To be fair, this guy was kinda trying to game the system (I read the article).

You can buy an iPhone straight from Apple (he bought the iPhone 16e) and it's not locked.

This guy went to Verizon, bought a phone from them, and intended to skip out after a month and go to a cheaper MVNO. I don't disagree with the ruling — he was acting within the rules, and Verizon changed said rules after he signed the paperwork — but this guy doesn't seem like a saint. I mean, fuck Verizon and all that, no sympathy for Big Red, but this guy was totally taking advantage. Of course, if Verizon makes a deal and he follows the letter of the law, I'm with him, but also, people like this make phone deals worse for the rest of us.

Remember when you could get a flagship smartphone for $200 straight up and you just had to keep service for 2 more years? If you were happy with your carrier it was fine, it wasn't even new customers only. It was like, once that 2 years is up you're eligible. Verizon even bumped up my eligibility by 2 months when my phone was boot looping. I told them I needed a new phone, either they had to help me or I would be forced to take my business to another carrier, because I couldn't just not have a phone for 2 months. They said "you know what, you pay your bill on time, we want your business, what phone do you want?" (Then they tried to talk me out of getting an iPhone, 6s, because my last two phones were Android. I said IDGAF about platform wars, the iPhone 6s is the best phone out right now (this was before the Pixel 1 was even announced! But the same year it came out) and it's the one I want. Rocked that phone for four years.)