chris955

Bud the Wiser

You know you're back in the UK when............. you can enjoy a doner kebab after closing time.*

* Never had one sober so I may have to recant that one as I believe they taste totally different when not paired with 10 pints of bitter.

aries

Spot on! I had this experience in Eastbourne early this year. The owner wasn't too pleased when I pointed out that not only was it difficult to get into the shower manouevering alongside the toilet bowl with a shower door which only half opened, but that when I was wet, it was highly dangerous to get out. I'm reasonably slim, so how do heavier people manage? I was told they had only just up-dated!

But I know I'm back in The UK because every service I've needed to access has shown incompetence and given me problems. I thought it was me, but have since read a newspaper article pointing out the pitfalls of living in useless Britain.

The article concluded by saying "They all plod along, making mistakes, taking our money, making us go blind with rage and frustration. Life shouldn't be this hard should it?"

I am sure there are BE members who think life is wonderful here, but they must be living charmed lives.

chris955

Indeed, I and many others must be living charmed lives
I dont THINK life is wonderful here, I KNOW it is.
Was the newspaper the Daily Mail ?

chris955

You know when you are back in the UK when... you feel instantly at home and you feel as though you have never been away.

mikelincs

Daily Mail was it?..

Not had any of those experiences, at least they have all been better and simpler than when in Spain. I suppose it depends on your expectations as well, but all problems have been relatively easy to sort out, like yesterday when we had a new recliner/powerlift chair delivered from ARGOS, the delivery men partly unpacked it leaving it for us the assemble, which we did, tried it out, it reclined OK, then when we used the lift part it reached the highest point, then just stopped, and we couldn't lower it. Complained to ARGOS striaght away, and a replacement will be delivered on Friday and the u/s one taken away. Can't complain about that service.

chris955

The ONLY 'service' issue I have had is that it is taking longer than expected to renew my passport as my last one expired 12 years ago and I have lost it so they need to search through paper archives and find it.

DaveLovesDee

You know you're in the UK when the Jobcentre tell you to call their local number instead of the 0845 number on their letters, because their call handling centre has cut the number of staff.

Hire more people, you idiots!

chris955

You know you are in the UK when you walk into a pub and can buy a pint for £2.50 and it is drinkable.

Mr Weeze

... when you can use the word "fortnight".

As in "My bin only gets collected once a bloody fortnight!"

dunroving

... having an occasional whinge is considered normal.

aries

I've no idea, I was in hospital when I read it.

aries

My British passport is the only service I haven't had an issue with, and it was renewed in Australia.

My list of other issues are too many to detail, but to-day I am trying to obtain the winter fuel allowance, and have had to make call after call because I couldn't be transferred. Then finally when someone said she could arrange it for me, I ventured to say that she would not be able to access my file, and almost immmediately she said I was right, authority would have to be given for access and another person to phone back.

I went through this procedure over and over again in November and December last year, and for what? My state pension was a mere 18 pence per week when I arrived back, increased to 23 pence a week, then rose to 24 pence a week, payable once a year. I spent more on phone calls to the pension office in Newcastle than my pension is for a whole year!!

rebs

My tip for dealing with anything bureaucratic is to do as much as possible on line and avoid having to call and speak to real people at all costs.

Bud the Wiser

Sorry things aren't going to well at the moment. Hopefully you'll be able to turn things around soon. Good luck.

Yes British B&B's/hotels leave a lot to be desired. The days of chamber pots under the bed and getting kicked out after breakfast and not allowed to return until the evening meal are long gone ( I hope ). However, the limited improvements they have made are farcical in many cases, mainly due the structure of the old buildings. I once stayed in one that advertised a jacuzzi hot tub................ it was a rubber mat with holes in lying in the bottom of the bath with two rubber hoses attached to the taps. Luxury.