CURRENT UPDATE
I haven’t done a S&S order for the last couple of months, but tried again today. The good news is, S&S seems to be (mostly) working the way it should. That is, when choosing to buy an item that is S&S eligible, it adds an item to one’s group/collective S&S order with a set ship date, and not requiring an immediate order. One anomaly remains in that it doesn’t allow gift cards to be applied at the time of order. You can, however, edit the order after it is placed and change the payment method to apply a gift card balance if available.
So, the main problem is solved, for now. We’ll see if I have a new update next month.