I am sorry for your trouble. My experience is quite the opposite. I have been using Bitcoin for international transfer for several years now. Not for the sake of using it, but because it works better than alternatives.
When MtGox started having problems with Dwolla, I was forced to look around for another USD option, and Bitstamp has been great.
Things you complain about have nothing to do with Bitcoin technology, but with exchanges you are using and not using, and with the current state of adoption. It's like complaining that TCP-IP is broken because your internet provider sucks or because somebody infected your PC with a virus.
For what amounts have you had success with bitstamp?
your analogy is true but i'd propose another. I agree one day bitcoin could be great for FIAT transfer even at values greater than $1k but I'm bothered that at this stage people run around saying its great for this when at the moment its not. It would be like people in the early very 1990's saying "look you can buy anything online!" when in fact at that time there was next to nothing. So, I'm bothered that the statement is way to early and misleading to those looking for exactly the feature some claim is so widespread.
In the early 1990s you could not buy anything online. I don't think I saw anything for sale online until at least 1996.