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In 2014 my boyfriend decided to add a line to his verizon plan for his elderly father (age 80). At the same time, I switched to verizon and was given a free Iphone 5C for activating a new line of service. We had just started dating at the time so we did not discuss it, and his father went into the Verizon store, told the clerk that he wanted the most basic phone they had (again, hes 80 years old) so he was set up with a basic LG flip phone that cost him $30 (which doesnt make sense because he could have gotten the same exact Iphone 5C I did for free since he activated a new line-- but I guess that was not explained to him). Ever since, the flip phone has been nothing short of a true nightmare. It drops calls all the time, has a very low speaker which he cannot hear out of because hes 80 and hard to hearing, and he cannot text at all because it requires pressing the number buttons a million times until the letters appear (you remember what that was like back in the early 2000's). Recently, the flip phone has begun to work even less than before. A weird water mark has appeared on the screen dispite the fact that my FIL swears he has never gotten it near water, his caller ID does not display the correct phone number of who is calling (it displays random numbers and when he clicks to call them back they are disconnected numbers), and sometimes when people call in they can hear him but he cannot hear them-- this happens a lot. So needless to say, it is time for anoter phone. Unfortunately verizon stopped doing free upgrades after 2 years so he has not had a new phone in over 5 years. My question is this-- since we did not get the free phone when we activated his new line of service is he elligable for it now? It looks like all the phones are very expensive and the only way to get a free phone is to activate a new line of service. Is there a way to activate a new line of service, get the free phone, and then deactivate his old line? We have been loyal Verizon customers for many years now and it seems like only the new customers are getting the perks while loyal old customers are not being given any discounts towards new devices. He is elderly and cannot afford to increase the monthly bill by paying monthly for a new phone. He is also retired military and was never told that there is a military discount that can be applied. I feel like since we sent him into the verizon store alone back in 2014, he was taken advantage of and talked into buying this piece of junk flip-phone so that the sales clerk could make a comission they were not going to make off the free phone. Are there any options for him or should we just deactivate his line altogether and go with another provider that will give him a free phone?