Not allowed to spend more than R1000 if the system is offline!!!

I just had the worst experience at Mr Price in Mall of the North! Not only do the sizes of the clothing not match, as always (in some clothing items I am a 34 and others a 38, how does this make sense??), but also, when I wanted to pay my charge of R1770 with my account, I was told the system is offline, and that I therefore am only allowed to spend less than R1000.00. How does this make sense if a company wants to make profit? I asked if I may split the bill in two and pay my items seperately so that I may still buy all the items, after which was told that is not an option and I am not allowed to. I still do not understand why. The service was slow and the staff and managers were not at ALL willing to think of a way to help ME buy items from THEIR store, as if they were not bothered to lose the business. They were expecting me to now choose which items I would like to purchase the most while holding up the queue with only two cashiers working! With no explanation required of why, I simply left my whole basket of clothing of the value of R1770 right there and refused to waste my time any further. I will be closing my account with Mr Price and will be shopping elsewhere from now on.