Sad part people will still buy them because they don't know the difference. It also indicates a lack of quality control.
Aesthetically it sucks, but if the coupler functions correctly (opens properly by command signal) then it's not a quality control issue - ugly doesn't count if the design does what it's supposed to do. I don't like the way it looks either, and I'd like to see Lionel address this concern as it's not very attractive. They're not marketed as scale detailed, and they employed a lot of leeway in the appearance department for some reason (maybe the coil coupler is a stock part that's too long if used with the Lionel Corp. Geep frame/truck assembly and the extended pilot helps hide it a bit, maybe it was the least expensive way to implement production).
This reminds me of the catalogued RS-3s that ride on EMD trucks - they look ridiculous that way, but for casual train buyers they don't know or care about the way the real locomotives were delivered - maybe there's an RS-3 that got put onto EMD trucks at some point (some RI FAs got Blomberg trucks from retired EMD FTs, and the AAR Type Bs went under new GEs), but I've never seen a picture of one. The original models came with nice looking AAR Type B trucks with plastic sideframes - my hunch is making identical chassis for Geeps and RS-3s is the most cost effective route for production. That way, they can claim that they're riding on diecast trucks if they use the Geep's Blomberg sideframes - diecast seems to have appeal as being more durable during description time in a catalog. I wouldn't buy either of those models right now, but I'm not just starting out in the hobby and buying what looks colorful in a catalog or hobby shop without being too serious about fidelity to scale or detail.