I resolved the support login issue by going through the password reset; at least that did work for me without a problem.  Begs the question as to why it was necessary though, it's disconcerting to say the least that my password had seemingly been changed without my knowledge.

So, I managed to create a ticket to ask about the ASIC exchange, because I want them to confirm the shipping date (they claim next day, but this doesn't seem likely) - one day later and no reply yet.  But again, they took the time to change the priority from High to Normal...