Why is it considered acceptable to just cut off contact after a phone interview or an onsite interview?
If you get an onsite interview or phone interview, they should at least have the decency for a form letter "Thanks for applying, but we chose someone else." (especially after an on-site interview)
I have tried to be courteous to everyone who has applied where I am. However, keep in mind that one recruiter may be dealing with 20-50 applicants in that week.
And it is never fun rejecting people. It is easy to want to put it off.
Some people don't like to reject others so they take the easy way out and just go silent.
This is a tragic mistake, because if you are running a company you need to be able to do something much worse -- cut people who are currently working for you.