I definitely fall into this category. I finished my ‘commercial’ flight training back in 2011, at which point I had a CPL, ME IR and had completed an MCC course in a 737 sim. I just did not ever get anywhere with it.
The closest I came was an interview with Ryanair which I had felt went well (one example being that I got a pat on the back from the sim instructor at the end of the session, therefore thinking it must have gone Ok) but received a ‘no thanks’ email almost the next working day. I still don’t get that. Other than that I’ve never had a look in anywhere.
In terms of training, I went down the modular route, which I see now was an absolutely huge gamble. The written exams were good, getting an average score in the low-mid 90s, and the flight training itself went OK, except that..... I failed the IR (although it was then passed at the second attempt, but still leaving me with a second series pass).
I’ve renewed a couple of times but again have got nowhere. The sad thing is I genuinely love flying and really wanted to earn my living as a pilot. I am reasonably well paid now in another industry but commercial aviation still looks good from the pay scales I have seen. But the older I now get the less interested I am at waking up at 4am etc. Still if the opportunity ever came up, I’d seriously consider it (I’d love to give it a go).