King.com issue: Why can't I send or receive lives/help on Candy Crush Saga?

I'm hoping for a better response than I've received so far; only got the "try these steps" form email that indicates nobody actually read my original message. 
I'm playing on a Windows 10 desktop, using Chrome and do NOT use/have Facebook, but rather play by way of the King.com site.  I'm using a custom built desktop with massive resources and know my way around a computer well enough to know that my difficulties do NOT originate with my machine, my browser or my ability to operate either of those. 
For over a week now, I have not been able to send or receive lives or receive help from friends to unlock the next episode.  When the "Ask Friends" window comes up, the "All Friends" tab is blank, the "Candy Friends" tab has player listed, all checked and when I click to send, the window disappears, but nothing happens.  Previous to the most recent update, when I asked friends for help, I got a completely different window with all friends listed and the option to select all.  I always selected that option, clicked send, and the next day I would have lives from friends and the required help to unlock the next episode. 
Telling me to use Chrome when I already indicated that I do use it is not very helpful.  Telling me to clear my cache when I stated that the cache is automatically cleared when the browser closes is also not helpful.  What would be helpful is to fix the damage done by that last update. I specifically asked if, if the event I elected to download the Microsoft Store app for CC, would I lose my progress and have to start over at level 1 (unwilling to do that unless I get to keep my boosters and have access to the owl quest part of the game) and that question was not answered, so I've not downloaded the app. Giving me gold bars as compensation was very nice, but doesn't fix the problem. 
I've not been playing forever, but have passed 515 levels and am sitting, waiting aimlessly to open the next episode.  It's been going on long enough that I just open the game, see that I still have no help, still stuck waiting to play the next episode and no extra lives from friends, then move on to the next thing without playing at all. 
That last update affected another couple of my games as well, so I'm reaching the "fed up" level of frustration.  It's bad enough that desktop-users don't get daily rewards in Soda Crush Saga or Bubble Witch 2 Saga, cannot play quests in Candy Crush Saga,.Alpha Betty or Farm Heroes Super Saga; now the update has fixed it so that the only parts of the game that made it even marginally worth playing have gone belly-up as well.
As a result, I'm no longer spending money on these games and spending a LOT more time on Netflix and Hulu; at least those work as advertised/expected.