Has anyone left a job and started a new one, only to promptly return to the old job?

[JMSA]

I am 3 weeks into a new job. It's going quite well but I really miss my old workplace. The closing date for applications for my former post is on Friday. I am tempted to apply. But I'm old-school and feel that I should stick out the current job for longer. I'm not unhappy per se, it's just a feeling that I don't fit in quite so well and still feel rather uncomfortable. My new boss is amazing but I sometimes feel like a spare part. I'm sure the passage of time will help enormously. I just find it hard to sit with this feeling, and tend to hark back to the familiar. I applied for the new job because it was a promotion, but the same promotion will open up in the old workplace. Long story short, it really was just a case of bad timing.
My heart says 'old job' and my head says 'new job'. I also can't help but feel the move would be very embarrassing on both sides!

Have you ever been in this situation and what did you do? Old job feels like the easy way out, but like putting on your comfy slippers at the end of the day
New job is the pair of Doc Marten's you really wanted and felt so good about getting, and even though the bisters are killing your feet, you know it will probably come good in the end.
Apologies for the weird footwear analogy

I did, one of the main reasons I left my job was I had a 1 1/2 hour commute each day. I left for a job nearer home which I absolutely hated, I was so bored as there just wasn't enough work to fill the day. I heard on the grapevine another colleague have left so knew there was a vacancy coming up and my old manager agreed I could WFH if I returned so it was a no brainer for me.

I know someone who quit his new job and came back to us within 2 months of leaving! He said he could see they were very demanding from the outset and that just wouldn't work for him and his family (ie his wife would have been properly left in the lurch), so he ditched them and came back. I've always admired his determination and motivation for doing so, and so quickly!

Yes I moved to a new job last year. within a few days new manager was being horrible and I knew I wasn't going to be able to manage in the state of anxiety she threw me into. Rang old boss and was told could go back. had to work two weeks notice so was at new job for one month . Have not regretted it and since found out she has bullied others out of jobs.

I went back to a former job once and it was fine, no regrets at all. I didn't have to reapply though, just let them know I wanted to go back and they were glad to have me. Annoying that you have to apply, that might put me off more, knowing you could get rejected from 'your' role is quite unsettling.

I haven't, although wish I had done. Stuck the new job for 12 months then moved on to better things. But it was a long and miserable 12 months. If I could go back, today me would tell old me life is too short, trust your gut and ask for your old job back.

My current company, it's a bit of a running joke as so many people leave and come back - anywhere between 5 years and 3 weeks! Those returning tend to be in their twenties who leave for a higher salary or fancier job title but quickly realise the actual job and company culture isn't as good as what they left.

We don't have any hard feelings to those that leave and certainly in my department we welcome the good people back with open arms!

I was the new employee displaced by the returning regretful worker. I’d moved into a new area a long way from previous job and was unemployed for a while. The woman who had left the role had said she wanted the hours and challenge of another job. I was settling in OK; the job was fairly non-demanding. I was “let go” with no notice because she admitted she couldn’t cope with the new job and wanted her old job back. The boss caved and asked if I’d mind - it was not that I’d performed badly, but he felt obliged to comply with what she wanted. Having previously met her, I didn’t relish standing my ground as it meant being forever the person who’d prevented the Queen Bee returning. Fortunately I got another role quite soon, WFH for NHS.