They were playing hard to get. :)
These days here though, my wife has people with 10+ experience applying for junior positions, due to the lack of work. The problem is, even if they can do the job, they wouldn't enjoy it for long and likely wouldn't stay anyway, given the salary would still be junior.
Yeah, that is a good point. This one was a programming job and I am not sure if they wanted someone who was already doing like hobby programming on the side or something. I feel like I could have learned quickly and been a good fit if they had given me a chance.