What was the BEST deal you ever got? It could have been a surprise discount, or an extra bonus, or free merchandise, or a prize?

Unfortunately for me, I haven't gotten many "extra deals" lately and it might be because of the tough economy. So when I think about the "best deal" I ever got two come to mind -- one of them goes back about 14 years (really -- 14 years) and the other goes back to the mid 1970s.

Fourteen years ago I bought a car off the showroom floor and it had very pricey wheels that I just didn't want. The standard wheels were okay for me. It was late -- just before closing time -- and the dealer wanted to close the deal so he said "take the car as is, and bring it back tomorrow and we'll swap out the wheels." That was fine by me, and the next day I went back to the dealership for the swap. But the dealership didn't have standard wheels for the car, and the sales manager said "keep the wheels you have."

A similar thing happened -- but with furniture -- back in the 1970s. I ordered a new bedroom set which included two large armoires that went on either side of the headboard and held up a lighted canopy. As the delivery men unpacked the armoires from their shipping boxes I noticed they were very large -- and in fact they had delivered the "large" armoires instead of the less expensive, smaller armoires that I had ordered and paid for. I pointed out the error, and the delivery men called the store, and the store said "leave them."