There was a story published by ProPublica[1] reporting on this sort of progression from the side of people negotiating to pay the ransoms. Here's a small excerpt, but I think the whole thing is worth a read:
Storfer learned quickly never to use the term “hacking.” Instead, he would assume his correspondent “thinks they’re a businessman,” Storfer said. “I’d say: ‘Look, we can’t afford this [ransom] at this time. Do you mind providing your product [recovery key] at a lower rate?’ And it worked,” he said. “They’re doing a job where everyone hates them, so feeling like they were respected made them work with us. I like to think empathy goes a long way.”
The rapport sometimes reaped discounts. “We were able to get a $5,000 ransom lessened to $3,000 because they knew we could deliver it exactly when we said we were going to get it to them,” Storfer said.