SendGround

FAQ

Which orders get sent?

Once SendGround is offered on a shipping zone, the ones whose buyer chose it — nothing else. Until then, any order that has something to deliver: an order whose items are all downloads never needed shipping, and one being collected at your store is not going anywhere.

When exactly is an order sent?

At the status you nominate in the settings. Processing — paid — suits a store that packs as it sells. A store that picks from a warehouse can use Ready to ship, a status this plugin adds, and hand each order over once the parcel exists.

What if an order fails to send?

A SendGround that is briefly unavailable is retried on its own, waiting longer each time. Anything else — a token that was rejected, an order SendGround refused — is written as a note on the order, and the orders list shows it as Failed in the Tracking column, with the reason on hover and a Send to SendGround link. Fix the cause and send it from there, from the order screen (Send to SendGround in the order actions), or for many at once with the Send to SendGround bulk action; a filter narrows the list to the orders not sent or failed. Orders already sent, and orders with nothing to deliver, are skipped and counted.

Can the same order be sent twice?

No. Each order carries its own key, so a retry returns the delivery that already exists rather than creating a second one.

What happens if I cancel an order?

If the order was already sent, the plugin tells SendGround to cancel the delivery, so no courier goes. SendGround cancels it unless a parcel is already on its way, in which case someone there recovers it first and the order is told once it is cancelled. If SendGround cancels a delivery on its side, the order gets a note and shows “Delivery cancelled” in the Tracking column, with the “Send to SendGround” button back, in case it should ship after all. Refunding an order does not cancel its delivery; cancel the order if the parcel should not go.

Do buyers see the name “SendGround”?

No. Once connected, everything a buyer sees carries your courier’s own name and logo: the delivery option at checkout, the tracking page, the emails. In your admin the same: you send orders to your courier, and the notes say what your courier reported. “SendGround” is the name of the plugin and of the platform your token comes from, nothing more. Name an option yourself on the shipping zone if you prefer your own wording.

Do I need to change my shipping settings?

No. Your shipping zones, methods and prices stay exactly as they are. Adding SendGround as a delivery option is worth doing — it is what lets a buyer choose it, and it tells the plugin which orders are yours to deliver — but nothing breaks if you don’t.

Why would I add a Google Maps key?

A typed address is a guess about a door: a long block, a house behind another, a street that shares its name with one in the next town. Switch on Location on the map in the settings and paste a key, and buyers who choose SendGround see an address search and a map at checkout, and can drag the pin to exactly where they are. The courier gets those coordinates instead of a reading of the street name. The key is yours, created in Google Cloud and restricted to your website, and Google bills your account — a store of ordinary size stays within the free monthly allowance. Both the classic and the block checkout get the search and the pin. An address typed without the search, or one saved from an earlier order, is placed on the map from its text: found at its door number, the pin counts as the buyer’s and they are only invited to drag it if it is off; found only as a street or a town, the buyer is asked to tap their door, and nothing is sent until they do. A customer with an account keeps their pin for the next order, as long as the street is still the same.

If you would rather not leave it to chance, the settings let you require it: a buyer who chooses SendGround then has to pick their address from the search, or drag or confirm the pin, before the order goes through. Should the map fail to load in a buyer’s browser, the order is accepted anyway and the address is read by SendGround as usual.

Can buyers see SendGround’s own price and delivery time?

Yes. A SendGround method on a shipping zone works one of three ways: every service SendGround quotes, one option each, at the price SendGround quotes for that order to that address, taxes included (the default); one service you pick, at SendGround’s quoted price; or one service at a fixed cost you set. Whichever way, the arrival SendGround promises (“Arrives tomorrow before 13:00”) is shown next to the option, so buyers choose knowing when. On a taxable rate a quoted price is booked as net plus tax, so your tax report sees the tax on delivery; the total the buyer pays is the quote to the cent. The quote is made at the door when the buyer has placed a pin, and at the town of the address otherwise. A cart whose products all carry dimensions and weight is quoted by its products: SendGround predicts the boxes it will ship in, prices those, and the order is created with them. A scheduled service adds a day picker under the options: the buyer chooses the day, SendGround confirms it or names the nearest day it can serve, and the order is created for that day.

What happens when SendGround cannot find the buyer’s town?

With the map on, the SendGround options are held back and the map opens first, asking the buyer to tap their door; the options appear as soon as the pin is placed. With the map off, a fixed-price option is offered as before and SendGround reads the address once the order arrives; an option priced by quote is not offered, since there is no quote to price it with.

I also offer pickup at my store. Do buyers have to fill in an address first?

Not with the block checkout. Turn on Local pickup under WooCommerce → Settings → Shipping → Local pickup, rather than adding the older “Local pickup” rate to a zone: the checkout then asks “Ship or pick up?” before the address, and a buyer who picks up never sees the address form, the search or the map. The map itself only opens once a buyer has chosen a SendGround delivery option, right under the shipping options.

What about cash on delivery?

An order paid with WooCommerce’s cash on delivery is sent with its total as the amount to collect at the door, so the courier knows what to ask for and SendGround shows it as a collection. A store that takes payment on delivery through another gateway can set the amount with the sendground_collect_on_delivery_amount filter.

How do I print the shipping labels?

Each sent order has a “Download label” button in the Label column of the orders list and a “Print the shipping label” link on its screen, both opening the label as a PDF. To print a batch, select the orders in the list and choose “Print shipping labels” from the bulk actions: one PDF with every label, ready for the printer. The label is offered until the courier collects the parcel; after that there is nothing left to put it on.

A report from SendGround never arrived. What do I do?

Select the orders and choose “Refresh from SendGround” from the bulk actions, or use the order action of the same name on one order. SendGround reports the order’s current state again, through the same signed path, and the notes and status changes arrive within a minute.

Can buyers track their shipment on my site?

Yes. Put the [sendground_tracking] shortcode on any page. Buyers type the code from their order confirmation and see the shipment’s status and its events, with a link to SendGround’s own tracking page. A link with ?code= opens the page already filled in.

How does the order know it was delivered?

SendGround tells your store, and the plugin moves the order and adds a note. Your store has to be reachable from the internet for that, over https. If it is not, orders still go out; only the reports coming back are lost, and the settings screen says so when you connect.