One day has passed since my adventure began. No response from genesis-mining regarding their 'technical problems' that prevented me from completing check out.
Hashflare so far has seemed to work. I was able to buy a small test amount of hashrate, they have an interesting process of security verification: after successful charge to credit card, you have to provide a 4 digit code that is included within the merchant description for the transaction. In my first test transaction, I had to call my bank to get that code. Overnight they showed the mining results and added to my balance. There is a two week delay until I can withdraw any mined balancese (again for security related to the credit card transaction).
The second purchase was even easier - I used a different card, and that one showed the 4 digit code from my online banking.
So now I am in business with a 1 year contract for ETH mining (hopefully they don't move to Proof of Stake before then!!!)
All the best, and if anyone is interested, below is my referal link for new accounts:
