[vidarh]

I've never seen that happen, and would never do it. Not doubting you, but I'd expect this to be rare enough that it's worth ignoring.

The closest I've seen was someone with wildly out of line expectations (a developer who asked for basically the whole employee option pool to himself). Even then we gave a counter-offer (that he declined).

Personally I'd see it as a sign they're not someone I'd want to work for.

[psim1]

In hindsight, I overshot. But not by much. I considered their retraction to be in poor taste and poor faith. All it would have taken is a counter-offer to realign the discussion.

[vidarh]

Yeah, I think you probably dodged a bullet. If people come to me with a ridiculous counter, all it tells me is they don't know what the market is like, and I'd have a conversation about that, and make another offer. If people come to me with a high counter but one that might be plausible, I'd ask them to justify it, explain why we can't/won't go that high, and counter.

If someone takes it as some perceived slight that you've asked for a higher amount, then consider they'd probably be equally offended if you asked for a raise down the road, and then you'd be in a bad spot...

Of course being able to not worry about being turned down is a luxury we can't always afford.

(Also, I have at times thought I massively overshot, and kicked myself because they immediately accepted; you'd be surprised how much of an increase you can ask for sometimes)