Have any of you ever called your previous job/landlord to see what kind of reference they would give you?

You'd probably need someone else to call on your behalf. If you have, how did it turn out?

Edit: There seems to be some confusion about what I'm asking. I'm not talking about fake references. I'm talking about calling your reference on the sly to see if they're actually going to give you a positive review.

For example things don't go well with your landlord and you suspect they're going to depict you as bad tenant when you put them down as a reference while looking for a new place.

The same thing could be said for bosses and jobs.