The referrals have to be in the time frame specified in the fine print. I believe it was June 1 thru December 31. Anything prior won't count.
So apparently they forgot about me. Called in August, 4 weeks after my 3rd referral was activated, they said it could take up to 8 weeks. No big deal so I waited another 6 weeks. Still nothing. Called again last Monday, talked to a very helpful rep that put in a manual request to the appropriate department, advised me if I didn't get an email by the end of last week to follow up. Voila!, last Friday I get an email saying the certificate is on it's way.