Card arrived with surface scratches from shipping
Honestly if it's just light surface scuffs you're probably fine, the lamination takes most of the abuse. I'd only worry if the scratch crosses the barcode itself — that's when you get a data parsing error or it just fails to read at all. Try scanning it a few times from different angles. If it reads clean every time, ship it. If it's hit or miss, that barcode is dead and I'd ask for a replacement.
Been there. If a legit scanner still reads the PDF417 string format fine and the data parses without errors, it's probably just cosmetic and you'll be alright. But if it lands right across the barcode and the returns get janky, honestly just request a reprint. Not worth rolling the dice on something that scans as under 21 at the wrong moment.
That's frustrating, especially when you're relying on the thing to scan clean. I've had that happen too—usually it's just cosmetic, but if the scratch lands over the barcode itself, that's when it gets messy. A damaged barcode can throw a red flag with the Intellicheck database or straight up fail checksum validation. Before you stress about it, give it a clean with a microfiber cloth and try scanning it a few times. If it's still hit or miss, contact support for a replacement—don't bother living with a dead or flaky print, it's not worth the future birthday checkout drama.
That's frustrating, especially when you're relying on the thing to scan clean. I've had that happen too—usually it's just cosmetic, but if the scratch lands over the barcode itself, that's when it gets messy. A damaged barcode can throw a red flag with the Intellicheck database or straight up fail checksum validation. Before you stress about it, give it a clean with a microfiber cloth and try scanning it a few times from different angles. If it still won't read, I'd ask for a replacement rather than messing with it—a dead barcode is useless for anything serious.
Received a card with several fine surface scratches on the photo area. The scratches were not deep but were visible under certain lighting angles. Here is what I did and how it resolved.
How this happens during shipping
Cards shipped in envelopes without individual protective sleeves can move inside the package during transit, contacting the envelope surface or other packing materials. Even paper contact can produce fine surface scratches on unprotected cards over a long transit. The cardboard backing that vendors typically include protects against bending but does not prevent surface contact on the card's face.
Evaluating severity
Minor surface scratches that are only visible at an angle in raking light are primarily aesthetic concerns. They do not affect barcode scanning, UV feature visibility (unless the scratches are deep enough to damage the UV ink layer), or hologram performance (unless they are on the holographic overlay itself). If the scratches are only in the photo area or the background printing, the functional card elements are probably unaffected.
Scratches on or near the PDF417 barcode area are more concerning — the barcode requires clean contrast to scan reliably, and deep scratches crossing the barcode stripes can cause decoding failures. Test the barcode with a scanner app before concluding the card is functional despite the scratches.
Contacting the vendor
I photographed the scratches under raking light where they were most visible and sent the images to vendor support. Most vendors include transit damage in their warranty — scratches from shipping are not caused by customer mishandling and vendors generally replace cards damaged in transit without dispute. The vendor offered a replacement in a padded sleeve, which was the right fix for the packaging issue that caused the damage.
Going forward, I now store cards immediately in individual sleeves on receipt and keep them in a rigid card holder rather than loose in a bag or pocket. The packaging improvement from the vendor also made a difference on subsequent orders — the padded sleeve they now use for shipping provides surface protection that a plain cardboard backing sandwich does not. Small packaging details prevent the majority of transit scratch damage.