"Failed to obtain shipping quotes error" with USPS

-- url of the page with the problem -- : www.StutteringTherapyResources.com
-- HikaShop version -- : 2.6.0
-- Joomla version -- : 3.4.4
-- PHP version -- : 5.6.14
-- Browser(s) name and version -- : all

With the new version 2.6.0, I get the error "Failed to obtain shipping quotes" with the USPS plugin. This is a feature that worked fine before, but now I cannot get past this page.

I uploaded the new version 2.6.0 when it first came out and got this error. So, I went back to 2.5... I tried again a few days later, and again just now. (I kept hoping you'd figure it out and i wouldn't need to post the help request). But, now I am posting the help request!

Can you please provide any guidance? Thank you,
Scott

Hello Scott,
Sure, firstly can you follow each point of the "Shipping methods" section of the FAQ :
If it didn't helped, can you show me some screenshots of how you configured your USPS shipping method and the product that you have on your cart when testing your USPS shipping method.
Thank you.

Hi Mohamed - Thank you for responding. Yes, I'm happy to do that, and I appreciate your guidance.

I'm wondering - would it be easier for me to just provide you with access to the system so you can see how everything is set up instead of just using screen shots?

Also, I'll just mention that it works exactly correctly in version 2.5...when i drop down to 2.5 it works fine; when i upgrade to 2.6 it does not. So, I'm thinking that there might be some additional required parameter for 2.6 that I don't know about, or some difficulty with the conduit or something. (The behavior is the same for all products and addresses, though I haven't checked an international address yet.)

Anyway, I'll check the FAQ - please let me know if the screenshots are easier than just going into the backend and seeing it for yourself.

Thanks
S

Same problem, roughly the same versions. I ran through the FAQ and was unable to fix it. Ended up downgrading to 2.5.0 so we could process orders.

Please keep this thread updated on any resolution you might find? =)

Hi Mohamed - I have reviewed the FAQ and I think everything is fine. At the very least, it is exactly as it was for version 2.5, which worked fine. I didn't change anything except the version. When I return to 2.5 from 2.6, it works fine, just as the other user indicated. I have left the site up with 2.6 even though I cannot take orders in the hopes that you'll be able to help me identify the problem quickly. In another day or so, though, i'll have to switch back down to 2.5 so I can at least take orders again. Here are the screen shots. Thanks
S

Hi,

I just tried it on my end and it worked fine, so having a temporary access to the back-end of your website (with an Hikashop 2.6) will probably be better, you can send it through our contact form : www.hikashop.com/support/contact-us.html
I really need to directly reproduce the issue to understand from where it's coming.

Thanks !

No, i'm afraid it still does not work as of 5 minutes ago. Did you try it with an address in the US? (most of our sales are domestic US).
I will send the login information shortly.

I will be out of the country as of tonight for a week, and I cannot leave the site non-functioning any longer. So, if i can't get it working tonight, I will set it back to Hikashop 2.5 so I can at least receive orders, then I will pick this up again when I get back.

I also just tried an international address (Canada), and received the same error - "Failed to obtain shipping quotes"
I'll look forward to any help you can offer. Thanks,
Scott

Hello Scott,
I shipped to different shipping address and it worked fine, so having a temporary access to reproduce your issue will be useful.
Thanks.

Yes, I sent that earlier today, but neglected to indicate which thread i was referring to. Jerome alerted me, so I sent that info via the private contact. I am not the only one having this issue, as another user pointed out, and my web designer also has experienced the same using my website. I am confused about why you are not seeing the error, but perhaps you'll be able to find something in the back end. I appreciate your help.
Scott

Hello Scott,
You are right, and that issue is weird, I'm not having it on my end, and It won't work on your website, so the best solution will probably be to give me a temporary FTP access to your website so that I can directly debug it, and see what's the real problem.
Thanks!

I sent the temporary FTP access info through private contact yesterday mid-day...i'm wondering if you've had the chance to figure this out yet. I'd really like to be able to take orders again. (I've left it at 2.6 in case it helps you figure out the problem, but if it'll be a while, i'd rather drop down to 2.5 while we're working on it so i can get orders coming in.) Thank you for any help you can offer on this.
S

I'm sorry to be a bother, but I'm wondering if there is any progress on this. I cannot accept orders because the system can't calculate the shipping price. I have checked and there is nothing different about the site moving from version 2.5 to 2.6. In 2.5 it works; in 2.6 it does not. I have left the site in 2.6 so you could troubleshoot the problem, but I would like to at least switch back to 2.5 soon so i can go back to taking orders and selling product. (If you don't need me to have it at 2.6 to troubleshoot this, then please let me know, and i'll drop back down to 2.5 immediately so i can continue with my business while you figure this out.) Thank you!
Scott

Hello,
Sorry for the late reply, I'm currently trying to reproduce it on my end so that your shop won't be affected by that issue, I'll fix it as fast as possible and get back to you to quickly give you the last USPS shipping plugin version.
Thanks.

Hi Mohamed - just a quick update on my end... Due to some other problems with my website (unrelated to Hikashop), I'm currently switching to a different host... We've just changed the DNS servers, so within a day or so, our website will point to the new location. We set the new site up with 2.5 so we could get back to taking some orders.

So, if you go to our domain, you probably won't see the error - that'll just be because we're on 2.5. I'm fine with operating at 2.5 until we're able to figure out what's up with this... once we're stable again on our end, we'll experiment some more. My programmer thinks he might have found a variable name inconsistency that might be related... but we haven't tested it. In case it's of any help to you, here's what he wrote to me while preparing my site for transfer to our new host...
----

looking over the differences on the files on the two versions in relation to the usps plugin.

from downloading from your tmp folder both versions.
the file /tmp/hika26/back/extensions/plg_hikashopshipping_usps/usps.php

starting at line 287 in that file.

if(empty($rates)) {
$messages = 'Failed to obtain shipping quotes.';
$cache_messages = 'Failed to obtain shipping quotes.';
$this->setShippingCache($order, null, $cache_messages);

return true;
}

---

though the two files have some differences.. this area in the 2.5 version has this listed (starting at line 451) as if(empty($usps_rates)) {

so I haven't tested this yet on an up and running site, but I believe that the issue is that $rates should be changed to $usps_rates, as $usps_rates is used for that variable name just about everywhere else in the 2.6 file.. I think it might have been a simple variable naming error.

=====

Again, i don't know if this is right or helpful - we haven't tested it because we've had our hands full making the transition to the new server... But, i offer it just in case it's useful.

Thanks again for your help.
Scott

Hello - Now that my busiest season of orders has passed, I'd like to re-open this issue to see if there has been any progress.

To recap: When I use HikaShop 2.6.0, I get an error when attempting to get the USPS postal service rates. The error, specifically, is "Failed to obtain shipping quotes." on the Total page in my checkout.

This is a feature that has worked flawlessly in 2.5.x - in fact, when I drop down from 2.6 back to 2.5, the error goes away. When I bump back up to 2.6, the error returns. So, I think it's fairly tightly isolated to the new plugin.

My web designer gave me a suggestion earlier about what the problem might be (a variable naming issue), and that is outlined higher in the thread.

For now, I have set up a testing site where this can be explored without affecting my ability to take orders. (Last time, when I was trying to work on this, I was in the midst of a busy sales time and kept running into problems with actual orders when i would be on version 2.6).

I will send privately the access information for the test website. Please let me know if you are able to figure anything out with this. I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you for your help!
Scott

Hello Scott,
Can you test it with that last USPS shipping method version ? I added some fix on it :

---

removed

---

HI Mohamed - thanks for trying that, but I'm afraid I found no change in the behavior of the program after I updated the plugin. I still get the same error. It can be seen on the test site for my website - i sent access credentials previously through the email system. Thanks for your continued help - i hope we'll get this one figured out!
Scott

Hello Scott,
Sorry that wasn't actually the last version, here is the last USPS version, can you test it by also enabling all USPS services and setting the "Container" option to "Variable" ?
Thanks.

HI Mohamed - I installed the new component and played around with this for a long time on my test site.
I think we're closer, but it's still not quite working.

I am able to get it to give me shipping quotes now - in some situations. Others I still get the error.

If I set up a single instance of the USPS shipping with all options checked, then it does give the correct option. However, I use (and have for a long time) multiple instances of the USPS shipping plug in to give several options for shipping with different messages to the user. I also use multiple instances of the plug in to charge different handling fees depending upon the product and shipping speed.

Here is what I set up with Hikashop 2.5 that has worked fine for some time: 4 separate instances of the plug-in

1) Domestic: Under 13 ounces, I give the option of 1st class mail and NO handling fee
2) Domestic: Over 13 ounces, I give the option of media mail, with the message (delivery in 2 to 8 days) and handling fee of $3.33
3) Domestic: Over 13 ounces, I give the option of priority mail, with the message (delivery in 2 to 3 days) and handling fee of $3.33
4) International: Regardless of weight, I give the option of first class or priority international with the message (delivery time varies by location) and handling fee of $4.00

Again, that has worked well for my needs. The majority of our products are shipped media mail within the US (we're a book publisher).

With the new plug-in, I am able to get it to work for me if I only use one instance of the plug-in and check all of the options, but then I don't get the weight differentiation, message differentiation, or handling fee differentiation.

I can create separate instances of the plug-in, and that works okay for domestic options. BUT, as soon as I put in the international option, I get the error message about not being able to get the shipping rates. I also have uncovered a new error when playing around with the international shipping:

Message
USPS error: 80040B19 XML Syntax Error: Please check the XML request to see if it can be parsed.
USPS error: 80040B19 XML Syntax Error: Please check the XML request to see if it can be parsed.

I figured I'd pass this information along to you before I played with it much longer in case this helped you figure out what was going on. (I've spent some hours today putting together different combinations of the plug-in with different settings.)

You can see the error on the current setup of the testing site, as I sent to you earlier. I'm leaving 2.6 with the new plug-in on that site so you can maybe check it out directly. My production site is still on 2.5.

Thank you for your work on this. I hope these latest clues will help you figure it out. Otherwise, I'm wondering if it's possible to run the 2.6 software with the 2.5 USPS plug-in? Then I'd get the other benefits of 2.6 while we figure this out.

Scott