I still don't have my wheels. I'm out well over $5k on the 16" 4x100 BBS RS I paid for in November 2020. For context, I have 15" BBS RS on my 2002 - which I got from Frank in 2018 - and they're top quality. The 16" are for my E30.
I spoke to Frank on the phone a few days ago, and do manage to connect with him sporadically. Those conversations are far more civil than the text exchanges.
I must be a fool at this point but somehow I do still believe he's trying to get wheels to me. Mainly because I can't wrap my head around why we're still in contact. If he was out just to take my money, why keep up this pretense? I can't see what's in it for him. I'm clearly no advocate for his business or brand any longer and it would be far simpler to ghost me.
To me Frank's biggest offense is the utter lack of respect for people's time. I was planning on selling my 2002 after buying the E30 (in November 2020!), but I wanted to snap a few photos of both cars on BBS RS since they were promised in January 2021. Plus my E30 has dangerously old (15") tires which are in dire need of replacing - but the wheels have always been "a few weeks" away. I'd like to make some suspension changes too, but all these things are contingent on the wheels.
I agree that no-one should be "burned at the stake", but people need to be held accountable for their actions. For all the above reasons and more, I won't be letting go without consequence. If I receive my wheels or get refunded in January, I'll move on because life is too short.
Anyway, in the Christmas spirit of things at the moment I'm tending to believe that Frank is simply a chronic over-promiser and compulsive liar who sees the money first and tries to figure out the solutions afterwards, but one who does take pride in his [eventual] work. I do believe he and his business have been affected quite deeply by COVID, and he's dug himself a bit of a hole. I'm hoping that the recent flurry on Facebook is a sign that he's starting to find his way out of it.
Ask me again in month though.