"Jake Marx" ...

Public Function gsMakeStringSQLSafe(rsSQL As String) As String
gsMakeStringSQLSafe=Replace$(rsSQL, "'", "''")
End Function

Just pass your SQL statement through this function when opening your
recordset

Your function rendered my SQL statement as:

SELECT RefID
FROM PersonalDetails
WHERE Surname = ''Cruise''

which gives the error, "Incorrect syntax near 'Cruise'".

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