This hasn't happened to me yet because my new home airport (CLE) doesn'td have a SkyClub, this happened to my sister-in-law's husband, a 5 MMer. He is a regular at the DCA SkyClub and all the staff there know him by name and sight.
The rule seems easy for the club staff to enforce; the computer tells them whether the club member is more than 3 hours away from scheduled departure at the originating airport. Management must have told club staff, no waivers, no favors. Here is another area where I don't blame staff, I blame management.