Wuh? Last time I did something dumb (don't ask how, but I managed to get to Italy with my wallet still on the kitchen table in England), American Express overnighted a replacement card to my hotel for me. The time before that (this time not my fault, a faulty ticket machine ate my card), they gave me a list of Travel Service locations that could run me up a new card with an hour's notice.

I entirely agree with you that the management at your hotel is being pretty crass, but I'm just utterly staggered that none of the financial institutions who presumably regard you as a valued customer can pull out the stops any faster than 7-14 days!

[This message has been edited by NickW (edited Feb 23, 2004).]