I'm pretty sure not just British people feel the awkwardness of saying 'what' for three times in a row, and just smiling it off as though you heard somebody. I'm British, I do this all the time, but it can't just be specific to us. Maybe most commonly typified by us, but not entirely just ours. Or maybe I'm just wrong.
One time this guy asked me a question and after the third time of not hearing or understanding what he said I just chuckled and nodded. Then we stared at eachother in an awkward silence for about 5 seconds.
So, British people have terrible hearing?