The interview process was not great - very hands off and cold, although I partially blame Covid for that. My first interview was over video, and I was told how how much she liked me and that I was definitely in the running for the second interview with the president of the company. A few days later I hear that the president basically said "I trust your judgement" and said she could hire me without a second interview so I was offered the job without meeting anyone in person or seeing the office.
I told her I was very interested but wanted to think it over, and would also like to meet in person and see the office/commute. I felt like she got very weird about me wanting to meet which was a bit of a red flag, but she eventually agreed to it so I let it go.
When offered the job (Wednesday), I was told to let her know if I'd be accepting by that Friday, or the following Monday at the latest. She said she was super excited and that I was a perfect fit. That Friday I followed up saying I am very strongly considering accepting, but asked a few questions about benefits, such as Maternity Leave. The following Monday I had another call where we discussed Maternity leave again and the following was said "I'm not sure how long you've been with your husband or how old you are". I awkwardly avoided answering, as I don't think it was appropriate at all. After discussing, I told her I was ready to accept the job offer. She then said that it's okay and that I can wait until our meeting that Wednesday to officially accept to make sure it's a good fit. I got a very weird feeling from that phone call but figured maybe she was being nice and really wanted to make me feel comfortable accepting.
The very next day I get a call saying they're taking back the offer and hiring someone else because I took to long to accept the position...which makes absolutely no sense because I tried accepting within the given time limit and she's the one that told me to wait.
I can't help but think the offer was pulled because I had asked about maternity leave (everything was going great before that point). I was also told during the process that a parental leave policy was proposed a few years back that included fathers and it was denied so I don't believe this is a family friendly company.
While this is beyond unprofessional and very disappointing, I'm sure I dodged a bullet not working for this company.