Since I applied for a level 2 verification at Poloniex, everything got worse. And it took about 4 weeks till I got thru.

For verification, send them only high quality scans and pictures, and be precise as possible. An external agent, who does not care about you, because you're not his customer, is approving your application, or not!

I lost some BTC during that time because of limited access...

Since I got level 2, deposits and withdrawals go quick and smooth, except of those who are under maintenance.

During the process I picked up something like "specific restrictions" from support. Ask them for your "spec. Restr.", that will explain a lot of troubles you experienced recently.

Is Poloniex going the Mt.GOX way?
I hope not. But I remember when Cryptsy crashed. It was during the best time, everything was up, you had more choices then you could manage. It was a "BIG TIME".
About 3 months before the crash of Cryptsy, some usual guys said, Cryptsy is broken. These posts added up over time, till it was too late ...

I'm expirienced, I got my first btc at 46.-$, so I have most of my coins in local wallets. You never know ...