The CMs on the phone know absolutely nothing about the BoG FP+, and what information they are giving out has proved to be inaccurate. We ate at BoG using FP+ three times during our March trip, and we never got an email and just booked through the website. You can't add someone to your FP+ if their name doesn't automatically show up on the site, but your friend could get a FP+ for a time that overlaps yours, and you could all go in at once. I spend a lot of time on another Disney discussion board, and there have been no firsthand reports of anyone being turned away because they made their FP+ through the website and not because of an email. If the site has opened up the dates of your vacation, you should have no problem getting a FP+. If the dates haven't opened yet, the site will still show you your dates but will say that there's nothing available.