The "pressure felt weird" part is what gets me. I used to figure pushing harder was just how it worked, more firm equals more respect or whatever. Then I watched my own numbers do the same thing yours did and changed my mind real quick. Now I keep it short and human and let the leads come to me.

Something kind of like that happened to my cousin with a wedding DJ. The guy took a cash deposit, then kept pushing the date back, saying his van broke down, then his kid got sick, then his grandma died. Come to find out he was doing the same thing to like four other couples that summer and using the new deposits to cover the old refunds. Total mess. She filed in small claims and got a judgment but the guy had nothing in his name, so she never saw a dime. Sometimes the judgment is just a fancy piece of paper lol