The starter pack arrived promptly. I was afraid I had killed my scoby by adding it before my tea was cool enough, but surprisingly it seems to be forming a new scoby, so perhaps I simply have not waited long enough. I'm ordering another to try again, and am also following the instructions in the book to grow my own from this existing batch. Be sure to read the instructions first and let your tea cool completely!
I have been a customer for about a year, and have always had superb service and excellent products from them. I'm sure this was simply operator-error.