A lot depends on your state. Go to your state's Web site and see if you can track down info like California has:

http://www.cmanet.org/upload/HowTforfm.pdf

You often have to fill out a specific form and pay a fee and "notes" may not be "records", etc. I had to pay $5 to get my dental records when I changed dentists and they only consisted of my last partial x-ray, taken a couple years earlier and totally useless :-) It can take a couple weeks or more too, to allow them to get together whatever is on the form, etc.

I would ask your new doctor what he wants and if your old doctor will have any info useful to him and if his office can help you get any old info, etc.; they'll at least have a copy of whatever form you need to fill out to request whatever the old doctor will have? Just see if you can get the new doctor's help.

What did the unhelpful, nasty office people actually say? Not counting personal nastiness, hopefully there was some sort of information/answers to your direct questions?