Yes, it can.

My wife and one of her friends used this trick on a mutual friend of theirs. "Eliza" was always making them fall behind schedule so they started telling her that the departure, show time, etc. was 30-60 minutes before its actual time. It kept the peace for a while as it allowed them not to get steamed when Eliza pulled her usual antics such as only starting to pull together her bag when they arrived at her house en route to the destination. But after a few trips Eliza figured it out what they were doing. She's not stupid, she's just not punctual. At that point it backfired because it not only caused Eliza to become even more lackadaisical about schedules ("Oh, you like to pad it an hour for me, so I'm not at all worried if we're 'late'") but also strained the friendship.