It's been more than 15 years since I've had "status" and would sometimes use points for a first class upgrade when on a cross-country flight - most often on United. It used to be that I was treated like any other passenger in the first class cabin, but then I noticed that as the cabin attendants were taking orders for lunch, that they didn't just go from seat to seat, row by row, but were skipping from one passenger to another throughout the cabin. Often I was the last one to order my lunch, and more and more often they were out of my first or even second choice. I once asked a CA if she was taking orders in sequence of how much the passenger paid for his set, and she said that, yes, that's how they did it now.
Airline service gets worse and worse, so I'm not surprised that Tony had a bad experience. . . . and I remember when lunch WAS a buffet. I rather liked that. Nowadays I sit in coach, bring along a bagel, and eat when I get to where I'm going.