Disheartening

What happened: * Did an initial coding test (4 questions, 70 minutes). * Recruiter call, then signed an NDA (never got a copy, even after asking). * Two coding interviews, one behavioural, one systems design. * Later told I had to do another frontend systems design interview (the company acknowledged they gave me the wrong systems design interview initially and wanted to put me through a new format for frontend-heavy roles). * That interview was scheduled three separate times and cancelled last minute (one with only 3 hours’ notice). * Finally did it 2 months after the initial coding test. * Followed up, initially was told they were waiting for feedback from the staff engineer who had interviewed me. * Followed up again after a week without communication, got an immediate auto-reply from the recruiter stating they were no longer with the company. * The recruitment director sent a 2-line rejection email saying my "experience is not a match for their requirements". When I pushed for further feedback, I was told that I did not pass either technical interview, and no further feedback was provided. * Asked for my NDA copy, ignored again. Time sunk: * 7 hours of live interviews * 20–30 hours prep (kept re-prepping after each cancelled interview) * 4 hours recruiter calls Takeaway: The actual technical interviews weren’t bad, but the process was disorganized and disrespectful. Cancellations, no feedback, poor communication, and no copy of the NDA I signed. After investing over two months of time, I walked away with nothing but frustration. Questions: - Am I the fool here? Did I let myself get used as a guinea pig for this new interview format? - Why did the recruiter express the hiring manager's excitement over my candidacy to me multiple times? This 100% got my hopes up. - How do I improve from this experience? - Do I have any sort of recourse? I doubt it, but maybe someone out there knows something I don't.