Here is an update after I had some discussion with my friend at the shop as well as the owner.
One thing I didn't mention is that this is an order for about 3000 total parts. Not a small order, but by no means a huge laser order. They are running really late. I was told the job would be done by mid January when I placed the order at the tail end of December. The 200 or so really rough parts I got from them so far was them trying to accommodate me after I fussed with them about how long the job was taking. Their (new) laser went down for 4 or 5 days in mid January. I was pissed they weren't about done since they were at their stated completion time when it went down. I got told they'd be working through the weekend to get it done when the laser came up, blah blah. As I said, the laser came up within a week and next week became next week, etc. Basically, four weeks into having the order they were able to deliver those 200 parts, most of which looked like what I posted in the OP.
Total perimeter, summed across all parts is about 24,000 inches (excluding holes), just to put it in perspective. There are probably 20,000 holes across the 3000 parts, averaging about 1/4". I made the case that there is NO WAY it should be taking this long unless they are putting work ahead of mine. I explained that they should be piercing in 3 seconds tippy tops (probably more like 1 second) and running at least(!) 80 IPM (probably more like 120). As such, with rapids and sheet changes, this shouldn't be more than 40 hours on their laser. I told them to get this crap done and with better quality or cancel the order. I set a further condition that if they couldn't finish the entire order by the end of the week they were to freight me what they had at their expense and if they couldn't do that, to cancel the order. The owner replied that it would take TWO MORE MONTHS to finish the order that is already TWENTY FIVE days past the expected completion time. I replied to the owner asking if he had sent me that email by mistake, and if not to cancel the remaining parts immediately. When I saw the email I figured either 1) he's playing some passive aggressive game to screw with me after my complaints or 2) he was reading a couple different emails and crossed up my reply with that of another customer's. I replied gently, giving him the benefit of the doubt.
I then get on the phone with my buddy who is the sales guy there. I asked him to confirm the owner was in the same planet as us and that he knew what he was replying to. My bud said it was correct and that the owner is trying to be conservative as they are having PROBLEMS GETTING ENOUGH NITROGEN!!! They've expressed this to me before. I know it can take a lot of nitrogen but I am baffled that 1) they aren't using oxygen to cut steel and 2) if they think they need nitrogen for cutting steel that they can't figure out where and how to get it. They are literally talking about getting one or two bottles from some other shop that cancelled their order with their gas supplier. It's about the equivalent of me telling a customer that next week we will have enough dirt on the shop floor to sweep it up and feed my water jet some abrasive for a few more minutes.
I run a manufacturing business. I understand that things rarely ever go exactly right, that machines go down, supplies get interrupted, employees call in sick, someone screws up something that causes a delay, sometimes something doesn't get caught and you upset a customer, etc. I have never seen anything on this level of manufacturing ineptitude. I'm sure the owner of this shop took this on with good intentions, but it's become clear to me that the guy has different business ventures that have apparently funded this expensive job shop hobby of his. Its really out of respect for my friend that I haven't mentioned this shop by name, but I've told him to jump ship immediately as there is very little chance for this shop surviving. I should have known this was going to go south when their engineer got mixed up on some files we sent and literally thought and did not question that we were getting them to laser in some 5 thou holes in quarter inch plate. I do need the parts, but gave this job to them instead of my other 2 proven laser shops because I was trying to help my bud make a sale in his new job. I knew they were a new shop, but hey... Lesson learned.