I was told it would be a four stage interview process, however it became five stages. I was asked for references and I stated I would happily provide references if they were to make an offer. HR from Botify advised me that they can not make an offer without taking references first, but that they would not take references unless they were going to make an offer. They took what they called a good reference, and left a message for my other referee but then called me to say they had decided not to make an offer as they had reservations around performance in my current role. I had been very open about my lack of billing in my current role and the organisational issues behind that. I specifically asked if they had reservations, and they said they did not. I specifically qualified with them that they would not take references without making an offer. They went against this.