Michael, I ws a potential Deardorff buyer while researching my first field camera purchase. That ended very quickly after a google search exposed all the problems with the company.
In regards to it being simply a time to completion underestimation on the Cochrans part, I have read accounts from numerous people who have been lied to over and over for better than a year. If that was the problem they could solve it easily by taking stock of the orders, prioritizing them, and comunicating honestly with their customers.
Your statement that if they simply doubled their estimated delivery time everything would be fine does not add up. Two times three months is six months. Many complaints are from people who have been waiting one to two years. And have been told over and over "the camera is almost in the mail".....
I would still buy a Deardorff If the Cochrans righted the ship, but they are not going to. They can afford a trip to China but can't deliver merchandise bought and paid for, give customers false promises, avoid customers and have sent out reported shoddy goods. They are in a business death spiral. I'm in the construction building/maintenance business as a self employed subcontractor and have seen this show countless times. It is sad.
Merry Christmas