That's not how any preorder works now really, not the pre-orders I've made anyway. Usually you just get in line, maybe pay a deposit if it's an expensive item and then they take payment at shipping.
I also very rarely complain about anything the club does. Think I've had a moan about lack of season tickets last season, and the lack of stock of the kits last season and that's about it when it comes to them taking money off me.
If I wanted the kit I had to pay for it, to say I "didn't have to though" is stupid, well obviously I didn't have to, you don't have to do anything, you don't have to pay for Sky and BT to watch us, I could go on dodgyvirusstreams dot Kazakhstan domain suffix or whatever, and I could get all our shirts from DHGate but I try and support the club where I can, especially at the moment.
Paying first and it getting delayed is what I'd expect of a wank kick starter campaign, not the release of a football shirt (which we should be half decent at having done it a fair few times, and is something every other team in the league manages just fine, Covid or not).