Comment by dhx

Could you have perhaps been too accommodating? By being a little bit "harder to get"[1] you may be able to weed out[2][3] recruitment opportunities that aren't serious and would just be a waste of your time to follow through on. Neither party should be expecting the other to just drop everything they're doing and reschedule on a whim. If that happens again, you should probably call it out (professionally) and state that you're happy to continue discussions but only when they're ready and serious about hiring.

Recruiters will hand out accolades, false hopes and more just to keep you engaged until the moment someone else (preferred candidate) has been picked by the client. Then you get ghosted because you're no longer making the recruiter money or because you're now the backup option in case the preferred person cancels before starting or soon after starting, and they would prefer you remain available "just in case you're needed".

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29071362