As of Oct 01 2009 they are sampling again.
For a US account, with a corporate electronic firm email address, the website indicates:
3 sample orders max per 30 day period,
2 part numbers per order, 3 units max per part.
Although a "Fee" is mentioned before you order, the last screen in the order process states:
"valued customer - fee waived for this order"
so the sample request is free.
Anyone else from other parts of the world can describe their experience?
Note that reaching this thread is not difficult ( you google "microchip + samples) and you must assume a Microchip employee regularly survey the genaral web chatter on their sample program, so you need to ensure your comments on this matter are professional and thought out.