Other Buyers Missed Counter Deadline: Do We Get It?

An agent in my office just had a weird experience.

Five buyers offered on a property and all were expected to counter the seller's MCO. But only one did by the stated deadline.

My agent friend knows because she presented personally before the 12:00 noon deadline, then sat with the listing agent till 15 minutes after. The sellers' agent was very frank that no other counters had been received.

The agent did say that one of the original offers by another party was higher in price than this one counter that my colleague brought.

The listing agent suggested that she'd call the other agents and try to get all the offers in.

"No, no, no!" my colleague thought. But of course she didn't want to challenge the listing agent too much in person, maybe hurting her clients' chances.

So what, exactly, is wrong with the listing agent fishing for more offers after the deadline she had imposed?

Is it legit to be extending the "deadline" that one buyer actually was able to meet?

If they accept another offer, is it invalid?

Could these buyers who met the deadline sue to disrupt any transaction with a different party?

Has the agent behaved unethically? What part of the Code of Ethics would you look to?

What do YOU think?

Granted, nothing can compel the sellers to sign the one offer that was received. But it seems that the listing agent is forced to pick from some bad options here.

Of couse, you'd have trouble trusting that agent ever again.

Negative factors: The listing agent is both new and the seller (!).

Bonus factor: One of the my colleague's buyer clients who made the deadline was undergoing cancer treatment the same morning of the noon deadline. They got it in! What possible other excuse could everyone else have?!

Thoughts? Similar experiences?