comma -ing modifiers...is it modifying everything?

[yo4561]

Hello my MP friends,

For comma -ing modifiers placed after many modifiers, will the comma -ing modifier normally just modify what is right before it, or will it apply to everything before it?

Let's say I have this made up example:
Despite the hotel's fresh breakfast and warm bed, the guest, who had a red hat, was dissatisfied, complaining to the front desk. "Complaining to the front desk" seems to modify everything before it and not just "was dissatisfied".

This may depend on meaning, but are there cases where a comma -ing modifier is modifying just another modifier in the sentence and not actually everything that comes before it?

Many thanks in advance

[esledge]

First, please accept our apologies for the late response. A tech glitch has hidden this folder from all logged-in Manhattan Prep staff since the New Year, so I didn’t see this question until now.

Comma -ing modifiers are adverbial modifiers that describe the whole clause before them. In your example, I've cut out the noun modifiers:

................ the guest ................ was dissatisfied, complaining to the front desk.

So yes, "complaining" is the result of "was dissatisfied," but "the guest" is the one doing/feeling both, so for meaning's sake, you should think of the subject, too.