That's likely the problem, as I have a normal version (actually the gift version when someone else buys the one that comes with a bonus copy). They'll need to do whatever they did again, only for collectors edition users.

As for why it's a DLC instead of in the patch? I don't know. Could be technical reasons, like not to affect existing saves or something. Normally with a free DLC everyone's account just gets marked as owning it, something went wrong on that step this time.