Compensation Fail (or Win?)

Dear United,

I'm old, gimme gimme gimme!
PS. I am not a crackpot!

It seems that lately United's complaint center has been extremely generous in giving compensation.

Case #1:
An international first class flight from FRA-ORD (on my way back from Cape Town in March).

The FRA-ORD flight departed from gate A57, but UA's Red Carpet Club (and consequently, the first class lounge) were in the C gates, about a 20 minute walk and security checkpoint away from the departure gate. The only lounge close to A57 was a Lufthansa Senator lounge, so there was nothing exclusively for first class passengers.

Also, the food on the FRA-ORD flight was atrocious. I ordered a pork chop that was so tough my knife couldn't cut into it, and had it replaced with an overcooked filet mignon. The salad croutons were soft and chewy, bread was stale, etc.

Complaint letter sent. Compensation given: A system wide upgrade, and 4 500-mile domestic upgrade certs.

Case #2:

MCO-IAD-MCI: Checked-in bags didn't arrive with my flight, and had to be delivered to my house 2 days later.

Complaint letter sent. Compensation given: $200 travel e-cert.

Case #3:

DEN-MCI a couple weeks ago. The flight attendants didn't offer a pre-departure drink in first class.

Complaint letter sent. Compensation: Another $200 travel e-cert.

For Cases #1 and #2, I could certainly understand where compensation is due, but Case #3 continues to baffle me; it seems to me like they're giving these e-certs for every little complaint they receive.

I have a couple hypotheses:

1. Ever since United shut down its "Customer Service" hotline, they've been inundated with complaint e-mails. The customer service reps (most of whom are outsourced) don't have the time to read every single complaint they receive, so UA authorizes them to give out e-certs willy nilly. It makes sense from a business standpoint; e-certs aren't a liability to UA, and they come with restrictions (for domestic round-trip flights only, and no excess credit given if the amount of the e-cert exceeds the price of the flight). They also give the customer the distinct impression that they've gotten something of value, while at the same time ensuring continued patronage: a win-win situation.

2. United is so desperate to maintain customer loyalty that they'll compensate their high-status passengers for even the smallest shortcomings in service. Compensation is based on status, and I'm sure that if a general member (or a non-member) of the Mileage Plus program had written UA with the same complaint, they wouldn't have gotten much more than an "I'm sorry" e-mail.

Don't get me wrong, I'm happily accepting the travel certs, and in fact I'm using them to see my parents for the holiday weekend. But where's the checks and balance system? What's keeping customers from taking advantage of UA and demanding compensation for every little instance of perceived bad service? Oh wait, this doesn't happen until after the fact.

Or better yet, where are the customer service "enhancements" UA has been promising for years, to ensure that we don't ever need to complain?