Is it that surprising to you? Read the terms.

I got my first retention bonus on my 17th month. All in line with the terms. Now that's not exactly how it was presented to me when I was 'recruited' but as long as I had an opportunity to receive all 8 checks, I think that I could live with that even with a delay in payment.

However, with the forced upgrades and no bonus if you're captain, there's no way to collect on all 8. None. Telling new-hires they'll get $20k in retention bonuses is criminal.