Yes, I've heard that also, but I've also seen some controllers get very frustrated at it. Try it at Cranfield sometime and see what sort of earful they give you*.
A small add-on can be helpful, for example...
"Popham Radio, G-ABCD, inbound"
"Brize Zone, G-ABCD, for basic service and zone crossing"
Because without asking anything of them, it gives the controller a heads up about what you're going to be asking for. But even this is somewhat non-standard and I'd only use it if the bandwidth is quiet. If it's busy,
"Farnborough Radar, G-ABCD"
is enough, and no more.
The only exception where I'd give a full message straight off is an emergency call. But in that case, "Mayday - Mayday - Mayday" or "Pan-pan pan-pan pan-pan" takes long enough to give the controller a chance to put down the phone or his coffee mug and pick up his pencil. Plus, anybody inconvenienced by a genuine emergency can jolly well live with it.
G
* N.B. I heard a controller make a brief joke on RT whilst I was teaching at EGTC the other day. A quite unique experience which unsettled me greatly. However, they restored honour at the end of the sortie by bollocking my student for landing a bit too late and fast to turn of at Charlie, so normal grumpiness was properly restored.