Did you ever encountered pushiness when rejecting a decent/good-but-not-great offer? How to handle that without burning bridges?

In the past, I have rejected offers, but it was easy to do so because either they were clearly below market or not a good fit for my profile. But now, I’m a situation in where I can afford to be picky and discard offers that, while decent, aren’t what I’m looking for.

I recently said no to an offer, very politely but firmly, and instead of getting the usual diplomatic corporate response, I got an anxious call from the hiring manager complaining that I was being unreasonable, that I couldn’t say no, that the offer was great, that why would I start the interview process if I didn’t want a job… it was bizarre and very uncomfortable. I felt like I was breaking with a clingy girlfriend and even though I was never out of line or rude, I ended up feeling like I was the bad guy.

It seems that some hiring managers are so used to dictating the terms in this buyer’s market that they can’t handle things going their way and act like children.

Has something similar (even if not that extreme, but maybe them acting bitchy or annoyed) happened to you in the past? How would you handle it?

I also don’t wanna burn bridges or get blacklisted in a particular company due to this.