The cast control knob needs to be loosened for the side plate to close. My Curado K did the same thing and after while messing with it with some reading, the cast control knob is the issue. I sold mine not long after. Hated that about it. My Bantam MGL(currently own & love) and Chronarch MGL(sold) didn’t have this problem. 

12 hours ago, Hulkster said:

what was the actual problem though? was it the latch switch to close not latching?

I'm not 100% sure.  If I had the side plate open the latch worked.  If I had to guess it was something internal that was getting in the way of the latch, or not aligning quite right.  

 

Anytime you have such a high volume of production there are bound to be a few that have issues. Mine happened within the first 2 or 3 times I had it on the water and was deemed a factory defect.  I'd suggest taking advantage of the warranty if that is still an option.  You paid good money for it, you should have a reel that works properly.