Dude, why are you so angry? I was just pointing out to people that it likely isn't the case. Maybe it was the only one they told him about or had in stock, but Verizon has a ton of "at no extra cost" options I'm pretty confident at all times. They may have needed to order one to the store if it's really that isolated, but unless something strange happened they had other free phones.
Premium phone means iPhones/Samsungs/whatever else. There are tons of other brands that are cheaper but a better value. They aren't premium though, and aren't the ones ever mentioned.