No one thinks this is an important issue anymore? Really? The best response I could find is this:

Quote Originally Posted by Mocchi
I spoke with Minagawa regarding the linkshell list and friends list.

The dev. team is well aware of the issues with the linkshell list and friends list, but it’s going to be very difficult to address in its current state. Therefore, the devs are going to be performing a complete overhaul of the system. With this overhaul, the team is planning to add functions that have been previously requested by the community. These functions include LS messages, the ability to remove players from the linkshell, more variations of LS crests, etc.

There are certain functions that he could add in the current state of the system, but considering how it ties to the communication within the LS, it needs to be checked thoroughly. Therefore, it isn’t something that can be implemented immediately.

I apologize for the inconvenience these issues may be causing, but we promise to improve the LS list, friends list, companies, searching for other players, etc. With these improvements, we believe the communication between the players will become much easier than it is in its current state.

With that said, we would like you to continue providing feedback.
While I understand that it's a hard issue to fix, at the very least we need the option to exile regardless of player location or online status. Without Linkshells must be disbanded and created again to get rid of inactive players which is never good for its community. I mean the exile option is currently already there in the menu, I can't imagine how hard it would be to just remove the restrictions on that one option.