Against my better judgement, I'm going to post to this thread. I'm definitely not recommending violence. It's really not going to solve this issue. I just want to draw some parallels, though. What if someone agreed to buy bow on this site, then received the bow and didn't pay? Or received payment then didn't send the bow? These things have happened in the past and the offenders have been called out in the public forum and banned from the site.
I'm not suggesting that happen, and I think if it were to happen it would have to be after appropriate communication had taken place and the decisions could be made on an individual basis (as if the moderators didn't have enough to worry about). If someone can't respond because they have dropped dead, they probably wouldn't mind if they were banned from the site. Nobody was forced to participate in the white elephant, it was voluntary. I agree with the other posts, that even if times are tough you could send out what your received as your white elephant or at least a note saying why it the white elephant will be delayed.
I don't really have a vested interest in this fight, as my white elephant arrived in a timely fashion. I just don't see too much difference in someone not living up to their obligation for a bow transaction and someone not living up to their white elephant obligation. Either way, these people are not really representing this site in a positive fashion.