I left a while ago, whilst still in the mob, I gave the odd duty free bottle to a civvie in stores as a thank you for his good service (He had a reputation as a miserable jobsworth). When I left to join another flying club, I handed my kit in and was pleasantly surprised to find that he insisted on handling my kit return. It went very smoothly and I still have my watch.
Treat everybody as you would like to be treated, you never know what is in the future.
Senior Officers who garner respect from their troops never need to to use their rank on retirement, we all know the good ones, the bad ones will insist on using it.