103 replies to this topic

[Jayman11]

Are we sure this is just a temp issue right now? I remember getting a letter recently from USPS that there were going to be changes this month. Could these be the change and now the module needs to be tweaked?

[Nikuman]

Is everyone using the latest version?  http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,487

Also, it says:

Quote

You must email USPS and ask them to switch your account to the production server and tell them you are using OSCommerce.

How are you getting in touch with USPS?  Is there a phone number?  What is the email address?  I want this FIXED!

[Jayman11]

I jsut called 1-800-ASK-USPS and the guy told me they are having problems with calculations on Click-N-Ship right now so I guess it all uses the same deal to calculate. Problem with one thing is a problem with the rest?

[DKarr]

I just called my Postmaster:  she said that ALL of the post office system is down.  They can't do any work either!

And, that she would call me when they get it back up.....

Time to dust off those Flat Rate Shipping Modules!


Deb

[chokoret]

for me this message is keep showing :
United States Postal Service  
An error occured with the USPS shipping calculations.
If you prefer to use USPS as your shipping method, please contact the store owner.

Customers are keep complaining

[Jayman11]

chokoret, on Dec 8 2008, 08:22 PM, said:

for me this message is keep showing :
United States Postal Service  
An error occured with the USPS shipping calculations.
If you prefer to use USPS as your shipping method, please contact the store owner.

Customers are keep complaining

Yeah that's the same one i'm getting. I wouldnt worry too much. Switch to a flat or table rate for now. I just popped in a table rate real quick to hold me over until it's back.

[Nikuman]

Just talked to USPS, and they are anticipating being down all day.  The guys I spoke with was super apologetic.  Something broke on their end, and it is affecting all their zip code systems.  

E-mail: icustomercare@usps.com
Telephone: 1-800-344-7779

[FlyingKites]

YEs this is temporary and no you don't have to change code.  If your site is having trouble loading because of this error (which would be odd) then turn the module off.  

Most of our site offer shipping alternatives. It is easy enough to have UPS as a backup.  No account needed. Althought they tend to be more expensive for some overseas services.

[minionsweb]

Wish flat rate was an option for us.

We will have to ride out the storm, especially after JUST sending out a sale notice last night to 20k customers.

I suggest folks put a notice on their websites regarding the issue.

[jderouen]

Is this working for anyone yet??

Joe

[wkdwich]

Appartently not yet.. Ilm in my click n ship trying to update an address in there.. still non responsive

[Logcbnfvr]

Nope not working for me yet....Stamps.com has been working all along for usps shipping. I wish they had a calculator to put on my site :-)

[costast2]

How in the world is it possible for them to be down this long...I mean seriously sad. Do they not perform any disaster recovery testing? WOW

[jderouen]

Sad is the word for it. They are hurting so many people with this, not to mention themselves.

[js28784]

Yeah. I'm in shock. Our sales have been waaaay down today (in the peak of holiday sales)... we have one big classification of products we have to ship USPS, and can't use table rate. What a disaster.

[iofast]

Logcbnfvr, on Dec 8 2008, 07:43 PM, said:

Nope not working for me yet....Stamps.com has been working all along for usps shipping. I wish they had a calculator to put on my site :-)

Thats why I was earlier asking if anyone had used the downloadable rate information and created a shipping module that doesn't require a query to USPS.com.  I figure it will take about 80 man hours to build it but hopefully they will get their act together as it has brought down so many systems at once, including the USPS offices themselves.

[costast2]

jderouen, on Dec 8 2008, 07:16 PM, said:

Sad is the word for it. They are hurting so many people with this, not to mention themselves.

Indeed.  I called them and they have no clue when they will be back up BTW. I turned on the UPS module.

iofast, on Dec 8 2008, 07:24 PM, said:

Thats why I was earlier asking if anyone had used the downloadable rate information and created a shipping module that doesn't require a query to USPS.com.  I figure it will take about 80 man hours to build it but hopefully they will get their act together as it has brought down so many systems at once, including the USPS offices themselves.

Probably not, this has happened quite a few times this year.

Edited by costast2, 09 December 2008 - 12:26 AM.

[iofast]

costast2, on Dec 8 2008, 08:25 PM, said:

Indeed.  I called them and they have no clue when they will be back up BTW. I turned on the UPS module.




Probably not, this has happened quite a few times this year.

Unfortunately the outage would have to be quite prolonged for me to dedicate 80+ programming hours to a USPS module that would need to be updated yearly.  I suppose the idea with oscommerce is that people can get together to work on projects but we have spent a lot more time helping others implement the modules we write than we have received co-operation in working on constructive projects.  I hope someone will consider starting such a project with the information here:

http://www.usps.com/prices/downloadable-pricing-files.htm

Alternatively USPS could just get their act together.

[zelf]

iofast, on Dec 8 2008, 06:24 PM, said:

Thats why I was earlier asking if anyone had used the downloadable rate information and created a shipping module that doesn't require a query to USPS.com.

Won't help you today, but my company is in the process of developing a module, because of the three times earlier this year USPS has gone down.  Due to lack of time I have not been able to complete.  Should have it done by the first of the year.  To busy with holiday sales.  Today by far takes the cake compared to the last three times though.  Had to have been catastrophic on the USPS software, hardware, or network.  We'll probably never know.

We are also developing a module to work with Pitney Bowes SendSuite software, which does not require a connection to USPS and returns rates from almost every carrier out there including UPS, FedEx, and many others as well as tying into the Pitney Bowes bar coding system.  I will be posting our new modules at the beginning of the year when everything is set to go.

[nerdDesign]

iofast, on Dec 8 2008, 04:32 PM, said:

Unfortunately the outage would have to be quite prolonged for me to dedicate 80+ programming hours to a USPS module that would need to be updated yearly.  I suppose the idea with oscommerce is that people can get together to work on projects but we have spent a lot more time helping others implement the modules we write than we have received co-operation in working on constructive projects.  I hope someone will consider starting such a project with the information here:

http://www.usps.com/prices/downloadable-pricing-files.htm

Alternatively USPS could just get their act together.

Does anyone know specifically what the zones are? Express has 8 zones, as does priority commercial. If I can get that answered, I'm going to attempt to use the multiple table rate mod and create a backup solution. I have over 30 clients affected by this and,  needless to say, this affects all of us.

Edited by Jan Zonjee, 09 December 2008 - 02:49 AM.