I'm having USB communication issues between XIAO SAMD21 and a VS Forms app

I have created a forms app to send 2 commands to the XIAO and receive 5 possible status codes from the XIAO. the send commands appears to be functioning (i see the receive LED blink on the XIAO) , however the status is not displayed on the form as expected.

I have the form app set up for 9600 baud, 8 data bits, one stop bit and no parity which matches the NANO. I cannot find the requirements of the XIAO.

I tested the form using the same Arduino sketch on a NANO and everything works as expected.

I tested the XIAO using the Arduino IDE serial monitor and everything works flawlessly.

Is there a difference in how the serial data is sent from the XIAO ? is there a difference is the serial setup requirements for the XIAO that are somehow handled by the Arduino serial monitor but not my forms app?