So, after everything, I can very happily report that my SR mags from Rift finally arrived earlier this week (with an additional two issues for the inconvenience). A little over a week ago, I went ahead and placed another order for 100 issues of Red, believing that Rift's explanations for the recent snafus surrounding a handful of items were adequate to assuage my unease about the situation, and that order arrived in the swift manner that I had previously been accustomed to from them (less than a week after making the purchase, if I'm not mistaken). It does appear that their typical services have been unaffected by whatever problems are related to SR.
I do feel bad for having contributed to the rumors. In my defense, I've had a fairly short history with dealing with them (less than a year), and I have also experienced many other shady business practices from other vendors (not from here) that also were known for having a great reputation, until they weren't. I think the thing that really threw me off the most was seeing them get removed from the Approved Vendors list in the midst of all the speculation. Hopefully they'll be able to get back in the good graces of DBG sooner or later.
In any case, everything has arrived safely and I'm very happy. I feel very comfortable letting prospective buyers know that Rift is still reliable and true to their word. I apologize for my previous doubts.