Dear Rhodia,
First let me say that I love your products, especially the dot pads. The dotted page pattern helps me be creative and work very efficiently.
But… Your pads need hacking before they can actually be used! I used to carry around the black A4 and A5 dot pads. It’s not easy to cleanly tear a page. After a few pages I used to end up with horribly torn pages. I hated it.
I’ve developed the following process to help me use the pads.
Step 1: Get a pad 
Step 2: Remove the cover page
Step 3: Loosen the staples
Step 4: cut the staple in half 
Step 5: remove the staples (it’s easier when they are cut in half)
Step 6: insert the “bare” pad in a leather cover.
I have A4 and A5 covers for that purpose.
With the staples gone, it’s much easier to tear the pages.
If someone from Rhodia is looking online for product improvement ideas, I strongly suggest you lose the staples!…
Thanks
Arkadian