If someone can't keep well organized enough to repair boards (or at least give up and return them back to you) in a year's time or less, maybe they should not be in the business of "repairing" boards any longer. "They are in the works" is not an update. It likely means "not looked at yet" or "I can't figure them out".

I would never send anything out for repair because if I can't repair it, it's too far gone to worry about anyway. Having said that, I would not have agreed to send or pay for anything, unless a repair time quote was given to you ahead of time. That way if the expectations are not met, or they can't be repaired for whatever reason, you just have them returned.