London1947

Well it's hard to know where to start. It would appear that people that move back home after many years away say things are just great. This is not the England I left in 1982 I thought I had left it in good hands. Arriving home with my new American wife it has been a struggle, a struggle for her to acclimate. Here are some of my views. Try to open a bank account. The Halifax, Nat West, Barclays all wanted to do a credit check, but you have no credit history in the UK so that went out the window. The only bank i found that would help open an account without a credit check upon showing your passport was Lloyds TSB.

If you need to rent an apartment/flat they do check your credit, of course credit you don't have. You can get around this by supplying your bank assets but would you want to do that. The cost of living is more expensive and i suppose it's all relative to the country you have left. Petrol/Diesel is expensive roughly 100 GBP to fill a midsize car. Getting trades people to come takes 4-6 weeks if your lucky. Food shopping is also expensive in a nutshell moving and now living in England was for us a big mistake. However is you are clever enough you can milk the benefit system, I do not, in fact my American wife has stamped in her passport "not entitled to benefits" before i made the decision to come back to the UK someone told me
"You can never go home" what a profound statement. One last point if you live in a warmer climate and thinking of returning to the UK stay where you are.

morayeel

sorry you are feeling that you made a mistake in moving back to the UK. I guess it all depends on what each person is "heading home" for. I think unless you have a good job or enough money its going to be tough for everyone. It'll be warming up soon though and maybe with a little more time you and your wife will adjust. Best of Luck to you both.

WhoFan63

Sorry that you're finding the UK not what you were expecting! Unfortunately we can never go back to the way things used to be and those who want to go back for that reason are ultimately disappointed. We have to take the good with the bad, realise that things ARE going to have changed and are continuing to change and that things will either cost more or less than you were expecting, depending on what you buy or have to pay for. But most of us realise this before hand and go back with no expectations ! No-one has said it would be easy and as with everything in life, it takes work!

But as for your 'warmer climate' comment.. I live in Arizona and there is no way on this planet I would stay here any longer than I have to.. Give me the cold anyday..lol that's just me of course and I'm heading home myself in a week and I can't wait!

Sally Redux

Quite honestly though, starting up anywhere requires credit/deposits. It sounds like you did actually manage to open a bank account. A landlord could well ask for money upfront, is that really such a big problem?

I thought the place was overrun with Eastern European tradespeople?

Personally I'm not interested in milking the benefits system.

Sorry it's not working out for you though.

London1947

I sure wish you all the luck on coming home. I thought i had all aspects covered but it would seem that i underestimated the cost of living here. As for the warm weather i used to live in Las Vegas so i can appreciate how you feel about constant heat. But believe me coming back home to the wettest and coldest on record was not expected and the lack of sunshine does eventually get you down. However i do feel your post somewhat patronizing.

WhoFan63

I am sorry, it was not meant to sound in the least bit patronizing, so I apologise if it came across that way I was just trying to agree with what you said with regards to things not being the same there as they were when you left.

ElizabethK

I'm curious to know your decisions for returning to UK especially after 31 years living (happily I assume) in the USA? Did you visit England on holiday at all to see what it was like and if it was right for you both.

If we compare things such as credit, well when we arrived in USA in '96 we also had to go through credit checks to lease a car for me and ultimately were met with a resounding "no" so we had to pay 6 months lease up front, also had to pay up front to rent the house we lived in.
We were unable to get credit cards in fact it wasn't until 2 years later that I was able to get one of my own.
Back then we were paying approx 85cents a gallon of petrol, now it's $4.05. Similarly with the cost of grocery shopping here too, that has shot up. Things have gone up in price here the same way they have there.

To compare the England you left in 1982 to how it now is a little unfair.
Plus, you always knew winter was cold and there'd be a lot of overcast drizzly days, so why you are shocked by the weather baffles me a bit

sallysimmons

I'm curious what was better in 1982 than now? I find England much more vibrant, interesting and enjoyable than it was when I left in 1985 - even in this recession.

As for the weather, this is one complaint I never understand. British weather is what it has always been and yet over and over again, returnees complain about it. I'm not being funny when I ask 'what did you expect?'

I do find people exaggerate how bad the weather is though. Today is a dull and overcast day and it's the first one we've had since we moved into our new house a week ago. Every other day has been bright and at least partially sunny although much colder than normal. And I am in the Pennines - hardly the sunniest part of Britain

The credit thing is just a function of being new in any country - but if you had opened an HSBC account before you left, a lot of it could have been avoided. (Good advice for anyone else planning to come home.)

We had some work done in the new house we've just bought and everyone came right away and did a great job. One plumber was slow to respond but we just found another and he got on with it. Perhaps it's different elsewhere in the country, but not a problem here.

I'm sorry that you have been disappointed but glad you posted - it may help others with unrealistic expectations.

blackcatsfan

I've been back 8 months now, after almost 40 years in the US and I can see both sides of the coin.

I find the banking situation here bizarre. I did open an account before I came, but last week wanted to open a Santander 123 account which has all kinds of perks (3% interest, cashback on utility bills etc). But because they do credit checks before you can open an account they advised me I probably wouldn't get it AND it would show as a black mark on my credit report, and my report is pretty poor at the moment due to lack of history and opening accounts (like Virgin Media and other things you need to live )

I thought I was pretty much prepared since I always visited once or twice a year since I lived in the US but some things still shock me. I find Customer Service generally woefully lacking, and not having toll-free numbers for CS really gets my goat, I resent having to pay to complain! I have had pretty bad experiences with building trades generally (I renovated a house when I first came over) and am still dealing with the aftermath. I was also surprised at the lack of choice in large purchases, I miss the variety offered in the states, and I miss Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel.

But I am glad I'm back, and am learning to take things in my stride, and perhaps not be as demanding as I was in Los Angeles. Despite having moved from L.A. to the northeast the weather hasn't affected me that much, it would be weird having sunshine all the time on Tyneside, although I am tired of this cold we are having, I'd like to do some gardening!

Domino

I first left the UK back in 1964

After being away for a year visiting a number of countries in the Far East I cam home to find the streets were still well laid out with grass verges and trees - but they were so SMALL compared with the broad roadways that I had fondly remembered.

After another year away I came home to find that not only had the streets shrunk but the whole town had shrunk. The people all seemed to walk with their heads down, shuffled along, everything seemed so GREY.

I did this for a number of years, the only thing that never changed was the presence of my parents. But they are gone now and I never go back.

Living abroad ? Makes no difference to me, so long as I am with the one that I love.

windsong

I don't think the weather in Britain (less sunshine) will bother me too much. For me, there would be SO many positive aspects to the UK, the few things that are annoyances, I could cope with easily, I think. As for customer service being lacking, that's annoying but in a way I welcome it. It is proof of a slower pace of life and I do welcome that.

As for roads and villages appearing smaller, that's just fine with me, too. It wouldn't bother me. The UK is smaller overall so I would expect it. On the other hand, it is a country of such varied landscapes - coastline, village, town, hills, etc. - all within miles of each other, that I feel that will far outweigh things seeming "smaller", IMHO. I don't want to have to drive through two states (as in states in the USA) to see a real change of scenery.

Many UK villages still have a village atmosphere and sense of community. I welcome that, too.

I think it is very difficult to say the UK is lacking in one or two areas, when it is really a completely different animal to anywhere else and you simple accept the good with the bad (if there really is any bad). I grew up and was educated in the UK, so all these minor things are simply part of my home country and they are fine with me.

By the way, I talked to a lady from a far western region of China yesterday (now in the USA). She feels alone here, too, as does another lady from India - and another from Korea. It's not just we Brits who feel this sense of isolation.

Sally Redux

It's weird because when I visit I find it really buzzing - not the shuffling grey thing that other people seem to see.

Customer service where I live in LA is extremely poor so that won't be a problem.

Homeiswheretheheartis

Isn't it a case of if we could put all the best bits of each country together we could have Utopia, oh I forgot that doesn't.

So I will forgo all round sunshine, good customer service, free refills (DD said this) and many of the other thing I like about the US. For the NHS, much more balance politics, family and a sense of belonging. Plus all the other things I love about the UK, my Utopia:-)

sallysimmons

When people complain about customer service, I'm not sure what they mean.

I find the assistants in shops to be friendly and helpful. But they don't come over and hassle you while you're shopping, or wish you a nice day when you leave. Maybe that's the issue? (To me both those things are pluses!) But they do generally say 'hello love' and chat to you while ringing up your shopping. I also like how they never start ringing up the next person until you've left the till.

When you're in a restaurant or pub, most waiters will leave you alone while you're eating rather than popping over mid-meal to ask how everything is. I like that but perhaps that strikes some as rude?

When we had work done on our new house, the painter and the guy who was sanding the floor had to park their cars in the village and walk a mile uphill over the fields in order to get here and finish their work during the snowstorm. Both did it without complaint.

I haven't had much call to deal with phone support people so maybe they're a problem.

britwhore

Make sure you use www.saynoto0870.com when trying to find either a toll free number or a regular landline number. I REFUSE to pay for 0870 or 0845 numbers!!!