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Seriously, what the heck? Is this normal for an employer to do?

No, this is completely unacceptable. Sure, the interview didn't work out, but screwing the candidate because of that is just so, so bad.

Do I have any recourse against this employer?

As a legal question which is going to depend on your jurisdiction and that of the employer. You'd need to talk to an actual lawyer.

As others have commented, independent of the legal aspect, "naming and shaming" is an option. I would very rarely advocate that behaviour, but in this case I think it's worth making other candidates aware of the risk they take interviewing with this company. However:

1. Make at least a nominal attempt to reconcile things with the company first.


2. Stack Exchange is not the platform to name and shame on.

The more I think about, the more I'm thinking I must have said something offensive to somebody in an interview. Is there any way to ask them what I said (so that I can avoid this mistake in the future)?

You can ask, at which point there are two possibilities:

1. This was actually a mistake and/or more sensible heads have prevailed at the company, in which case I'd hope they'd refund your expenses and the like.


2. They seriously meant to do this, in which case I doubt they'll answer.

I honestly cannot think of anything which would cause me to act in this way towards a candidate; there's plenty you could say which would cause me to terminate the interview on the spot and walk you out the door, but I'm not going to screw someone in a way which would reflect so negatively on the company for any future candidates.

Be sure to post to GlassDoor, etc, but be absolutely sure to post only the exact truth, with nothing opinion based which could get you sued.

Do that - after you have found a lawyer; most will give a free consultation if they are fairly sure of a win, for which you probably have grounds (especially give that "had to eat scraps from other customers").

IANA, but you might first ask a legal opinion on our sister site https://law.stackexchange.com/

Seriously, what the heck? Is this normal for an employer to do?

No. As far as slimy tactics by employers go, this is pretty up there. If I were you I'd name & shame them on glassdoor and the like. If they're in any sort of public spotlight the PR from that will be disastrous. Nobody wants to interview much less work for a company with that track record.

Do I have any recourse against this employer?

Thats a question for a lawyer specializing in employment law. Try to find one that offers free consultations.

The more I think about, the more I'm thinking I must have said
something offensive to somebody in an interview. Is there any way to
ask them what I said (so that I can avoid this mistake in the future)?

Even if you did, I have never heard of a employer doing this, and I'm pretty sure almost nobody actually does this. If you are an employer flying people out for interviews, you CAN NOT afford the bad publicity such a stunt will give you. Imagine what happens if a company like that invites me to an interview and I read THAT on a review site? Hard pass just on precaution.

What the company did was in extremely poor taste, so much so, that I wonder if there might be something more happening, especially since you said you bombed the interview, both technically and personally.

In your job application, were you truthful and honest?

Did you lie or seriously exaggerate about your skills, experience or history?

Was there a phone screen before the interview trip? Why did the phone screen go well enough to merit an interview then the interview went so poorly?

Basically, if you were not the job applicant you said you are: If you lied on your resume, or had someone coach you through a phone screen, and then were discovered in the interview, I think the company would have a real right to be extremely pissed off, and possible a legal right due to fraud to claw back some of their expenditures.

If you are confident everything on your end was honest and level, and you just had a really bad interview for a job that was a poor fit, then you probably have a strong legal case and the ability to create a PR and Recruiting Nightmare for the company.

PS
If you do decide to make it a Public Relations / Recruiting Situation, you might consider making it about the individuals involved as well as the Company. Companies can be faceless, nameless, bureaucratic beasts, but if you name the HR-recruiter and Hiring Manager involved, and make them responsible for their own decisions, it might be more effective. Check with a lawyer and be careful to avoid unjust defamation.

Is this normal for an employer to do?

I've swapped 'horror interview' stories with other developers and managers, but I've never heard of this happening.

I must have said something offensive

Maybe, but only blame yourself for blowing the interview.

Don't blame yourself for the return plane ticket fiasco.

This is likely a single person making a big mistake.

The ones that covered for that mistake afterwards (I assume you talked to multiple people there) also seem culpable to me at this point, but IANAL.

If you made offensive remarks during the interview I would want you not just out of my face, but also out of my town. I would abruptly (but politely) end the interview - it wouldn't occur to me to cancel your return flight.

If you totally lied about your experience, I might recommend to my company that we ask you to compensate us for the plane ticket and hotel. But I don't expect most companies ever would pursue it because of the bad PR that could come from it.

Yes, this sounds sleazy.

I have heard of similar tactics by recruiters, but in another manner.
One such thing happened to a friend who was set up by a recruiter for an interview. The company promised to reimburse him for the trip, but asked him to set it up. He did well enough on the interview, but declined the job offer. As a retaliatory measure, the recruiting company never reimbursed him for his travel expenses.
I have had a less drastic experience. I worked in the field of Time Difference of Arrival, but for radar signatures. The job called for this technique, but for oil exploration.

I was invited for an interview by a recruiter. I drove 5 hours each way, just to be asked if I have oil exploration experience, which I did not have nor claimed to have. I was rejected for the job because I did not. If this was such a strong criteria, then the recruiter should have asked me on a 5 minute phone interview before I drove down. I drove 10 hours, depreciated my car and spent other money. Moreover, the recruiter was unprepared for my arrival and had me wait in the lobby for an hour.