Shipping method is not available

The Symptom

When you receive this error message:

Error Type:   mage_api_error_cart_shipping.method
Error Message / Detail:   Shipping method is not available

The above error shows up on the Failed Subscription Report and also appears in the subscription batch summary email which is sent to administrators. For example:

What This Means

This error occurs when a subscription re-order can't be created by Subscribe Pro because Magento reports that the selected shipping method is not available for the order.

Diagnosis

The best way to diagnose this issue is to add the identical product and quantity to the Magento shopping cart on the frontend of your website, then make changes to your configuration until the shipping method in question becomes available.

1. Find the Shipping Method on the Subscription in Question To find which shipping method is configured on the subscription, login to the Subscribe Pro Admin and navigate to Manage Subscriptions > Subscriptions and find the subscription in question. Click the Edit link and view the subscription. Look for the Magento Shipping Method Code field. For example:

   

2. Navigate to the frontend of your Magento website, locate the product in question and add it to your shopping cart. Make sure you are NOT logged in as a customer.

3. View the shopping cart page. Adjust the product quantity to match the quantity in the subscription.

4. Enter a zip code and / or region to get a shipping quote. Make sure the zip code and / or region match that of the customer.

5. Now you should see a list of shipping methods on the cart page. If your configuration has not changed, and you have been careful to match the product, quantity and address information from the failed subscription, you will NOT see the shipping method which is configured on the subscription.

   

6. Now update your Magento shipping configuration settings, then refresh your shopping cart page. Continue this process until the shipping method in question becomes available on the cart page.

Magento Shipping Method Configuration

Each shipping carrier and method in Magento may have unique configuration settings which affect it's availability. In addition, many merchants rely on third party shipping method modules which offer many different configuration options.

Most standard shipping methods have at least the following configuration settings which may be relevant to the shipping method's availability: