Phone costs are largely dictated by the manufacturor. Verizon provides a cellular service and is merely a middle man for the majority of their devices. In fact, they eat the costs of a device sometimes, particularly when they provide you with a discounted phone outside of your contracted upgrade date. They really make little or no profit on the devices themselves, and only expand their options on devices as a motivator to customer's to stay/join their service.
The bills will change only in the instance YOU'VE made a change to the account, and ONLY then. Whether that's a new line of service, a new plan, new features, or overages. Bills will NEVER change unless the customer has explicitly made an action warranting that change.
Verizon will replace a device under it's standard one year warranty for any manufacture defects, or up to two years on an extended warranty. Outside of that, stolen/damage/etc... it's all covered by Asurion Insurance, who dictates the deductables on replacement devices, not Verizon.
The Early Termination Fee is clearly and very explicitly disclosed to you either verbally, in an automated system, or in written contract at the beginning of your 2 year agreement. While I sympathize for your situation, there are some details here that need to be addressed with some personal accountability.
