Man that sucks, especially since you did everything right and it still curled up on you. That whole "premium" label clearly doesn't mean much when a basic cheap mat outlasts it by years. Feels like these companies charge extra for the name and the thing falls apart faster than the budget stuff.

I read a thread on Reddit a while back where a guy did the same thing and his landlord freaked out because the check showed up late a couple times. The catch is that bill pay checks can take 5 to 7 business days to arrive since they still print and mail a real check, so timing matters a lot. Sounds like you got lucky with a landlord who doesn't care as long as it shows up. My old place wanted a money order only, no checks at all, so this trick wouldn't have worked there. Still, saving $25 a month adds up to $300 a year, not bad at all.