Is GameStop cheating LEGO Lord of the Rings buyers?

I'm beginning to see reports online of people who pre-ordered the Nintendo DS version of the new LEGO Lord of the Rings game from GameStop, but did not receive a copy of the exclusive Elrond minifigure that was supposed to come with the game. If this is true, I imagine there are going to be some seriously upset fans out there. I will be one of them.

The Elrond minifigure was the only reason I bothered to pre-order this game. It was advertised on the GameStop site as being available with all versions and for every platform. When I ordered on September 1st, it was clearly listed on the product page for the DS version as a pre-order bonus.



I will update this post when my copy of the game arrives. It's currently scheduled for delivery on 11-06, so we'll see if the stories I'm seeing are tied only to later pre-orders or if they decided to do this for all DS copies of the game. If my figure is missing, I am fully committed to pestering GameStop endlessly until they make good on what they originally offered me.

UPDATE (11-5-12): As I feared, my game arrived today and the Elrond minifigure was NOT included. I have emailed GameStop to inquire. I'm also considering an email to LEGO customer service urging them to cut off ties with this retailer and its questionable business practices. If they are in fact claiming they "ran out" of the minifigure, I will be very interested in seeing if those who ordered non-DS versions of the game receive their copies when they are released on November 13th.

I'll update further when I receive a response. I'm going to stop by a physical GameStop location tomorrow to see if they will make good on my preorder.

UPDATE (11-6-12): I received an email back from customer service this morning. They apologized for not including the figure and said they would be passing on the issue to their "premiums department" to get one sent out to me in the next 3-4 weeks. At this stage, they are not claiming to be out of them. Fingers crossed they actually make good on this.

UPDATE (11-24-12): After canned responses and pretty much a complete failure on the part of GameStop customer service, I decided it was in my best interest to return the game. To avoid having some issue come up by mailing in the game, I took it to a retail location. Guy was apologetic but said they were out of the figures. Had the refund handled in about 10 minutes. My future advice if you choose to preorder a game for bonus content is to pick it up in-store. At least then you can get the issue resolved right away instead of having to wait almost a month to get it taken care of.

Off to ebay to find an Elrond figure, I guess.