I guess this is why the telephone rep went out of her way to explain how to apply for the rebates so that they would show up on my first billing. She was VERY clear that if I did not enter my information within a short period of time the rebate would not show up until the second bill but would continue for 12 periods.
I swear, you just can't stop stupid! They have always given the full details (albeit in very small print) about the true cost of their packages. I have monitored those costs for years since they were not cheaper than my cable costs. I finally just got tired of my cable co and decided to make the switch anyway. And I am not sorry I did since D* has many programming choices available that were not on my cable.