Personally (over 18 years on & off)I've only had the best service from the CAA: friendly, professional, fairly prompt, and ever concerned and compassionate when both FCL & I thought they had lost my old license and some personal effects(subsequently found in my flight bag)!
Of course they regulate us, sometimes to a degree that we may not appreciate but the alternaive is probably much worse..... I don't doubt some of the horror stories are true, but there needs to be balance.