Has your kit company gone bankrupt?

an argument for picking it up yourself, true....

Yes thats what I did. I phoned them ahead and asked if they have the
pieces ready and then went there and picked it up and paid them on the
spot. Actually they still did not have 100% everything but it all
trickled in within a few months. I did hear of some other scarry
stories - like where a retract gear was paid for in advance and did not
get delivered for five years. Fortunately the builder still did not get
to that stage anyway.