guesslighting

a form of psychological abuse (or ambient abuse) in which one or more persons deliberately engage in providing multiple accounts of false information to the victim, making them doubt their own memories or question their sanity, and it is up to the victim to guess which information is correct. similar to gaslighting, but can be layered.
i had a paperwork problem with an employer that required me to meet with another person and fill out paperwork. after filling in the paperwork, a different person contacted me and said the paperwork was incorrect and to contact the first person to resolve the problem. the first person denied meeting with me and told me there was no paperwork in the system at all. i set up an appointment to meet with them and start over. they left the office on vacation an hour before i arrived. their receptionist told me to fill out the paperwork myself and deliver it the next day. when i delivered it the next day, the receptionist gave me a name (in the same office) who i could contact about it and said they would give the paperwork to them. i couldn’t speak to them directly without setting up an appointment. i called the person later in the day to set up an appointment. they said they didn’t have the paperwork. when i explained that i handed it to the receptionist, they angrily told me i can’t do that because the receptionist would put it in the mail system, which would leave the building, go to the post office, and come back before it would get to that person’s desk. the receptionist knew this.

a week later i received a letter indicating that the second set of paperwork was rejected as it contradicted the first set of paperwork (that was supposedly not in the system).

“we’re guesslighting that guy to see if he figures out that the job was pulled a week before the interview.”