Marqeta interview questions

Verbal offer received only to be followed by some "reference check" process in which they asked me for 5+ references. They spoke with 3 people, one of which they dismissed as "not relevant" and said the other 2 weren't "good enough". Not sure what this meant, as my references told me they said good things about me. Recruiter contacted me 5 days later telling me they went with another candidate with "better references". (They have been repeatedly reposting the same job on linkedin for the past 2 weeks) I feel like they have not told the truth or honored their word on many occasions. Additionally, why would references be considered more important than their own impressions of me during the interview process? Are you saying you trust the words of strangers who you've never met over someone you interviewed for 3 rounds? Does the past really define the future? especially if you're relying on someone else's account of the past? Anyway, I'm sure it was all just an excuse for something else. I got the feeling that my salary expectations were just too high for the job function and they didn't have a good way of telling that to me. Some honesty and transparency and accountability would have been nice. No need to even make a verbal offer if references was going to be used in this way.