Ha sido un gusto

In lession 1.4 it translates ha sido un gusto as it was a pleasure.

Surely, however, this is the indicative perfect conjugation of the verb ser? As such, it should be translated as It has been a pleasure.

I would've thought that the correct Spanish translation for it was a pleasure should actually be fue un gusto, as this is the indicative preterite conjugation. Am I correct?

Step: you are correct, the literal translation is  "It has been a pleasure." 

I have noticed many of these not-quite-so-literal translations throughout the courses. In some respects I think this is good, because it helps us think more flexibly, to realize that language communicates an idea, not just a word or phrase in another language. In the case you express in your post, both "it was a pleasure" and "it has been a pleasure" communicate the same idea, that whatever it was the other person did or said at some time in the past was pleasing to you.

I am used to these vagaries now, but when I was starting out they caused me a great deal of confusion and in many cases I just thought I was wrong. I think it would be better if literal translations were used in the first course.

I definitely agree with Dan in that the not-quite-so-literal translations are actually helpful. Way back when, I offered "better" translations to make them more literal which I somewhat regret now. The Travelogue course is terrific in that they employ the most common expressions that we English speakers use everyday for the equivalent Spanish.
 

Thanks for your replies. I think that I tend to get too hung up on the grammar when I should really just try to let it flow.

I guess I should just trust Rocket Spanish more!