Cheque withdrawal problems

[Dr_Colossus]

OK here's the story. I withdrew $500 from one of my Prima Poker accounts some time ago by cheque ($500 is the maximum withdrawal possible by cheque on the Prima network apparently, anyone know why it’s so small?) Anyway I received the cheque and lodged it to a European Bank account. Upon lodgement I asked for a photocopy of the cheque and the lodgement slip. After a number of days when there was no credit in my account I contacted my bank asking if there was a problem. They told me they had lost the cheque and that they couldn’t lodge anything to my account until I got the cheque re-issued. I told them I had a photocopy of the cheque that I received on lodgement but they said they also had a copy but that a copy wasn’t sufficient from a regulatory perspective. Well screw that I said.
Anyway I got on to Prima Poker (accounts department based in South Africa so long distance phone calls) and explained the situation to them. They told me to get a signed letter from the bank stating that they had lost the cheque and to request a re-issue. Upon receiving the information they would then check to ensure that the cheque had not been cashed and would get it re-issued. I got the requested information from the bank after some time and faxed it off. Again after not hearing anything back, despite having sent numerous e-mails and made some phone calls in the mean time, I phoned them again today. Now Prima Poker are telling me that they can cancel the previous cheque and get it re-issued but that it involves a $50 fee, resulting in that they would send $450 instead of the $500 I withdrew.
My question is, has anybody heard of a similar unfortunate circumstance involving cash outs? Is the $50 fee legitimate and why would such a fee be incurred? Does anyone have any advice or experience from dealing with Prima Poker and cash outs or have any suggestions as to my course of action. This situation is really infuriating me, it’s hard enough trying not to loose money to bad beats not to mind when this kind of additional bad luck occurs.
Thanks