BFL have actually delivered my Monarch about a week ago. I was a first day preorder (Aug 17th 2013). I was supposed to be shipped a second "free" Monarch at the same time but am still waiting for that. I also had 600GHs of compensation cloudmining since June 24th that was shutdown today. Yes, the current price is WAY too high at $1.97 per GHs but the Monarch is not outdated tech. It uses .7w/GHs which is still competitive with current generation miners from KNC, Bitmain and Spoondoolies.
I would argue that the whole point of buying the hardware is to use it to make a profit. If the current price is $1.97/GH, then it is outdated, even at 0.7W/GH. They originally promised 0.6W/GH and a December-January delivery date.
If you preordered in August 2013, you would have paid $4,680. Last week, they sent email stating that they are adjusting the purchase price to $1.97/GH ($1,379) for existing orders. I really do hope they honor their word and send you a $3,301 refund (or 2 additional Monarchs and a partial refund).
They actually have honored their word... kinda. I'm still waiting for the second free Monarch and the partial refund.
at all to compensate buyers. The price is still awful though but I don't think they were under any legal obligation to anything other than ship the original orders.