Bones, I have a bad feeling too, but it's more about the clod who laughed at you today. You might want to call again on Monday, and if that same clod answers the phone again, ask to speak to someone else. If, when you speak to that someone else, there's any surprise at all that you didn't get your callback on Friday, I wouldn't hesitate to share what you experienced when you tried to make contact then.
Not that you want to work in a place where lies and gameplaying are happening - if they are - before you're even hired; but if that's true, it may be worth something to someone there to discover that the dysfunction - if that's what this was - has spread so far that games are now being played with interviewees.
I've been a supervisor. I would not have tolerated anyone laughing at an interviewee who was making a follow up contact for any reason. I would also have some pretty sharp words for anyone on my staff who answered the phone and blithely informed you that they couldn't give you any useful information, without making the least effort to put you in touch with someone who could.
Do you see what I mean? I cannot be certain, but based on my own understanding of standards of conduct for workplaces and how to treat job candidates, it sure looks to me as though you were abused.
[PS: if I sound like an old meanie, you'll be surprised to learn that I had waiting lists of people who wanted to transfer in and work for me, every place I was a supervisor. I applied the same standards to myself that I expected my staff to meet: no meanness, no bs, no games, no lies. People found it refreshing to be able to actually do their jobs...]
