Originally Posted by
DXRulz:
“My upgrade is not due till next year but one of the main things i hate about my phone is its on full volume but still very quiet so i keep missing calls and then getting moaned at for never answering my phone!
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Ignore any tortuous ways of trying to understand this. Think of it simply as this: they give you a phone and the agreement to supply you with a line, minutes, texts, data. In return you agree to make a payment of an agreed amount to them for a minimum amount of time plus agreeing to pay charges for any other costs you may incur e.g. calling over your plan minutes.
Once you're outside of the cooling off period the only way to change your handset is for you to buy another one yourself. The network now doesn't care too much because they have your agreement to give them money for 12/18/24 months.
The cost to them of giving you a "free" handset gets recovered through your monthly payments to them. All you can do is buy a new phone and sell your current one to recoup some of the cost.