Gotta agree with Laidoffsick on this one... and we don't always agree on things here. 
Now I'll be the first to understand that extreme personal situations can tax someone's normal business workflow, but that's why it's so critical to have back-up in business when things get too dicey. However the dealer's first email response didn't mention any of that... rather it emphasized he wanted to ship the bigger orders first to pay bills, blah blah blah. 
Even if that were the real reason, it's just not something a seasoned business owner should say to any paying customer -- ESPECIALLY in writing like that... since it's so easy to take it the wrong way without other sensory ques that would be present with an in-person dialog. And besides, it appears this "one-sy" order may have fallen through the cracks anyway, since so much time has now elapsed.
Bottom line... if UPS and Fed-Ex can get packages shipped reliably and predictably -- often in just a few days and sometimes even overnight! -- that's the hard part (which too many of us have taken for granted nowadays). Why should a dealer take weeks/months just to break down pallets and get product back into the UPS/Fed-Ex system for their customers? 
Gosh... what would the dealer do if these shipping companies hadn't become such an integral part of making their business look so good these days? It's not like the dealer needed to handle all the shipping logistics on his own. A lot of small (and even some large) dealers would be out of business in no time flat if they needed to do that. 
We have dealers nowadays who turn product around literally the same day it arrives onsite from the importers. While I admit I don't normally need THAT level of service for hobby items, I'm not gonna complain when I happen to be on the receiving end of that top-notch service level either. 
And over time, that service level begins to set the bar by which everyone else is measured. That's just human nature whether we like it or not.
David
