I did briefly consider cancelling my order and getting an 8GB machine, but I figured that living with a month's delay will be easier than feeling I compromised my choice for the life of the machine. Considering the recipient of this machine will probably use it for the next 5-8 years or however long it lasts, I wanted to have a bit a leeway by getting 16GB RAM to allow for future software memory requirements.
It's disappointing and frustrating, but I suppose it will be quickly forgotten once we have the machine.