Bruce,
I think the sole may not be flat. ECE warrents that the sole will not
stay flat and may not be flat when you get it. The ECE steel is also
quite hard and I think contains some nickle and vanadium and other junk.
It's not as easy to sharpen as a Hock. When you install the blade set
the plane on your surface plate and gently hold the blade against the
plate to keep it square as you tighten it in place.

I have the ECE block or pocket plane as they call it and their Primus
jointer. The adjuster is great. A very good design with very little
slop. For the applications they envision the Pocket Plane being used it
works great. I'm refering to the mouth here. They see it as a utility
plane not intended for curly stuff. However I got mine to see if it
would work for ebony cello fingerboards at a moment when I was
frustrated with the slop in the Record adjuster. It works great for
finger boards except that the ebony contains so much silicon it sands
deep groves in the lignum sole. It needed to be flatened after every
tenth fingerboard. So now I use a stanly.

If the above didn't do it contact a dealer to find out where to send it
for service. It would be worth it to get it repaired IMHO.  Or let me
know what you want for it. Hope that helps if only to restore your
confidence in the tool.
Regards