Did I get robbed?

yes, you got robbed. take them back.

yes, the cables you linked to will work fine.

even cheaper ones available at forum sponsor monoprice (but not much cheaper).

good luck...

But the Monster have so much more "speed". At least Widescreen Review Magazine says so

If I was you I'd shiver in line at 3:00am Black Friday to return these and then get more of them best buys.

Yes, you were lied to and victimized. Buy a reasonably-priced, good performing cable at riteav or monoprice.com, return the overpriced Monster stuff to the crooks at Best Buy, and buy something REALLY fun with the difference in cash. For my part, I'd be inclined to complain to the manager at BB, too, just to call shenanigans on the salesperson. It's acceptable, if shady, to claim that the Monster cables will have superior performance; but it is outright deception to claim those cables are "the only good ones" for 1080p.

Its False Advertising Dont Listen To Them. Im Using Monoprice And Blue Jean Cables. Monster Cable Is Just There For The Name. Its Just Well Known Thats All. Blue Jean Cables Make The Best HDMI Cable So Far To What I Have Seen. 23AWG Bonded. But Now Monoprice Came Out With 22AWG. So Your Choice :].

yo xplaya... it's VERY hard to read posts that capitalize every word...

a few well placed commas might help as well.

speaking of caps, are we allergic to them or something? LOL! i've gotta start using them (properly, of course) one of these days!

lol... habit... i was an assembler programmer for so many years, i just got into the habit of never using them...

Many of the salespeople at the big box stores are trained to sell cables. They often make more money on the cable than on the tv. Buy a few Monoprice cables and take the overpriced cables back. I have used hundreds of Monoprice cables with no issues and I have saved money for a lot of people and friends. I would also suggest that you get a few extras to have around to save on the shipping and avoid having to run to a local store and be taken again.