I didn't think so, but since my book retail insider experience is mostly limited to the big two--me, three years on and off at B&N, my sister part-time at Borders for summers for a few years, with a later stint at an indy children's book store--I didn't want to generalize beyond my actual knowledge.

It makes sense to me, though--any store that can afford it should offer to order in a firm clear voice, so unless, as you said, a store's been badly burned or is being managed by dumb people, a liberal ordering policy ought to be the norm. The ability to return almost any stock is hard indeed on publishers, but as long as it exists, customers should take advantage of the benefit!