How do you say ‘no’ to people?

Tweet

I’m not very good at saying no when people ask me to do things. This has got me into a few awkward situations in the past, when I made something for a friend as a little joke, and then others asked me to do the same for them, or I did some work for one person and then someone else talked me into doing the same for them, but for a lower price, creating awkwardness. Nowadays I am trying to be more firm. This has just come up because a couple of years ago I was asked to do some work for a foreign student, let’s call her Naida. She was a colleague of a person I had previously done some work for, who was lovely and had recommended me. So I said yes to Naida. But when I explained my terms and prices she haggled and complained that she didn’t need such intensive work, only a brief glance which would take only a short time. So I agreed to half the usual price. Of course when she actually sent the work it turned out to need a lot of intense scrutiny. I pressed ahead anyway, since she obviously needed help. But then she started to hassle me about it, emailing me after a day or two (when I had already explained that normal turnaround time is one week), then after a few hours, and finally even calling me repeatedly at home at 10 pm or later! I was glad to hand over the finished work and wash my hands of her. Of course she didn’t pay even the reduced rate and I had pretty much written that off as being worth it to see the back of her, but finally almost two years later she did actually pay the majority of the fee. But now she is back asking for my help again. I just don’t want to go back there. I have politely explained that I think it would be better for her to find someone else, and suggesting a range of providers. I really hope she finds an alternative! Have you ever had to deal with awkward people like this? All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2022.