How do you say “no” to somebody who asks for you phone number?
You have to be assertive in these kinds of situations, especially with the kinds of guys who give you a creepy vibe, and who then call you for 5 months. Your instincts are trying to protect you, and you’re obviously working in the right direction since you’re starting to listen a little more to what your gut is telling you. The easiest thing to say is, “Sorry, I don’t give out my phone number.” And leave it at that. If a guy is smart, and has any common sense or courtesy, he’ll accept that polite brush off and go his own way. Any guy who doesn’t take no for an answer is showing his stripes. He is either very inexperienced with the dating world, and just doesn’t get that you’re trying to politely tell him that you’re not interested, or he is the kind of guy who won’t leave you alone. Either way, you’re free to move to the next level. If they still persist, you can say, “I’m seeing someone” or the more direct, “Sorry, I’m just not interested”, whichever feels more comfortable. Remember,
Say “I’m hard to reach. Why don’t you give me YOUR number?” and then, if you wish, conveniently lose the number. I don’t give out my number to anyone I don’t wish to receive calls from. You’re absoolutely right to not want to give out such personal information. Finding some ways to gracefully get around it are good. It wouldn’t hurt for you to learn to just say, “No. I don’t give personal information out to anyone.” You can say it with a smile, but stick to your guns. You could say that you’re having some trouble with anonymous calls if you want to give a further excuse. If they get pushy, you can then, pointedly, say–“This is one of the reasons WHY I won’t give out my number. If you can’t accept no for an answer, I don’t want anything to do with you.” That’s a hard one to argue against. WHile the idea of giving out a number one digit off from your real number, or the local “time and temp” number is appealling, I feel sorry for the person whose number is that one-digit off number, and
