I downloaded the local wallet at first but couldn't seem to get it to connect to the network. While I felt that'd be more secure, it seemed buggy, so I sent my coins from Cryptopia to my Smart Rewards wallet smoothly. Sent a second tiny set there from broncnutz's giveaway and that was smooth too. I don't even know how you got your coins into the local wallet actually, but they're certainly not lost. I think waiting it out while chatting with support on their Discord, etc., is safer than trusting somebody with the keys to your funds. Secondly, 250 Smart Cash might be more or close to a month or two of rewards, so no loss really by holding it there vs giving away 250.
Also if you develop inroads with developers in their chats, perhaps they can compensate you for missed Smart Rewards. They seem like the crew that could do that.
You are right it could be a good idea to connect with them for sure and supposedly the community should be good . Thanks for the advice