I spoke with Alan on the phone today the they said they would replace my pad with a new one.
He also said the they are producing the pad themselves now (as opposed to a third party) and the quality is much better - they started about 2 months ago. He said they have produced 300 pads in the last couple of weeks and are stocking them for the shows. He was very nice to work with now let's just keep our fingers crossed that the new pad looks great and gets here soon. I will keep you posted.
By the way - thanks to Nick for sending my pictures to Alan. I think it made the conversation easier and he said that they have been checking thier new pads for the issue and all seems to be good.