Great replies everyone. Thanks for reading my long post. The quote above, was actually addressed in my original typing of this post (for some reason it didn't post, and I hadn't copied the long post, so it was lost). Great that you brought it up, as this has always been my biggest concern when handling these situations. I know for a fact that I have gained customers by helping them with something that they got from someone else. However, I also know that I spent numerous hours sometimes on one person, and then after the long back and forth, they disappear forever. When time is a valuable commodity, it sure is a bad feeling to know you lost 2 hours dealing with someone that never intended on buying from you.
It is definitely a rock and a hard place, and 99% of the time, I end up spending the time to help the person/reptile.