The soundest advice I can offer is as soon as you think you are being dicked around, approach the program politely and professionally. Most will bend over backwards to resolve the issue, and they can be spotted immediately.
Any program giving you the runaround (the definition of which is way too long to post here) should be dumped. Cut your losses. Sayonara. The runaround technique is as old as business itself. 
The time wasted chasing the no hopers is better spent developing relations with programs prepared to be partners in the time honoured sense of the word.