The gift basket story reminds me of something that happened a few years ago. I got a call from a friend who's a manager at another company in the local metro area.

"HeyLaughingBoy, $CANDIDATE applied for a job here and said that he worked with you at $COMPANY and you actually interviewed him. He listed you as a reference."

"Yeah, I remember him pretty well."

"So, what can you tell me about him? Good hire?"

"Would you like the Official Corporate Reply or my opinion?"

"Thanks!! That's all I needed to hear."

Moral of the story, boys & girls? Make sure the people you list as references actually have something good to say about you.