iadams

It must not be uncommon.  I can hear a repeater in Maryland and one in Pennsylvania and both of them ID a few time per day in fast CW.  Definitely GMRS repeaters - especially since I hear people talk on them IDing with GMRS call signs.

Even if they do read the directions, that doesn't change the fact that FRS/GMRS radios do not come out of the box with basic cross brand and model interoperability for the most part due to the pre-programming.  To me, they are set up to make coordinated use difficult (sharing channels) and emergency/outside contact unlikely.  
 
Given the transmit range, outside of urban areas the likelihood of needing the tones so that you don't hear other traffic seems very small - especially with the fairly low number of users (on top of the aforementioned TX distance limits).
 
Even someone with a large amount of knowledge would have the same issues with bubble pack radios.
 
When I am walking down a hallway and meet someone, I go right and he goes to his right.  This coordination wouldn't be possible if we both had our eyes closed, and had only opened them once for a few seconds before we started walking.  This is what using tones seems like to me.  You check the channel by using CSQ for a few seconds, hear nothing, and start using the channel oblivious to the (radio) world around you.
 
It seems odd to me that the default mode in this radio service is to block outsiders rather than enabling it if necessary.