Using coupons that dont double but do double

[partialsmith]

My HT has gotten SUPER strict about this lately, with every cashier pulling out the DNDs for manual entry. I wrote to corporate to clarify the official policy because there is NO consistency about this, either at HTs or other stores that double coupons (Lowe's Foods, Bi-Lo). Coporate responded that they will not double anything that says do not double (they said this is covered under the clause "We uphold any purchase stipulations set forth by product manufacturer"), and that doubling these coupons would be fraud. They way I see it, there are three possibilities:

1. HT coupon doubling is actually done through an agreement with the manufacturers and clearinghouse, and HT actually gets double reimbursement for the doubled coupons. In this case, I fully understand and support why they wouldn't double the DNDs -- they'd lose money every time they did.
2. HT coupon doubling is taken from HT's profits, and not doubling the DNDs allows them to weasel out of some doubling and reap the rewards. Can't say I would be OK with this, as it wouldn't be any more fraud to double it than it would be to double any other coupon. This would allow them to not honor their double coupon policy just because "do not double" is printed on the coupon, even though it would be functionally the same on the back end.
3. HT corporate customer service and managers don't understand coupon doubling any better than we do, and they're just making up the rules as they go.

The doubled portion of a doubled coupon isn't taxed, which means it counts as a discounted price rather than a coupon, so I most strongly suspect it's #2. But really, there's no way to know because we have no way of knowing what kinds of agreements they have with manufacturers. I have seen a post on another forum (can no longer find it) where someone who talked to a store owner said it was #1.