Glad to see this debate is not straying into the realms of childishness.
Airlines may not pay tax on fuel, but who pays for ATC in this country? It certainly isn't G/A. Oh that's right, it's paid for by the airlines........ F3G, you might not, but I certainly whinge about how much tax we have to pay on AVGAS, one of the reasons we are just about to get a diesel machine.
However, the argument about who pays for what and who doesn't is utterly spurious in this situation, personally I have no idea what the statistics are and to be frank I'm not sure I care.
The simple point is this. If you think you are lost or in trouble in any way, ask for help. You can always downgrade if things get better, but at least if there is a problem, then the people who may be able to help you are already aware of any difficulties.
It is not the fact that people use this service that bothers me, but the fact that it is regarded as an aid. I've said it before and I'll say it again, PPL's would be far more advised in getting their general standard on navigation up, than thinking up ways of covering over the cracks.
The general consensus amongst examiners and the CAA is that the standard of nav skills in the PPL world is very poor. Maybe it over-reliance on aids such as GPS? Or just that Navigation is being badly taught in schools? Whatever it is the facts are clear, more people than ever are bouncing into control zones and busting danger areas.
We fly in very congested airspace in this country, where unlike a lot of other countries it is very, very easy to make mistakes. We have lots of areas where light aircarft can have a very large (and usually negative) effect on commercial Ops. Whilst I have every sympathy for the G/A community (being part of it helps!) it can be hugely frustrating if you are screaming along at 250kts+ and you all of a sudden have to take avoiding action, because someone can't be bothered to put their transponder on ALT, mind you even then it doesn't always help, since the altitude readout is still unverified.
There will always be problems between commercial traffic and G/A, since their goals and requirements are totally different.
Anyway back to the point, If you are monitoring 121.5, you won't hear every call from light a/c, simply because their radios aren't powerful enough, but you'll certainly hear an awful lot more commercial traffic because of the power output and altitude of the transmissions. So it isn't really any kind of argument to say "I heard this whilst I was flying" therefore it's gospel.
I certainly know that people use this service and don't admit to being on trouble, since I talk to pilots and have often heard the boast about not admitting to being lost, but somehow pulling a fast one by getting help from D&D under the guise of a 'training fix' whilst in reality not having a clue where they were.
That is the attitude I object to, trying to hoodwink an excellent services to cover their own inadequacies. Not on and in my case leads to a swift 'chat' about not taking the p*ss.
By all means use the service if you are genuinely lost and need help or to confirm where you think you are, but just don't boast about how clever you are afterwards to the CFI. All I'm thinking is what a prat, not what a clever chap.