This topic relates to our views of "manners". For the American responses, most people either really didn't mind, or they really disapproved. Some people mentioned that if they were older than the employee, they would expect to be addressed by their last name. 

There was more of a gradient in the French responses...some people were indifferent; some people were a little bothered; some people were really bothered and took action to correct the employee. Some French students wrote that they would be "surprised" - why? Because you weren't expecting to be addressed by name at all? Or because it was the first name? Or some other reason? I'm also curious why one person wrote that he/she would laugh? :P

But also, I don't know the age distribution of our French counterparts...in general, is it normal for young people to call each other by first name in the service industry, and for older people to be addressed by last name? Or does everyone expect to be addressed by last name?

The Americans tended to answer with extremes-- the overwhelming majority of people weren't bothered and wouldn't do anything.   Personally, I know when the bank employee uses my first name, he is trying to create the sense that I am a valued customer and that the bank is going to take care of my individual needs.  It's a little weird, and not at all genuine, but we don't consider it offensive.

There were a few who were bothered, and they seemed to immediately want to take it up with the manager, which I thought was strange.  If an employee did something I didn't agree with, I would probably correct them first before getting them in trouble with their boss, especially on something that is not universally considered offensive here.

For the French, what is the line for tutoyer vs vouvoyer?

I think the French responses were almost uniform in that people would not expect it or they would be surprised (someone even wrote that it is an impossible situtation), indicating that the relationship between clients and employees is far more formal than in the US. As Christy said, I think a lot of the time in the US this line is fudged so that the business can seem more personal and caring, whereas in France I think the idea of respect is more important. Why is there this dissimilarity? And why does the preferred difference in address with age not show up in France as it did in a few of the American responses?

I agree with Christy that the use of first names by bank employees is used to project the feeling that the bank cares about you personally, when this is obviously not the case. I also think that it could also be due to the fact that, at least here in America, young people are not often referred to using titles and their last names. These are two reasons why I would not be bothered by being called by my first name.

It appears from the responses that this is not usual in France, is this because distance is kept between bank employees and customers?

It was interesting to note that some people on the American side were very extreme with the way the reacted to the situation.  I honestly do not feel that something as trivial as this should be taken to the manager.  Like Christy said, I would correct them first before getting them in trouble with their boss.

Also, I feel that the differences between Americans and French has to do with their different ideas of formal.

De la même manière que l'on dit vous aux professeurs, on les appelle aussi par leur nom, jamais par leur prénom, ou alors, ce sont nos collègues. C'est dans le monde du travail que se pose le problème du tu/vous, du prénom ou du "madame"/"monsieur". On peut tutoyer son supérieur et l'appeler par son prénom seulement s'il nous y invite.

En lisant rapidement le phrase d'introduction à compléter, je n'ai même pas vraiment compris la situation, je me suis dit: "est-ce qu'il a mal lu? les noms et prénoms sont mal enregistrés sur son fichier? ou alors c'est une façon de draguer peut-être?...en fait, c'est une situation assez inconcevable dans ce contexte pour des français. Par contre, cela m'amuserait, je ne trouverais pas cela malpoli, juste inaproprié.

Grosse différence encore ici sur le fait de la relation entre personnes, et le degré de proximité.
En france on apprécie être pris au sérieux dans ce genre de situation. encore une fois l'argent est important pour les francais. Dans les banques on aime être considéré comme quelqu'un d'important. Le tutoiement nous paraitrait déplacé (sauf si l'on connais vraiment bien son banquier). 

Quand j'étais étudiante aux USA, j'ai ouvert un compte à Wells Fargo. La première fois que j'y suis allée j'ai été très perturbée par la discussion que j'ai eu avec mon conseiller. Au moment où je signais le contrait, nous avions une conversation sur "What are you gonna do this weekend?" et "Have you ever been to Europe?" ce qui me semplait vraiment inapproprié pour la situation. La relation banket/client est totalement différente. Mais ça m'a appris à contacter mon conseiller français plus souvent (par e-mails notamment) juste pour développer cette relation de proximité que les conseillers américains essayent de créer. Par contre je dis toujours "Bonjour Mme Dupont" et pas "Bonjour Isabelle". C'est une limite.

Peut-être mettez-vous cette limite pour l'âge ? Est-ce qu'un conseiller appelle son client par son prénom si il a 50 ans?

C'est moi qui ai mis "situation très improbable" car j'ai travaillé à la banque et je sais que cette situation n'arriverait jamais. La banque est une institution, il y a des codes à respecter et les employés de banque le savent très bien. Il y a une distance à garder entre l'employé et le client et cela montre aussi un certain professionnalisme. Les conseillers les plus à même de tutoyer leurs clients sont les conseillers pour les clients professionnels (les commerçants, etc) qui déjeunent souvent avec eux et ont une relation de proximité avec eux qui se déroule en dehors des locaux de temps à autres. Pour les autres conseillers (grand public, surtout), cela reste des relations formelles qui se passent dans les locaux de la banque avec des protocoles bien spécifiques.

De manière générale, lorsqu'on ne connait pas la personne, on ne va pas la tutoyer. De même, lorsqu'il y a un lien hiérarchique, on ne tutoie pas son N+1, sauf si (comme flo l'a dit) il nous y invite.

Personnellement, je déteste qu'on me tutoie quand on ne me connait pas. Quand cela arrive, je me retiens toujours de leur dire "nous n'avons pas gardé les cochons ensemble !" qui est une expression bien connue en France. Je trouve que le tutoiement non autorisé ou non incité est un manque de politesse et de respect envers moi. Cela donne aussi l'impression parfois d'être infantilisé, car on a tendance à tutoyer les jeunes.

@Lova: I would say calling someone in their 20s or below by their first name could be appropriate in some situations, but any older than that would never be appropriate. What do you think?

@Caroline: I think that the lack of a distinction between "tu" and "vous" in English makes drawing a line between relationships a little harder.

When I read this situation, I actually didn't understand what the problem was because it is so common to be addressed by the first name, at least for people of our age. While I understand the professional relationship that using surnames helps achieve, if a teller calls me by my first name I have no problem with it and am happy they are not trying to distance themselves from me, and it feels like they are being more personable. But I could see some situtations where using the first name (or in a certain tone) could seem like they are condescending. However, I think the American respnses are also a little unique becuase we are all students, and being young are used to being adressed by our first name. If I was 30, maybe, I would expect to be adressed a little more formally. Overall I think this situation just shows the difference between what people want out of their business relationships. Although I am still interested in why in France, it would be amusing rather than rude. 

Overall, I agree with Eduardo that this all has to do with our different levels of formality. Here, even if you use first names, tone, body language, and particular word choice help to express respect/formality - in France, I guess the "tu/vous" and addressing with last name help to emphasize the respect and draw a clear line.  

Like Meera has stated before, there is no clear defined line between "tu" and "vous."  We only have word that is used for both "tu" and "vous" and that is "you."  The fact that we only have one word for this type of interaction sort of makes things less formal. 

I also generally like being called by my first name because a lot of Americans butcher my last name.

Are there other situations, outside the bank, where it would be appropriate to be addressed by first name by a service worker?  Or are there times when you address a service worker by his first name?

In high school, my 25-year old coach used to take my team out for team dinners.  He used to always address the waitress by her first name which I found quite awkward at the time.  Looking back, I feel like it should be appropriate to address a server by his name, especially after he introduces himself.  The servers have name tags for a reason, right?   Still, I personally just try to get the waiter's attention by saying "Excuse Me" when he passes by.  What do you think is appropriate when addressing others in this sort of context?

@Amanda: Now that you mention it, I hardly ever use someone's name to address them if I'm a customer at their business. Like you said, I normally just say 'excuse me'. And I don't think most people that are employees go out of their way to introduce themselves or use my name (unless perhaps they are in customer service). 

I would like to be called by my last name more in these types of situations (at the bank, when I'm working with companies to purchase equipment for the lab, etc).  Unfortunately, a lot of people see my last name and say they're going to use my first name because they can't say my last (without even trying).  Or, they say something like "I'll take three guesses at how this mess is pronounced!" Many also try to guess where my family's from.  Normally, this doesn't bother me too much, but I went to a job fair recently, and about 50% of the employers did something like this!  It quickly became grating, and some of the questions were borderline offensive.  Politely asking how to say it or making an honest attempt, failing, then asking are a much better way to go!

In regards to the public service question, I usually say "excuse me" to get the waiter's attention because most of the time they are not wearing any name tags. 

@Christy, j'ai exactement le même problème avec mon nom de famille !

@Kristen, Ce qui est marrant avec les professeurs (à l'université en particulier) c'est qu'ils nous appellent par notre prénom mais disent "vous" lorsqu'ils s'adressent à nous. Peut-être parce que nous avons 20 ans et plus. Sinon au lycée on a le droit au "vous" ou au "tu" selon les professeurs. Certains nous appellent même par nos noms de famille. J'ai l'impression que ça dépend de la façon dont ils nous considèrent (adulte? adolescent?) ou comment ils veulent créer une distance entre eux et nous (forme de politesse).