In order to talk about this, we should all be using the same terms.
There is an initial backup. That is called an initial backup. It can be different ways, but for this, that is done via Internet. It generally takes too long.
A seed is what most companies refer to as copying or backing up your original backup to a hard drive, sending this to the cloud company, and they "seed it" by then copying it to your cloud backup account." To be fair sometimes companies charge for this or at least charge for the restore. The advantage is two-fold. You get your original backup done in less than an hour on your end. And, it takes one to two days to ship to AC. Plus, the restore is predictable.
So:
a) Initial backup via Internet (which likely will take too long
b) Seed: the act of backing up to a drive and sending it via UPS/FedEx/Mail etc.
A hard drive seed should be encrypted and your data be moved to it in the right fashion. This means the company, here AC, has to send you the backup kit.
From being at the CAB meeting and talking about this (as I stated above -- thanks for the data you sent me), there does seem to be a miscommunication as to the logistics as to how this is done, i.e. just giving you the option up front or at least telling you it is likely it will need to be seeded.
Since Clayton has been kind enough to comment here, I would try to talk directly with him. AC has changed its format for email addresses.
