Absolutely. Once he IM'ed me I was looking for a way to get out of there without seeming rude. I cringed when he agreed to the price I gave. I thought it was going to end the conversation there. I am still working on growing a pair and walking out of things as soon as I want out instead of trying to find a way to make things work. It is still a transition for my mind to get into "It's okay to say 'No.'"
Saying no can be really, really tough - but rewarding. In my experience most programmers are conflict-adverse and like taking on projects, this might be obvious but it means we often find ourselves over stretched. Speaking of 37signals, David had a good post on that awhile ago (http://37signals.com/svn/posts/1626). It's a real problem that I, and I'm sure many others here, struggle with.
edit: (unrelated) Have you brought this to the attention of 37signals? You should send them this story, I feel like they may want to keep unsavoury characters like this away from their board in the future.
I have contacted 37Signals and they informed me they will look into the issue. Thank you for the link to David's post as well. I am giving it a read over now.
