Two days ago, we got a knock at the door from a guy offering quotes for window replacement. This is something we've talked about needing to have done, so I mentioned that, but was also clear with him that it wasn't in our current budget to replace our windows. He said it was okay, there was no obligation, and the quote would be good for a few years. So I said okay why not? He scheduled us for two days later to have someone come and check out our windows and give us a quote.

That day was today. The salesman arrived (different guy than before), we talked. I explained again that it was out of our budget to replace our windows at this time, but that if/when we do that our first priority would be our front living room window. We talked a bit about options for that, then he went around and measured all our windows and worked up our quote. Meanwhile, my husband and I talked and again agreed that it was out of our budget to do our windows but that if we did, we couldn't afford to pay more than $2000.

My husband then had to work (he works from home), so I went out front to meet with the guy. He gave me the quote for the front window, which was almost $5000 for a basic replacement. I told him what my husband and I had discussed. He offered me a $1000 discount if I signed up today, but again I told him it was too much. He tried to sell me on a ten-year finance plan, but I told him sorry we didn't want to do that. He was trying hard to keep it together at that point, but was also not accepting my answer. So I told him I'd talk it over with my husband. He wrote some stuff down for me and I took it inside.

My husband went out to talk with him and also told him no. After he came back in, he told me the guy was pretty upset and that for the future I should have just told the first guy no. That we shouldn't have wasted the salesman's time. He (my husband) wasn't mean about it, but he's probably right. But in my defense, the original guy had told me that there was no obligation, that the quote would be there for us even if we said not right now, and we could always get in touch with them later if we changed our minds. But the salesman then made it sound like it wasn't worth his time coming over if we weren't willing to commit. I hated to upset him, but ultimately we had to make the decision that was right for us. Getting rejected is part of being a salesman, isn't it?

Was I wrong for giving the salesman false hope?