Traci, I can't speak for all situations, but last year when I called up for price adjustments, they gave them to me on all relevant items, even if my size was gone. Again, I hadn't really expected it (the policy says they won't do it) -- but they accommodated easily.
For me, there is still a huge benefit in ordering early.
First, it gets me planning for fall and thinking ahead.
Second, a lot of times my size will be sold out early in the sale. Not for every item -- but it is really tough to predict. If I had waited this year, I would not have been able to purchase several of my favourite items.
Third, some of the stuff I like most hasn't gone on sale and is back up to full price. And the price is higher than I could have stomached.
Fourth, it's not really that tough to look up what you ordered and see if it has gone down even further.
Oh...and sometimes you find new deals, too.....