Gold R10 problem setting up negotiated rates

[AbleMods]

I'm trying to set up negotiated rates with UPS for a client. The instructions in the merchant guide are somewhat confusing.

I see you have to use a hidden config page. The merchant guide states you need a User ID, password and access key. However, in the UPS Gateway setup screen, you only see User ID an access key. There is no password field. Where does the password come from?

And I'm a little unclear - is it wanting the user id the client logs into myups.com with? Or the user id configured in the able UPS gateway?

[Katie]

is it wanting the user id the client logs into myups.com with?

Yes.

We officially added the Register Direct page in Gold R11, but if you access the hidden page, it should work the same.

The form requires the following 3 pieces of information (User ID, Password, and Access key).

1. In the first field, enter your UPS User ID which is provided by UPS when you register through their website.

2. Enter your UPS Password which is used to login to your account at the UPS website.

3. Enter your Access key which is also provided when you setup your UPS account.

[AbleMods]

Ok. In the gateway, there is also a user id. That's not the same id as the login id the client uses for the myups.com website. Which user id do I use?

[Katie]

I'm not sure. I thought it was the User ID that goes with the password. The one used for logging into the ups website.

I need to get my test environment running again. Had some computer problems. If you can wait, I'll give you a definite answer.

[AbleMods]

Yea that would be a huge help.

When I run the hidden direct page, it's creating a whole new gateway in the integrated carriers. Now I have two UPS gateways installed. Is that supposed to happen?

[jmestep]

Joe, in the past when I set up a hack for negotiated rates on an AC7 site, they had to contact UPS to make sure their credentials for the negotiated rates that they got from UPS matched ones that USP used for their account. I can't remember exactly, but there UPS rep needed to get involved with someone else at UPS.

[AbleMods]

Thanks Judy. I remember that too - something about having to tell your UPS rep to "attach" the Able gateway user account with the client's actual UPS login and shipper ID.

I just don't know anything about this negotiated-rates thing Able has added to Gold. And it creates a duplicate shipping gateway when it's done, which doesn't feel like such a great idea to me....

[Katie]

And it creates a duplicate shipping gateway when it's done

That shouldn't be happening. I think that UPS has made it easier and there might be an option within the UPS account where you can use 'Business Rates'.

[AbleMods]

OK I have figured this out. Sorry Katie the client couldn't wait.

Per the merchant guide, Gold R10 has a hidden page /admin/shipping/providers/ups/registerdirect.aspx. This page accepts a username, password and access value.

However completing the page creates a duplicate instance of the UPS gateway in the system. The problem comes now because the Able integrated provider pages like default.ashx are not designed to expect more than one of a specific gateway instance. This creates some odd UI behavior to be aware of:

* The integrated carriers list now shows the old UPS gateway and the new UPS gateway. But clicking edit on the new one only edits the old gateway.
* On the edit-gateway page, the assigned shipping method list at the bottom shows the methods assigned to the old gateway even if you're editing the new gateway.
* There is no way to "move" shipping methods from one gateway instance to another. You have to delete the method and recreate it. A major hassle when you have an existing site with warehouses, ship zones etc all configured in the ship methods.

The sequence of steps to implement this in Gold R10 is as follows. Note this requires manually editing SQL data to avoid losing warehouse/zone assignments in your ship methods:

Hit the /admin/shipping/providers/ups/registerdirect.aspx page.

Populate the fields as follows. The Username is the MyUPS.com login name, not the Able user ID generated in the original UPS gateway. The password is the MyUPS.com password for your MyUPS account. The Access value comes from the old UPS gateway setup in able - right click to open a new tab so you can edit the old gateway and copy/paste the access value into the register-direct page.

Once you have the fields populated, click Save and Able will send you to the edit-gateway page. MAKE NOTE of the ShipGatewayId value in the address url parameter. You're going to need it soon.

While still on this edit-gateway page, enter your UPS Shipper ID in the appropriate field. Click Save and Close to commit the change. In my tests, this value wasn't even necessary but do it anyways, just for good measure.

Now edit the original UPS gateway from the list of integrated carriers. Note the ShipGatewayId in the address url parameter. Cancel the edit page.

Open SQL Studio Management and expand your SQL database. start a new query and enter:
use <yourdbname>
UPDATE ac_ShipMethods SET ShipGatewayId = <new-id> WHERE ShipGatewayId = <old-id> Obviously substitute <new-id> and <old-id> with the appropriate values from the address url parameters.

At this point, now the ship methods are re-assigned to the new UPS gateway. The old gateway can be deleted. Double-check your remaining UPS gateway settings, then go add something to your basket and fire the shipping estimator. You should now be getting negotiated rates.

There has got to be a better way to do this for anyone prior to R11.