Why do cell phone carriers push you to always upgrade your phone?

This last guy couldn’t understand why I didn’t have a smartphone, I told him very abruptly my dislike for smartphones, and he told me , well they still make the flip at least up grade to a new flip.
I told him I have no trouble with my phone and if it dies I will upgrade then and not before, he just couldn’t understand that.

Upselling you is their job.

How do you be polite and tell them to stop fucking bothering me with these calls?
My cell is a necessary evil I have to have in this day and age, but I refuse to become a cell phone Zombie like 98% of the population.

It’s called sales. Upgrading means they all make more money.
My carrier never calls me. Tell them no more calls or you’ll take your business elsewhere.

@Dutchess_lll Mine never bothers me either, he must have an aggressive provider…lol

Well how often do you upgrade your cell phone?^^^

When I call them, for what ever reason I go over thennew plans. Sometimes they have plans that will save me money.
Last time I changed was in 2016.

@SQUEEKY2 I’m kind of like you, if it works, I’m fine. I don’t need big fancy cell phones to impress anyone, or to do my job, so to me it’s needless expense.

I upgrade maybe once a year or every two years. I just don’t care about it.

My mom’s company you actually have to ask for an upgrade, they don’t offer. Your bill stays the same regardless.

My phone is just over 5 years old and still works great, maybe I have to contact the provider and tell them do not phone me, trying to get me a new phone,I will upgrade when I have to and not before then.

Probably for the same reasons that car dealers get all up in your face to get a new car before you need one, and furniture stores want you to buy more furniture if you bought something from them, and the stores that sell TVs want you to get a bigger and better TV, even though yours still works fine.

How do I politely get them to stop?
@canidmajor I get sorta why, but I have shown no interest in a new cell AT ALL, but still from time to time the calls come saying I must up grade ,or qualify for an up grade, they just don’t understand why I have no desire for a new phone.
Do I have to phone my provider and tell them do NOT phone me about up grades ?

1) It’s the caller’s job to call you & they’re on commission so they need to make a sale or they’re talking to you for FREE!!!
2) Upgrading activates/extends your contract so the carrier is carrying you for FREE until you upgrade!!!
3) Everybody mentioned so far is in it FOR THE MONEY!!!

Calling them might work or you might just get another sales person trying to push you into an upgrade. You might try by telling them that you love your phone & IF they keep pushing you that you will close out your account & say it with conviction!!! The worse that could happen is that they’ll say OK & you’ll have to change carriers but the new carrier will take you with the current phone that you have & be happy to get you.

@SQUEEKY2, if they are calling you to the point of distraction, yeah, call them, but with all of those businesses, I just ignore them. I don’t get calls for upgrades from my cell provider, so I don’t know how frequently they contact people, but with the others I just ignore them.

They have several reasons. A good percentage of the time they can entice people into signing another contract to get a “deal” on a phone. A new contract will never, ever save you money no matter how much they say it will.

They also want you to buy a phone from them with their bloatware. If you bring a phone that’s unlocked sometimes you can do things that they don’t like but are still perfectly legal.

They don’t have to continually update Android. A flagship phone from a carrier may get one, possibly two OS upgrades. A Google pixel bought from Google directly has three years guaranteed to get the latest Android. A Google pixel from say Verizon may not get an upgrade at all.

Another reason is that telecommunications have backbones with a life cycle of say five years. There is already a sunset on 3g so now they are trying hard to get everyone still rocking something like an iPhone 4 to a device that’s 4g capable.

A co-worker had his phone stolen, so he got the same phone just a couple of years newer and shock it won’t work with his plan,he needed another $25 a month for it to work on the next step up plan.

I have a month to month plan,I just give 30days notice and can quit at any time.

I’m reminded of the latest news re. Microsoft digital books no longer being accessible.
https://tinyurl.com/y4epkh36

Because those new phones are subsidized by contracts. When you get a new phone from your carrier they lock you into a new 2-year contract. That’s how they make their money. You’re out of contract so, yes, they’re going to try to sell you a new contract.

I never signed on to a yearly contract,I don’t know if you have the option in the states but we can go month to month, with a 30day notice and we can quit at any time.

I’m in the US & I switched carriers just so I could go on a month-to-month basis. The drawback is that I have to buy my phone outright where the main carriers will finance it over a 2 year period. Back when I was on contract, the carriers would bug the crap out of me to upgrade to the newest phone. Since switching to month-to-month carrier, I only receive an email notifying me that my particular brand of phone is offering an upgraded version, but they have never called me to bug me about upgrading.

Any chance that your phone is so old that it’s going to stop accepting upgrades to their phone system? IF so, they are afraid that you’ll switch carriers once your phone no longer works on their system. I’d definitely give your carrier a call & tell them that you NO longer want to be contacted about an upgrade. You could also block the number from which they call so the calls no longer ring through to you.

Thanks @LadyMarissa I will look into it, once my phone craps out I will get a new one .

You can get a cheap newer one without having to upgrade to a smartphone. That way you will have access to some of the newer (not necessarily the newest) features without having to pay $1,000 for a smartphone…some are as cheap as $29.99. Technically you will have upgraded but without going as far out as a smartphone. Waiting for yours to die might mean it will die sooner than later. It might be more convenient to choose when your phone bites the dust. Oops, sorry, I’m sounding like the phone company sales people!!! OK OK, I’m stopping right now!!! LoL

@SQUEEKSTER we have a lot.of different carriers and plan options. Some require a contract, some don’t.

I can’t see myself ever getting into a yearly contract with a cell phone, my plan is $50 a month including taxes, and I get text, message,and 24/7 nation wide calling NO DATA, and I am fine with it.

Different people have different needs @SQUEEKY2. It doesn’t make one better than the other.

Our plan with 2 phones, everything you listed, PLUS DATA, is ~$100 a month.

@SQUEEKY2 “I never signed on to a yearly contract”

Same difference. You’re not under contract, they want you under contract.

“I don’t know if you have the option in the states but we can go month to month, with a 30day notice and we can quit at any time.”

Yes. Hell, I don’t even pay a flat fee every month. I just buy minutes as needed.

@Darth_Algar They call that pay as you go ,and up here I used to have that but it got to costly because of my job I needed the phone more and more.
That is why I am on an unlimited month to month now.
Mrs Squeeky has had pay as you go for years.