Is this game a bait and switch?
Just looking through the first page of these forums we see 50+ users who have had issues with the referral program. I myself have had the issue and have submitted tickets, sent emails, and had no response, just closing of the ticket and told to go away. There is not even an acknowledgment that it happens, even though many people are actually coming forward with complaints.
It seems to me like there is no intention of actually providing the rewards or spending any time working towards resolving issues. How hard would it be to add a spot for users to manually enter the ID of the person who referred them? Not that hard.
I know mods are glorified traffic cops, and have no power, so they are not going to do anything. I do wonder how many customers they are losing because of this. Why would I spend money when support cannot even provide a small amount of help to resolve an issue that should be known at this point? The answer is there is no good reason to.
Quick hint, one of the fastest ways to push customer's way is to offer them something and not deliver it. On top of that you can further exasperate the issue by ignoring them afterward. I know I am not reoffering another person to the game and will not spend a penny to this is resolved. I won't hold my breath though.
Additionally, the person I referred is not going to be referring his friends to the game for the same reason.