Russell Finex interview questions

3 stages interview: phone call, on site interview with line manager and senior team member and final interview with director. Usual interview questions and package discussions with a brief presentation required in the last one

I had one conversation with sales coordinator, one conversation with sales coordinator, managing director, general manager for their belgium branch, after which i was invited to their HQ. Very straightforward questions. at their HQ i met with sales coordinator and general manager and i was asked to present the results of market research and build a separator from few pieces. All went rather smooth until the topic of salary came up - even though i was asked for my salary expectations long before at the first conversation, i was offered 15% less base salary. General manager was very dissatisfied when i was visibly not happy with the offer, i even showed them my current salary and bonus, but they kept claiming company car is also a benefit (sure, but i have to use it to visit customers, should i use my own car instead?). I was quite surprised they discussed the salary with me that soon, even though they told me there was a interview with second candidate planned for the same day. i read somewhere that the company is cheap, and it was a huge red flag when they told me about this base salary, so i wouldn't accept the offer anyways, but i'm wondering why someone is wasting so much time (mine and theirs) and company money (tickets, hotels, taxi) on the recruitment process when you are not even honest with the candidate? In the end I didnt receive the offer, i guess they preferred someone who accepted being treated like this