(repost)

A Boy and His Camera

I had picked out my model. I had read all the reviews. I knew what I wanted. It was time for a new camera. But since I'm "saving for a house", I figured I'd wait until after Christmas and try to catch a sale. And then suddenly, like a sign from the gods... IT came in the mail... A 10% off coupon for any one item at Best Buy. Pretty tempting, eh? Well, combine that with an excuse to go to lovely tax-free New Hampshire, and it was just too much to ignore ("I'll just look while we're up there...").

The drive north was a little rough. This was the day after my big gambling weekend. I was functioning on 3 hours of sleep. (see "War is not the answer..." from Monday, December 15, 2003 for the recap). We stopped at Best Buy and went directly to the camera section. I played with the floor model for a little while, adjusted the lens like I knew what I was doing, and took some sample shots.

Thankfully, the annoying sales-teens were pretty much ignoring me. Probably because they could tell what a "cool customer" I was. They knew they weren't going to rattle me with their extended warranty plans this time...

Acting casually, I went up to the counter and said, "I'll take it".

And what the sales-teen said next hit me like a slap in the face.

"I'm sorry, but that item is out of stock right now."

What?! I hadn't even considered that as a possibility.

"Do any of your other stores in the area have them in stock?"

"Nope. Nothing until Tuesday."

Ugh.

My coupon was about to expire that Monday.

I the store left feeling defeated. It was the blackjack table at Foxwoods all over again...

But I wasn't ready to give up that easily. On a whim, we stopped next door at Circuit City.

And they had it.

One left in stock.

I'll take it.

Even without the coupon, I was still saving the sales tax. I had come too far to turn back now...

And then as the guy was ringing me up, a thought occurred to me (this is where my boldness sometimes pays off...):

"Hey, do you accept your competitor's coupons?"

And he responded:

"Yeah, sure, let me take a look at it."

And they accepted it. Score.

I left with my new toy, feeling like I had just got one over on somebody.

Who was the big winner that weekend?

Me, Baby.

Me.