I sent in two requests to Treasury Direct last fall:
1) I had lost some of the paper bonds I purchased back in 2001, and sent in a report of loss and request to cash them out on September 1. The money for those appeared in my checking account in early January.
2) I had a few additional paper bonds that did not have my full last name due to a typing error when I bought on-line. I sent in the paperwork and the physical bonds for those in early October. They still have not been cashed.
I think one of the reasons the delay for processing is so long is that I bonds (and maybe EE bonds, not sure because I don't have any of those) have recently been at 0% interest. In my case, I originally purchased the bonds as a backup college savings route, but it now looks like we will have enough to fully fund kids college with their 529s, so at 0% interest it doesn't make sense to hang onto them any longer. I also needed the cash for living expenses/a car purchase while we wait to sell our apartment in China. I am bummed that they didn't pay out in 2015, though, because now we will likely take a significant tax hit -- would have been under taxable limits if they cashed in 2015. I did cash out the majority of the I bonds we had at the credit union in 2015, though, so not a total wipeout.