I'm not sure it is too long for your credit card company to bow out of the dispute. If you had reason to believe the merchant was going to perform, that might extend your right to dispute the charge, but I think that is a long shot based on the amount of time that passed.

That means your only other option is to go after the merchant yourself. I'm not sure if you've tried to resolve it with them and suggest that you give them a call. If that does not work, my advice is always to write a concise and respectful letter to the President of the company requesting a refund.

If going up the chain of command doesn't work, it sounds like a law suit is your only option. You don't say how much you paid, but hopefully you can go to small claims/magistrate court with your payment records. Keep in mind that you still would have to collect any judgment you obtain which is not always a slam dunk. This is the case whether you hire a lawyer or go to small claims court. If the amount is small, you might just want to consider this a lesson learned to dispute items on your credit card timely.