As I was about to leave work yesterday, I decided that I should take a last minute look at FW. One of the threads that caught my eye was Canon A75 $150 at CC b&m. I took a quick look (it had only been posted half an hour earlier), and decided it was worth a stop at CC on the way home. There were three drawbacks:
1) There was some indication that it might have been a special 5-hour sale in the morning.
2) The online price was 249.99.
2) It could be OOS.
With deals like these, it's generally not worth calling, as even if there is stock, when the employees hear about the price, the usually grab the remaining stock for themselves.
Since the OP referenced getting the deal from Slickdeals, I found the original thread, read it as well, found a scan of a receipt, and felt a bit more confident about the deal.
When I stopped at CC on the way home, I had to consciously stop myself from running through the parking lot. When I entered the store, I knew exactly where the digital camera section was, because of the Merkury battery deal. I circled the camera display like a vulture around its prey, found the A75, only to discover a $249.99 price tag. I asked a salesman nearby to check the price, since a "friend" had bought one earlier that day for $149.99. In fact, I told the salesman, I had a copy of his receipt. He expressed surprise that the price could possibly be that "low," but did proceed to check the price. When the computer showed the $149.99 price, he remained shocked, and confirmed the price with his co-worker. She confirmed, and then looked at me and, with a smile, said "You get the last one!"
After I checked out, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try a PM at Staples (next door). Though they didn't stock it in-store, they carry it in their catalog/on-line, so they pursued the PM, but when they called CC, they were told it was a "clearance" price, so they rejected the PM.
Throughout the evening I checked into FW to see the latest news about the thread. While virtually nobody had any success with PMing to other stores, there were a number of people who were able to order the camera through CC at the $149.99 price. At 6:25 this morning, it was reported on FW that the $149.99 price was showing up on CC's website. I tried a phone PM with Staples, and failed, because at checkout the CC website would change from reporting that the camera was in-stock to OOS.
The funny thing is that I don't really need this camera. The A75 is nearly identical to the camera that I have, an A70. I only bought it because I could, and I figured I could either re-sell it to a friend or on eBay.
UPDATE: The latest news (as posted on Slickdeals) is that "It is DEFINITELY a Price MISTAKE. Corporate has begun changing the price of $149, not back to $249, but to $279 on their National Price Database. Some have confirmed that although half of the CC's carry the $149 Price Tag, some A75's are ringing up AT check out to be $279. Because of the price discrepancy, CC will not honor the $149 but instead explain it was a "mistake" and that they can only sell it for what seems to be the new outrageous price of $279."
