I don't think the sudden boot was because of the early hero quests. I think it was because somone pointed out to Gaile that you could salvage the mods off of your /preorder items.
I got both heroes on my Ranger and they are still there but can't be activated. I get a "You don't have access to the campaign necessary for this hero" message and they don't show up when you leave town. I haven't entered a Nightfall retail key yet.