Shrockworks did that with me and 4ShoreRunner. He ordered some Shrockworks stuff during the last big group buy, and I ordered some about three months later (at full price). I had mine a week after I ordered, and his hadn't even shipped yet, so he canceled. Seems like a very poor way of doing business, but I'm sure it makes fiscal sense to them in some way for asset turnover at the end of the year (at least I hope that's why they chose to burn customers...).
It seems to me that these group buys completely overwhelm the fabrication shops that we all love so much. BudBuilt won't do them because he knows he doesn't have the capacity at this point and doesn't want to put his company in that position. He's even withholding the release of products for the 5th Gen because he knows he won't be able to keep-up with the orders as soon as he releases them. For me, the agita that seems to come along with these group buys isn't worth the modest discount they usually offer.
In your case, it sounds like they forgot about your order completely or shipped your rack to someone else to get someone else off their back.
The thing is, as I understand it, this is not a traditional group buy for gobi racks through RiDE.
He is a dealer and he is giving the forum members a good price on the racks. There was no minimum order and there was no hold on production until a minimum number of racks were ordered. There has not been an end date as I recall either.
So to me, these racks ordered through RiDE are just like any other order that GOBI would see from a dealer. Maybe I am mistaken?
Typically a manufacturer will sell racks through dealers at a "dealer rate" which is less than MSRP, the dealer typically turns around and sells the rack to customers at MSRP and makes a profit on the sale. The manufacturer has the added bonus of free marketing from the dealer and customer relations through the dealer and doesn't directly have to deal with the customer (less overhead). It is a win win for both parties.
So the group buy directly with shrockworks is a little different.
There were no terms to the Gobi "group buy" where the racks pu rchased through RiDE are put on the back burner. The timeframe was 2 weeks finished product, one week for shipping freight and a couple extra days if you have a custom request.
I understand material order delays, but what is not excusable is changing the production order from first received, first built to first received, last built.
The other major issue I have is Gobi not communicating the material delays, if they would have said, "tubing delay, 20 racks ahead of you, we build one rack a day, so we won't have your rack started for another 4 weeks" that would have allowed me make a decision to go somewhere else for a rack if that new timeline was not acceptable to me. Instead the communication was, a couple more days, they are backed up, then it was a couple more days, then it was your rack will ship the end of this week, expect a call from the shipping company middle of next week, now it is " two more weeks before your rack is even built."