DM Merchandising interview questions

It was straightforward. First I came in for an interview for about an hour. They called me soon after to say they wanted to move forward so I came in the work on the computer with my new boss to see how that went. We spent about an hour on the computer I went home and they made me an offer like maybe an hour later.

I interviewed with this company and all started off well enough. I had two separate phone interviews and an in-person interview with the VP, CEO and manager. Afterwards, the VP followed up with me to see if I wanted to move forward with the interview process (building a mood board). Before I invested even more time into the process, I asked if we could align on compensation range before we moved ahead. I received a curt reply stating they were confident the comp was competitive and that they would be extending an offer to someone else. I’d advise compensation be discussed at the outset of the interview process - this is standard protocol. There appears to be no HR involved in hiring so maybe this was missed? Bringing up a discussion of compensation during the hiring process shouldn’t be grounds for dismissal. I didn’t want any more time wasted for either party if comp was below a certain range. Very disappointing experience and if this is any indication on how they handle “uncomfortable” questions or any kind of dissonance, I believe I dodged a bullet.