APO/FPO for Shipping and Billing

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RichWendrock
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Re: APO/FPO for Shipping and Billing

Post by RichWendrock » Mon Apr 23, 2012 10:48 am

Evidently the configure/shipping/countries option has been removed. We have a problem with shipping to military APO/FPO. The cost is usually three times higher. we normally change a flat rate of $40 to ship our most popular product. when shipping military the cost can be as high as $120. Military customers are putting APO in the city and the selecting a state and zip. How can we determine the actual cost for military shipping at the time of the sale?
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david-ebt
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Re: APO/FPO for Shipping and Billing

Post by david-ebt » Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:33 pm

We've added APO, FPO, DPO and territories like American Samoa (AS), Guam (GU), Puerto Rico (PR) and Virgin Islands (VI) as provinces under the United States. Then we set up a separate zone for those provinces and then set up a new Shipping Method for that zone. This enabled us to limit the shipping options to those addresses and add a handling fee. Now the user sees those values in the states drop down and USPS will give a valid shipping rate to those addresses.
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RichWendrock
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Re: APO/FPO for Shipping and Billing

Post by RichWendrock » Mon Apr 23, 2012 6:16 pm

Thank you for the heads-up. How do you insure the address is filled out correctly?

According to the guidelines the postal service is very strict. Here are the guidelines I found on the internet.

Use the service member’s full name
All mail must be addressed to someone specific; addressing mail to “Any Service Member” is no longer permitted.

Include the unit and APO/FPO/DPO (Air/Army Post Office or Fleet Post Office) address with the nine-digit ZIP Code™ (if one is assigned).

SSGT Kevin Taylor
Unit 2050 Box 4190
APO AP 96278-2050

SGT Robert Smith
PSC 802 Box 74
APO AE 09499-0074

Seaman Joseph Doe
USCGC Hamilton
FPO AP 96667-3931

SGT Jane Doe
CMR 1250
APO AA 09045-1000

I setup APO, FPO and DPO as provinces. In the examples, it appears the postal service wants the APO in the City and requires the 9 digit zip.
Regards,
Richard

http://www.TheHomePageStore.com

AbleCommerce
VERSION: 7.0.7.14588
MSSQL v2005
AC SCHEMA v2005
.NET CLR v2.0.50727.3634

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RichWendrock
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Re: APO/FPO for Shipping and Billing

Post by RichWendrock » Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:36 am

I was able to setup a zone for all of the military postal codes. APO, FPO and DPO. Even though the product has a flat rate shipping option assigned to it, the Shipping calculator appears to calculate the shipping rate correctly. The problem I see now is at Checkout. The State is not a drop down list, therefore the shopper is not aware that they must select one of the military options as the state. How do you insure that the shipping address is filled out correctly?
Regards,
Richard

http://www.TheHomePageStore.com

AbleCommerce
VERSION: 7.0.7.14588
MSSQL v2005
AC SCHEMA v2005
.NET CLR v2.0.50727.3634

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david-ebt
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Re: APO/FPO for Shipping and Billing

Post by david-ebt » Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:39 am

According to a client, they don't have many problems with APO/FPO/DPO. In their experience, the customer usually knows how they need to enter their address so they get their stuff. Having an email address allows them to contact those with any problems. They do review every order before it's shipped so they have a chance to review the addresses.
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RichWendrock
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Re: APO/FPO for Shipping and Billing

Post by RichWendrock » Tue Apr 24, 2012 3:53 pm

It appears the best way to define the APO, DPO and FPO is the make the State code equal to the second part of the code. (e.g. APO AA, APO AP, APO AE)

I created three entries as provinces under the United States.
Army in Americas (AA) - for shipping to the Americas; State Code AA
Army in Pacific (AP) - for shipping to the Pacific; State Code AP
Army in Europe (AE) - for shipping to Europe; State Code AE

I also added instructions for the shopper to enter APO, FPO or DPO in the city field and the military zip code in the zip field. Once that is done USPS will calculate the shipping cost.
Regards,
Richard

http://www.TheHomePageStore.com

AbleCommerce
VERSION: 7.0.7.14588
MSSQL v2005
AC SCHEMA v2005
.NET CLR v2.0.50727.3634

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