HP rebates

We received the check from HP yesterday for the rebate for our computer which was nice and fast - less than 4 weeks from purchasing the computer and sending the rebate stuff off. The funny thing is that I received an email this morning to say that the cheque had been cleared for payment and to wait 2-4 weeks to receive it. It is not often that snail mail is quicker than email!
I'm still awaiting confirmation from all of the other rebates I've applied for - none of them have even acknowledged the receipt of the application. This area of shopping needs some serious looking at by government inspectors or something - either that or they should let me have a job where I can take 12 weeks to answer a letter of correspondance!