Q: Why isn't the receiver working on my iPhone 5?

I've had my iPhone 5 for a year and a half. Everything has been great until yesterday afternoon. I can no longer hear calls through the ear piece. The other end of the call can hear me, but all I get is silence. I can only make actual calls using the speaker. I've read all the threads and tried everything, to no avail. My carrier (Verizon) said it would cost $400 to replace the phone, which is utter BS.

So here are my questions - 1) Has Apple come up with a solution to this problem, since it's obviously one on their end? 2) If I send this to Apple to get repaired (since I'm nowhere near an Apple store), how much would it cost? 3) Would I get a spare in the meantime?

I feel like I'm getting screwed by Apple and Verizon at the same time, and I've completely had it with both companies.

Can anyone help?