This is an old story from 1999, but it still rings true.
I had applied for a Safety Coordinator position at the San Francisco Drydock, a Carlyle subsidiary. At the time I was living Sacramento and it was approximately a 2.5 hour trip, one way, for the interview. About ten days later I was called to schedule a second interview. Another 2.5 hour trip each way and the interview was about one hour long. A few days later I got a call that the SF Drydock had offered to job to another person. Ok, no problem.
About two months later out of the blue I received a call from the HR department wanting to schedule another interview. The guy they gave the job to didn't work out. So another trip from Sacramento to San Francisco and back. At the time I was between jobs, so I had the time on my hands.
A few days later yet another phone call wanting to set up another interview. I ask if I was going to meet with some who could make a offer of employment. The answer was “No”, upper management wanted to meet with me. I responded that if this wasn't a meeting to make an offer I was no longer interested in working for the SF Drydock.
There was a long pause, and finally she said, “Well, the managers want to meet you”. I told her that manages had three opportunities earlier to do so, and if this interview was not going to about pay then I was no longer interested in working for the SF Drydock. She started to stammer that this was a meeting to meet the managers. I hung up the phone.