Job interviews in a recession are always fun, ain't they!
I remember in the early 1980s a friend going for a job in
PR with a health board in Yorkshire. She had to pay her travelling expenses for the trip from London but they would only be refunded if she either wasn't offered the job, or was offered and accepted.
If she was offered the job and didn't take it, she'd have to pay for her own expenses. (and, of course, interviews were during the week, so she had to take a day of annual holiday to attend, win or lose.)
As can happen in interviews, she decided she wouldn't like to work for these people, and they also preferred someone else. So she got a nice cheque to cover travelling costs.
Then - believe it or not - she got a letter saying the first person had dropped out. So would she like the job. Her reply was no - and then they wrote and asked for the now-cashed cheque back!
Very best,
XA