Yankiwi,
What happened to you is appalling. And it should stand out as a warning to anyone considering going to an interview. Personally, I found the whole back-and-forth business of getting fares approved before booking them to be awkward, to say the least, and I was always a bit concerned that I might do something slightly wrong during the process. But I never thought that I wouldn't get the money (or even the interview). I have to say though, it does all sound a bit strange using anything other than just the ANA online booking portal - that's all I did, and yes it did involve flying several hours in the wrong direction to get to the closest ANA port, but that's what they wanted.
For anyone considering going to ANA, just to give you an idea of HOW ridiculous the process can get, I was asked to fly all the way back to Japan to re-do a medical check, as there was apparently a problem with my vision. It turned out that my 'problem' was the fact that I had a western nose, which is bigger than the average Japanese (but not unusually big, in fact I don't think my nose is any bigger than anyone else's). My visual field test was a problem as a result as there are two 'dents' in the corner of each field where the nose blocks that part of my vision. Apparently Japanese visual fields are more oval. I couldn't believe I had just gone all that way to find out that this was the 'problem'. And to top it off, the doctor had to REALLY THINK HARD about whether or not it would pass the JCAB medical before deciding that it was OK but 'borderline'.
That was over a month ago. Since then, I have heard nothing. Not. A. Thing. All I can say is that the earlier comment about the lack of common sense in Japan is an understatement to say the least.