I noticed that too. Maybe the bigger BM stores have all the colors. Anyway there are way too many colors to choose from, so I pickup the color brochures with all the popular color combos/samples and choose one from them.

Went through this a couple years ago when my friend could not decide on the color green she wanted, she must have bought over 15 sample pots looking for that perfect color. It's eaisier to choose when you limit your choices.

That happened to me one time also. No paint chip. They have a 3 ring binder of colors and they let me bring that sample home. It's a 5X7 piece.

I dunno...I own all three Ben Moore Fandecks...so I don't even look at sample chips anymore. ;^) I think they can make up small pots of ALL their colors now, though. I noticed the last time I was in they had smaller-than-a-quart thingies they could blend to any of their colors...so one is no longer limited to the sample pot pallet.

Trying to compete with SW's color-to-go?

I noticed that at my local BM store too..I wanted gray wisp and they had no chip for it. I thought that was very odd because it's a pretty popular color. When I asked they showed me the color in their fandeck and I decided to just get it without testing first. The color worked out great, but the no chip thing was very annoying.

My local BM store is like that too. When you have to track down a card, I got a tiny strip of one...hardly useful. It forces you to buy a sample pot and I think that is their intention.

So maybe that's it--they want us to buy sample pots...how annoying, and wasteful!

So...

I wrote a really long post about all the things I know are wrong in paint and color world. No surprise since I've been sayin' around here for like six years all kinds of stuff is broken.

I decided not to post it. Too 'rant-y', not really constructive. In a nutshell, yes, the sample pots can be evil if there isn't proper support to go with them.

But I always enjoy your opinions, Funcolors! :)

awwww! That's so nice to say elle3. Thank you. It's a fine line between tangent and opinion. I try to stay focused on opinion as much as possible. :~D

It's been a long time since I've been to a BM store to look for a chip since I have the fandecks too.

In the past I've had a hard time locating a BM color based on the number and then found out that they changed their # system.

Do you think that you could have an old color #?

According to the paint guy at my Ace Hardware that now carries BM paints, someone at BM decided to "update" their chip selection by thinning the card selection out. The colors are still there in their computers, their original fandecks and sometimes in their little sample pots, they just don't put them out for the world to see. He gave me the impression that he didn't think whoever thinned out the chips knew what they were doing since they were mixing a lot of paint that is no longer on the standard chip cards.

skyedog, that is very interesting...All of the colors that I'm looking for are in the 900's, which I believe are neutral pale colors--colors I would never have even looked at a few years ago. Maybe they fell out of favor with the public.
I'm repainting a red dining room (had this color for close to 10 years and would like a change!)and want something light. After scouring the internet looking for ideas, many of the BM colors I want chips for are in the 900 range. It's senseless to me to order multiple sample pots without seeing the chip in the setting.
It's possible, as ttodd said, that these chips are available under another name/number. That is something I hadn't thought of when I when I inquired about the chips.

At least SW has many neutral pale colors on a separate display with large cards...