QR codes that will not scan

The legal guarantee notice carries a QR code that leads to the EU’s guarantee pages. In some languages that code does not scan, and the cause is the EU’s own artwork, not your store.

Which languages

The QR codes on the Danish, Finnish, Polish, Slovenian and Swedish notices fail to decode in every scanner we have tried, and a couple of others are borderline. Looking at them enlarged, the cause is visible: the published image draws the code’s squares at uneven widths, so a scanner has no regular grid to lock on to.

We tested the EU’s published image, the high-resolution artwork in the Official Journal, and the file Assay serves. They fail the same way.

Why Assay does not fix it

The regulation says no element of the notice may be edited. Assay shows the artwork exactly as the Official Journal published it, byte for byte, so it neither causes the problem nor is allowed to correct it. A redrawn code would no longer be the official notice.

Why shoppers lose nothing

Every QR code on the notice points to the EU’s guarantee pages, and Assay prints that address as a link directly under the notice: europa.eu/youreurope/guarantees. A shopper on a phone, who could not scan a code on their own screen anyway, can tap it.

Making the others scan more easily

A larger notice scans more easily. If you have made it narrow, try a wider Maximum width in Assay’s Settings. Shoppers can also click or tap the notice to open it full size.