Phew! Thanks, SWANFIS, I was beginning to lose the will to live.
Several contrary opinions have been repeated several times, with attached insults. Not a lot has been achieved towards a consensus here, so I can guess what the authorities will do.
I don't monitor 121.5 as much as WWW does, and I certainly haven't made thousands of calls on there. But I have to say that I've heard many more airliners who'd goofed up their frequency selection than I've heard PPLs who were "sort-of lost". Maybe I was flying at the wrong times.
I asked the folks at D&D about this on a visit a few years ago, and their response was that they were always there and always pleased to have a call. It's an excellent service they provide - I've not come across a similar one anywhere else (although US Flight Following is impressive).
Why can't we take the advice of the good people at West Drayton and Swanwick, and leave it at that?