Actually happens more than you might think. (reversed controls)
I inspected a fatal crash in which the pilot/mechanic had reversed the aileron control cables in his DHC-3 Beaver. He did a slow roll on takeoff and impacted the nose almost inverted.
My theory is that because the ailerons were not installed on the day he got the cables reversed, he had no easy way to check his work. A month later the ailerons were installed by him. The ailerons use a pushrod control. So he may have thought the aileron pushrod could not be reversed and thought he was done and forgot to check the earlier work where he had crossed the cables at the control yoke.
Always check control direction before every flight.