I get a call two weeks ago from an employment agent at one of those ubiquitous job placement companies. She says she found my resume on Monster and wants me to go interview for a job that's in my field and seems pretty great. 
"By the way," she asks, "Do you need to give two-weeks notice at your current job?"
I say yes, I definitely do. 
She says it's fine, and schedules me for next week for an interview with her, and another one with the company that's actually hiring. I get my hopes up and everything because the job sound really nice and it's with a well-known, successful company.
I go to the appointment at her agency, which takes two hours just to go through all their paperwork and interminable registration procedures. When I finally get to talk to her, she mentions that the hiring company has a mandatory week-long training process for this job. And by the way, it's scheduled to start next week. 
I again tell her that I have to give two-weeks notice at my current job. She assures me that they can work it out with the hiring company and acts all excited and encouraging about my upcoming interview with them.

The next day I go to said inteview, wherein I find out that the training does indeed start next week, there is absolutely no way they can reschedule it, and despite this they intend to take their time with making the hiring decision. So I have to choose between applying for a job where I'll get barely half a week's notice if I'm hired and so won't be able to accept anyway, or having to tell the interviewers that I actually can't apply because of this and going home empty-handed. This after I took time off from work for both of these interviews, neither of which was close to drive to.

I have to wonder if employment agencies just exist to deliberately waste people's time and play with their heads.

Does this sort of thing happen to anyone else or do I just have bad luck?