I run a small asphalt company. We have hundreds of customers with 99 +% being reasonable, and good to work with. It’s that less than 1% that poses this question.
How do you blow off someone you don’t want to work with without being rude?

Probably the most polite way, although dishonest, is tell them that your schedule is full for the year. The rude way is to not return their calls. I get a lot of the latter when looking for contractors. Even ones that used to sub for me for many years.

I would say be honest with them. I don't see how you could blow them off with out being dishonest. I would personally prefer if someone would just come up and tell me that they won't do something for me because (insert whatever reason), I may be upset but ill be worse and will complain to more people if they just don't return my call.

Honesty isn't rudeness, if you tell someone that I don't want to work for you because your hard to deal with. They won't like it but you weren't being rude.

I price them out, I smile and am as polite as I can be to everyone but if a customer is going to be an obvious pain their job gets bid accordingly.

I tried this approach more than once. Hardly ever seemed to work. Oh well. Made some extra money.

Ya free enterprise is defined by supply and demand and of course the busier we get reflects the way we charge. That coupled with the labor crisis that is driving pricing up.

When we get too busy to service good customers we search for polite ways to eliminate the difficult ones. Thanks for chiming in.

As mentioned above, I tell them I'm booked nine to twelve months out (sometimes true, but usually only booked four to six months in advance). If they want to wait I bid very high. If I get the job (I usually don't) it almost makes it worth working for a PITA.

I do several things;

If you're busy say - We're awful busy right now- 6 weeks out or whatever it is

Figure a price for them and add 50% difficult discount then if you get the job you won't be so bad off. Or figure a price you would need for that customer to make you happy to do their work.

If they are not bad but just call you every hour tell them you won't be answering your ''work cell phone'' before or after hours.

if they are a pain because they do not pay or they change the job or rules mid-job tell them you don't want to work with them because of that.

If they are super annoying but pay their bills I generally suck it up and do my job.

I have a one and done rule for trouble makers. For people who are annoying but honest I just try to figure out how best to deal with them because I figure it is just me.

There have been a few people that won't take ''no '' for an answer. After it goes so far that I tell them no or I tell them I have better things to do and walk away and they still keep calling then I quit answering the phone when they call.

Just be honest and tell them the truth. If I don't want to do it I just tell them that.
Some people just can't be pleased. And I try to avoid those people. The less stress in life the better.

one option "I don't think our company is a good fit for your job."

you have been truthful but polite without telling them they are the issue.



second option , increase every number you can by the percentage of difficulty you expect them to be.

we have 2 kinds of customers and the other is huge very complex bureaucracies that everything takes 3 times longer , everything , no one can make decision about anything without a conference call even if you fix and issue in 20 minutes expect 60 more in testing and 40 more after that for a debriefing conference call with at least 5 people on the call.

for 3 times more time that group of customers gets to pay 50% more than the other customers , why because it takes longer to do everything and we have to cover or added labor costs.

I deal with this from time to time. Unless it is a repeat client I have known for years (which I give a priority) I give them a timeline that I feel I can meet,
and also a price that I can make money on. I feel that I do good work and charge accordingly for my services.
I never want to look back and feel that I have slighted someone, nor feel that I have taken advantage of anyone.
Although, I do charge a bit more for folks that are a pain in the …… and I add a couple three hours of my time in the budget to deal with it.
Never low ball your price with a person you suspect will be a problem, let someone else deal with it and make money elsewhere.
I learned this the hard way over the years.

LOL Zim

Double the price, if they still bite its a pia surcharge.....

I charge the same rate to everyone. If I have to remind someone more then twice to pay an invoice I will not work for them again. A customer asked me once how much a boat delivery would be. I told him 5000 bucks to get the boat where he wanted it. He said But I'll come along and help. So I charged him 6000. He gave me the 6000 plus a 500 dollar tip once the trip was done. No he pays me to service and repair his boat that is a 8 hour drive from here and pays me for the travel time. I don't advertise and have enough customers to keep me pretty busy. I will not work for people I don't like, folks that try to haggle and I won't do insurance work. And yes I tell anyone straight why i will not work for them.

Ohh and i "love" the ones that tell me from the get go a job is going to take me so long. Those folks I tell right there and then they are faster then me and should do the work themselves.

Hear that Scuba. In my line of work I am regulated by both State and local laws as to the minimum standards of my profession.
As soon as anyone says "can't you just" the deal is off.

Zim

It's not rude to tell someone that you just don't want to work for them. Spell it out if they are slow, but if they are such a pita that you can't stand them someone should tell them that so they can improve; it is constructive criticism.