All customers are NOT equal. There are those who have been faithful for years. There are those who stop in once on their way to wherever.
The average now and then customer and the stranger can be strapped with all the rules and if they don’t like them, so what?
The faithful long time customer is NOT to be locked up by the rules.
It is wiser to breach a policy, even take a loss, then lose that customer.
There are few die hard customers in any business today. There are so many competitors the idea of loyalty to a business is unusual.
If you have a die-hard customer, make sure they get the best treatment and if a rule needs to be bent, bend it.