I tried to do a $9000 withdrawal, week later they wrote back and said my bank details were not correct, can I check them and try again.
Never changed them before and as they are saved never needed to, so that was a bit puzzling.
Anyway, re-entered all the information and requested $6000
Got the KYC questions.
Replied to all of them about 2 to 3 days ago and I've heard nothing back, maybe I'm worrying a bit prematurely but I don't like the wait.
I have $24K with them now in fiat. I suspect that there is something rather nefarious affecting the whole of Bitcoinland at the moment. Bitstamp I would consider more watertight a ship than most but it could well be that they have had their automated system hacked and defrauded and are needing to do staged transaction slow downs for some reason, whether that be whilst they analyse and test their system or worst case scenario, in order to remain solvent.
I suspect that the request for KYC customer confirmations is also partly a measure against fraudulent transactions, in the midst of a shit-storm of hacking and cyber theft in Bitcoinland. A hacker might be able to gain access to Bitstamp accounts and buy/sell Bitcoins and make fiat or Bitcoin transactions, but they will have much greater difficulty in providing scans of passports in order to get transactions involving BTC or USD leaving the system, finalised.
Edit: My $14K (twas 10K) is now with the exchange.