hey everybody..
this is my 1st post here. my advice to all of you if you live near a staples B&M...next time theres a HOT deal like this, order it from staples.com anyways if they dont let you PM on the phone. I personally live in NYC so there are plenty of them around. Then when you get your order, just bring your packing slip with the price that you paid to the store along with your proof of a lower price (in this case..the officemax ad) and get someone at the store to give you a price guarantee. It's that simple...if they wont let you do it, then just return on the spot and see what they have to say to that. On a personal note, a relative of mine works for the local newspaper company so I usually get the following weeks fliers (staples, officemax, compusa, bestbuy...etc) a few days early so i found out about the $229 price at officemax last thursday. I proceeded to place my order through staples.com, getting a free tv, business attache and using a $40 coupon in the process. I placed the same exact order for a relative on saturday. My first order came on Friday and I waited until Sunday to go to the store and do a price guarantee which they did for me w/o any questions. My 2nd order wasnt due to arrive till monday but on sunday night, i called up staples.com and told them about the officemax price and the CSR came me a credit adjustment on the phone. I placed the order early before the sale started b/c knowing how these HOT deals can be, most likely officemax wouldve ran out quickly thus there would be no place to pricematch if you called staples.com. They are much more lenient at the store and almost never check to see if the competitor has the item in stock or not especially if you pricematch on sundays when the sales first start. I even returned both the free tvs that i got at a b&m staples at $70 each to make this an even hotter deal. So all in all, i was able to get 2 HP P1100's and 2 Business Attaches for $230-$40 coupoon-$70(TV)= $120 EACH, no hassle, no fuss. And this is BEFORE the $50 rebate that's available for the printer.
I hesitated and wound up not posting this info on the board before sunday b/c I believe that everyone should have a fair shot at deals like this. I did tell a bunch of my friends about it and they all managed to secure a printer for themselves before the *bargain hunters* got it. I think that once one person posts these kind of HOT deals info on a board...crap happens, the masses pile in, places are out of stock, websites go down, deal gets pulled early, people complaining and I'm not so sure thats the right approach. I hope i do not get flamed for expressing my opinion.
Here's my conribution to the board unless its already been posted...the link to the $50 rebate. I found it on outpost, i think they have it somewhere on HP's site too. The rebate appears to be for hpshopping customers only but thats not the case whens you read the fine print towards the bottom where it says "Only purchases made by an end-user customer or a commercial business from an authorized HP reseller in the United States and its territories are valid."...i would believe that staples or officemax qualifies.
$50 P1100 REBATE LINK
Call up HP at 1-888-999-4747 to verify. My friend said he called and they said that it would be ok if it was not purchased from hpshopping.com
Also, Egghead.com has some pretty good prices for HP branded ink for this printer and I called up staples to do a pricematch for them. Egghead is also currently offering free shipping but it appears to be ground so good luck convincing your CSR not to tackle on the next day freight. I was able to b/c they put me on hold for quite awhile. Use a coupon and save even more.
Hewlett-Packard No. 78 Economy Color Inkjet Cartridge C6578DN - $26.99
Staples SKU
392486 - $36.29
Hewlett-Packard C6578AN Tri-Color Inkjet Cartridge - $48.99
Staples SKU
430598 - $59.99
Hewlett-Packard 51645A Black Inkjet Cartridge - $23.29
Staples SKU
603555 - $28.49
btw: Congrats to those who got in on the deal, good luck to those who havent yet...this is one awesome printer.