Springs Window Fashions UI/User Experience Designer interview questions

The whole process was maybe two or three weeks. It started out fine, but then quickly things got irritating (to say the least). In short, I think these guys have a long way to go before understanding the way you properly interview and value design candidates (especially cross-functional ones with front-end dev experience, like me). Disclaimer: this was over 3 months ago; they very well could have improved their process since I interviewed there. First round was a phone screen which was easy enough. I was referred to them by a friend who worked there and it sounded like a nice local gig. Second round was a design exercise. Not sure how others feel about these, but I am instantly skeptical of any company having mid-senior level designers doing "exercises." My portfolio of work includes both visual product design and front-end development, which I made sure was easily discoverable in my application. My fears were validated when my exercise was directly related to their brand, and involved raw concept and production code work with html/css. I told the recruiter that no, I will not be doing this because it's ethically questionable. So instead they have me do a watered down version without the html/css. This is still not OK, but I do it anyway. The issue here is that now my chances of moving forward in the interview process are tainted because they don't have a fair comparison of me to other candidates who are likely going to do the full concept/code project. When I voiced my concern, the senior designer called me to reiterate the purpose of the exercise and simply ignored my concerns. It took them a week to get back to me, and when they finally called to let me go of the interview process, I made sure to revoice my concerns. Overall, I feel a combination of bad for them and as a victim myself. They have a long way to go.