Do You Hinder Customers Who Want to Buy?

I found an item I liked at a local independent retailer. I bought it. I wanted two more, but had purchased the last one. I found the item online at J. C. Penney. Good price. But I didn't want to charge it; I preferred to write a check.

So, I went to the JCP catalog store, just a few doors down from the store where I bought the original item. The item was not in the JCP catalog. I gave the clerk the online item number; she called someone to see if I could order it for the low price at which it was advertised online. No deal. To order it -- and pay for it on the spot -- I would have to pay $12 more per item. No thanks.

There I was -- money in hand -- and I couldn't buy what I wanted even though the retailer had it in stock. 

So I went back to the small store where I bought the item in the first place, and the storekeeper agreed to order two more for me. Thanks to this helpful clerk, this store will get my money, but I will have to wait until she places a new order and it arrives.

Do you help your customers spend money, or do your policies hinder them from buying what they want or need? Have you sent away a customer who had cash in hand ready to buy? If the answer is yes, consider how you might have helped that customer.