No I just think you are projecting your personal difficulties regarding the move with the reality of the situation. The only time an opponent truly gets caught in pkfire is if it connects mid to close range with the opponent. Any further and the opponent can di out of it fairly consistently. The somewhat long startup and callout by Ness makes it quite easy to predict when to shield or avoid. The only time you will get 40% damage is if you grab early on at 0% or it is close enough for a bat follow up, which isn't always guarunteed and that is a high risk attempt.
I could say, just thinking about it, that you have trouble with the move in particular because when you whiff on an attack you usually follow up with tilts, which leave you open to pkfire.
No doubt, it is a great move, but it has very clear drawbacks and isn't as easily used in high level play.