I never heard that Al, that is definitely not good for business. If I placed an order from them I would expect the freebies they say they will send.
SVOC is Seed Vault of California. And from what I have seen yes, you can just send a gift card for the amount and he will take it. But I don't see any sense in loading up a gift card when you can just get a money order easier and guaranteed. I haven't even used one of those yet, I have probably placed close to 10 orders now and have always just sent cash in the mail. I do always ship USPS priority in flat rate envelopes, and I always put a few layers of paper or a couple envelopes around my money first so nobody can tell what is inside.
Those freebies the NL6 x Appy, and Good Medicine x Herijuana, and also nigerian afghan f2 look interesting. I am mostly interested in the Nl6 x Appy, I don't know much about Nl6 compared to NL5 but if it is similar I think that could be a great cross. They aren't there currently, they won't be there for a few days when the restock arrives. I am sort of bummed on my last order I didn't get any freebies from them as I overnighted my order and they didn't run out of freebies for a couple days after that but I am guessing they just never filled my order until later. I have gotten so many freebies it isn't that big of a deal tho, just a bummer. But the vault is always good to me so it is hard to complain.