I was reading something last week when I came upon this phrase:

… it was a complete 360 degree turn from the references he gave about her previously…

What the author was trying to say is that the person giving references gave a negative reference instead of the positive one promised.

You do see the error, right?

Just in case, please allow me to illustrate and explain:

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If you’re going one direction and then you change course and go the opposite direction, you turn 180 degrees or do a 180. The same phrasing applies to anything that is a complete departure or change from before, such as changing one’s mind.

To say that someone did a 360 is to mean that they turned around in a complete circle. Actually, in this example, it doesn’t even really make sense.