That's certainly a possibility, and in those situations an offer usually isn't given at all. If we (a) know a candidate will only accept the top end of the rang

That's certainly a possibility, and in those situations an offer usually isn't given at all. If we (a) know a candidate will only accept the top end of the range and (b) the candidate doesn't qualify or interview at that level, there's no reason to make an offer at all. When a range is given, in my experience a candidate will usually say "I'd only be interested at the top of that range" from the beginning if that's indeed the case. The point I made in my initial comment is more aligned to situations when a candidate says they are OK with the range but don't 'commit' (prior to interviews) on where they feel they qualify on that range.