diff --git a/grails-app/assets/javascripts/bulk-import-view-models.js b/grails-app/assets/javascripts/bulk-import-view-models.js
index e3a5c7443..4a8e1267c 100644
--- a/grails-app/assets/javascripts/bulk-import-view-models.js
+++ b/grails-app/assets/javascripts/bulk-import-view-models.js
@@ -382,6 +382,10 @@ function BulkUploadViewModel(activityImport) {
             dataType: "json",
             success: function (response) {
                 activityImport.dataToLoad(response.data);
+            },
+            error: function (jqXHR, status, error) {
+                var resp = jqXHR.responseJSON && jqXHR.responseJSON.error || "";
+                message('Failed to convert file to data <br/>' + resp);
             }
         });
         return convertExcelToJSONRequest;
diff --git a/grails-app/controllers/au/org/ala/biocollect/BioActivityController.groovy b/grails-app/controllers/au/org/ala/biocollect/BioActivityController.groovy
index bd8f563c5..7f56c6162 100644
--- a/grails-app/controllers/au/org/ala/biocollect/BioActivityController.groovy
+++ b/grails-app/controllers/au/org/ala/biocollect/BioActivityController.groovy
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import org.springframework.web.multipart.MultipartFile
 
 import static org.apache.http.HttpStatus.SC_BAD_REQUEST
 import static org.apache.http.HttpStatus.SC_OK
+import static org.apache.http.HttpStatus.SC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR
 
 @SecurityScheme(name = "auth",
         type = SecuritySchemeType.HTTP,
@@ -1306,10 +1307,14 @@ class BioActivityController {
 
         if (pActivityId && type && file) {
             def content = activityService.convertExcelToOutputData(pActivityId, type, file)
-            render text: content as JSON
+            def status = SC_OK
+            if (content.error) {
+                status = SC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR
+            }
+            render text: content as JSON, status: status
         }
         else {
-            render text: [message: "Missing required parameters - pActivityId, type & data (excel file)"] as JSON, status: HttpStatus.SC_BAD_REQUEST
+            render text: [message: "Missing required parameters - pActivityId, type & data (excel file)"] as JSON, status: SC_BAD_REQUEST
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/grails-app/services/au/org/ala/biocollect/merit/ActivityService.groovy b/grails-app/services/au/org/ala/biocollect/merit/ActivityService.groovy
index ac29e5b1f..346698c35 100644
--- a/grails-app/services/au/org/ala/biocollect/merit/ActivityService.groovy
+++ b/grails-app/services/au/org/ala/biocollect/merit/ActivityService.groovy
@@ -438,7 +438,12 @@ class ActivityService {
     }
 
     def convertExcelToOutputData(String id, String type, def file){
-        def result =  webService.postMultipart(grailsApplication.config.ecodata.service.url + "/metadata/extractOutputDataFromActivityExcelTemplate", [pActivityId: id, type: type], file, 'data')
-        result.content?.subMap('data')  ?: result
+        def result =  webService.postMultipart(grailsApplication.config.ecodata.service.url + "/metadata/extractOutputDataFromActivityExcelTemplate", [pActivityId: id, type: type], file, 'data', false, true)
+        if (result.error) {
+            return result.details
+        }
+        else {
+            return result.content?.subMap('data')  ?: result
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/grails-app/services/au/org/ala/biocollect/merit/WebService.groovy b/grails-app/services/au/org/ala/biocollect/merit/WebService.groovy
index 1a7aba804..0f92970f1 100644
--- a/grails-app/services/au/org/ala/biocollect/merit/WebService.groovy
+++ b/grails-app/services/au/org/ala/biocollect/merit/WebService.groovy
@@ -443,11 +443,12 @@ class WebService {
      * @param url the URL to forward to.
      * @param params the (string typed) HTTP parameters to be attached.
      * @param file the Multipart file object to forward.
+     * @param includeFailureDetails if true, the return value will include response body. If content type is JSON, an object will be returned in `details` property.
      * @return [status:<request status>, content:<The response content from the server, assumed to be JSON>
      */
-    def postMultipart(url, Map params, MultipartFile file, fileParam = 'files', boolean useToken = false) {
+    def postMultipart(url, Map params, MultipartFile file, fileParam = 'files', boolean useToken = false, boolean includeFailureDetails = false) {
 
-        postMultipart(url, params, file.inputStream, file.contentType, file.originalFilename, fileParam, useToken)
+        postMultipart(url, params, file.inputStream, file.contentType, file.originalFilename, fileParam, useToken, includeFailureDetails)
     }
 
     /**
@@ -460,7 +461,7 @@ class WebService {
      * @param fileParamName the name of the HTTP parameter that will be used for the post.
      * @return [status:<request status>, content:<The response content from the server, assumed to be JSON>
      */
-    def postMultipart(url, Map params, InputStream contentIn, contentType, originalFilename, fileParamName = 'files', boolean useToken = false) {
+    def postMultipart(url, Map params, InputStream contentIn, contentType, originalFilename, fileParamName = 'files', boolean useToken = false, boolean includeFailureDetails = false) {
 
         def result = [:]
         def user = userService.getUser()
@@ -496,9 +497,11 @@ class WebService {
                 result.content = message
             }
 
-            response.failure = {resp ->
+            response.failure = {resp, reader ->
                 result.status = resp.status
                 result.error = "Error POSTing to ${url}"
+                if (includeFailureDetails)
+                    result.details = reader
             }
         }
         result