So why this guy contact me about fixing something of his. I gave him a price of how much it was going to be. And then he wanted a breakdown parts versus labor. I don’t like doing that because I know the customer is going to nickel and dime me. Sure enough he goes online and says why are you charging me x amount for this part. It only cost $30 on Amazon.
I explain why my parts cost more etc. And I don’t hear from him again. He sends me a text today asking when is the earliest I can do the job. I don’t want to do the work, I know this guy is going to be a pain in the ass. What are business appropriate reasons/ excuses I can give as to why I don’t want the business.
You don’t really need to worry about how to tell them. Just say “I’m sorry, we will not be able to do the work”. If they persist you can just claim that you are very busy, and let it slip that you are busy with better customers. Or you can flat out tell them that it is taking too much effort.
A more important point, in my view, is that you need to get much more comfortable using price and other terms to screen out problem customers.
In my old firm we had a “no asshole” policy. Once someone seemed like an asshole, we would not work with them. It is one of the best things I have ever done.