Just in case anyone was curious..

After the message referred to above, I received two more "we'll send it tomorrow" messages, received order 2 Friday last week, then got "we'll send it next week" message, and finally earlier this week, received "due to UPS price increases, we've changed the shipping method to DHL and will send it tomorrow" message.

O_O

I collated as much info as I could relating to the orders and tracking numbers, just in case, but took no action as I would much prefer to resolve with the seller and continue to deal with them. I now have a new shipping notification / tracking number, which shows that it was picked up by DHL today and is addressed to me, which is a good sign. (Not counting my chickens, as I obviously have to ensure the order is correct and complete, but at least I now have some [virtual] eggs....  ).