Amex phoned me at work two and a half weeks ago and informed me that my BA Amex card had been "cloned" and used fraudulently in Australia, that they had cancelled my card and were sending me a replacement card. Looking at my statement online I saw that two ATM cash withdrawals of AUD 500 each had been made in New South Wales. I received a letter from Amex a couple of days later confirming that "As a security precaution I have arranged for you to receive a replacement card, which you will receive shortly."

When my replacement card hadn't arrived after 10 days I phoned Amex but was advised to wait a few more days. I waited another week and phoned back today to be told that my replacement card hasn't even been ordered yet and that it will be at least another 14 days before it will arrive. No, they can't send me a card any quicker or issue an emergency card. I just have to wait.

Apparently it will take this long because I've already had several replacement cards in the past and as a result they now can't simply issue a replacement card but need to close my BA Amex card account and open a new account for me. (I've only had a problem with fraudulent transactions once before, about five years ago, and only a few pounds was involved - someone had bought a couple of meals at a Pizza Hut in Brazil using my card number - but I have had replacement cards because the signature strip had become worn and difficult to read.)

I've found Amex's customer service to be slow and error-prone in the past but over a month to get a replacement card is bloody ridiculous Fortunately, I'll still have enough time to spend enough to trigger the 241 voucher after I get my new card but if this had happened a few weeks before my card anniversary date this could have really s*****d things up.