Bill - I must say, I also though of some sort of deliberate bug to persuade folks to subscribe to their cloud. I can't make friends with the idea yet so I won't make that transition. Anyway, though I own CS6, Lightroom satisfies 99% of my post processing needs. As long as LR is sold separately, I'll stick to the system I now operate. Should LR become some sort of cloud-only subscription deal, I'll reluctantly look for alternative software.
Interesting, that you had a very similar experience trying to purchase LR. I'd still like to know the cause of the phenomenon - as rare as it seems to be.
Thanks for your comments!