Score two for Cranston! Thanks seatidex!
This is for all the newbies out there who are reaching for the phone right about now to give your local Staples a jingle to find out if this little beauty is still in stock. DON'T DO IT!!!
---------------
At store
Me: (seeing three of the drives, marked 79.99 in the case, to Salesdroid1) Yes, I'm interested in that one down there ... could you scan it to get the price?
SD1: Sure. <scans> $39.50
M: I'll take two.
SD1: (to SD2) Do you see how much these are ringing up for?
<1 guess to figure out what happens next, or at 9:01PM>
-----------------------------------
No, I didn't say anything about a rebate. Playing dumb in the store is always the way I go.
The moral is, as soon as the droids are aware of the deal, it's toast, so DON'T CALL! EVER EVER EVER. Drive to the store, and clean 'em out. Sometimes you get skunked, but that's part of the game. There are plenty of smart salesdroids out there. And I prefer not to increase their chances.
I had been casing my Staples about once a week for the last few weeks, so I knew they had three as of the last time I visited. And they were there tonite. Thankfully, some brand-new forum-reading slackjawed-knucklehead didn't call first to blurt out "They're on sale for $39.50 with a $50 rebate ... do you have any left?" (I have heard people say stuff like this in store, and imagine it happens often on the phone) and of course the droid answers, "Ooo, sorry. Just ran out."
Your mileage may vary, and this increased my mileage tonite -- props to seatidex. You've made Uncle Cranston a hero to his nephews, who will get their el crapo Philips 8x (also from Uncle Cranston last year) replaced come Dec 25.
Cran