Excel saying cells not equal but they are...

I have a problem with a large excel file where I am doing an if statement like

=IF(B2=C2, "Pass", "FAIL")

Both B2 and C2 appear to have the same values but excel returns FAIL. I can fix this, but it is very manual. Excel recognizes the values as equal after I click in cell B2 and press enter. I am trying to figure out a way to do this for thousands of records without having to click in each cell and press enter. Any advice?

Thanks

is auto calculate turned on?

Under Tools -> Options -> Calculation Tab...Automatic is checked off

This issue does seem to be with the calculation, it seems to be that the information in column B is not fully entered into the cell. Almost as if the data appears in the cell but it is not recognized as data.

that needs to be on. then click calculate now

I have tried Calc Now and Calc Sheet and nothing changes

see attached sample

Column A is the problem in the sample (not column B as previously mentioned)

great it works with excel 2013! thanks!