I understand what you're saying (As I do pay for things and actually bought myself a new car last year. When they say standard, they really mean bare ***ing bones standard)
But when you promise early access (At the time, EA and Bioware didn't include the word MAY) and you put five down on your pre-order, you expect to get what you want. You offer. I want. I pay. You gimme. You should have peace of mind. Hell, SWTOR isn't the first MMO I've joined for early access. Vanguard, FFXIV, Age of Conan, they all had early access. I even received my physical copy of AoC before release date even though I had a flyer with my code...Before the early access period.
The fact that my store has somehow failed me WAS a shock. And it was incredibly irritating. What can I do about it? Nothing. I'm not even going to entertain the thought of compensation because that's just laughable but I will start ordering any new MMO from it's website if possible. The new dawn of code redemption is tardo.