My Woodup/Kevin Sayles a few years ago was a 9 month wait, mentioned beforehand and worth it, and my Stanforth Kibo (Lee Cooper) was I think about 4 or so - shortish, but he's sort of famous for semi-production line methods and my customization (change the zed to an essss if you like there) from the stock Kibo were minimal.
So something's going on I guess with the Goff since paying in autumn 2016. Had I become aware of the Kibo a few months earlier, I could have saved this hassle...
However, contrary to the view (and probably truth) of americans as being fans of litigation, I'm not, but I am inclined to try my honest best at resolving it once more, take the £800 if that's all he'll return and hope /that/ doesn't turn into another ordeal or also vanish, and forget the whole mistake. I guess I've tried to accommodate and work with whatever bad situation he may be in, maybe for way too long. Either way I'll live!
Good thing I bought the Kibo though - man, what an excellent frame (and now bike:
http://rjl.us/velo/kibo.htm). It's similar to what I was hoping Goff'd build (the geometry is the magic; similar to my 1984 Trek 830 looong chainstays and all, which I've found the perfect geometry for general riding around). I wound up liking the 'Kibo project' so much I figured I'd buy one anyway (after I'd been talking with Goff for a while and just a couple months before I paid him). The Kibo frame arrived January 2017 and looking forward to riding it more this year than last (when because of job and money rode almost none after May!)
Anyway, this thread has been useful in helping me get a better scope of custom builder wait times and how far out things have become for me with this builder (who I don't feel sorry for).