I've recent learned from a PM friend of mine that a good response to features you have no intention of implementing (better than a flat no) is: I'll take that into consideration and see where I can fit it into our development timeline.
The end is the same result (no feature) but with a bit more comfort for both parties.
> The end is the same result (no feature) but with a bit more comfort for both parties.
I don't think this is true.
Same result? Agreed. More comfortable for the developer? Okay, sure (if being dishonest/disingenuous is no discomfort). More comfortable for the requestor? It depends on the person. I would loathe this, for example, and it would evoke in me a far worse feeling than a flat out "no" would; these kinds of responses abound in plenty of other areas of life, and they're very much one of those things that contributes that kind-of-kills-me-a-little-on-the-inside feeling. I suspect that I'm not alone.
But then, I'm not the kind of person who's going to be harrassing anyone over feature requests. I also suspect, though, that the inference that lots of the intended targets will be placated by this kind of response is probably overstated.
EDIT:
To give an example, an acquaintance of mine listed a room for rent last year. He got about, I dunno, a little over a dozen responses of varying quality; some were from people who essentially put in the least effort possible, while others had both indicated that the author had actually put some thought into considering whether it would be a good match and provided relevant info about themselves for review. His response to almost all of them? To treat the best of them with the worst; they got no response. The result as I'm gazing over his inbox? That slightly-less-optimistic-about-humanity feeling.
>More comfortable for the requestor? It depends on the person. I would loathe this, for example, and it would evoke in me a far worse feeling than a flat out "no" would;
The key here is that the requestor doesn't "deserve" anything, and the developer wants to be fucking left alone...
Weird use of quotes here, considering I used the word "deserve" nowhere. But on that note, I think every person does deserve to be not automatically lied to because of cynicism. See my comment about treating the best with the worst and the multiple times I point out the diminished-enthusiasm-for-a-humanity-filled-with-humans-that-don't-see-the-humanity-of-other-humans feeling.
"No, leave me alone" is much a better response than, "Sure, I'll think about that!" when the latter isn't true, the recipient would've been okay with the former, and hasn't given reason for you to believe otherwise.
Note also that I didn't bring up the comfort of the requestor; I mentioned it only because iaw specifically brought it up and said that lying would comfort them...
I wouldn't have written my comment at all if iaw had said, "The end is the same result, but it's more comfortable for the developer, and it gets the requestor to fuck off." But that's not what (s)he wrote.
Which when taking into account the hassle, the risk of nonpayment, and the not wanting to do it in the first place, is going to be a very large multiple of your normal fee. So what hayksaakian said.
What happens if you quote a large figure and they take you up on it, despite the fact that you never intended to honor the offer? Congratulations, now you're a jerk.
When I wrote it, I had originally written "optimal" as "efficient", but "optimal" has multiple meanings here.
The point is, if you would arrive at a requirement of $x to implement the thing in an exercise where you decide to entertain all requests as a request for a legitimate bid, then don't quote an arbitrary figure of $y. Quoting $x works out the best for everyone in all possible cases, where the approach to quote an arbitrary figure falls down in more than one place.
What? Why am I a jerk for getting paid well? Or do you suggest that huge pile of money won't change my mind? If I still say no I think that means the quoting instructions were followed incorrectly.
> Quoting $x works out the best for everyone in all possible cases
Quoting $x is much more likely to result in resentment because it's the bare minimum to get me to agree. If I charge triple that or more I'm much less likely to be disappointed later.
And it's no big loss to me if I don't get paid to make this feature. That was my default state of being. So I aim high.
I assume he means that one is a jerk if they quote high with absolutely no intention of doing it at any price. If the bluff is called then you have to go back on your word.
The end is the same result (no feature) but with a bit more comfort for both parties.