I wouldn't condemn the whole line because you got a defective one. That happens. It's happened to me with quality scopes, expensive rifles, etc. I work for a towing and recovery service, and I see brand new, very expensive cars break down every day. Most of them are fine, but occasionaly one will be sold that has some sort of defect. It's a fact of life. If they have a reputation for having problems, that's different. But I've not generally heard bad things about the Elites.
As far as paying for the shipping, it's been my experience that most manufacturers don't do that unless you raise hell, and even then many won't. I sent the trigger of my Mini14 to ASI for a trigger job. They botched it up. I had to pay to send it back to them again. They didn't charge me for the warranty work, but after waiting another six weeks (they promised me two weeks), it came back in the same terrible condition. So I payed for the cost of the trigger job ($65), shipping twice, waited a total of 3 1/2 months, and ended up with a trigger that still needs a trigger job.
I'm sure Bushnell will take care of your scope when they get it. By the way, how is the brightness/clarity in your 4200?