This looks similar to what's going on with this order over here.
Basically, since your subscription is set to use "First-Class Mail" the system tried it's hardest to make everything go First-Class.
Unfortunately, your order has processed past the point of being able to make changes to it to at this time. You can change the preferred shipping method for your subscriptions here on the My Subscription page.
The setting "Cheapest (usually Standard Post)" is the only method that will try to ship it as cheap as possible. All other options will do their best to stay at the method chosen even if it is cheaper to ship another method.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please let us know.
Thanks!
Sharaya
|
So just to make sure I have this straight: your system has an error causing my subscription shipment to be split into three parts and I get charged for three separate shipments. And your response is too late to do anything about it.
That's an interesting customer service response, particularly for a long term customer.
If your order was able to ship cheaper in previous months, that was actually an error in the system previously. It is calculating things correctly now, based on the shipping method that is selected as preferred on your account (First-Class).
If you are choosing between USPS options, then Priority is probably safer than First Class if you have more than 1 or 2 subscriptions. "Cheapest" is the only method that will change a specific month's shipping if there is a cheaper option. Every other choice will do its best to ship via the selected default even if there is something cheaper.
The reason for this that:
There are a small number of customers who have issues with specific methods, be it UPS or USPS or Standard Postal which uses UPS-Mail Innovations andUSPS for delivery. We need them to be able to select an option and not have it change even if something else is cheaper, so that they can avoid a specific method. Example: a customer used UPS and they always leave it on the door step where it gets stolen whereas if they use USPS, the carrier can put it in their mailbox. Therefore, theoretically, if you choose anything other than cheapest, the shipping code will do its best to ship your subscription orders the method you selected, unless it physically can't, at which point it selects another service (and I can't remember off the top of my head if it defaults to cheapest at that point or uses another criteria). Since for these customers it is often a matter of whether or not they can subscribe from us, we want to make sure they have as best chance as possible to ship things their preferred method.
I'm sorry if that caught you off guard this time! If your shipping preference had been set to Cheapest, it looks like it should have been able to ship Standard Post for less. I have refunded the difference in shipping cost to your account as store credit.
If you do not want your orders to ship in multiple First-Class packages in the future, you should change your preferred shipping method in the settings on your My Subscriptions page.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please let us know. Thanks!
|
|
If your order was able to ship cheaper in previous months, that was actually an error in the system previously. It is calculating things correctly now, based on the shipping method that is selected as preferred on your account (First-Class).
If you are choosing between USPS options, then Priority is probably safer than First Class if you have more than 1 or 2 subscriptions. "Cheapest" is the only method that will change a specific month's shipping if there is a cheaper option. Every other choice will do its best to ship via the selected default even if there is something cheaper.
The reason for this that:
There are a small number of customers who have issues with specific methods, be it UPS or USPS or Standard Postal which uses UPS-Mail Innovations andUSPS for delivery. We need them to be able to select an option and not have it change even if something else is cheaper, so that they can avoid a specific method. Example: a customer used UPS and they always leave it on the door step where it gets stolen whereas if they use USPS, the carrier can put it in their mailbox. Therefore, theoretically, if you choose anything other than cheapest, the shipping code will do its best to ship your subscription orders the method you selected, unless it physically can't, at which point it selects another service (and I can't remember off the top of my head if it defaults to cheapest at that point or uses another criteria). Since for these customers it is often a matter of whether or not they can subscribe from us, we want to make sure they have as best chance as possible to ship things their preferred method.
I'm sorry if that caught you off guard this time! If your shipping preference had been set to Cheapest, it looks like it should have been able to ship Standard Post for less. I have refunded the difference in shipping cost to your account as store credit.
If you do not want your orders to ship in multiple First-Class packages in the future, you should change your preferred shipping method in the settings...
First, thanks for taking care of this. Apologies if I sounded grumpy, because, well, I was (due an unrelated matter).
That being said, I was more concerned with three packages being shipped, as collectively they have a higher charge than usual. If previous months were any indicator, three items of this size would have been in the $10-12 range, as opposed to $19.
I would also like to avoid multiple packages being shipped in month unless absolutely necessary. One package generally means better and thicker packaging, which increases the chance of the books making it here unscathed. The single book hard envelopes often gets mangled in my delivery area, regardless of carrier. There's a reason I have a few unusable books in my AP collection. Good things for pdfs, huh?