Commendation screens in Gambit or Crucible dont load the guardian models and I can do commendations for my fireteam because the activity ends way to quickly.[spoiler][/spoiler]
I'm in the same boat. Sometimes the character models load in, sometimes they don't it and its quite frustrating.
Regarding the timer ending too soon I think one possible solution would be for bungie to increase it slightly if it gets enough feedback.
I don't like having to rush to guardian to guardian thinking how they played and making a snap decision. "did they do X well" or "was X helpful when I was in a tight spot" etc.
It almost gives it a "that'll do" mentality if I just plonk down commendations willy nilly.