I'm in the same boat as you. I know atleast a few months back it was a complete gamble on Newegg. I have checked my local Fry's and Best Buy. They had no clue about the S/A/C fiasco. I checked their display models. Best Buy had C's, Fry's had A's (the blue bias on the A's was obvious and horrible).
Recent Newegg reviews indicate they are not putting the letters on the sticker anymore, probably due to the bad press they were getting. There was also a secret menu on the displays that told you what version you got, but they apparently have removed them as well. I imagine the current stock at Fry's/Best Buy/Circuit City are the same way (not gonna buy one to find out).
So, anyway I was looking at this LG monitor as a replacement:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824005097
The picture looked amazing at the store. Same specs. It is flat black rather that the glossy finish on the Samsungs (okay by me, I hate fingerprints). $350 is a bit pricey, but Best Buy actually has a great deal. It's only $280:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8357379&type=product&id=1177112467150
Now, one thing I noticed about the LG monitor is that there are three models:
L226WTQ-BF
L226WTY-BF
L226WTX-BF
Newegg has the Y model, Best Buy has the Q model. In general Q costs less than Y which costs less than X. Does that mean there is a quality difference? I can't find any information on that. No reviews or anything. They all have the same specs. LG's website doesn't seem to acknowledge the model difference.
Personally, looking at the Q model at Best Buy, it looks great.