Don't know about their IRC, but I got the same "user/mail already exist" messages as you.
This is really strange because of the scratched DB...
Maybe there is a problem with sending confirmation mail right now, because of the manual process or some other reason.
Try logging in anyway a few hours after you registered,
that worked for me after signing up with a new user + email and not being able to log in at first.
BTW good luck TB!
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