The moral of the story is never buy your phone from the carrier. Buy it direct from the manufacturer and you won't have to deal with this drama.
Though I'm seriously considering going back to a $50 flip phone and enjoying the 2 weeks of battery life and general indestructibility. My current phone spends most of its time sitting on my desk doing nothing. It's hard to get excited about a newer and much BIGGER phone for $500 that will also spend most of its time sitting on my desk, doing nothing.
It's not your finances, and it's not your place to tell someone else how to spend their money.