I think it's an individual problem I've been dealing with bitstamp since mid 2012. made 100's of deposits/withdrawals and never waited for longer than 3 working days
Not true. I am hardly the only one to report this, and besides, the past <> the present. Previously I also had no problem with withdrawals. This time the funds arrived, as well... but after 8 days instead of 1-2. My requests to Bitstamp support to investigate the cause of the delay have thus far been fruitless.