When the Goldfish Credit Card first became available many years ago I decided that it was time to get my first credit card. There was no annual charge and they would give me points on my purchases which could be redeemed for vouchers or, in those days, used to pay off my gas or electricity bills.

I didn't need to worry about the interest rate as I always pay off my credit card in full every month so I had a credit card that was effectively paying me to use it.

I got one point for each pound spent and 1,000 points got me a £10 voucher although over the years this had changed a few times until the rate was 1,750 points for a £10 voucher, but it still was free to me.

A couple of years ago Goldfish was bought out by Barclaycard and I was reissued with a new card although pretty much everything else stayed the same.

I have been as impressed with Barclaycard as I was with Goldfish. I still pay my bill in full every month and I leave the points to build up until I want to buy something from such as Argos and then I redeem my points for vouchers and thus reduce the cost of my purchase. There is a wide range of vouchers to choose from including leisure and shopping with a huge variety of stores, they also have monthly offers where you may get bonus vouchers with redemptions at certain stores. I seem to remember that we got free Easter Eggs from Woolworth's one year!

I have just taken a look at the Barclaycard website to find the current APR which is 15.9%. I have no idea whether this is good or bad as it is something I don't need to know but I do know that borrowing on my credit card would not be a good idea! LOL!

The account works in the same way as any other credit card in that interest on the full amount outstanding will begin to accrue from the date the payment is due if you do not pay the amount off in full. Interest on any cash withdrawals will accrue from the date of the withdrawal.

Barclaycard are also offering 0% interest on balance transfers for 15 months from the opening of an account although there is a handling fee of 2.9% on these.

The website is easy to use and gives comprehensive information about transactions on my Barclaycard so that I can keep track of the spending and make sure that there is nothing amiss. It is easy to pay my bill online and access the monthly statements.

That has given you a basic idea of the Barclaycard and any further information can be found at www.barclaycard.co.uk, but what I really wanted to tell you about was the customer service that I have received recently.

It began one morning with a telephone call which was an automated message and I must confess that I assumed it to be a scam and put the phone down so I can't actually tell you what information I would have been given here. Ooops!

I went into town later that day and during my shopping attempted to use my Barclaycard which was refused. At this point I just assumed it was a blip in the system and didn't really think any more about it until I returned home.

I then tried to log into my Barclaycard account just to make sure that all was well and I got any error message asking me to ring the office straight away which I did.

I was told that my card had been stopped as there had been some unusual activity including two transactions for Western Union amounting to over £600! I have never used Western Union in my life! There was also a transaction for Interflora for £198 - I would like to have seen THAT bouquet!

After agreeing that the transactions were indeed fraudulent the gentleman at Barclaycard explained what was going to happen. The cards on my account would be cancelled and I was told to destroy my card and to tell my husband, who is the additional cardholder to destroy his card too - pretty obvious stuff I know but my mind was racing at this point wondering who had my details and how they had got them so I did appreciate being reminded of the obvious.

I was told that new cards would be with me within five working days and that some forms would be emailed to me regarding the fraudulent transactions. The gentleman at Barclaycard was helpful and courteous and answered all my questions however daft (remember I was a bit worked up at this point!) patiently and without making me feel like an idiot. He also assured me that all my details would be transferred to my new card so that I wouldn't lose any information.

The forms arrived by e mail within minutes and I just have to list the fraudulent transactions, of which there are only the two Western Union ones as they have already removed the Interflora one for me. The information on the forms also assures me that any costs incurred due to the fraudulent transactions would be refunded to me. I then have to sign the forms and return them to Barclaycard by post.

My information reappeared on the website within hours of my card being officially cancelled and the new one issued so I am back online and can monitor my transactions. I could then see that my card was the one that had been used as opposed to my husband's and it had been used from Austria! The mind boggles!

The new credit cards arrived two days after the phone call so I was very impressed with that too. I just had to ring to verify safe receipt of my card and I was also given details of an insurance that I could take out against identity fraud which is something that I am currently considering.

I only have praise for the way that my problem was dealt with from the initial notification to the resolution. I check my card balance online every day as I do with my bank account to make sure that nothing untoward is happening but Barclaycard were so quick off the mark that they beat me to it!

The only thing that remains a mystery is who did this and how they got my details and I guess that's something I will never know. It does make me feel a bit creepy though..............