The times I've been in these situations, it's usually involved a recruiter, and I've had verbal confirmation from the recruiter to the effect of "I gave them your number and they are OK with it". Now it's possible the recruiter misstated things somewhere along the way, so who knows? But that's what made these things all the more surprising when they've come up: the fact that I was told specifically "I gave them your number and it's within their range" or "they're OK with it" or some similar verbiage.
Had I been applying direct (no recruiter involved) I probably would not have gone through that much process without demanding more details. Knowing what I know now, I definitely wouldn't.
You can always try to find the salary range online, too (sometimes). Glassdoor, paysa, + indeed and other sites sometimes try to provide a guestimate range. Take each with a grain of salt of course. I'm very direct with recruiters typically, as I don't like having my time wasted (as it has in the past).
Had I been applying direct (no recruiter involved) I probably would not have gone through that much process without demanding more details. Knowing what I know now, I definitely wouldn't.