Have you been Bonvoyed?

Just called Marriott to get a Points Advance reservation I made in February fixed (hotel moved from cat 5 to cat 6). The first reservations person I spoke to immediately passed me off to someone higher up who fixed it fairly easily by charging me the new category rate (200k for 4 nights) and then giving me a points credit for the difference (60k) between that and the old rate (140k for 4 nights). However, I'm really disappointed because they refused to allow me to use my free night award (35k) from my credit card. They said that because the hotel category changed from a 5 to a 6, there was absolutely no way for them to apply the certificate. I asked the representative (who I'd already been escalated to) to escalate me to a supervisor, and she told me the same thing. I asked if they could credit me 35k points and just remove the certificate from my account, but she said there was no way for them to do that either. I made this reservation at this hotel specifically so that I could use my free night award (and basically planned a trip to this location because I could use this award night at this property), so it's a hard pill to swallow.