Familiarity resented by Britons

London – If you’ve ever wondered why someone in Starbucks needs to know your first name before serving you, you are not alone.

Hundreds of Britons have expressed their dislike of total strangers who treat them as longlost friends.

More than half of 1000 people surveyed by search engine Ask Jeeves preferred those they don’t know to address them as Mrs, Mr or Ms. Six out of 10 disliked cold callers who begin conversations with ‘‘Hi’’ and their first name, refusing to use an honorific.

And 12 per cent felt annoyed by baristas at coffee shops who asked for their first names to write on cups before serving them.

Starbucks said that using first names was ‘‘part of our promise to make your coffee experience as perfect as it can be’’.

Overall, 55 per cent of Britons preferred to be addressed by their title when spoken to, written to or emailed by a stranger.

Designer Tom Ford said that he asked waiters to address him as ‘‘Mr Ford’’.

It seems he is not alone. ‘‘I’m very old-fashioned,’’ he said. ‘‘When I was little I was brought up to say, ‘Hello, Mrs So-and-so’. [To call people] sir and ma’am. I want that for my children.’’

Almost a third of those surveyed resented getting personalised emails from firms contacting them at random.

Even modern social media users resent fake friendliness, with 16 per cent objecting to Facebook’s ‘‘How’s it going?’’ messages on status bars. A spokesman for Ask Jeeves said: ‘‘There is nothing wrong with friendliness but it just doesn’t wash when it comes from someone you have never met or even spoken to.’’

‘‘‘‘ You know how you read interviews where models insist that they eat a lot? Not true. They eat tissue paper to stave off the hunger pangs – literally ball it up and eat it.’’ Kirstie Clements