Excel Communications
SCAM Artists


This Buyer-Beware crusade began as a result of Excel communications charging me TWICE
what they promised and then REFUSED to refund and correct the overchargings

See for yourself....


My Excel phone bill show charges of up to .25 cents/minute!


So, where did the extra Excel charges come from?
Excel hides these charges in the form of different rate plans. They will switch you without notice leaving you to suffer through lengthy "customer service" networks to fix the problem. Although they never actually fix the problem, they will send your request to a review board to determine "how much" they WANT to CREDIT you. Meaning you are stuck with paying an enormous long distance bill and if you are lucky, you'll get a credit for the extra charges on your next bill. They just figure if they stall and give you the run around, you give up on trying to fight the extra charges... well that's what ticked me off and prompted me to post my complaint and research some better long distance alternatives.

After reviewing some different long distance companies, I finally chose OPEX through Cognigen. Cognigen also offers a Best Rate Calculator to compare other long distance companies to evaluate the best one for your usage habits. OPEX ended up being the best one for me. See my OPEX bill.

Here are a few things to look for:
  • Minimum Monthly Usage fee: AT&T likes to charge $5/mo whether you use the phone or not.
  • Billing Increments: Perhaps the most important fee... are you charged each minute or partial minutes? At 1 minute minimums, you pay for time you don't talk. If my last OPEX bill were from Excel, it would have been 66 minutes instead of 55.2 minutes.
  • INTER-State: This is your typical state-to-state calling. Most Long Distance companies advertise their lower rate here, because most people (me included) make more In-state long distance calls, which are higher.
  • INTRA-State: Long distance calls within your own state.
  • INTRA-LATA: These are more confusing and maybe why the phone companies like it. It refers to the geographical area that a phone company provides service. LATAs may be wholly within a state or can extend across state lines.
My advice is to test out a new long distance company by using Cognigen's Best Rate Calculator and compare your bills. In my case I'm now paying $4.06 for 55.2 minutes which EXCEL would have charged me 4 times as much for the same bill (66 minutes - full minute increments).

Good luck to you and Stay Clear of EXCEL Reps!!!


For those Excel Communications Reps I annoy ExcelSUCKS@yahoo.com.