I told someone that I called to a government bureaucrat office and got through right away.
Your use of the word combination “just to” causes ambiguity in how your question is perceived. On one hand, it can mean “with the express purpose” or “specifically for the purpose of”. On the other hand, it could mean “resulting in” or “only to have”. As such, some people are interpreting you to mean that a nefarious attempt to extract an exclamation or startled retort.
After several decades of life and with interactions with thousands or tens of thousands of people, of course that has happened, and on multiple occasions at that. It’s a natural reaction for a wide variety of situations and/or circumstances. I don’t see how anyone could accurately respond to your question in the negative.
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Not necessarily so. If someone did not hear what was said, did not hear it clearly, did not understand it, those are reasons for asking, “What?” after something was said. It‘s also possible that an incredulous or funny or shocking or risqué or barely believable or outrageous thing has just been said, resulting in, “What?” Theoretically, I could come up with countless examples of that word being used by a person who has just been told or asked something. That’s why I stated it’s a normal reaction depending on situation or circumstance.
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Randy D 