Australia Post Rates - Hikashop 1.5.5 + J1.7.3

Hi,

There seems to be a problem with the Australia Post rates in Hikashop 1.5.5 and Joomla 1.7.3. I know that the API should automatically pull through the latest rates direct from Australia Post so perhaps this is a configuration issue:

I have added a product (a bottle of wine) which has the default settings for weight, length, width & height i.e. 0.000 for each field. I then added two Characteristics - Per Case and Per Bottle. Within each characteristic, I have configured different weights:

The per case settings are:

weight: 15.400 kg

Length: 32.000 cm

Width: 24.000 cm

Height: 30.000 cm

When I checkout, the Hikashop Australia Post calculation of postage is correct according to their online calculator auspost.com.au/apps/domestic-parcel.html .

The per bottle settings are:

weight: 1.660 kg

Length: 32.000 cm

Width: 24.000 cm

Height: 30.000 cm

When I checkout with just a bottle (which is packed in the same size box as the Per Case characteristic), the Australia Post calculation of postage is not correct according to their online calculator auspost.com.au/apps/domestic-parcel.html .

If I enter the above per bottle settings into the Australia Post calculator, it should be $12.55 for a Regular Parcel or $26.45 for an Express Post parcel from postcode 2330 to 2225.

In Hikashop checkout, it only comes up as $9.75 for Regular Post and $16.45 for Express Post.

I read through the forum to find a similar issue and this one comes close www.hikashop.com/en/support/forum/4-how-...incorrect.html#17212 .

As per the instructions in that post, I tried swapping the weight symbols in System -> Configuration -> Main -> Weight Symbols from "kg,g,mg,lb,oz,ozt" to "g,kg,mg,lb,oz,ozt" and all that happens then is an error message during checkout that says

The cart items combined weight is too big for all the possible shipping methods

Any help or ideas on what to test next is appreciated,

Thanks,
Bianca

Hello, I am currently waiting on a reply to this issue for a customer site - any ideas Nicolas - is it a bug?

Hi,

Sorry, I missed your message.

The Australia Post shipping plugin is using g and mm for units. Could you put these as the first units of your configuration and use these for the product with which you are doing your tests and see if it works better ?

Hi Nicolas,

No worries. I changed the following settings:

1. Re-ordered the dimensions and weight symbols as pictured:


2. Changed the 2 product characteristics for the single product from kg and cm to g and mm

Per case:


Per bottle:


Once again, the "per case" shipping is correct and the problem with the per bottle characteristic still occurs whereby the per bottle shipping is $9.75 for Regular Post and $16.45 for Express Post. It should be $12.55 Regular Post and $26.45 Express Post.

I did some more testing each time increasing the per bottle weight by 1000 grams (1kg) and left the dimensions the same and these are the results in a makeshift table below:

Weight | Hikashop standard shipping price | Australia Post standard shipping price
2660g | $10.45 | $12.55
3660g | $11.15 | $12.55
4660g | $11.85 | $12.55
5660g | $12.55 | $12.55
6660g | $13.25 | $13.25

On the Australia Post calculator site ( auspost.com.au/apps/domestic-parcel.html ), it essentially says that for 'up to 6kg of cubic weight' the price is always $12.55 for standard parcels of those dimensions. It looks to me like the Hikashop plugin is perhaps pulling in a per weight price and increasing it as the weight increases and the Australia post site is basing all dimension-weight combinations under 6kg on cubic weight which seems to be the measurement and multiplication of the dimensions plus the weight being below the 6kg threshold.

Once the package reaches above 6kg, the Australia Post calculator then starts calculating based on weight ranges (e.g. "6-7kg") rather than cubic weight and so the prices start matching.

What do you think?

Thanks,
Bianca

On HikaShop's end, we send to the Australia Post web service the weight of packages ( grouped products ) with default dimensions:
$parcel->Length=150;
$parcel->Width=150;
$parcel->Height=1;
That's because the dimensions don't change the price of packages in our tests.
Then, Australia Post returns the shipping fee and HikaShop uses it.
The weight calculation on HikaShop's end is the same regardless of the weight you set in your products.

I tested your case with the online calculator and I found that indeed it came from the fact that the dimensions are set in hard. It seems that in some cases, the dimensions of the packages have an incidence on the price.
I've modified the Australia Post plugin to handle that better. Could you update it with the package enclosed and try again ?

Hi Nicolas,

Thanks for that - yes the updated plugin works now.

Australia Post definitely take dimensions into account with their prices - for example if you post a set of skis they are quite long and must meet their length maximums - see auspost.com.au/personal/parcel-dimensions.html for details on dimension maximums and their cubic weight policy.

Will the updated plugin be included in the next version?

Thanks,
Bianca

Yes, it will be included in next version of HikaShop.

Hi, I have am using the same config as the creater of this thread. I've just downloaded and installed the 1.5.6_2012-02-13 .zip file which has fixed some of the Australia Post problems which is great, thanks for that.

I'm still having some issues though.

I have a product with the following settings for testing (this is a shoe store- shoes/boots):

Weight- 500g

L- 500mm
W- 400mm
H- 170mm

For up to a qty of 3 the cart offers valid Aust Post calculations, as soon as I go to a qty of 4 or over I get 4 instances of this error

"The request to the Australia Post server failed with the message: The Length cannot exceed 105cm."

Is it somehow adding the lengths together?

I just noticed I am now getttng the error messages below but the cart still allows you to choose the Australia Post Std or Express and checkout, at which point it still charges shipping....

The request to the Australia Post server failed with the message: The Length cannot exceed 105cm.
The request to the Australia Post server failed with the message: The Length cannot exceed 105cm.
The request to the Australia Post server failed with the message: The Length cannot exceed 105cm.
The request to the Australia Post server failed with the message: The Length cannot exceed 105cm.
Please accept the terms and conditions before proceeding
The request to the Australia Post server failed with the message: The Length cannot exceed 105cm.
The request to the Australia Post server failed with the message: The Length cannot exceed 105cm.

Please help! Thanks!!!

Indeed, the lengths are added. If you don't want that, you can turn of the "group products together option".

Otherwise, change the line:
if($parcels[$i]->Weight && ((isset($rate->shipping_params->shipping_group) && !$rate->shipping_params->shipping_group) || $parcels[$i]->Weight+$product_weight>$max_weight || $parcels[$i]->global_volume+$product_volume>$max_volume)){

to:
if($parcels[$i]->Weight && ((isset($rate->shipping_params->shipping_group) && !$rate->shipping_params->shipping_group) || $parcels[$i]->Weight+$product_weight>$max_weight || $parcels[$i]->Weight+$product_length>1050 || $parcels[$i]->global_volume+$product_volume>$max_volume)){


in the file plugins/hikashopshipping/aupost.php and you should not have the problem anymore as it will create several parcels if needed.

Thank you!! I will give that a try. Otherwise I might just give the lengths the flick and just use weight.

We would like to also offer Australia Post Express International. Is there any plan/method to integrate this?

Cheers,

There are no plans for that as you're the first one requesting that.

I've just installed the latest version of your software and stared to set it up. I'm having the same issue. When I order two items the error message comes up with: "The request to the Australia Post server failed with the message: The Length cannot exceed 105cm." The two items have the following volume setting configured: Length 2 cm, width 14 cm, height 20 cm. I don't understand where the Aust Post calculation is getting a figure that exceeds 105cm! I have turned off the "Group products together" but still get this message.

Please make sure that the main (the first one in the list) dimension unit is set to "cm" in your configuration and that you also use cm in your products.

Thanks for that! Worked a treat.

I noticed on this thread there was a request for Australia Post International Shipping, As we sell to New Zealand and other countries, would also request this as a future feature.

crowcreekc wrote: I noticed on this thread there was a request for Australia Post International Shipping, As we sell to New Zealand and other countries, would also request this as a future feature.

Hi crowcreekc,

The Australia post plugin is already supposed to handle International Shipping through the "By air" and "By sea" shipping methods .

I have those options selected but they do not display. Will they only display if the address is outside of Australia? Second issue is I tried to reverse the order of the listing via the Plugin and when I do it is unable to connect to Australia Post.

Richard

Ok, so can you give a temporary access to your back-end for testing purpose and to find what your problem really is ?

Thanks.