Thank you. It is great to hear that it doesn't impact K visa applications!
To be honest, we were really shocked at the treatment I received and the way I was spoken to as I was travelling legally and didn't feel i was misrepresenting. So we are panicked about what went wrong and he was not particularly helpful at explaining how I could have explained myself in a different way to help convince him i was not going to overstay. I would have thought having a permanent job, allowing him to search my phone when he confiscated my belongings, having a place of residence and return tickets would have been sufficient but they weren't. He just said they don't have to give me a reason and that he felt that my ties to the UK were not strong enough so go get vetted by a "proper american" and that was it.
Even if they granted a B visa its still no guarentee that i would be permitted entry by the border people and its them that have put us in a big tailspin! It has caused a lot of upset for the kids and for us as it changed all the Christmas plans and birthdays and we do not want to repeat the trauma of it all! We are instead working on trying to get the kids travel permission etc so that we can meet in Canada whilst pending K visa. Oh the joys of travel!