I'm with you there, Shawty! Years ago some locals said to me that they hated August because of the kind of people who were there then. We'd never travelled with Thomson until we first went to Agios Stefanos in 2010, and feared for the worst. Over the years we've had very good service from Thomson/TUI and the apartments have been fine.
It's not necessarily cheaper to take a DIY trip than a package. It depends to some extent where you live. Unless you live near a cheap-as-chips airline hub you have to factor in the added cost and hassle of getting to the airport and back for departure. Our nearest airports are Doncaster - which is a Wizz Air hub and has dirt cheap flights to Poland and the Czech Republic - we are left with Leeds - which has Jet2 and Rynair - and Manchester. Round trip to Manchester is a 200 mile drive. So that's time, hassles and petrol across a frequently problematic M62. The Trans-Pennine Express from Hull doesn't go to the airport, so it either means a nightmare change at Manchester or an easier one at Huddersfield. Not very relaxing. LBA is nasty to get to from Hull. Then you have the necessity of taxis in Corfu, so add another £125 to your bill.
Contrast that with a 50 minute all-motorway drive to Doncaster, where there's lot's of parking right next to the terminal and a TUI package. I used to fly a lot when I was younger - for about a year I more or less commuted from London to Munich or Vienna. In my advanced years I now find it much more relaxing to check in and hand all responsibility to TUI. (There are only 6 gates at Donny, and most of them are essentially part of the departure lounge, so there's no chance of missing a plane!) If I take a taxi from Agios Stefanos to the airport and the taxi breaks down and I miss the plane - well that's just tough luck. If I'm on a TUI coach with plenty of other people that breaks down it's TUI's problem. So although I can see some justification for getting a taxi from the airport to Agios Stefanos to save maybe an hour before you get a drink, I regard not using the bus back to the airport as marginally insane.
I know Maggie will be along shortly to say it's a matter of choice, but there is some logic involved!