Screw customers who can't committ $90000 - bad move?

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: May 12, 2006 Posts: 1

I got zero, too.

But, I don't understand why the people who asked for more were allocated shares as opposed to those who asked for a small number. No matter who they allocated them too, the same amount of shares would have been sold. What's the difference between giving 300 shares to someone who asked for 1500 and giving 100 shares to 3 people who each asked for 100?

I'm just ticked I spent the time filling out all the required online forms.

Posts: 18 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 15, 2006 Posts: 18

The prospectus clearly stated that Vonage would use allocation rules if the demand was higher than the supply.

The allocation rules stated that they would start with everyone who submitted a 5000 share offer, multiply by 25% and work back until all the shares were allocated.

I figured the demand would be high and because of this, I modified my original offer to 5000 and got 1300.

jw

Posts: 49 · Full Forum Member Joined: May 15, 2006 Posts: 49

If they filled all the small orders first for 100 shares, do you know how many accounts that would have to be created. It would have been crazy. So they went high to low. It is common sense well for most people. People that got 0 are just unhappy.

Posts: 11 · Vonage Forum Associate Joined: May 22, 2006 Posts: 11

stone wrote:

That ****. Can't believe I went through all of that online paperwork and got nothing.

What was all of the online paperwork that you went through? All five minutes? Maybe ten? There were plenty of warnings that you might not get anything.

Posts: 1 · New Forum Member Joined: May 23, 2006 Posts: 1

I asked for 1,000 and got 300. My sister asked for 500 and got 200. We would have prefered more, but we knew the risks going in that it was not a guarantee. It will be fun to participate in our first IPO.

Kudos for Vonage for including their loyal customers in the offering at any level. People seem to forget that the customers who are with Vonage like the service, the price and extras.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: May 23, 2006 Posts: 4

While it's true that the IPO guidelines were spelled out and the chance of getting 0 shares was high, I think those who got shutout have every right to feel cheated. Why? Because Vonage used the "customer offering" as a PR stunt to spark publicity for and interest in its IPO.

The company clearly knew that a very small of portion of customers would receive an allotment, but still portrayed the offer as a reward to loyal customers. If most Vonage customer were sophisticated investors, I'd agree that no one should be complaining. The fact of the matter, however, is that most Vonage users are probably not well versed in the finer points of investing in IPOs. As a result, many people justifiably have been left with a bad taste in their mouth. That's not a good thing for a company that relies on customer loyalty to maintain the low churn levels that justify its cost of customer acquisition.

Personally, I think the company is a long-term dog, but the chance to turn a quick profit was real. It would be ironic if Vonage's publicity stunt backfires and creates a situation wherein customers cancel tservice because their loyalty wasn't reciprocated.

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: May 24, 2006 Posts: 4

just think it that way:

I am certain that if they would have to start satisfying all the people who asked for 100shares they would not have had not enough shares to satisfy everyone...so we might all have ended with
25 shares!

Simple game; you ask for a lot and get less, NOT for a litlle and
get little

Posts: 2 · New Forum Member Joined: May 23, 2006 Posts: 2

I got screwed too...I ask for 200 shares and got ZERO allocated !!!!
Time for me to switch to SunRocket and save myself $5/month.

I'm really pissed off. I've been with Vonage 3+ years when they were charging me 49.99/Month. As a loyal and pioneer customer...I JUST got screwed BIG TIME !!!!!

Posts: 4 · New Forum Member Joined: May 24, 2006 Posts: 4

I requested 5,000 got 1300 which is exactly what the offering stated. If I had got the full 5,000 might be reason to worry. Seems to me this means there was a high level of interest. Not since Google has there been a tech IPO that was opened to the masses. Kicking myself that i didnt buy GOOG. Im in VG. If it wasnt for this lousy market i would expect a nice pop Wed. Why are people getting upset that they didnt get any shares when they only committed to 100 to 300 shares? Who knows this IPO might pay for my phone for at least 10 years.

Posts: 3 · New Forum Member Joined: May 22, 2006 Posts: 3

I asked for 200 and got 100. A little disappointed but still happy I got some.