50% discount? I don't think so!

I had an interesting call this morning from a total stranger, asking me to give him a 50% discount on our standard rates - no negotiation, no quid pro quo, nothing to make me want to help him, just "I want a 50% discount or I'll go elsewhere". So, as I sent him on his way, I got to wondering just why it is that people think that just becuase  we are supposedly in recession (not that you'd know it, the way our phones have been ringing this week :)) we should suddenly enter bargain basement land. If I was a brain surgeon, would he call me and say "brains are cheap this week, so please operate on my head for a tenner?". If I was a mechanic, would he call and say "I know you normally charge £100.hour, but I only want to pay £10" No, he wouldn't!! So why do people think that because there are a lot of jobseekers out there that the job of a recruiter gets any easier, or cheaper? He should come live in my office for a week and then he'd get an idea of what we actually do for our money!