Do you ever feel awkward when you decide not to buy something in a store?
Do you find it hard to know the right thing to say in this situation?
You may have been interested and then found out the price or just changed your mind–so what do you say?
This happens a lot, and we’re going to help you with how to deal with this situation and what to say.
Today we have a listener question about saying “never mind” that you can probably relate to.
Hi Lindsay and Michelle,
How are you doing? I hope you are doing great. I listened to your podcast when I was in China. Now I am in NY and still listening to you every day.
I found one of your latest episodes to be extremely useful for me. The one where you talked about the customized diet was really helpful. In your final example you said something that stuck with me. You said, “Is there an extra charge to add avocado?” ”Yes, it’s one dollar. ” “Oh never mind.”
What do you mean by “never mind?” Do you want it or not? I learned never mind at school as a response to apologies. What is the meaning in this situation? Another question is when I hear that there is an extra charge or the price is simply too high, how do we say we don’t want it any more? I am looking forward to your reply.
Thank you,
TT
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How Do You Work Through This?
We’ve all been in this situation where we change our mind and we’re not really quite sure of what to say.
Never mind has a couple different meanings, but today we will focus on the one used in the example above where you may be dealing with a salesperson.
So in this situation, “yes it’s one dollar” “never mind”– never mind means no thank you I don’t want that anymore.
That’s basically what you are saying in this situation, and really it’s because you changed your mind.
Never mind isn’t rude on its own, but you do want to be sure you are using the right tone of voice when you say it.
If you say “never mind” rudely, then it’s obviously going to come across badly.
It’s All In The Delivery
There are so many different ways that you could use “never mind” in a situation.
It’s basically putting a stop to the transaction or interaction.
It’s saying that you no longer wish to pursue this, and that you have changed your mind.
Changing your mind is perfectly fine and acceptable, but it’s all about how you say it.
It can be a really useful thing to say, and it’s not rude if said the right way.
These situations can come up where you change your mind about something based on price, look, ingredients, timing, or any other factor.
Other Ways To Politely Say The Same Thing
Our listener asked about saying you don’t want something because of an extra charge.
Never mind is a great way.
You want to alert the person that you are no longer interested, but in the right way.
There are some other perfectly acceptable phrases that you can use in this situation.
- Oh okay, forget it then: You might find out that there’s an extra charge for something as an example. You don’t want to pursue it, so you say this. It may be taken as slightly rude, but not if you say it in the right tone of voice.
- I’m going to skip it this time: This is less direct but gets the point across. There is the potential promise of a future, and so you are leaving it open ended. It’s usually taken quite well then.
- That’s alright, but thanks: This one can be a bit confusing! However, if I did want something I’d say something more like “Okay that’s fine” or “That sounds good.” As you can imagine, tone is so important here. You want to also be sure that you are direct in your response to get your point across appropriately.
This is a really important connection skill and way of handling a situation.
Always remember that your tone of voice matters greatly!
Takeaway
Don’t feel awkward saying you aren’t interested in something.
This may be a cultural thing when you feel bad saying no or not having interest in something.
Sometimes prices are hidden until you are interested and then it can feel uncomfortable.
It’s best to ask as soon as possible and to be direct when you want to indicate that you are not interested in something.
It’s okay to say no or to change your mind–and you should never feel bad about this.
If you have any questions, please leave them below in the comments section.
We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
