Missing R5 Shards

Can someone help regarding missing R5 shards. My first time going for 5* units and I bought the 5 pull booster pack before activating the unit. When I then activated R5 the 32 shards I pulled from my booster pack were no where to be seen? This issue has affected multiple people, some have mentioned the error was buying the shards before unlocking R5 but this should not matter as anyone who has had an episode pass in previous eras will always gain the 20 shards for the 2nd unlockable unit before that unit has been activated. Likewise with this Era I am only 2 levels away from getting 20 Zeb shards so does this mean if I claim them before activating Zeb those shards will also go missing!?