Assuming the worst: (1) that people won't be getting their Panamorphs, (2) that people won't be getting their money back from Cygnus, and (3) that credit card companies are going to be a pain in the ass, it could be helpful for Alan to prepare an affidavit that everyone could use to provide documentation to their credit card companies. It would basically just have to state the role that avsforum played in Cygnus' marketing of the Panamorph, as well as that Shawn made numerous ongoing representations promising delivery. A collection of all the posts Shawn made could be added as an exhibit (hopefully Alan has archives older than those that are available through the web).
Of course, I hope everything's fine and that Shawn is going to have good news. But if not, it seems to me like with that sort of documentation from Alan that credit card companies would have a hard time denying a charge-back on this purchase gone awry. -- Herb