Still great service.

Paying for shipping on warranty repairs or replacement is pretty standard for just about anything. It is surprising though that they billed you after the fact and didn't call for a credit card payment before hand. Kinda sounds as if they wanted to get your gear back quicker so you could get on with adventuring.

Having had a lot of problems early on with the xlite pads I imagine it is easier for them to just replace the pad and reaffirm customer satisfaction and confidence than to play games trying to fix them. So as in this situation you are happy and spreading the good news rather than telling of a bad experience costing them new sales. Pretty smart way of doing business IMO.