I am now convinced that I will receive the DragonMint miners that I ordered in January (Batch 2). The primary reason I believe so is that -ck posted comments in this thread that convinced me. Slush Pool and Jan Čapek's tweets also helped to convince me. (See https://twitter.com/slush_pool/status/977499667985518592 and also https://twitter.com/janbraiins/status/978348386255556608.)

My getting to this place of (qualified) trust in the DragonMint was a long road. I know that -ck is a real person with an established track record. I agree he's done great work for the community, and I trust him. On the other hand, what Halong Mining said -- or, rather, what Halong didn't say -- didn't help me at all.

Having said all of the above, it remains clear that Halong Mining is not operating in the way that legitimate businesses operate for all the reasons I've stated in this thread. Even so, I recognize that, despite all the valid issues many still have with Halong Mining, it may deliver to us a functioning miner. It's a shame that Halong has chosen to operate in this unacceptable manner, because the industry is ripe to see competition against Bitmain. The angst that Halong Mining has caused its customers by outright refusing to provide proof of product, its lack of transparency, and its lack of compliance with business norms is inexcusable. Halong Mining has destroyed its own brand equity. I will absolutely never buy from Halong Mining again.