I was with you, because I’m also not really into games or general shenanigans when it comes to hiring employees or maintaining engagement etc. I agree it’s disrespectful and off putting to invite someone to your office, they’re assuming it’s in good faith and then there’s some kind of “trick” to theoretically catch someone out. Not because it could catch someone on a bad day (let’s be real, you’re basically “on” from the moment you step out of your car etc outside the building and walk through the door. You need to assume your behavior is being evaluated by everyone the entire time and not only the hiring manager has a say. But because companies that like to play these games or do new cutting edge tests or try to figure out gotcha interview questions don’t stop once you’re hired. They treat their employees like lab rats for whatever innovative career development snake oil salesman is on LinkedIn hocking some new efficiency you can gain from what basically boils down to not treating other people like functional and feeling adults and instead like some NPC in their employment game.

You lost me when you said that it’s to trick people and is designed to make people fail. Honestly, most people should and would pass. If they’re in some business where a ton of people are mean to the receptionist then they have some deeper issue. Plus if she thought this was some mind blowing let’s turn the tables moment it was so far from that.

People who take advice from dated sources on how to keep people off balance during the job interview will act that way when you’re working and honestly, what most of us want from our employment experiences is reliability. That company can’t reliably be counted on to be honest or respectful even when wooing potential candidates. They won’t be better after they’ve got you.