TVO interview questions

One phone interview. HR representative scheduled a video call with the management team, which they cancelled at the last minute because someone was going to be away on vacation. How did they not know this before? After the video call, they asked me to complete an unpaid speech writing exercise for the CEO, due within 3 days. In my opinion, these exercises are just an excuse for free labor. At a senior writing level, they beneath the skill sets of the applicants. I submitted the exercise, but did not hear back from the company again. I had to e-mail the HR representative a month later to learn that they weren't moving ahead with my candidacy. You'd think they would've sent a generic courtesy e-mail...