Was I scammed by a cowboy?

[BlasterBates]

This is a business not a permie job offer, and if you reject the rate you haven´t really said yes, you´ve said no, and then you weren´t around. If you want to negotiate you have to be around, you waited until 11 am, why? you could have rang him or e-mailed him after the interview. Try to see it from their point of view, what would have happened if you didn´t agree to their rate, and in the meantime their second best candidate jumped ship.

[Wanderer]

Also any advice about taking this further

Ahh, it sucks to lose a contract like that but after 15 years you will know that the deal is quite often done in minutes not hours or days. Believe it or not, even today clients often have real trouble finding good people with the right skills and when they get one they want to close the deal immediately.

If you are getting other interviews then it looks like you are a strong candidate in the market so stick with it and you'll be fine. Try not to be bitter with agents, life's too short.

[b00ts]

Ahh, it sucks to lose a contract like that but after 15 years you will know that the deal is quite often done in minutes not hours or days. Believe it or not, even today clients often have real trouble finding good people with the right skills and when they get one they want to close the deal immediately.

If you are getting other interviews then it looks like you are a strong candidate in the market so stick with it and you'll be fine. Try not to be bitter with agents, life's too short.

Thanks for the comments. I have chilled out over the weekend and now see it as a learning experience. Next time I'll make sure that deal is closed properly instead of making assumptions which in part led to it slipping through my fingers...

[Pogle]

Something very similar happened to me, i said I'd get back to him the next morning with an answer after being offered the job at 8pm.
I called back and he'd given it to someone else- who was cheaper.
So I called the client and expressed my concerns about being offered the job and then having it rescinded. I was their first choice and they had more contracts coming up so they said they'd keep me in mind.
1 hr later a seriously pissed off agent called me up

I got another job a couple of weeks later at my highest rate ever.