USPS Allow User to Purchase Insurance & Signature Confirmation

[LaughingHorse]

I'm new to CubeCart. I installed and set up the USPS shipping module, and would like to know if there is a way to let the customer choose to have signature required and/or insurance to be calculated into the USPS price.

If there is not a way currently, it would be a great enhancement as the vast majority of our shipments go out with signature required and insurance.

In our current cart (which we are getting rid of), we can select if these are mandatory. It would be really helpful if we can tick a box that says mandatory and then add a price level where the calculations start. And also have a box we can tick that would let the customer opt to purchase signature confirmation and extra insurance.

Does this currently exist?

Thanks in advance for your replies!

[Dirty Butter]

$200 Insurance is already included on Priority and will go up to $500 insured with the next rate increase coming soon. Would it be reasonable to make the Signature Confirmation cost an Option on each item?

[LaughingHorse]

Actually, based on experience form our current on-line store... yes. The post office will not honor claims for theft even with insurance **unless** there is a signature. The post office will weasel out of any claim they possibly can. In some instances, Two immediately come to mind... the customer claimed never to have received a package. In each instance the post office said they delivered it to the correct address.

Instance 1 - The post office actually delivered it to a neighbor, who after 1 month finally gave the package to the correct party.

Instance  2 - The package disappeared off the face of the earth.

One order was for $70 (the one that disappeared)

The other order was for $165 - that the post office said was delivered to the correct address, but actually was not.

In both instances, the post office refused to honor insurance claims, because... "the carrier delivered it to the correct address, and the post office carriers never make mistakes"

Correction, the USPS only insures up to $50 on Priority. Anything above that costs more.

Please check https://www.usps.com/ship/insurance-extra-services.htm

And check the details under the heading Priority Mail Express & Priority Mail

They will do $500 on Express (Now called Priority Express) which is included in the price of postage.

Additionally, what about packages sent via post office that cost more than $200/500 ?

Edited May 10, 2015 by LaughingHorse
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[Dirty Butter]

I stand corrected. The Option idea might help with Signature cost, but would not adjust properly for insurance based on price, unless there's some way to calculate the insurance as a percentage of the subtotal.

[LaughingHorse]

Doesn't it just pull from the USPS rates?

On the current system we are using (OS Commerce), there is a plug in for USPS rates and it pulls from the USPS site. What that plug in lacks is the ability for the customer to choose and show rates with insurance and without. But I figured since CubeCart is so far ahead and shoulders above OSC it would have a far superior USPS plugin.

I am completely impressed by CubeCart, and adding this feature to USPS would make CubeCart even more flexible than it is.

[Dirty Butter]

It may be that these options could be easily added to the USPS plugin. I'll add a GitHub request for it.

[LaughingHorse]

Thank You Very Much! That is greatly appreciated.

[Dirty Butter]

https://github.com/cubecart/v6/issues/520

[LaughingHorse]

Thank You!

[cginca]

I need insurance also. Has anybody gotten anywhere with it?

For those who care, I've had to deal with insurance claims from all three this year, FedEx, UPS, and USPS. By a HUGE margin, USPS was by FAR the easiest to deal with. I'd given up on them many years ago, when they'd lose boxes or take five weeks to deliver them, but I think they've modernized since then. These recent experiences has caused me to switch to Priority Mail with most of my deliveries that fit within any of the flat rates.

[LaughingHorse]

Highly unlikely it will ever be implemented unfortunately.

 

The OS Commerce USPS system was the best thing about OS Commerce, and it's truly a shame it is not implemented in Cube Cart.

[Dirty Butter]

I see on GitHub that @Noodleman has offered to develop a USPS plugin that does include what you need - paid of course.

[Noodleman]

in theory, it shouldn't be too difficult for USPS since a module already exists and can be used as the starting point, but until I get into the API and figure out the details, it's just an assumption.