Vonage future looks troubled

After a difficult two days as a publicly traded company, Internet telephony provider Vonage Holdings has a tough road ahead as it faces mounting losses, increased competition and potential shareholder lawsuits.

On its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, shares in the company slid to $14.85, almost 13 percent below the initial offering price of $17. Losses continued on Thursday as shares closed at $13. Many on Wall Street have predicted the stock could finish the week in single digits.

Signs of a troubled debut were apparent before the deal even went out the door. For one, Vonage was already in a precarious situation. It had reportedly filed for its initial public offering only after failing to find a buyer. According to reports, Vonage wanted roughly $2.6 billion for the company, the same price eBay paid for Skype last year--a deal critics said at the time was too expensive.

The second problem is that Vonage's debut also came at a bad time. The market has been in a sharp decline for the past month. In fact, the Nasdaq hit a high on April 19 and dropped about 9 percent in the five weeks that followed.

"The wind was in their face going into the deal," said John Gibbons, founder of IPO research firm IPOdesktop.com. "My guess is the bankers decided to go ahead anyway since they risked hurting the deal even more if they waited."

It's clear now looking at the market's response, the price was likely set too high. Investors say they are skeptical about the company's long-term viability, despite its strong brand recognition and rapid revenue growth. As a result, Vonage will have to navigate through some rough waters in the next few months as it struggles to compete against bigger and stronger competitors with a wider range of service offerings.

Vonage is the best known and fastest-growing voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider on the market. In the first quarter of 2006 it nearly tripled its revenue to $118.9 million, and it now boasts 1.6 million subscribers. But the rapid growth has come at a price.

In 2005 alone, it lost about $210.3 million, nearly quadrupling losses from the previous year. It currently has a deficit of about $467.4 million. Most of the loss stems from an aggressive marketing program that plasters the orange-and-blue Vonage logo in national TV advertisements, on Web pages and throughout print magazines.

High-speed spending
According to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company has no plans to slow down spending. The 31.3 million shares of stock sold in the IPO raised about $531 million for the company, which it has said it plans to use to continue funding the aggressive marketing campaign. Vonage did not respond to requests for comment.

But the fact that Vonage was losing money was not necessarily enough to scare off investors. From 2001 to 2005, about 47 percent of the companies that went public had negative earnings, according to Jay Ritter, a professor of finance at the University of Florida.

"It's not that unprecedented for a company to go public when it hasn't been profitable," he said. "What is different about Vonage is the scope of the losses, and the fact that they don't intend to slow down that spending."

All of this is happening as Vonage faces its most intense competition since it first started offering service in 2002. Phone-service giant Verizon Communications has all but declared war on Vonage by more aggressively marketing its often-forgotten IP telephony service, called VoiceWing.

Earlier this month, VoiceWing matched Vonage in pricing, dropping its monthly fee $5 to $24.99 for unlimited U.S. local and long-distance calling. Verizon also dropped the price of its traditional phone service, offering its basic unlimited local and long-distance U.S. calling plan for $29.95 a month.

Cable companies also have begun aggressively marketing their phone services as part of a total package that includes high-speed Internet access, cable TV and phone service. The strategy seems to be working as they rack up more customers. Time Warner added 270,000 digital phone subscribers in the first quarter of 2006, its biggest gain ever. And Comcast, the largest cable provider in the U.S., added 211,000 new phone customers during the quarter, more than it had signed up during all of 2005.

eBay's Skype, which has never marketed itself as a phone replacement, is starting to compete more directly with Vonage too. As part of a promotion to get more people to use its service, users can now make free "SkypeOut" calls to traditional landline and mobile phones in the U.S. and Canada until the end of the year.

"The bad thing is that Vonage really needs to pull the brakes on its marketing campaign at a time when they need that marketing the most to acquire new customers," said Patrick Comack, an analyst at Zachary Investment Research.

[Xiibo]

Vonage, Tivo, Ipod...

These three are essential to new technology products that come out. Nearly everyone associates a personal DVR as Tivo, even if it's not a Tivo box. Vonage has become the general descriptive word for VoIP. And Ipod, having the greatest market share for mp3 players, has been the associated name for an mp3 player. How many times do people refer to their new toys as being "like Tivo" or "Like Vonage".

Now it seems that Vonage is suffering along with Tivo, while the Ipod seems unstoppable. I myself have an Ipod and am signing up with Vonage this summer. Sadly, I do not have Tivo. But it's a shame to see these giants (of name-brand) floundering in the technology whose name they become household references for.

I am not an apple fanboy... so let me say that now. But the Ipod is largely successful for its simplistic use with iTunes. It seems that for Tivo and Vonage, competitor's are catching up both in price and features and there is becoming no benefit from going with the most famous brand. Perhaps if there were features unique to each brand, it would cause a more stable environment for them.

[Seaspray0]

Sad, but true

They did start with an idea of providing a service that has flourished, especially among larger businesses... VOIP. They were pioneers. What they really needed was to be bought by a telco that had the financial backing to expand the service. Vonage has done a terrific job of creating brand name recognition. Who hasn't heard of Vonage? It seems that it's a matter of timing that is the culprit here. I suspect they will eventually be snapped up by a telco for a bargain price and the stock holders are the ones who will have suffered.

[canukhed]

huh...!

I have never heard anyone actually refer to these technologies by the other name. I have never ever heard of VoIP being called Vonage instead, or a DVR being called a Tivo instead, or a general mp3 player as just an Ipod. I have talked to many tech savvy geeks (me being one of them) and have never heard of this type of association lingo.

[dclaryjr]

There are better deals out there

I initially signed up with Vonage over two years ago despite the fact that they didn't have numbers available in my area code. I kept that account for a year because my wife is from Thailand and it provided an easier alternative to using phone cards. After waiting for a year, and having to maintain my landline, I found Lingo (www.lingo.com). They had numbers available in my area code, the base price was several dollars less, and the rate for call to Thailand was less. I've been using them ever since with no problem. Meanwhile Time-Warner is hawking their service for $39 a month. The price is outrageous but for those lacking basic computer savy, it guess they have a market.

[smartleydunn]

VONAGE Sucks

Maybe the reason their stock is tanking, is because their call quality and customer service is terrible. I had Vonage for a year, and literally every call I was ever on people would ask if i was on a cell phone, tell me they couldn't hear me, and i would usually have to call them back from my cell phone so they could hear what i was saying. I would do anything to not use the Telcos... but, Vonage ain't it.

[adam714]

Vonage does not suck

Most likely your problems are caused by your ISP or your equipment, I've had vonage for about 6 months and had only 1 problem. whereby callers were intermittently unable to here us although we could here them. the problem turned out to be my outdated cable modem (toshiba 1100cx). I replaced it with a Motorola 5120 and now vonage works 100%.

[drtien]

Vonage sucks

I signed up Vonage service 7 months ago because it sounded cool and cheap. Eventually, I cancelled it after 2 months of frustration. First, about 3 months ago, the Vonage phone quit working on me. It took Vonage 2 weeks to find out the phone 1 jacket from Linksys phone adaptor (Vonage provides it) was defective. Since Vonage mailed me a new Motorola phone adaptor, I started to suffer from terrible static noise. It became so bad that I couldn't even hear anything on the phone. After near one month of struggle(tech support from Vonage kept asked me to unplug this, plug that in ....), I finally fed up. After I cancelled Vonage service, I was charged $39.99 disconnection fee. In addition, Vonage refused to refund the last month's up front charge despite they only provided 2 days' service before I cancelled it.
On top of 2 months' of "nothing works" phone service and 2 months' of "good for nothing" service charge, I also paid for early disconnection fee and, most radiculous of all, the service Vonage never provides.
Like Vonage said on their advertisement, "People do stupid things." I feel I am one of them.
Take my advice. Don't use Vonage. It sucks.

[ShakaNui]

FREE VONAGE sucks trial for only $86.58

I am more than a bit irate with this company. First they send me a defective device. I can unserstand as that happens sometimes. After attemtping installation, I suffered a stroke and contacted Vonage to cancel via email. They said i had to call so I emailed them my physical condition and asked if someone could call them on my behalf since I can not talk.

Not only do I not get a refund, they tried to charge me more after no service. Right after their email notifying me they attmpted unsuccessfully to charge my card, they sent me a cancellation email right after.

So for right now it looks like I sm only stuck with the original $42.79 they charged me for the 'free' trial, plus whatever they are going to charge me for shipping back thei defective device and whatever it costs to cancel my credit card and get another one sent to me as I will not pay their current charge and will put in a statement with the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU. I will also never make a purchase over the internet again.

Aloha

ShakaNui

[carsonky]

Want to cancel? Reserve 30 minutes

I originally called Vonage to cancel with the possibility of coming back to them in one or two years or so but after that "customer service" call, forget it. They tryed every way in the world to persuade me to stay... Do you want to transfer the service to my family or friends? NO!!! Do you want me to just put it on suspend for a month free of charge? NOOO!!! Do you want me to change to your new area code free of charge?? NOOOOO!!!!! Then they put me on hold, I went through the whole ordeal with her "supervisor" (probably her with a different voice), she puts me on hold, comes back sees I'm still there, and THEN she cancels after I confirm that I want to cancel. Never EVER EVER EVER will I go back to this crap company again. The phone is going on Ebay right now and if I get $5, that's $5 more than I expect. That's too bad because the service itself was fine. Outsource customer service to India and lose your customers.. I'm the newest one to get smart and get out.

[nicmart]

Verizon: The Plague

I have no experience with Vonage, but I've been a very satisfied
customer of AT&T's CallVantave VoIP service for about 18
months. I slipped for short time, switching to Verizon's
VoiceWing and it was an unmitigated disaster. They couldn't get
the number switched over properly, and then there was a month
with a cascade of problems. I've had zero problems with
CallVantage. Early on I tried Lingo, but most of the time the
phone would never ring when a call arrived. They didn't have a
clue. Now they serve only a few area because they don't meet
the 911 requirements. It would be good if Vonage were able to
compete with the majors, but it looks now like management is
content to burn through cash and crash and burn.

[mmmarkmm]

IN RESPONSE TO VONAGE SUCKS,VONAGE RULES

I have had vonage service for about 5 months and all calls are clear as a bell in both directions. Could it be your equipment is at fault. Internet connection, the telephone your using, router, cables ect. I have no affiliation with Vonage just love the service.

[vonageoracle]

Vonage is the worst!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love telecom and love features. Years ago I had intellidial from bell atlantic (i loved call transfer).

Well when vonage came along I thought it was the greatest and most innovative product that ever existed. Boy was I wrong.

Yes, I could make phone calls- i did not even mind the static- the great part was i could set up a call on vonage and xfer it to my land line for better call quality. Even better was vonage would count the call as completed so I would get unlimited international calls for only 1 min charge.

But for all these great features I was paying a very high price: PEOPLE could not reach me- there would be messages that my number was not in service or the static on incoming forwarded calls was so bad I could not hear the people.

It took forever and a psc complaint to port my number back to verizon. Then it took another year and an email to the vonage CEO to get my number removed from their network. Vonage people kept getting a recording that i was out of service.

IF YOU need the phone to actually make a living you need another phone company. If you keep vonage they will bring you down as they go down!

The problems are many the solutions for vonage are few. VOIP works when your provider controls the last mile of the connection. VOIP does not work if the provider is trying to sell much more of it than they have backbone to support. They will not survive, this makes me happy.

Anyone who thinks that vonage is good or works well, works for vonage and is a plant or never uses the phone.

BYE BYE Vonage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jackson Cracker]

bad commercials

Vonage has some of the most obnoxious commercials on TV.
They create an image of a company more interested in
blasting out noise than in providing a service.

[Brockleybadger]

Vonage and the future

Voange have a great product - you plug it in and it works. You don't have to tinker with the PC or continually download software upgrades. Normally the call quality is very clear, though in some cases the other end may hear clicks on the "line".

Their problem is that the spending on advertising is out of control.

Watch out for one of the large mobile companies, such as Vodafone, coming along and scooping up all of the shares once that the price has dropped enough. This would give them a large population of users, a Brand name and an infrastructure at relatively low cost. It will help them deal with the fusion of roaming mobiles and home/office based Wifi. They could cut back on the advertising and waste the profligate Vonage executives.

[billrosenblatt]

They race to acquire customers they can't serve

I am one of the lucky Vonage users to have decided not to participate in the company's IPO. Reason: I just couldn't rationalize owning shares in a company whose service I loathe.

It's clear that Vonage is spending all of its effort in acquiring new customers but little of it in being able to service them. The service I get (over a 1mpbs DSL connection) is the pits. Sometimes it will take 3-4 tries just to dial a call. Voicemail is often very slow or down. People I call will stop being able to hear me in mid-conversation. International calling is a total crapshoot. And customer service? Forget it. Just trying getting tech support when there's a voice mail problem.

I'm actively looking for alternatives now that the botched IPO is putting the company even more in trouble.

[dwbradshaw]

Viatalk is the best

You can get Viatalk for between $9-$16 per month with twice as many features as Vonage. Had Vonage and said Sianara...Beware the cancellation charges for them. They will try and delay you cancelling until they "screw" you. They tried to bill me $170 for cancellation fees. Not worth the price of admission, don't fall into this trap.

All the other VOIP love them because they are driving people to VOIP and then switching to these other providers because they cant hold on to their customers. Viatalk is absorbing all their business and is booming. They just had a deal for $199 for two years of unlimited service, but they have different promotions all the time.

[dwbradshaw]

www.vonagesucks.com

In order to prevent someone from creating a website on one of the most popular web searches, they reserved the vonagesucks.com domain name. Do a WHOIS and you'll see =).

I have audio of a CSR trying to lie to me regarding continuing service and no cancellation charges. Its hillarious, wish I could post it here.

[mattford1]

Vonage does Suck

one of there reps told me to go to hell just because of a voice mail issue so I told them I would be change providers and did so I'm now with Digital voice and there C.S. treat me right they even have a no disconnect fee if you want my ref link email me at [e-mail]

have a great day,

Matt

[abby1100ny]

Vonage Problems

I have been reading consumers' posts regarding Vonage's practices. I work for a consumer rights law firm and I'm investigating Vonage's actions. I would like to hear from consumers about their experiences with Vonage. If you are interested in sharing your story, please email me at [e-mail]

[teraines]

Sue them and sue them now

Vonage is the worst customer service experience I have ever encountered. I am shocked by their policies, their false promises and their poor service. They will try and string you along for days and weeks to keep your bill active, knowing that they cannot fix whatever issue you have. I'd like to see them fold. I've never hated a company more and I'm a pretty rational person.

[mattford1]

about Vonage

I recently switched I was with Vonage for 2 months and had no end of problems. Down times were excessive, 3 replaced adapters, poor
billing, a total lack of technical support,etc. Since I have switched to this my digital voice,
I cannot say enough good things about it. They are polite and professional in every way.
Their technical support is top notch and they leave you with the feeling that they care
about their customers. I highly endorse them and recommend them to anyone that who is
currently using another provider or anyone that is contemplating trying V.O.I.P. I have
my entire home wired for V.O.I.P. with two lines.
These guys are the best.
http://mydigitalvoice.com/clickthru.php?id=4052569008

[ShakaNui]

Vonage Sucks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnKRabN8M2w

[dizdealz]

vonnage sucks?? really

first.. voip was dead before it even started. it was only a great idea when everyone thought it meant free phone service if you had an internet connection and a router that supported it. once the government got involved and it became a pay per month service it was done. the major phone companies have had voip for alot longer then this crappy company, as a matter of fact you can still get it from them. ( psst and they will cancel it right away if you don't like it. the benefit of dealiing with the phone company, they are regulated and cannot jerk you around too much ).

second, vonnage lies in their tv commericals, why would you think that they would become honest and easy to deal with once you become a paying customer. and why would they make it easy to cancel, they make more money by making it difficult.

this is the problem with all of the "non-regulated" utilities. it costs them nothing to be bad at what they do.. cable industry comes to mind.

[GMcRae67]

Vonage absolutely does MEGASUCK !

VONAGE absolutely SUCKS ! I tried to cancel by EMail from my password protected Vonage account..they would not accept it. They insisted I call a particular number..when I tell them I wish to discontinue service they shunt me to another department. This department keeps me on wait for an interminable time all the while telling me how they F*cking well appreciate my business but please call back when they are less busy ..or continue to hold. I continue to hold - ten minutes later they drop me. This happens three times in one afternoon. Finally gave up . Complained to the California Consumer Protection Agency and the California PUC. Am considering calling the State Attorney's office and/or initiating a class-action law suit. AOL pulled the same **** on me few years back and had to fork over millions of dollars in a class action lawsuit.
I may have to cancel my MasterCharge card and get a new one. These clowns need to be driven of the American Economic Landscape !!They are thieves !

[vonage-sucks]

I tried to cancel my service after one year and the wanted to charge me the stupid cancellation fee.
So I changed my credit card number first and then called again last week to finally cancel the service.
This is a typical case for a class action law suit.
I hope some smart ass attorney reads these forums and collects a millionaire settlement with Vonage.
Regards,
Ronnie Shand
[e-mail]