Thank you Reeza and data_null_:!  Reeza - I forgot to mention that I had tried = first and checked the length of the customer identifier in the actual table, and concluded there were no trailing spaces in my first post.  I also wouldn't have been able to explain how the identifier was hashed because someone else had done it before me and sent it to me that way. Data_null_: - I knew I was missing something small and somewhat obvious but I could not find the answer to why this was happening anywhere, and it was the x following the quoted string.  Thanks again to you both for quick replies to my vague post. Ben ... View more