Referral... bonus? These are things? Seriously, though. Every referral I've made in my career has flaked out at some point. It doesn't matter if it's a person I've known for years, or someone I recently met at a meetup or over coffee.

I've made it a point to refer not a single person again because I'm tired of my and my employer's time being pissed away, when we can just dispense with the bullshit and get back to doing real work.