Royal Mail Click and Drop - orders that require manual intervention and results file

[DanH]

What a surprise, I'm asking a Click and Drop question!

For those that use Click and Drop Desktop, if for some reason the label does not generate e.g. printer offline or maybe missing some customs data, will it still produce a results CSV with a tracking code once the problem has been sorted? It seems to me you only have the once chance to get the tracking data from the results CSV when it is initially processed, any hiccups in that process and you then can't retrieve the tracking.

Thanks

Dan

 

[lesliedocherty]

Yes, we have the same problem, we need manually apply the tracking data to the affected orders in our web admin

 

[DanH]

Thanks for that, was wondering if I was missing something. I guess this is one advantage the API has as I think it can retrieve it later if it needs to.

Do you send much abroad requiring CN22? I thought I had mine sorted but its recently been forcing me for contents declaration e.g. sale of goods field as a mandatory thing when it wasn't doing so a couple of weeks ago. I'm just worried that CN22 mandatory fields are liable to change frequently?

 

[lesliedocherty]

It only changed for us last week, until then it was processing normal.

It now sticks at CN22 required, where it didn't before, we have submitted a support ticket with our web platform

 

[DanH]

Thanks, I'm luckily/unluckily at the testing phase so this is not affecting anything live. At the moment I've added the Customs declaration category field which seems to work. Do you ever have to provide 'Shipping Cost' i.e. the cost of the shipping that the customer has paid? None of my tests so far have stalled with not having this but I'm guessing there maybe a possibility!

 

[lesliedocherty]

Yes, we provide that, i thought was a required field

 

[DanH]

Thanks. I haven't been supplying it and they print out OK but I will look to add it as a fail safe.

 

[DefinitelyMaybeUK]

At the moment I've added the Customs declaration category field which seems to work.

There was a recent C&D update that changed this fields need, as rumour had it, the default value that you could apply in your integration settings (eg "sale of goods") only effected the tick box on the CN22 and didn't flag the corresponding entries of the product lines in the electronic data that became mandatory in the EU from July. It's touted as fixing the numerous rejections from Ireland's An Post where they claim the data from RM is invalid, but the jury is out as yet...

With typical RM transparency, the declaration category wasn't in the original CSV spec, and only appeared in the last few months but wasn't announced to anyone who had been using CSV upload successfully for years.

 

[Ditso]

Do you send much abroad requiring CN22?

We post maybe 2 or 3 letters abroad and we no longer do them via the Click & Drop as I find it too much hassle. I don't like doing a separate sack for one standard letter.

At my post office they don't make us do CN22 for letters/large letters only small packets.

I know we pay a bit more but I find it easier.

My one bugbear with C&D is when I have to post something to Jersey I cannot get it to work. (even a letter)

It says I need to add some code or other (can't remember what offhand) but I have no idea what it is, or where to get it from.

So I end up taking those to the post office as well.

 

[DanH]

Yes, this stuff worries me especially as I'm trying to get it as automated as possible in a busy warehouse scenario. I don't mind if they change things and tell us but if it simply changes then that isn't good as we have to involve a developer as we're integrating with our bespoke sales system.

My only last conundrum is the package cost. As we're still handwriting ours it is usully the cost of the order less what they paid postage. We've gotten away with minimal information on the CN22 however once it goes C&D every product is accounted for and has a corresponding price. However, if you add up the product costs it invariably doesn't add up to the order cost because of postage and any discounting that's happened. I'm not sure if RM or destination countries are actually bothered if it all adds up or not but trying to get a defintinve answer from RM is like pulling hen's teeth. I've resigned myself to the sum of product costs but that will almost certainly be diferent to what our invoice says!

 

[DanH]

..and I might appear really thick here but my uderstanding of 2D barcodes may be wrong. With every domestic posted item you get a 2D barcode which will confirm delivery or delivery attempt. My idea was to give the customer the 2D code (as I would a Special or Recorded delivery order) but when I read about how you get the status of a 2D item, it seems to be getting in contact with RM rather than inputting it in on the track/trace section...if that's the case I don't want to be giving it to the customer! How are they meant to be used?

 

[DanH]

OK, C&D have confirmed that the 2D code is ok to give the customer, must have read some really old stuff regarding this!

 

[DefinitelyMaybeUK]

My only last conundrum is the package cost.

we always send through the postage cost to C&D (the value the customer has paid, not the actual value that RM charges [which could be higher/lower]). C&D then decides how to display it:
For CN22s the total doesn't include the supplied postage cost, only the sum of the products; For CN23s the total is again shown without postage, but there is a separate field showing the postage supplied too. CN22 used to show the total with postage cost included, but changed last year(?) as RM said it wasn't necessary. You probably want to include any discount in the product prices presented to C&D, as the customs data doesn't include any provision for discount and the customer may well pay more VAT due and also it could potentially trigger the duty threshold limit even though they only paid a total amount below the limit

 

[DanH]

Thanks, that becomes quite difficult as the discount is a seperate row with a single value, so the discount is not on a per-product-line basis. All this would be apparent if customs looked at our system generated invoice but showing it in a way that makes sense to a CN22/CN23. I had kind of decided to just submit the pre-discount prices bearing in mind we may annoy some overseas customers who end up paying more...