CluckyBear's journey

I recently accepted a job offer for a role I applied for after being contacted by a recruiter. The process involved three interviews over three weeks, and I received the offer on Thursday, the 18th. However, things took a turn when they sent me a list of requirements that needed to be submitted by the end of Friday, the 19th. I explained that I wasn't home that day but managed to send my references and some documents over the weekend. The company then changed my start date to the 29th, which is much sooner than I expected, as I initially thought I would start later in July. On Monday, they asked me to chase my reference, which felt unreasonable to me. I reached out to my reference on Tuesday, and she mentioned she was waiting for approval from HR since my new job is with a competitor. Today, I received an email and a phone call from both the new company and the recruiter, insisting that I contact my reference today because they urgently need it. I've never experienced an onboarding process where I had to constantly follow up on my reference like this, and the shifting timelines have made me uneasy. I'm starting to wonder if this is a red flag for the company culture.