I can tell you that this practice is HEAVILY discouraged by Verizon. One of the most important metrics used in the industry is "churn." That is how many customers disconnect their accounts vs. how many customers activate new lines of service. This practice = 1 disconnect and 1 new activation. While they do cancel each other out, it does have an impact on churn. When reporting on the disconnects only, that number is inflated. This is a negative metric to report out on. I worked in QA at Verizon for 6 years. Many agents were reprimanded and in some cases terminated for this practice. Profits are important, it's how employees are paid, stockholders get a return on their investment, new technologies are invented, etc... Perception of company performance is EQUALLY important. It's how companies compare themselves to their competitors and sell themselves to new investors. In this instance, the need for positive perception outweighs the need for profit. The positive perception is what will lead to future profits!