diff --git a/Web/Controllers/CreateLogController.cs b/Web/Controllers/CreateLogController.cs
index 035f20a..a4fe23c 100644
--- a/Web/Controllers/CreateLogController.cs
+++ b/Web/Controllers/CreateLogController.cs
@@ -187,6 +187,11 @@ namespace MileageTraker.Web.Controllers
 					// todo: delete file?
 					return View(logImports.ToList());
 				}
+				catch (OutOfMemoryException)
+				{
+					TempData["StatusMessage"] = "Problem reading excel document - please verify that the document is in Excel 97-2003 Workbook (.xls) format";
+					TempData["StatusMessage-Type"] = "alert-error";
+				}
 				catch (Exception ex)
 				{
 					TempData["StatusMessage"] = "Problem reading excel document: " + ex.Message;
diff --git a/Web/Controllers/LogController.cs b/Web/Controllers/LogController.cs
index 94a6158..6ee473a 100644
--- a/Web/Controllers/LogController.cs
+++ b/Web/Controllers/LogController.cs
@@ -266,6 +266,11 @@ namespace MileageTraker.Web.Controllers
 						// todo: delete file?
 						return View(logImports.ToList());
 					}
+					catch (OutOfMemoryException)
+					{
+						TempData["StatusMessage"] = "Problem reading excel document - please verify that the document is in Excel 97-2003 Workbook (.xls) format";
+						TempData["StatusMessage-Type"] = "alert-error";
+					}
 					catch (Exception ex)
 					{
 						TempData["StatusMessage"] = "Problem reading excel document: " + ex.Message;