Hi guys,

I've scoured the web but can't find an easy way to get around this, hope you can help.

I have two columns of data - a code in 012345-1 format and a location in 01-02-03 format. The latter is NOT a date, it just happens to be in the same format.

I'm using a Vlookup formula to return the location in a new sheet but it keeps switching the first two pairs of numbers around as if it's a date ie 01-02-03 becomes 02-01-03.

I have tried changing the format of the cells on both sheets to everything in the list including special and custom and I've tried changing the date setting of the sheet to 1904 system - all to no avail. I just can't convince Excel that the location is NOT a date.

Can anyone help?