I'm involved in Real Estate in Canada as well...
That qualifies me as an expert! 
I think it is really all a matter of incentives. The problem in Legion's case is that his Realtor had already been paid, and therefore had no incentive to put any effort into closing the deal. For the same reason, I would expect that his Realtor could give a rat's a$$ about the commission for the cooperating broker.
Tobra's experience is also a perfect example of how incentives can mess up the process.