Agreed. It's funny, because I've told this same story.
Went to look at a 2019 8V back Oct or Nov of 2022. They had a long list as well. Ended up not loving the car, but there was an allocation for an 8Y in route that wasn't specifically ordered by someone. At the time, I was told that they already had a prospective buyer, but if the deal fell through I would be next in line. The car sold. I also had another opportunity at a different dealership, same situation. Only this car had a 10k ADM. Tried keeping in touch with each of them but never heard anything back from either.
Regardless of the list, if you are standing in the dealership and the car is available, they will sell it to you. In this case, they told me they didn't even know this car was in route until I called them. Just a surprise allocation. And given the fact that I can't find a dealership willing to sell me a MK8 R at MSRP, this is a no brainer. The average ADM for the R is around 10-20k right now anyway, basically putting it at the same price point as the 8Y. Not to mention, there are threads on Vortex with guys who are literally calling every single dealership in the country for a Golf R right now. You just can't compete with that.
Definitely a mess.