Northrop Grumman Senior Systems Engineer interview questions

Everything about this soured my taste for northrop, and makes me think they are very unprofessional. The interview went fairly easy, although the recruiter seemed confused; I was set up for an interview several times, once was rescheduled. I was told by the recruiter that a phone interview could be set up, as I live about 4 hours away. This was agreed upon, and the next day the recruiter calls asking if I can interview in person the next day. I reiterated that I wouldn't be able to do an in person interview without advanced notice (have kids in daycare), which is why I had requested a phone interview (which northrop had previously agreed upon). I then get an email confirming the phone interview. Great! Had 2 phone interviews with (I believe) the manager and his manager, who were very nice. Was called by HR rep and was told that my interview went well. Again, great! I was given the salary range that they would be paying me and they said they would draft a formal written offer. The verbal offer that I was given was not much more than I make as a junior engineer, and this being a Sr position, I was expecting a bit more. No worries, I thought, I'll see if I can counter when I receive the formal offer. The HR rep calls back the next day and says the company is not even able to meet the verbal offer he made the day before, and made another offer about $5000 less...WTF, you work in HR and you should know what you are able to offer before you set salary expectations!!! I said that this would not be feasible, as I would be taking a more senior for very little extra, in a higher COL area. I countered at a few thousand more. The HR rep said he would see what he could do. That's the last I've heard from company. Looks like the filled the rec, never got any other response from the HR rep, not even a rejection letter, or a call saying they were unable to meet the counter offer. This gave me the vibe of either gross negligence by a senior HR rep (best case scenario) or a bait and switch tactic (worst case scenario)