I had the same problem with goods shipped from Germany - I specifically requested insurance that included a tracking number so I could trace where it was.
Nothing turned up in 10 days, so I contacted the guy and he said he'd sent them but wasn't given a tracking number with the service he'd used. He said to wait some more, so I did. Then he didn't return my emails.
I filed a complaint with Paypal and had the money back the next day.
As with you Kev, I'd rather have had the parts than the money back
