i have a countifs function working on a different sheet

so the formula is
=COUNTIFS(Sheet2!$B:$B,$A3,Sheet2!$AK:$AK,B$2)
which works

where i have a grid with the criteria

this works OK
and
=COUNTIFS(Sheet2!$B1:$B1000,$A3,Sheet2!$AK1:$AK1000,B$2)
also works

BUT
if i change the range of the first criteria range to more then one column it fails

=COUNTIFS(Sheet2!$B1:$G1000,$A3,Sheet2!$AK1:$AK1000,B$2)

it retunes value
i have text in A3
Face to face
and i have tried
=COUNTIFS(Sheet2!$B:$B,"=Face to face",Sheet2!$AK:$AK,B$2)

so no idea why it fails if i extend the columns

any ideas ?

thanks