US new bitcoin user and a bunch of questions...

Hi guys,

I finally decided to register after having read a lot of stuff in these forums. As a US person i tried to find the best way to start trading bitcoins.
I finally went the coinbase/bitstamp route. But it seems it might not be the best choice. I explain.

I made a first transaction at coinbase for 0.1BTC. It went through but took almost a full week. Now i keep reading about people having all sorts of issues with them and I'm starting to wonder if i should continue with them. Since I don't have a Visa, I'm guessing i'll quickly fall into the "High risk" transaction issue. Plus the delay makes it a bit difficult to actually trade efficiently (provided that they don't reject your transaction)

Now people said for US users, buy to Coinbase then send to Bitstamp, and do your stuff there. Cool, but Bitstamp is already being annoying by rejecting my verifications and not responding to my tickets. Funny thing is that they rejected it for "No copy of back ID provided" but the document i sent clearly provides both sides of my ID on the same page. So it makes me think they don't really look at it and doesn't give me much confidence all in all...

So... As a new user of bitcoins i must say they don't make it easy. But should I try and get my account approved with Bitstamp? Should i drop coinbase altogether? And finally, are there better alternatives for US users?

My goal is to do some trading and possibly hold some bitcoins in the long term, but if a good deal arrises, I don't want to miss out or getting scammed like it seems to already happen.

I would appreciate any input. Thanks