%
customer driven. We're always listening. |
|
|
|
|
ammonihah
Groupie
Joined: 18-April-2008 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 57 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 23-February-2015 at 3:40pm |
|
Matt, I'm not questioning ProductCart's dedication to the product or that the shipping feature is pretty good given how difficult shipping can be. With the changes that FedEx and UPS are making, it seems to me that we could at least move more toward a cube system where every product has the dimensions and weight entered. The total cart's cube could then be calculated and a default box size for the estimated cube range could be selected when submitting numbers to the shippers for a rate. It seems that that would at least be more accurate than what we are doing now. Then all my small stuff could use the "small box" default dimensions, medium stuff could use the "medium box" dimensions and so on when submitting to the carriers. Appropriate factors could be attached to the predefined box sizes to manage moving up or down in size. I run disasterstuff.com and I ship everything for 320 gallon tanks down to a few screws for a water filter handle. It is pretty crazy when I ship a water filter plug that weighs less than a pound but the customer pays $16 in shipping because I am using a default box size of 16x12x12 which is my most common size. And making that little plug have free shipping prices me out of the market because my competitors are showing lower prices and charging shipping. Just some thoughts. I'm sure you have already thought a lot of this out, and maybe I am unique, but it just seems to me that there has to be others out there using productcart that ship various size products. I do know this. Other carts out there have add-ons for shipping. Those add on companies are pretty dedicated to making their add-ons work to solve problems like this. It looks like these changes FedEx and UPS are making are not going away any time soon, so it just seems like this is eventually going to have to be dealt with. Thanks for your previous reply.
|
|
|
|
|
Post Reply
|
|
Tweet
|
| Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
Topic Options
ammonihah wrote: