Delivery Charge Problem!

[Simpsons]

Okay, no ones responding to this so I'll try and make things a bit clearer!

I have several shipping bands as follows:

Standard Delivery (1kg Max)
Special Delivery (2kg Max)
>5kg Parcel
>30kg Parcel
Timed Delivery (9am) (30kg Max)
Timed Delivery (12pm) (30kg Max)
24 Hr Express Courier (155kg)**

** This particular band has been set up for sending large single items that must be shipped separately on pallets. I've also deliberately set the weight of associated products to be higher than necessary in order to avoid any conflicts with smaller orders spanning multiple 30kg consignments.

Although Actinic is selecting the correct shipping band, its doubling the carriage charge. The charge should be £25.95 (+VAT) and instead Actinic is charging £51.90.

For a minute I thought this problem might be linked to the optimum package weight which is set to 30kg. I've since tested things with the package weight set to 155kg and it makes no difference - still charges double!

Answers on a post card please!

Thanks in advance.
Kevin Simpson

[jont]

Kevin - in your original post you stated the heavy products were set to "ship seperately" - if a product has an associated product it will be charged twice ie once for the master product and once for the associated. Try unticking the ship seperate option and set the excess in the shipping tables as "take highest" see if that resolves

[Simpsons]

John,

Thanks for this, I've tried your suggestion but it makes no difference. Actinic still charges double!

If it helps the product in question has 2 permutations. Therefore should you specify 'shipped separately' on the visible product or the hidden permutations?


Any other ideas?

Thanks
Kevin

[Nadeem]

Hi Kevin

Therefore should you specify 'shipped separately' on the visible product or the hidden permutations?

What are the two permuation, and does one of the permutation link to a hidden product? Also in the General tab of the main product, for "Pricing Model", what does it say here?

Kind Regards

Kind Regards

[Simpsons]

Hi Nadeem,

There are two products which I'm experiencing the same problem with but we'll disregard one in this instance.

The product in question has the product code [LNG-x]. This is a visible product with 2 permuations based on size and which link to two different hidden products with codes [LNG] and [LNG-M].

At present the 'component details' are set to 'Sum of Component Prices' so one would assume Actinic will look to obtain product information from the hidden permutations. Therefore [LNG] and [LNG-M] are set to 'Ship Separately' and carry an associated carriage weight.

I have applied exactly the approach to other 'multi-size' products throughout the store without any problems. This is real puzzler!

Thanks in advance.
Kevin

[Nadeem]

Hi Kevin

At present the 'component details' are set to 'Sum of Component Prices' so one would assume Actinic will look to obtain product information from the hidden permutations. Therefore [LNG] and [LNG-M] are set to 'Ship Separately' and carry an associated carriage weight.

This is correct, so I'm not to sure on why this is happening. Especially since it working on other products, hmm might i suggest in registering an email support ticket on http://www.actinic.co.uk/support/register.htm. They will ask for a snapshot of your site.

Kind Regards

[Simpsons]

Okay, I don't seem to be getting any response from Actinic's support department so I've spent the best part of a day looking at this problem in more detail.

To reiterate...

I have a product that weighs 55kg and which 'must' be sent separately on a pallet. I have therefore specified this product to be 'shipped separately'.

I have several different shipping bands defined but have created one specifically for sending larger items. This particular band has 2 defined weights which are 50 and 90 kilos.

One would therefore assume Actinic would be clever enough to figure out it needs to charge the 90kg cost of £25.95. Instead its charging £41.90. Where the hell this figure is coming I do not know. However, I have since discovered that if I uncheck 'ship separately', the price is reduced to £25.95.

Please can someone explain to me how 'ship separately' works and how Actinic works the carriage charge out. Clearly its trying to be clever but is falling flat on its face!

I have methodically changed every feasible area of the shipping table but Actinic doesn't want to play ball.

Help Please

Thanks
Kevin Simpson

[wjcampbe]

Kevin,
I'm finding it a little difficult to be sure what you have so I will go back to your first post. Are you using ship by weight? These look like shipping 'methods' to me and not shipping bands. Within each method, you will have weight bands where the price will change.

It sounds as though you have many tables(methods), each set with only one or two weights(bands) and each (hopefully) set to do not allow excess weight.

Your needs could probably be met much easier by one single table. What weights are your individual products, and how many can a customer be expected to buy at one time? Would the total qty x weight come anywhere near your 50kg band?

Actinic changes to the next band when it reaches each setting, so if you have 1kg then 2, then 5, then 30, then 50, then 90 Actinic will charge the cost for the highest weight which your total shipment weight does not exceed. What happens when the weight exceeds the highest weight value in your table is controlled by the settings you choose on the table where you create your shipping costs table.

does this help you?

[Simpsons]

Dear William,

Thanks for this, my company uses the courier services of 4 different company's Royal Mail, Parcel Force, TNT and UK Pallets. The limits for each of these couriers are as follows:

Royal Mail - 2kg Max
Parcel Force - 30kg Max
TNT - 90kg Max
UK Pallets 500kg Max

Of these couriers Royal Mail and Parcel Force are the most frequently used so I have set the optimum package weight to be 30kg. However, it is not uncommon for customers to place orders that may exceed this weight, so I must ensure these orders are split over multiple 30kg consignments. I have a sneaking suspicion, this is where the problem lies.

My larger single items weigh 55kg (exceeding the optimum package weight), which leads me to believe Actinic is some how attempting to split the consignment in two. However, having specified these products to be 'shipped separately', I would expect Actinic to treat these consignments exclusively. Since there is a shipping method predefined with a 90kg maximum weight, this would be the most obvious choice for Actinic to make. This particular method is valued at 25.95, but Actinic calculates it to be 41.90.

I have managed to get Actinic to charge the correct price, but this means I must uncheck the 'ship separately' box which simply isn't acceptable. If I do this, Actinic will attempt to include other products in the same consignment, for which there is no room in the carton.

Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks
Kevin

[wjcampbe]

Yes, I'm afraid so. You are expecting Actinic to choose the shipping method.

This is a choice your customer will make when there is more than one choice.

If you are using 'do not allow' as your handling method for excess weight in every shipping method, then for any weight under 2kg, all four choices will be available to the customer, for shipments between 2 and 30kg they will have a choice of three, at 55kg they still have a choice of two (TNT and UK Pallets).

What is the value in the UK Pallets table for a 55kg weight? Could this be where your 41.90 is coming from?

[Simpsons]

Dear William,

At present the 'UK Pallets' shipping method doesn't exist but is due to be implemented if and when the TNT method can be made to work correctly.

So you understanding my shipping methods more clearly is listing of the methods and weights currently available.

Standard Delivery:
250g = £1.66
500g = £3.36
1000g = £4.68

Special Delivery:
500g = 3.62
1000g = £4.55
2000g = £5.91

>5kg Parcel(s) :- Next Working Day 6pm
5000g = £5.06

>30kg Parcel(s) :- Next Working Day 6pm
30000g = £6.77

Timed Delivery :- Next Working Day 9am
30000g = £15.00

Timed Delivery :- Next Working Day 12pm
30000g = £12.50

24Hr Express Courier:
50000g = £15.95
90000g = £25.95

As you can see from this list there is only one choice from consignments weighing over 50kg. However, since the optimal package weight is currently set to 30kg, could Actinic be attempting to split this consignment over 2x 30kg Parcels? Since I have specified 'Ship Separately' I would hope not.

Thanks
Kevin

[wjcampbe]

Hmm, well in that case, could you just check once more, that Royal Mail and Parcel Force as set to do not allow excess weight.

BTW if each shipping method excludes all others (i.e. at any one weight total, only one method of shipping applies, and the customer really does not have a choice to make) this is definitely easier to handle in one table. Just use Royal Mail rates up to 2kg, Parcel force rates between 2 and 30kg and TNT rates between 30 and 90kg, and publish this as standard shipping.

The only reason to use multiple shipping methods is when they overlap, but offer customer an advantage - like three day post versus overnight courier - at his choice.

[Simpsons]

William,

I've checked all the shipping methods again and none of them allow excess weight.

Although I can see the logic in your suggestion, it means taking a bit of a backward step with the technology. Actinic appears to be selecting the correct shipping method and weight for most consignments.

However, I have since determined that for products with permutations, Actinic doubles the carriag weight - once for the main visible product and once the for the hidden permutation. This occurs even when you have selected 'Sum of Component Prices' for the pricing model.

Clearly this is a major flaw in the technology. What do you think?

Thanks
Kevin

[wjcampbe]

I think Actinic do a tremendous job when you consider they are using access .

Let me look at his a bit more and see if I can find you a solution.

[Simpsons]

Well its official!

Actinic Support has confirmed this is a bug in the software. Not sure when its going to be fixed or if there's a work around but I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything.

Until then.

Thanks for all your advice.
Kevin