Technically you paid for "Spreadcoin" and you already have that in your wallet. How exactly do you pay for a coin that is not launched yet when there was no ICO. Look at your order details or transaction id. You need to check your understanding of Projects you "pay for"
So like if I am buying stock futures, I should not have an expectation I am dealing in that stock? Or if my employer rewards me with options, I should not assume they will ever vest?
Dude, playing semantical tricks on technicalities just makes things worse. In all ICO's I put money in (oh, I didn't, I just put in ETH), I had the reasonable expectation I'd receive their tokens - based on the ANN and their WP. If they had told me I'd never paid them money so I shouldn't expect to receive anything, I'd call that a scam. Owning up to delays is one thing, but trying to move the goal posts is a major red flag.
May I ask whether you are playing this shenanigans as part of the HLM team?