We have another fellow who got a deal on some pretty sketchy Phals from Walmart a while back, and he has had a lot of fun and a lot of learning, in his course of re-habbing them, Richard. I think he talked them into marking the plants down to $1 each. If the plants still have some good color, and at least a few healthy leaves plus some viable roots, go for it. Often Phals will put on what I call their "diva act" which is a case of wrinkled leaves. Lots of people toss the plants when they do this "oh, it was dead" but they almost always recover from it.
See if you can corner the nursery manager. Most stores would rather get some money for plants than throw them away. The exception is Home Depot who have a deal with their suppliers that they can return the plants when they are past their prime.
Here, Lowe's is the best for 'past their prime' plants though. They have a clearance rack at most Lowe's stores that we affectionately call the "death rack" and if you can score a Phal or two as soon as they hit the rack, they are good buys. They mark them down and put them on the clearance rack as soon as they are finished blooming. The clearance rack keeps me shopping at Lowe's over Home Depot every time . . .
